EP0089389B1

EP0089389B1 - Elevating apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP0089389B1
Application number: EP19820102363
Authority: EP
Inventors: Simon Thomas Edward Coates
Original assignee: Coates Management Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Coates Management Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1982-03-22
Filing date: 1982-03-22
Publication date: 1986-11-26
Also published as: EP0089389A1; DE3274449D1

Description

The present invention relates to an elevating apparatus suitable for elevating articles, people or other animals from a first position adjacent a ground surface to a second position remote from said ground surface.
Prior art devices for elevating people or animals from a first lowered position to a second elevated position have generally been designed for a single specific purpose and generally have been confined to a specific range of adjustment between a lowered and an elevated position. For example, a patient handling stretcher/trolley for ambulances may comprise a wheeled trolley adapted for adjustment between a lowered position at which a patient can be lifted onto a trolley with minimal lifting or handling and a second position to facilitate transfer to an ambulance. Such devices may also be suitable for conveyance of a patient from an ambulance to a hospital bed or operating table but suffer two main disadvantages. Firstly, such devices generally have a minimum height adjustment of say 200-250 mm from a ground surface which necessitates a considerable lift of a patient from a ground surface to the supporting surface of the trolley. Secondty, such devices generally only permit a limited height adjustment to permit transfer to an ambulance. Although such a trolley can be used to permit transfer of a patient about a hospital, the patient must ultimately be lifted yet a second or third time to enable transfer of the patient to a bed or operating table at a more convenient height for treatment. For patients suffering broken bones and/or internal injuries, such additional handling for lifting purposes may create further injuries or prejudice the well-being of the patient.
Other prior art patient elevating apparatuses may comprise elevatable surgical tables, elevatable beds or the like but generally, all such prior art devices suffer the disadvantage that they are complex in construction, expensive and the useful range of elevation of a patient supporting surface is limited in overall range.
Each of FR-A-2 252 835 and DE-B-1 136 473 describes and illustrates a patient supporting and transporting platform assembly, comprising: a base member; a support platform; a scissor linkage mechanism connecting said base member and said support platform, said scissor linkage mechanism including first and second link members pivotally interconnected intermediate their respective ends and located generally on the longitudinal axis of the assembly, and each of said first and second link members having a pivotally mounted end and a slidably mounted end; and actuating means for selectively elevating or lowering said support platform relative to said base member.
In the arrangement disclosed in FR-A-2 252 835, the actuating means are adapted to slide the slidable end of one link member and act in a plane containing the pivot axis of the other link member. Thus, the support platform cannot be moved to a position adjacent a ground surface to facilitate movement of an incapacitated animal thereonto without unnecessary handling.
In the arrangement disclosed in DE-B-1 136 473, at least one of said link members has a projection extending from a normally lower end thereof to form a lever fulcrumed about said lower end and the actuating means comprise lever actuating means for rotating said lever about a fulcrum to selectively elevate or lower said support platform relative to said base member. However, the lever is disposed above the fulcrum and the support platform is only capable of limited movement, its lowermost position being substantially above ground level in use. Thus, this device is also disadvantageous for use as a stretcher.
The present invention aims to overcome the disadvantages of prior art patient elevating devices by providing a simple and inexpensive elevating device adjustable, from a first position adjacent a ground surface to a second position remote from said ground surface whereby treatment of a patient can be effected with a minimum of handling.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an assembly of the type disclosed generally in DE-B-1 136 473 and is characterised in that said support platform is elevatable in use between a position adjacent a ground surface and a position suitable for treatment of a patient and the lever is disposed below the fulcrum. Thus, the assembly is adapted for use both as a stretcher and as an operating table.
Preferably the lever actuating means is hydraulic or pneumatic adjustment means to permit selective adjustment of the support platform between said positions.
Suitably, the base member may comprise fixed or steerable wheels such as castored wheels to permit movement over a ground surface of the device according to the invention.
Preferably the support platform is mounted on a pivotable base to permit rotation thereof relative to said base member about a generally upright axis. Suitably the support platform is angularly adjustable relative to said base member. Suitably the device according to the invention is adapted to support suitable surgical treatment apparatus such as instrument trays, i.v. poles, stands for electronic instruments etc.
A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

FIG. 1 illustrates a side elevation of the apparatus in a partly extended position;
FIG. 2 illustrates a side elevation of the apparatus in an extended position;
FIG. 3 illustrates an end elevation in the partly extended position;
FIG. 4 illustrates an end elevation in an elevated position; and,
FIG. 5 illustrates a top plan view of the bottom frame.

