CA3115536A1

CA3115536A1 - Hospital bed

Info

Publication number: CA3115536A1
Application number: CA3115536A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Emil M. Anghel
Original assignee: Andotech Systems Inc
Current assignee: Andotech Systems Inc
Priority date: 2020-04-17
Filing date: 2021-04-19
Publication date: 2021-10-17
Also published as: CA3078206A1

Abstract

An apparatus for supporting and moving a patient comprises a base frame at least one pair of rollers supported by the base frame, wherein each roller extends along a longitudinal length of the base frame and a flexible sheet of material rollably supported between each of the pair of rollers operable to support a portion of a patient thereon.

Description

HOSPITAL BED
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field This disclosure relates generally to patient care and in particular to a hospital bed providing improved patient care.

2. Description of Related Art Hospital beds are an essential element in modern medicine. Unfortunately, several difficulties result from patients being required to be confined to a hospital bed for an extended period of time or in the case of large patients.
In particular, it is known that long periods of being confined to a bed such as a hospital bed can result in the development of pressure ulcers or bed sores.
Such bed sores present a serious health risk to the patient including causing pain, infections and potentially death.
Conventional methods of preventing bed sores is redistribute pressure on the locations where the sores are prone to form. Such methods involve labor intensive routines for turning and repositioning patients. It will be appreciated that such routines are reliant upon human management and reliability.
Additionally, it will be appreciated that some patients relative to the size of the care worker are larger than others presenting additional difficulties in turning or otherwise moving such patients.
One solution has been to provide cranes or other lifting devices to lift and reposition patents. However, such devices are bulky and expensive to locate with every bed. The operation of such a lifting device still requires one or more people thereby being dependent upon the schedules and availability of such personnel. It will be appreciated that where such a lifting device is portable and moved from patient to patient, the availability of such a device may also be limiting in its timely use for each patient.
Date Recue/Date Received 2021-05-07 SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
According to a first embodiment, there is disclosed an apparatus for supporting and moving a patient comprising a base frame at least one pair of rollers supported by the base frame, wherein each roller extends along a longitudinal length of the base frame and a flexible sheet of material rollably supported between each of the pair of rollers operable to support a portion of a patient thereon.
The apparatus may further comprise at least two pairs of rollers longitudinally spaced apart along the frame. The pairs of rollers may be rotatable about axes perpendicular to a length of the frame. Each roller of the pair of rollers may be rotated by a motor.
Each roller of the at least one pair of rollers may be supported on a roller frame. The roller arm may be pivotally supported by the roller frame wherein the roller is located at a distal end thereof. The roller arm may be pivoted relative to the base frame by an actuator. The actuator may comprise a servo motor.
The apparatus may further comprise a mattress located between the pair of rollers. The mattress may be movable in a vertical direction. The mattress may be located on a mattress located within the base frame and movable along a vertical path relative thereto.
Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings constitute part of the disclosure. Each drawing illustrates exemplary aspects wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view, Date Recue/Date Received 2021-05-07

-3-Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for supporting a patient according to an embodiment.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus for supporting patients according to an embodiment with a gurney located proximate thereto.
Figure 3 is an end view of an apparatus for supporting patients according to an embodiment with a cylinder representing a patient thereon.
Figure 4 is an end view of an apparatus for supporting patients according to an embodiment at a further position.
Figure 5 is schematic view of a control system for the apparatus of Figure 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Aspects of the present disclosure are now described with reference to exemplary apparatuses, methods and systems. Referring to Figure 1, an exemplary apparatus for supporting a patient according to an embodiment is shown generally at 10. The apparatus 10 comprises a frame 12 supporting at least one pairs of rollers 50 with a flexible sheet 70 spanning therebetween.
The rollers support a flexible sheet of material therebetween upon which a patient may be supported.
The frame 12 comprises a base portion 14 and an upright portion 16 extending substantially therefrom. The base portion 14 may be formed of one or more structural members as are commonly known and may include feet 18 or rollers (not shown) for supporting the apparatus on a floor or other surface.
The base portion 14 extends between first and second ends, 20 and 22, respectively along a longitudinal axis 24 and first and second sides, 26 and 28, respectively. As illustrated in Figure 1, the upright portion 16 may comprise upright post members extending from each of the first and second sides 26 and 28. As illustrated in Figure 1, the upright posts 16 may extend from the base portion 14 at a midpoint between the first and second ends 20 and 22 Date Recue/Date Received 2021-05-07

