CHEST SUPPORT

Abstract

A chest support that supports the weight of a user's torso, and more particularly an adjustable chest support that is operative to be adjusted by a user “hands free” (i.e., without the use of the hands). The angular position or tilt of the chest support may be adjusted forward and rearward relative to a seat (e.g., a seat of a chair attached to the chest support), allowing the user to bend, or tilt, his or her torso toward and away from a work area. The chest support is operative to support the torso of a user at the chest area, thereby permitting the user to perform a task while reducing the likelihood of lower back pain and body fatigue. In some embodiments, arm support assemblies may also be mounted to the chest support to effect corresponding movement of the arm support assemblies toward and away from the work area upon adjustment of the angular position or tilt of the chest support.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/180,394 , filed May 21, 2009, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure generally concerns embodiments of a chest support and more particularly an adjustable chest support that is operative to be adjusted by a user hands free.

2. Description of the Related Art

Certain tasks or procedures place considerable musculoskeletal demands on individuals performing those tasks. Such tasks may include performing surgery, performing dental work, repairing automobiles, or the like. For example, during laparoscopic surgery, a surgeon typically stands to one side of the operating table while manipulating relatively long instruments and while viewing the procedure on a video monitor. Unfortunately, the surgeon has little opportunity to move the body and change posture, which often leads to fatigue and pain. Further, due to sterility requirements in some environments, moving the body and changing positions can be relatively difficult.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a chest support with arm support assemblies.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the chest support illustrating a user seated on a chair with the chest support in the tilted forward position.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the chest support shown in the tilted forward position.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the chest support shown in the upright, vertical position.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the chest support configured with a surgical chair and being used to support a surgeon in a position straddling a patient lying on an operating table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally concerns embodiments of a chest support that support the weight of a user's torso, and more particularly an adjustable chest support that is operative to be adjusted by a user “hands free” (i.e., without the use of the hands). The angular position or tilt of the chest supports described herein may be adjusted forward and rearward relative to a seat (e.g., a seat of a chair attached to the chest support), allowing the user to bend, or tilt, his or her torso toward and away from a work area. The chest supports are operative to support the torso of a user at the chest area, thereby permitting the user to perform a task while reducing the likelihood of lower back pain and body fatigue. In some embodiments, arm support assemblies may also be mounted to the chest support to effect corresponding movement of the arm support assemblies toward and away from the work area upon adjustment of the angular position or tilt of the chest support.

As can be appreciated, the various embodiments of chest supports of the present disclosure may be used for performing a variety of types of medical procedures, including, without limitation, interventional radiology procedures, maxillo-facial surgery, abdominal surgery, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, dental procedures, neurosurgical procedures, and orthopedics, to name a few. The chest supports may also be used in other, non-medical trades to support a user in a more ergonomically correct position, and especially for performing tasks requiring forward bending or titling of the torso of a user.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a chest support 10 is shown that comprises a chest pad 11 that desirably is shaped to fit a man or woman's chest. The chest pad 11 may have various shapes depending upon the chest configuration of the user. For example, the chest pad may be narrowed at the top to better accommodate the chest of a female. Further, the chest pad 11 may be formed from any suitable materials and may include a cushion surface to provide comfort to a user.

The chest pad 11 may be held in place by a pivoting bracket 15. The bracket 15 allows pivoting of the chest pad 11 via a laterally extending pivot pin 15A (shown in FIG. 2) in order to conform the forward tilt of the chest pad to the chest 31 of a user 40, as shown in FIG. 2. The bracket 15 may be held in place by a support arm 26, which allows vertical adjustment of the chest pad 11 via a slot 14 and retention by a knob 13. The support arm 26 may be pivoted forward and rearward via a shoulder bolt and bearing 25. In operation, the support arm 26 is pivotable about the shoulder bolt and bearing 25 with controlled movement via a pneumatic cylinder 18. The pneumatic cylinder 18 may be held in place by lower and upper pivot pins 28 and 29, respectively. The support arm 26 and pneumatic cylinder 18 may be pivotably and structurally supported at their lower ends by a U-shaped chest support base 19, which may be welded or otherwise secured to the frame of a chair seat 22. As can be appreciated, the chair seat 22 may be secured to a structure (not shown) operative to support the chair seat 22 and a user sitting on the chair seat. The upper end of the pneumatic cylinder 18 is pivotably attached to the support arm 26. Further, in some embodiments, the pneumatic cylinder 18 and surrounding components may be protected by a cover (not shown).