In FIG. 1, a base frame 1 is provided with castored wheels 26 and an hydraulic jacking device 3. Hydraulic cylinder 3 is provided with a foot or lever operated pump 4 and a release valve operable by the lever 5. Mounted to the base frame 1 is a top frame 2 which is connected to the base frame by a scissor linkage 6 shown partly in phantom.
In FIG. 2, the scissor linkage 6 of FIG. 1 is more clearly shown in the extended position. Scissor arms 7 and 8 are pivotally connected at a suitable position 9 adjacent the mid point of arms 7 and 8. The lower point of arm 7 and the upper part of arm 8 are pivotally connected to base frame 1 and top frame 2 respectively via cross arms (not shown) mounted in suitable bearings 10 and 11 in base and top frame respectively.
The upper end of arm 7 and lower end of arm 8 respectively are provided with cross arms (not shown) mounted at each end in roller bearings 12 and 13 respectively adapted to travel in slide channels (not shown) on the innerside of top and bottom frames 2 and 1 respectively.
The rod or shaft 14 of hydraulic cylinder 3 is pivotally attached to a pivotable attachment point 7a extending from scissor arm 7 at a position distal from bearing 10 which acts as a fulcrum to permit elevation of top frame 2. Castor wheels 26 are mounted on base frame 1.
FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate end elevations of FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively in the lowered and elevated positions.
In FIG. 5 the lower end of scissor arm 7 is shown attached to base frame 1 by a cross arm 11 pivotally mounted in bearings 12 attached to base frame 1. The lower end of arm 8 is attached to a cross arm 13 mounted on roller bearings 14 in slide channels 15. Mounting plates 16 are provided for attachment of castor wheels 26 by, for example bolts 17. Upper frame 2 (not shown in plan) is of a generally similar construction to lower frame 1 in the provision of pivot points and slide channels.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the hydraulic cylinder is provided with a pivoted lifting arm, not unlike that of an hydraulic trolley jack for motor vehicles. The end of the arm remote from the pivot point is fitted with a roller or friction pad which contacts the underside of scissor arm 7 at a point distal to the pivot point of the scissor arm. Actuation of the hydraulic cylinder raises the jack arm and thus scissor arm 7 to elevate the apparatus according to the invention.
The device according to the present invention is particularly useful in the treatment of injured persons or animals.
The device is preferably constructed of lightweight materials such as aluminium or light gauge stainless steel and is preferably provided with lifting handles and a suitable supporting surface on top frame 2. The elevating means may be a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder.
At an accident scene, an injured person or animal may be lifted a minimal height onto the fully lowered device and then transferred to an ambulance or like vehicle using the device as a stretcher. On arrival at a hospital or veterinary clinic the device may be removed from the ambulance or like vehicle and the device partially elevated to permit wheeling into a surgery. The device may then be elevated to a height suitable to permit evaluation of the patient or animal and if emergency surgery is required, the device may be used as an operating table simply by attaching appropriate instrument trays, i.v. drip poles, electronic monitoring instrument supports etc. to brackets mounted on top frame 2. Following surgery, the device may then be wheeled to a bedside (or for animals, a holding cage) where the height of top frame 2 is adjusted to permit direct transfer of the patient without lifting either up or down from the device according to the invention.
In other embodiments of the invention, the device may be adapted to permit rotation of the top frame relative to the bottom frame about a substantially upright axis and the top frame may be adjustable to permit tilting about its major and/ or minor axes. In yet a further embodiment, the top frame may comprise a number of hinged portions to permit angular adjustment thereof.
As shown in phantom in FIG. 2 the device may include one or more angularly adjustable portions in association with the top frame. These may simply comprise one or more hingable top surfaces with adjustable locking hinges or alternatively the desired angular adjustment may be achieved by an adjustable prop means. Alternatively the entire top frame section can include one or more angularly adjustable hinged sections which may be selectively angularly adjustable by any suitable conventional means.
In yet a further embodiment of the invention, the scissor-action linkage may comprise three arms. For example, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, instead of arm 7 comprising a single arm pivotally connected to one side of arm 8, the linkage may comprise two arms 7, one on each side of centrally mounted arm 8 or alternatively it may comprise two arms 8, one on each side of centrally mounted arm 7.
In yet a further embodiment, the pivot point of the scissor linkage may be longitudinally adjustable relative to say arm 8 in a slotted aperture therein. A control means such as a compression screw or a camming-device may be used to selectively vary the pivot point relative to arm 8 whereby upon elevation of the table top 2, the top 2 undergoes a selective degree of tilting to facilitate treatment of a patient.
The major advantage of the present invention is the range of elevation permissible by the height adjustment means. None of the prior art devices contemplate a range of height adjustment from a few centimetres above a ground surface to a height greater than one metre.
The device according to the present invention clearly provides a most versatile device for the handling, transport and treatment of injured, aged and infirm persons or injured animals. In addition, it will be apparent that the device according to the invention may be modified to suit a variety of purposes wherein a wide range of elevation is required e.g. as a portable lifting device in warehouses, vehicles etc. for the elevation of articles.
It will be readily apparent to a skilled addressee that many modifications may be made to the elevating device without departing from the scope of the present invention as claimed.

