EP0657156A2

EP0657156A2 - Holding device for a bed

Info

Publication number: EP0657156A2
Application number: EP94100745A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Richard Borders; Didier Le Pallec
Original assignee: LE COUVIOUR SA
Current assignee: LE COUVIOUR SA
Priority date: 1993-12-06
Filing date: 1994-01-19
Publication date: 1995-06-14
Also published as: EP0657156A3

Abstract

A holding device for a bed, in particular a hospital bed, comprises mounting portion (72) for fixedly mounting said holding device (10) to a bed frame part (32, 36, 38), an abutment portion (76) adjacent to said mounting portion (72) for laterally fixing said mattress (70) with respect to said bed frame part (38), a supporting portion (88) adjacent to the mounting portion (72) for supporting a mattress supporting panel part (68).

Description

The present invention relates to a holding device for a bed, in particular a hospital bed, comprising a bed frame with a plurality of frame parts movable relative to each other and carrying a mattress, each of said bed frame parts supporting a mattress supporting panel part, said panel parts defining a supporting face for said mattress.
In general, hospital beds comprise a height and inclination adjustable support frame which is supported by a lower support structure provided with ground wheels for easily moving the hospital bed on the floor. The support frame supports a plurality of bed frame parts which are articulated to the support frame for adjusting the angular position of the bed frame parts with respect to the support frame. Each of the bed frame parts supports a mattress supporting panel part which, in common, define a supporting face for a mattress disposed on the panel parts.
Such known hospital beds are designed such as to ensure that a person lying on the bed can easily be removed from the bed without the necessity for lifting the person above frame parts extending beyond an upper face of the mattress. The same holds true for the case where a patient is to be placed on the bed. Therefore, the mattress of such hospital beds is simply laid on the supporting panel parts and the bed frame parts, leading to the problem that particularly in the case of lateral movements, when placing a patient on the bed or removing a patient from the bed, the mattress might be torn or pushed away from the panel parts in a lateral direction.
Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a holding device for a bed which eliminates the risk of a movement of the mattress with respect to the bed frame parts and which does not obstruct free access to the bed from a lateral direction.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a holding device for a bed capable of holding a plurality of different elements with respect to the bed frame parts.
According to the invention these objects are solved by a holding device comprising a mounting portion for fixedly mounting said holding device to one of said bed frame parts, an abutment portion adjacent to said mounting portion at a side of said mounting portion remote from one of said panel parts, said one panel part being supported by said one bed frame part, for laterally fixing said mattress with respect to said bed frame part, a supporting portion adjacent to the mounting portion at a side of said mounting portion near said one panel part supported by said one bed frame part, for supporting said one panel part.
The holding device according to the present invention is mounted to the bed frame parts with its mounting portion; the abutment portion ensures that a mattress disposed on the panel part is laterally fixed with respect to the bed frame part. Thus, the risk that upon a lateral movement of a patient by placing the patient in the bed or removing the patient from the bed, the mattress is also moved in a lateral direction with respect to the bed frame parts is eliminated. The abutment portion of the holding device also obviates the necessity for fixing side panels to the bed frame parts surrounding the mattress for preventing a lateral movement of the mattress. This, in particular, is of advantage, as, for example, side panels fixed to different bed frame parts interfere with each other upon adjusting the angular position of the different bed frame parts with respect to the supporting frame and, therefore, might lead to a restriction of the swinging angle of the various bed frame parts.
The supporting portion of the holding device provides a support for the mattress supporting panel part and, therefore, obviates the necessity for providing further structural members fixed with respect to the bed frame parts for supporting the mattress supporting panel parts. Manufacturing costs of the bed frame parts can thus be reduced. In particular the small holding devices distributed along the sides of the bed frame parts permit an easy access to all bed frame parts during the cleaning and desinfection procedures and also avoid arcuate angle areas which are difficult to clean.
In an advantageous embodiment the mounting portion and the abutment portion may constitute an integrally formed part and define a substantially L-shaped cross-sectional profile, said mounting portion being disposed substantially parallel to a section of said support face, said section being defined by said one panel part, and said abutment portion extending from said mounting portion in a direction substantially perpendicular to said section of said supporting face. This results in a particular stable configuration of the mounting portion together with the abutment portion and also ensures that the mounting portion, which is disposed substantially parallel to the section of the supporting face also provides a portion of said supporting face, which does not extend too far beyond the supporting face defined by the panel parts.
In an embodiment which is particularly easy to manufacture the supporting portion may have a supporting projection supporting a circumferential edge of the panel part. The panel part may easily be laid on the supporting projection of the supporting portion and is supported thereby with respect to the bed frame part and fixed thereto by its own weight, the weight of the mattress and of the person lying on the mattress.
The holding device is preferably made of plastics material.
For further increasing the stability of the holding device and for reducing the manufacturing costs it is proposed that the mounting portion and the supporting portion constitute an integrally formed part.
In many cases it is necessary to fix the patient lying on the bed to the bed in order to prevent the patient from moving in an undesired manner or from falling out of bed accidentally. In such cases, the patient is often fixed to the bed by a safety belt. In order to obviate the necessity for providing further attachment means for attaching the safety belts to the bed, it is proposed that the holding device further comprises a safety belt fastening bar.
The safety belt fastening bar may be articulated to the holding device so as to be swingable between a rest position in which said safety belt fastening bar is covered by said mattress and a safety belt fastening position in which said safety belt is free for fastening a safety belt thereto. Where it is not necessary to fix the patient to the bed, the safety belt fastening bar may be swung into its rest position, in which the safety belt fastening bar is not visible and does not interfere with other parts of the bed, etc.
In a preferred embodiment the safety belt fastening bar is substantially U-shaped, having two leg portions and a leg connecting portion, said leg portions being articulated with free ends thereof to said mounting portion.
If the safety belt fastening bar is made of metall, a high stability of the safety belt fastening bar is guaranteed and, therefore, there is no risk of the safety belt fastening bar being deformed or destroyed by the forces transmitted by safety belt.
Alternatively , this safety belt fastening bar may be made of plastics material.
For fixing a patient to the bed it is preferred to dispose the safety belt in the region of the patient's upper body. It can thus be substantially avoided that the patient suffers from uncomfortableness or pain caused by the safety belt.
In the following, the invention is described in detail with respect to the appending drawings, in which