The pneumatic cylinder 18 in the illustrated embodiment allows pivoting movement of the chest pad 11 only by activation of an internal lock valve of the pneumatic cylinder via downward or upward movement of a laterally extending lever 24. The lever 24 may be moved “hands free” by applying pressure on the lever using the a portion of the user's arm other than the hands, including the user's elbow, wrist, forearm, or the like. To facilitate this “hands free” feature, the lever 24 may be configured to include a substantially planar portion that allows the lever to be comfortably pressed by a portion of the user's arm. The lever 24 is located above the chair seat 22 at about the location of the arm of the user when seated on the chair seat. Other convenient locations are available to accommodate the portion of the user's body intended to activate the lever 24. In the case when the chest support 10 is used in a sterile environment, the user (e.g., a surgeon) may adjust the angle of the support arm 26 using the lever 24 without breaking the sterile field of a procedure, and without requiring assistance from another person. In use, the user may tilt the chest support 10 (and hence the chest pad 11) forward relative to the seat 22, as shown in FIG. 3, by depressing the lever 24 and applying body weight to the chest pad 11 in the forward direction to overcome a bias of the pneumatic cylinder 18. Release of the lever 24 automatically locks the position of the support arm 26 in place at its current position, supporting the weight of the user's torso.

The chest support 10 may be pivoted back toward the upright position (shown in FIG. 4) by depressing the lever 24 and removing body weight from the chest pad 11, allowing the bias of the pneumatic cylinder 18 to push the chest support 10 toward the upright position. It will be appreciated that the chest support 10 may be locked in the fully forward tilted position (FIG. 3), the fully upright position (FIG. 4), or any position between the fully forward tilted and fully upright positions. The chest support 10 may be pivotable through range of angular adjustment indicated in FIG. 3 by the angle α. Preferably, the range of angular adjustment is between about 10 and 90 degrees (e.g., 30 degrees of angular adjustment, 60 degrees of angular adjustment, 90 degrees of angular adjustment, or the like), but it is not so limited. As can be appreciated, the range of angular adjustment of the chest support 10 may be adjusted by changing the stroke of the pneumatic cylinder 18.

Although the pneumatic cylinder 18 is shown and described herein, it should be appreciated that other functionally similar devices may be used as well. Such devices included but are not limited to hydraulic cylinders, electronic actuators, springs, or other devices operative to provide the locking function and the biasing function of the pneumatic cylinder 18.

Left and right arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be supported on the chest support 10 as depicted in FIG. 1. Each arm support assembly 9A and 9B may include an arm/wrist rest pad 12A and 12B, respectively, which may be attached to and supported by tubular arms 27A and 27B, respectively, in a cantilever fashion. The arms, wrists, or elbows of the user 40 may be supported by rest pads 12A and 12B, as shown at interfaces 30 in FIG. 2. Each of the tubular arms 17A and 17B may be welded or otherwise secured to U-shaped slides 20A and 20B, respectively, which in turn are movably mounted to rails 21A and 21B, respectively, secured to opposite sides of the support arm 26. Knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B extend through the slides 20A and 20B, respectively, into one of a plurality of apertures 8A and 8B in the rails 21A and 21B, respectively, to lock the arm support assemblies 9A and 9B at a desired height on the support arm 26. Through release of the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B (i.e., by pulling the knob outwardly so that its corresponding pin is removed from an aperture 8A or 8B in the rail 21A or 21B, respectively), the arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be adjusted upwardly and downwardly to a desired position. The arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be locked in place at the desired position by inserting the respective pin of the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B into a selected aperture 8A or 8B located in the rail 21A or 21B. The respective pins of the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B may each be spring-loaded by a spring (not shown) located in a housing 16A or 16B mounted to the slides 20A or 20B, respectively. The spring biases the pins inwardly toward the rail 21A or 21B so that release of the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B causes their pins to automatically move into apertures 8A and 8B with which the pins are aligned.