-4-The rollers 50 are pivotally supported by a roller frame 30. As illustrated in Figure 1, the apparatus may include two roller support frames 30 each extending from the upright posts 16 in a direction towards each of the first and second ends 20 and 22 of the base portion 14. The roller frames extend between proximate and distal ends 32 and 34, respectively wherein the proximate end 32 is pivotally supported by the upright 16 with a pin or hinge connection 40 as are commonly known. As illustrated, the roller frame 30 extends between first and second sides 36 and 38, respectively wherein the first and second sides 36 and 38 include the hinge connections 40. As illustrated, the roller frame may have a substantially U-shaped provide extending between the hinge connections 40. The roller frames 30 may be formed of a plurality of structural members connected to each other by any known means including welding or the like as are commonly known or may alternatively be formed by alternative means including injection moulding or casing. Each roller frame 30 may include one or more actuators 104 (as illustrated in Figure 4), such as by way of non-limiting example, electric motor, or pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder to move each roller frame 30 about the hinge connections between horizontal and inclined positions as are illustrated in Figure 1. The roller frames may also include locks or braces to retain the roller frame at a desired angle of inclination. It will be appreciated that any range of motion of the roller frames 30 may be utilized including angled downward and upwardly from the uprights 16.
Each rollers 50 extend between first and second ends, 52 and 54 respectively along a roller axis 56. The rollers 50 include a motor or other rotary drive (not shown) therein or associated therewith for rotating each roller 50 independently of each other. In particular, each roller may include one or more rollers at a single or both ends thereof. Each roller 50 has includes the flexible sheet 70 wound theraround as will be more fully set out below. Each roller is rotatably supported by a roller arm 60 hingedly supported by one of the first or second sides 36 and 38 of the roller frame 30. The roller arms 60 may include one or more actuators 102 (as illustrated in Figure 4), such as by way of non-limiting example, electric motor 100 (as illustrated in Figure 2), or Date Recue/Date Received 2021-05-07

-5-pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder to move each roller arm 60 about the hinge connections between horizontal and inclined positions as are illustrated in Figure 1. The roller frames may also include locks or braces to retain the roller arm at a desired angle of inclination.
The sheet 70 may be formed of any flexible material having a limited elasticity. The sheet 70 is connected to each of the pair of rollers to span therebetween as illustrated in Figure 1. The sheet 70 is selected to have a tensile strength sufficient to support the weight of a patient thereon.
Optionally, the sheet may be permeable to permit fluids to pass therethrough.
In operation, as set out above, the roller frames 30 and roller arms 60 may be rotated independently of each other along with turning the rollers 50 to assist with the movement of a patient (represented as cylinder 4 in Figure 3. In particular, the two rollers 50 in a pair may be rotated in the same direction to move the patient to one side or the other. Optionally, the tension in the sheet 70 may be reduces as illustrated in Figure 3 so as to form a pocket whereupon movement of the rollers in the same direction may be utilized to assist in turning the patient 4. As illustrated in Figure 4, one of the roller arms 60 and rollers 50 may be lowered so as so assist with rolling a patient 4 onto a top surface 6 of a gurney 8 or other adjacent body. In particular, the rollers on one side may be raised with the rollers on the opposite side lowered to incline the sheet 70 to one side. As illustrated, the gurney 8 may also include a similar rotatable sheet movable by one or more motors 106 similar to the rollers 50 of the bed 10.
As illustrated, the apparatus 10 may include a mattress 80 supported on a mattress frame 82. The mattress frame 82 and mattress 80 may be sized to bass between the uprights 16 and the roller frames 30 and movable in a substantially vertical direction by an actuator or other slide mechanism as are known. The mattress may therefore be raised to support a patient in normal operation between or above the rollers 50 as illustrated in Figure 2 and Date Recue/Date Received 2021-05-07

