AU2021102659A4

AU2021102659A4 - Patient Lifting Device

Info

Publication number: AU2021102659A4
Application number: AU2021102659A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Adam Lear
Original assignee: Wayzy Health Tech Holding Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Wayzy Health Technologies Holding Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-18
Filing date: 2021-05-18
Publication date: 2021-07-08
Anticipated expiration: 2029-05-18

Abstract

ABSRTACT A patient lifting apparatus that includes a front and rear independently controlled cable lowering means so that a patient sitting in a sling suspended from the cables can be assisted out of the sling, or into the sling depending on the situation. This provides great, and safer, control of 5 patient movement that otherwise provided. 22b 4 30 34 19 33 18 32 20b 26 22a 31 39 90 1 724 38 28 95 \ 20a 5 F 36 50 60 100 64 63 9 5 Figure 1

Description

ABSRTACT

A patient lifting apparatus that includes a front and rear independently controlled cable lowering means so that a patient sitting in a sling suspended from the cables can be assisted out of the sling, or into the sling depending on the situation. This provides great, and safer, control of patient movement that otherwise provided.

22b 4

30 34 19 33

18 32 20b 26 22a 31 39 901 724 38 28

\ 20a 95 50 F 36

100 64 5 63 9

5

Figure 1

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention relates to apparatus and equipment for lifting and in particular, the lifting of human patients.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In hospitals and patient care facilities there is often a need for equipment designed to lift a person from one position to another. For example, it is often the case that a patient who is incapacitated may need to be lifted from their bed, in a lying down position, up and into a chair.

Typically the lifting of patients is carried out by two and sometimes three orderlies or hospital staff specifically trained to efficiently and safely lift patients. Each staff member has a specific position relative to the patient and it is essential that each member coordinates their lifting efforts with the other staff member to affect a successful lift and transfer.

However, is quite common for hospital staff to become injured during such lifting efforts due to the weight of the patient as well as the lack of control in actually lifting and moving the patient, which results in muscle strain and other associated injuries. Quite often the patient may also be inadvertently injured if dropped or bumped against furniture during the uncontrolled transition.

Patient lifting devices, such as that disclosed in US4627119, include a motorized hoist arrangement to facilitate the act of lifting the patient and reduce the need for staff to be physically able to lift the patient. This reduces the need for additional staff to take part in the lifting process and also reduces the likelihood of staff injuring themselves in the lifting process. Patient lifters such as that disclosed in US4627119 suffer however from being cumbersome to use and that they can only effectively approach a patient's bed from the end and the cradle used to hoist the patient is controlled by a single motor which provides no ability to alter or adapt the lifting action to the specific needs of patient.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of one embodiment of the present invention to overcome, or at least substantially ameliorate, the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taking in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention is disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, although this should not be seen as limiting the invention in any way, there is provided a patient lifting apparatus including a main frame, a base support section, an upper section having a first and second spaced apart upper arm members each hingedly connected to the upper section and operatively connected to an actuating means, each upper member including a front and rear spaced apart pulley to provide a front and rear pair of pulleys, each pulley having a cable running there through and each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling at one end, and each front and rear cable pair connected separately to a pair of cable controlling means such that in use a pair of cables is able to be extended or retracted by cable controlling means as required by an operator so as to control the raising or lowering of the patient support sling.

In a further form of the invention there is a patient lifting apparatus including a main frame, a base support section, an upper section having a first and second spaced apart upper arm members, each upper arm member including a front and rear spaced apart pulley to provide a front and rear pair of pulleys, each front and rear pair of pulleys having a cable running there through, each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling at one end, and each front and rear spaced apart pully being connected separately to a cable controlling means wherein the cable controlling means are isolated from each other and are operable independently of each other such that in use each front and rear spaced apart pully can be operated independently or in unison either or both of the front or rear pair of cables are able to be extend or retract each cable by a selected cable controlling means as required by an operator so as to control the raising or lowering of the patient support sling

The sling thus has a front end and a rear end operatively connected to the front and rear cable pair.

In preference each pair of pair of pulleys is located within the first and second spaced apart upper arm members of the upper section.

In preference, the cable controlling means are capable of being independently controlled on from the other so as to effect an independent raising or lowering of a front or rear section of the patient support sling.

In preference, the base section includes ground-engaging wheels to allow the apparatus to be moved.

In preference, the cable controlling means is at least one winch.

In preference, the upper and lower sections are "U"-shaped.

A method of operating a patient lifting apparatus, the patient lifting apparatus including a main frame, a base support section, an upper section having a first and second spaced apart upper arm members, each upper member including a front and rear spaced apart pulley to provide a front and rear pair of pulleys, each pulley having a cable running there through, to form a front and rear set of cables, and each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling, and each front and rear cable pair connected separately to a pair of cable controlling means: so that by activation of the pair of cable controlling means to effect a lowering or raising of the front and rear set of cables so that a front or rear section of the sling can be raised or lowered as required.