One or both arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be removed and/or switched with the other arm support assembly if so desired. More specifically, arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be removed from the support arm 26 by pulling the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B outwardly from the rail 21A and 21B and sliding the slides 20A and 20B off of the respective rail. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the rest pads 12A and 12B are positioned at an angle extending away from the user's body. If desired, the positions of the arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be reversed (i.e., the left arm support assembly 9A may be placed on the right rail 21B and the right arm support assembly 9B may be placed on the left rail 21A) so that they extend rearward at an angle toward the user. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, since the arm support assemblies 9A and 9B are mounted to the support arm 26, angular adjustment of the chest support 10 relative to the seat 22 is effective to tilt the position of the arm support assemblies forward and rearward relative to the seat. Further, since the arm support assemblies 9A and 9B are independently coupled to the support arm 26, they may be positioned at different heights if desired.

In some embodiments, the chest support 10 may be configured for use in a sterile environment and may permit placement of a sterile drape 60 (shown in FIG. 3 by way of example) over the chest support. In these embodiments, the shapes of the knob 13, the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B, and the lever 14 may be configured to reduce the likelihood that the sterile drape 60 is pinched or pierced during use. For example, the knob 13, the knob and pin assemblies 17A and 17B, and the lever 24 may be free of any sharp edges. Further, it will be appreciated that the arm support assemblies 9A and 9B may be adjusted using a “hands free” mechanism similar to that provided for adjusting the angle of the support arm 26.

Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary use for the chest support 10 described above is shown. In this embodiment, the chest support 10 is configured to be included as part of a surgical chair 50, or operating support, for use by the user 40 (e.g., a surgeon). The surgical chair 50 is positioned with respect to an operating table 56 such that the user 40 is supported in an ergonomically correct position straddling a patient 42 on the operating table for performing certain types of surgeries. The surgical chair 50 may be used while performing surgery on the patient 42 positioned on (e.g., lying down) an operating table (such as shown in FIG. 5) or on a patient chair that may recline (e.g., a dentist chair) to position the patient 42 in a lying-down or near lying-down position. The surgical chair 50 may be used to support the user 40 in a seated position straddling the patient 42 to reduce stress and strain on the user's body while performing certain types of surgery, especially laparoscopic surgery (e.g., pelvic surgery). The surgical chair 50 may include a chair base 52 for supporting the seat 22 and the chest support 10. The chair base 52 may include foot rests 54 for supporting the feet of the user 40 when sitting on the surgical chair 50. As can be appreciated, the chair 50 may also be used in other medical or non-medical trades to support a user in a more ergonomically correct position, and especially for performing tasks requiring forward bending or titling of the torso.

Advantageously, the surgical chair 50 may help reduce or eliminate pain to the lower back while performing work such as surgery on a patient in situations where the user's back has to be bent at an angle slightly or greatly forward during the procedure. The surgical chair 50 in the illustrated embodiment also provides the ability to substantially fix the user's torso in position while the user's hands remain sterile scrubbed within the sterile field and without disturbing or breaking the sterile field. In addition, the surgical chair 50 in the illustrated embodiment provides the user 40 the ability to adjust the tilt position of his or her torso using a portion of his or her arm with minimal or no disturbance to the work being performed with the hands and allows the arm support assemblies 9A and 9B to move forward and rearward upon angular adjustment of the chest support 10 without disturbing the sterile field.

The foregoing described embodiments depict different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality may be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated may also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.).

It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations).

Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A chest support for attachment to a seat and supporting the chest of a human such that the human may comfortably perform a task over a work area, comprising:

a chest support base adapted to be coupled to the seat;

an elongate support arm pivotably coupled to the chest support base and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support the chest of the human while sitting on the seat; and

an adjustment mechanism operative to permit selective adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base, the adjustment mechanism comprising a lever that when enabled causes the adjustment mechanism to permit adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base, and when disabled causes the adjustment mechanism to fix the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base, wherein the lever is configured and positioned to be operated hands free by the human while sitting on the seat.

2. The chest support of claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism comprises a pneumatic cylinder coupled to the chest support base and the support arm, the pneumatic cylinder being operative to be locked and unlocked by operation of the lever.

3. The chest support of claim 2, wherein, when unlocked, the pneumatic cylinder biases the support arm toward an upright position.

4. The chest support of claim 1, wherein the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base is adjustable over a range of at least 30 degrees.

5. The chest support of claim 1, further comprising:

a chest pad pivotably coupled to the support arm and configured to be comfortably engaged by the chest of the human while sitting on the seat.

6. The chest support of claim 5, wherein the chest pad is configured to be selectively adjustable relative to the support arm by the human while sitting on the seat.

