Abstract: A medical bed apparatus is provided that has a body frame, a hoisting assembly and a hammock supported from the hoisting assembly by hanging strings. The body frame is positioned over a hospital bed or the like and a person is placed on the hammock. A pair of drums are provided in the hoisting assembly so that the hanging strings may be hoisted or wound on the drums in a first direction to lift the hammock. The drums are preferably cone-shaped such that the head portion of the hammock is initially lifted at a rate that is faster than the rate the foot portion of the hammock is lifted. Once the person's upper torso is substantially upright, the lifting rate for the head and foot portion of the hammock are substantially equal. Once the person is lifted, the hoisting assembly is horizontally movable in both the x and y directions so that the person may be maneuvered away from the bed and positioned in an upright sitting position over a urinal, bath or chair.

Abstract: A tree pruning machine having an elevating body detachably mounted to a standing tree and a cutting unit detachably mounted on the body and capable of rotating around the periphery of the body comprising at least three sets of wheel units mounted on the body and capable of moving radially towards and away from the tree, each including a plurality of upper and lower wheels for elevating the body vertically on the tree, an interlocking mechanism for interlocking the wheel units to each other for simultaneously moving the wheel units by the same radial distance, and a pressure equalizing mechanism having springs for biasing the wheels of the respective wheel units equally against the surface of the tree. Thus, even if the tree T varies in diameter, the pruning machine A cuts the branch t at the root while stably and reliably climbing the tree T and automatically descends the tree T when the tree pruning work is finished.