Claims

1. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly, comprising: a base member (1); a support platform (2); a scissor linkage mechanism (6) connecting said base member (1) and said support platform (2), said scissor linkage mechanism (6) including first and second link members (7, 8) pivotally interconnected intermediate their respective ends and located generally on the longitudinal axis of the assembly, each of said first and second link members (7, 8) having a pivotally mounted end (10, 11) and a slidably mounted end (12, 13), and at least one of said link members having a projection extending from a normally lower end thereof to form a lever (7a) fulcrumed about said lower end; and lever actuating means (3) for rotating said lever (7a) about a fulcrum (10) to selectively elevate or lower said support platform (2) relative to said base member (1), characterised in that said support platform is elevatable in use between a position adjacent a ground surface and a position suitable for treatment of a patient and the lever (7a) is disposed below the fulcrum (10), whereby the assembly is adapted for use as a stretcher and as an operating table.

2. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said fulcrum (10) comprises a pivotally mounted end of said first link member (7) or said second link member (8).

3. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said fulcrum (10) comprises a slidably mounted end of said first link member (7) or said second link member (8).

4. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said lever actuating means comprises a fluid actuated piston and cylinder assembly (3) pivotally connected at one end to said base member (1) and pivotally connected at its other end to said lever (7a).

5. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in Claim 4 wherein said fluid actuated piston and cylinder assembly (3) is actuable by a foot operated pump means (4, 5) mounted on said base member (1).

6. A patient supporting and transporting assembly as claimed in any preceding claim wherein in its fully lowered position, the support platform rests on said base member (1).

7. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the assembly in its fully lowered position contains the scissor linkage mechanism (6) and the lever actuating means (3) between the space bounded by an upper surface of said support platform (2) and the lower edges of said base member (1).

8. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said support platform includes a support surface rotatable about an upright pivotal axis for rotation relative to said base member (1).

9. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said support platform (2) includes a supporting surface adapted for selective angular adjustment relative to said support platform.

10. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said scissor linkage mechanism (6) extends between and is connected to said upper and lower platforms (2, 1) and includes a first link member (7) having one end (12) slidably mounted and a second end pivotally affixed and a second link member (8) having one end (11) pivotally affixed and a second end (13) slidably mounted; said first and second link members (7, 8) being located generally on the longitudinal axis of the apparatus and having crossing mid-portions with a pivot (9) extending therethrough.

11. A patient supporting and transporting platform assembly as claimed in any preceding claims wherein said base member (1) includes wheels (26) mounted thereon for movement over a floor surface.