In a further embodiment of the invention there is a patient lifting apparatus including a main frame, a base support section, an upper section having a first and second spaced apart upper arm members, each upper arm member including a front and rear spaced apart pulley to provide a front and rear pair of pulleys, each front and rear pair of pulleys having a cable running there through to create a front and rear pair of cables and each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling at one end, and the front and rear pair of cables connected separately to one of a pair of cable controlling means wherein the cable controlling means are isolated from each other and are operable independently of each other such that in use either or both of the front or rear pair of cables are able to be extended or retracted independently by a selected cable controlling means as required by an operator so as to control the raising or lowering of the patient support sling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

By way of example, an employment of the invention is described more fully the renown for with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig 2 is a top plan view of the invention as shown in Figure 1;

Fig 3 is a side view of the invention shown in in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a rear view of the invention shown in in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a front view of the invention shown in in Figure 1;

Figure 6 shows the invention of figure 1 in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The patient lifting apparatus 5 includes a base support section 7 being in a generally "U"-shaped section, with parallel spaced apart legs 8 and 9, a main frame section 13, rear drive wheels 60, 62, driven by a motor, front wheels 63 and 64 located on each leg 8 and 9 respectively , main upright member 12 with flanges 3 and 4, to which are pivotally connected first and second arm members, 18 and 19 respectively, each arm member having a front section 20a and 20b and rear section 22a, 22b.

Each arm 18 and 19 is connected to the main frame 13 by way of a pivot 90 and 91 respectively and each arm can pivot to angle up and down either in unison or independently, by action of the connected actuators 95 and 96 that are hingedly connected to lugs 100 and 101 on the parallel spaced apart legs 8 and 9 that are connected to the base portion 7. The actuators may be selected from known actuators such as hydraulic, pneumatic, mechanical or electric actuators.

In certain embodiments electric actuators, such as linear actuators or electromechanical actuators, are preferred as due to their compact size, relatively light weight and ease of connection to an internal power source within the patient lifter 5.

With such an arrangement the arms 18 and 19 can pivot either up or down to assist in the lifting or lower of a patient.

Each arm 18 and 19 has pulleys located within; for example, the first arm 18 has front pulley 24 and rear pulley 26 and the second arm 19 has a front pulley 28 and a rear pulley 30, such that there is effectively a front pair of pulleys and a rear pair of pulleys. Each pulley is able to rotate about its axis although other pulley equivalent structures may be used to affect the same result and those skilled in the art would readily appreciate this.

Each pulley 24, 26, 28, 30 has a cable 36, 37, 38, 39 that runs through or over it and the cables 36-39 are then attached to a cable controlling means, such as a winch or number of winches for controlling the release or uptake of the cable. In Figure 1 the patient lifting device includes four winches 31, 32, 33, 34. Winches 31, 32 are located in the upper arm member 18 and winches 33, 34 are located within the upper arm member 19 and each winch is able to be operated independently of the others or in unison with one or more of the winches as desired by the operator.

The winches 31, 32, 33, 34 are then operatively connected to a controller unit 46, having a control interface 47 and an internal power source located in section 49, the power source also providing power to each of the winches 31, 32, 33, 34 allowing an operator to control each of the winches 31, 32, 33, 34 independently or in unison as required using the controller 47 on the controller unit 46.

Each individual cable is attached to a patient support sling 50 at positions 51-54 in a manner that allows the sling 50 to be easily removed and replaced by an operator.

By being able to control each cable or pairing of cables 24, 28 and 26, 30 is then possible to orientate the patient sling 50 by raising and lowering the appropriate pair of cables as well as by lowering or raising the upper arm members 18 and 19.

For example, it is possible to place the patient support sling 50 under a patient who is seated on a bed, then attach the sling 50 to the cables 36-39 and hoist the patient off the bed and then control the actuators 95 and 96 to raise the upper arm member 18 and 19 the patient over any obstacle that may present in the process of moving the patient from the bed. The supported patient can then be moved away from the bed by simply controlling the movement of the patient lifter 5 as it is on wheels. In some circumstances one of the upper arm members may be lifted higher than the other to orientate the patient in a preferred position, for example, the left side higher than the right side, so as to be able to control the way in which the patient is lowered on bed or table, for example where they may be experiencing more pain on one side that the other so require greater flexibility and control of the process of both picking up and lowering.

The patient may, for example, require then assistance in getting into a chair and so after positioning the patient directly over the chair the patient is then lowered slowly, with a pair of cables being released in a controlled manner. At the appropriate time, just when the patients buttocks have come into contact with the seat of the chair, the operator can stop both cable pairs and elect to allow controlled release of the rear pair of cables 26, 30, which then allows the patient to gently apply back pressure to the back of the chair, then slowly release the front pair 24, 28 to allow the underside of the legs to contact the seat of the chair. As can be understood, this very controlled manner of placing a patient is very desirable, especially with patient who are infirm.