-6-lowered to permit the patient to be supported on the flexible sheet 70 between the rollers 50 as set out above.
Furthermore, the apparatus may include a massager 90 as illustrated in Figure 4 which may be slidably located along the length of the apparatus between the first and second ends 20 and 22 under the sheet 70 to provide massage to a portion of a patient as desired.
As illustrated in Figure 5, a control system 98 may be provided for controlling the operation of the apparatus 10. The control system may include a processor 110 configured to control the operation of the various servo motors and actuators of the apparatus as set out above in response to a control panel or as executed by a program contained therein. The processor 110 and an associated or internal memory stores machine instructions that, when executed by the processor 110, cause the processor 110 to perform one or more of the operations and methods described herein. The processor 110 is configured to receive the commands or inputs at the control panel 108 and provide the required signal to one of the stretcher motor 106, roller frame servo 104, roller arm servo 102 or roller motor 100 to move or reposition the patient in the desired direction or manner. The processor 110 may also be programmed to periodically move or reposition the patient according to a predefined pattern as may be determined from time to time.
More generally, in this specification, the term "processor" is intended to broadly encompass any type of device or combination of devices capable of performing the functions described herein, including (without limitation) other types of microprocessors, microcontrollers, other integrated circuits, other types of circuits or combinations of circuits, logic gates or gate arrays, or programmable devices of any sort, for example, either alone or in combination with other such devices located at the same location or remotely from each other. Additional types of processor(s) will be apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of this specification, and substitution of any such other types of processor(s) is considered not to depart from the scope of the Date Recue/Date Received 2021-05-07

-7-present invention as defined herein. In various embodiments, the processor 110 can be implemented as a single-chip, multiple chips and/or other electrical components including one or more integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.
The control system 98 may also optionally include a transmitter/receiver 112 for providing communications to or receiving instructions from a remote or administrative system. In such a manner, the processor 110 may receive instructions from the hospital administrative program to reposition the patient at required times an in the required directions. The control system 98 may also include sensors (not shown) including position sensors and limit switches associated with each of the servo motors and actuators to determine and limit movement thereof. The control of the stretcher motor may be accomplished by wireless communication or by optionally mechanically and electrically coupling the stretcher 8 to the apparatus so as to permit control thereof.
While specific embodiments have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative only and not as limiting the disclosure as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.
Date Recue/Date Received 2021-05-07

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed and defined as follows:

1. An apparatus for for supporting and moving a patient comprising:
a base frame;
at least one pair of rollers supported by the base frame, wherein each roller extends along a longitudinal length of the base frame; and a flexible sheet of material rollably supported between each of the pair of rollers operable to support a portion of a patient thereon.

2. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising at least two pairs of rollers longitudinally spaced apart along the frame.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the pairs of rollers are rotatable about axes perpendicular to a length of the frame.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein each roller of the pair of rollers is rotated by a motor.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each roller of the at least one pair of rollers are supported on a roller frame.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the roller arm is pivotally supported by the roller frame wherein the roller is located at a distal end thereof.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the roller arm is pivoted relative to the base frame by an actuator.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the actuator comprises a servo motor.
Date Recue/Date Received 2021-04-19

9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a mattress located between the pair of rollers.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the mattress is movable in a vertical direction.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the mattress is located on a mattress located within the base frame and movable along a vertical path relative thereto.
Date Recue/Date Received 2021-04-19