7. The chest support of claim 1, further comprising:

a first arm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterally outward therefrom to the left, the first arm support assembly configured to support at least a portion of the left arm of the human; and

a second arm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterally outward therefrom to the right, the second arm support assembly configured to support at least a portion of the right arm of the human.

8. The chest support of claim 7, wherein the position of each of the first arm support assembly and the second arm support assembly relative to the support arm is independently adjustable.

9. The chest support of claim 7, wherein each of the first arm support assembly and the second arm support assembly are configured for slidable engagement with a rail positioned on the support arm.

10. The chest support of claim 1, wherein the lever comprises a substantially planar portion configured to be operated by at least a portion of an arm of a human while using the chest support.

11. The chest support of claim 1, wherein the chest support comprises a portion of one of a surgical chair and a dentist's chair.

12. The chest support of claim 1, wherein the adjustment mechanism comprises at least one of a hydraulic cylinder, an electronic actuator, and a spring.

13. A method for performing a task in a work area, comprising:

providing a chest support, comprising: a chest support base adapted to be coupled to a seat; an elongate support arm pivotably coupled to the chest support base and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support the chest of a human while sitting on the seat; and an adjustment mechanism operative to permit selective adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base, the adjustment mechanism comprising a lever that when enabled causes the adjustment mechanism to permit adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base, and when disabled causes the adjustment mechanism to fix the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base, wherein the lever is configured and positioned to be operated hands free by the human while sitting on the seat;

sitting on a seat coupled to the chest support; and

adjusting the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base by moving the lever.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the adjusting comprises:

applying body weight to the support arm;

enabling the lever of the adjustment mechanism by applying a force to the lever using a portion of an arm of the human not including the hands; and

disabling the lever of the adjustment mechanism by removing the force applied to the lever.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the adjusting comprises:

removing body weight from the support arm;

enabling the lever of the adjustment mechanism by applying a force to the lever using a portion of an arm of the human not including the hands; and

disabling the lever of the adjustment mechanism by removing the force applied to the lever.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the chest support further comprises a first arm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterally outward therefrom to the left, the first arm support assembly configured to support at least a portion of the left arm of the human, and a second arm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterally outward therefrom to the right, the second arm support assembly configured to support at least a portion of the right arm of the human, the method further comprising:

adjusting the position of at least one of the first arm support assembly and the second arm support assembly relative to the support arm.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the adjusting comprises sliding at least one of the first arm support assembly and the second arm support assembly along a rail positioned on the support arm.

18. A chest support for attachment to a seat and supporting the chest of a human such that the human may comfortably perform a task over a work area, comprising:

a chest support base adapted to be coupled to the seat;

an elongate support arm pivotably coupled to the chest support base and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support the chest of the human while sitting on the seat; and

means for permitting selective adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the chest support base configured and positioned to be operated hands free by the human while sitting on the seat.

19. A chest support for attachment to a seat and supporting the chest of a human such that the human may comfortably perform a task over a work area, comprising:

an elongate support arm pivotably coupled to the seat and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support the chest of the human while sitting on the seat; and

an adjustment mechanism operative to permit selective adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the seat, the adjustment mechanism comprising a lever that when enabled causes the adjustment mechanism to permit adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the seat, and when disabled causes the adjustment mechanism to fix the angular position of the support arm relative to the seat, wherein the lever is configured and positioned to be operated hands free by the human while sitting on the seat.

20. The chest support of claim 19, further comprising:

a first arm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterally outward therefrom to the left, the first arm support assembly configured to support at least a portion of the left arm of the human; and

a second arm support assembly selectively coupled to the support arm and extending laterally outward therefrom to the right, the second arm support assembly configured to support at least a portion of the right arm of the human.

21. A chair for supporting the chest of a human such that the human may comfortably perform a task over a work area, comprising:

a seat;

an elongate support arm pivotably coupled to the seat and extending therefrom, the support arm sized to support the chest of the human while sitting on the seat;

an adjustment mechanism operative to permit selective adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the seat, the adjustment mechanism comprising a lever that when enabled causes the adjustment mechanism to permit adjustment of the angular position of the support arm relative to the seat, and when disabled causes the adjustment mechanism to fix the angular position of the support arm relative to the seat, wherein the lever is configured and positioned to be operated hands free by the human while sitting on the seat; and

a chair base coupled to the seat, the chair base being configured to support the seat, the support arm, the adjustment mechanism, and the weight of the human.