Additionally, if a patient needs assistance to stand, rather then simply have the patient pull themselves up from their set, a patient in the support sling 50 can have their feet gently guided to the touch the ground and which point the patient may take hold of a support frame and begin to shift more of their weight onto their legs and the operator can then elect to activate the winch controlling the rear cable pair 26, 30 to pull the rear of the sling upwards to assist the patient to stand. This can be combined with a very slow lowering of the front of the sling 50 by the front cable pair 40.

Figure 6 shows a patient 120 lying prone in bed and the patient lifter 5 of the present invention approaching from a aside of the bed 125 the legs 8 and 9 easily fitting underneath the bed 125. seated in the support sling 50 facing away from the apparatus 5, in which case the apparatus 5 would have approached the patient from behind. This particular position may be used if the patient is to be lifted from their seat and transferring them to a walking frame. In this way the apparatus 5 would not hinder the walking frame and allow the patient, once standing to freely move away without having to necessarily move the apparatus 5.

If a patient were to be moved from one seated position to another, then it may be more convenient to have the patient facing in the other direction to that shown in Figure 3, that is facing towards the apparatus 5 although this would be decided by the operator depending on the particular circumstance.

In addition to moving patients in the manner described, the sling 50 may be replaced with a stretcher, such as a patient stretcher or other suitable device for holding a patient in a horizontal position.

Such a stretcher would connect onto the cables 36-39 using convention attachment means and would orientate the stretcher substantially perpendicular to the first and second arms 18 and 19 respectively. In this manner then a patient lying prone on the stretcher could easily be raised and lowered from one bed to another, or the patient could be assisted of the stretcher and onto another bed, for example an operating table, by lowering the front pair of cables 24, 28 to the point that one side of the stretcher parallel to the patient were touching the bed, then disengaging that side of the stretcher from the front cable pair 24, 28 and gently raising the rear cable pair 26,30 in a controlled manner to assist movement of the patient from the stretcher onto the bed. This would be particularly useful if shifting patients who are overweight.

As can now be readily understood, the present invention then allows for a single patient lifting apparatus that is able to provide a multitude of patient lifting task that presently require many different specialized machines

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures can be made within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details described herein but it is to be accorded the full scope of the appended claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.

A. A patient lifting apparatus including

a main frame,

a base support section,

an upper section having a first and second spaced apart upper arm members each hingedly connected to the upper section and operatively connected to an actuating means, each upper arm member including a front and rear spaced apart pulley to provide a front and rear pair of pulleys,

each front and rear pair of pulleys having a cable running there through, each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling at one end, and

each front and rear spaced apart pully being connected separately to a cable controlling means wherein the cable controlling means are isolated from each other and are operable independently of each other such that in use each front and rear spaced apart pully can be operated independently or in unison either or both of the front or rear pair of cables are able to be extend or retract each cable by a selected cable controlling means as required by an operator so as to control the raising or lowering of the patient support sling.

B. The patient lifting apparatus of A, further characterized in that the each pair of pulleys is located within the first and second spaced apart upper arm members.

C. The patient lifting apparatus of C, further characterized in that the pair of cable controlling means is at least one winch.

D. A method of operating a patient lifting apparatus, the patient lifting apparatus including a main frame, a base support section, an upper section having a first and second spaced apart upper arm members, each upper member including a front and rear spaced apart pulley to provide a front and rear pair of pulleys, each pulley having a cable running there through, to form a front and rear set of cables, and each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling, and each front and rear cable pair connected separately to a pair of cable controlling means:

so that by activation of the pair of cable controlling means to effect a lowering or raising of the front and rear set of cables so that a front or rear section of the sling can be raised or lowered as required.

E. The method of D, further characterised in that the rear pair of cables are raised higher than the front pair of cables so that a rear section of the sling is raised higher than a front section of the sling to assist the egress of a patient sitting in the sling.

Claims

1. A patient lifting apparatus including

a main frame,

a base support section,

each front and rear pair of pulleys having a cable running there through, each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling at one end,

2. The patient lifting apparatus of claim 1, further characterized in that the each pair of pulleys is located within the first and second spaced apart upper arm members.

3. The patient lifting apparatus of claim 3, further characterized in that the pair of cable controlling means is at least one winch.

4. A method of operating a patient lifting apparatus, the patient lifting apparatus including a main frame, a base support section, an upper section having a first and second spaced apart upper arm members, each upper member including a front and rear spaced apart pulley to provide a front and rear pair of pulleys, each pulley having a cable running there through, to form a front and rear set of cables, and each cable terminating in its own sling attachment point to operatively connect to a patient support sling, and each front and rear cable pair connected separately to a pair of cable controlling means: so that by activation of the pair of cable controlling means to effect a lowering or raising of the front and rear set of cables so that a front or rear section of the sling can be raised or lowered as required.

5. The method of claim 4, further characterised in that the rear pair of cables are raised higher than the front pair of cables so that a rear section of the sling is raised higher than a front section of the sling to assist the egress of a patient sitting in the sling.