fig. 1: is a perspective side view of a bed frame structure of a hospital bed,
fig. 2: is a perspective view of a bed frame part with a holding device according to the present invention mounted thereon, partially in section,
fig. 3: is a sectional view taken along line III-III in fig. 2,
fig. 4: is a view showing a side rail member in a swung down position,
fig. 5: is a schematic sectional view taken along a line V-V in fig. 4.

In figure 1 a hospital bed is generally denoted by 10. The hospital bed comprises a lower support structure 12 with ground wheels 14 for easily moving the bed 10 on the floor. A support frame 16 is height adjustably and inclination adjustably supported by said lower support structure 12 via respective pairs of support arms 18 and 20. Each of the support arms 18, 20 comprises two arm parts 22, 24, 26, 28, being articulated to each other with one end portion thereof and articulated to the lower support structure (arm portions 24, 28) and to the support frame 16 (arm portions 22, 26) with another end thereof, respectively. The height and/or the inclination of the support frame 16 with respect to the lower support structure 12 may be adjusted by a known device, e.g., a cylinder piston device, which is not illustrated in the figure.
The support frame 16 carries a bed frame 30 constituted of a plurality of bed frame parts. These bed frame parts comprise a bed frame part 32 supporting the upper body of a patient lying on a bed, a bed frame part 34 for supporting a patient's hip, a bed frame part 36 for supporting a patient's the upper leg portion (thigh portion) and a bed frame part 38 for supporting a patient's lower leg portion. Bed frame parts 32 and 36 are articulated with one end portion to the support frame 16, respectively, so as to enable adjustment of inclination of these bed frame parts 32, 26 with respect to support frame 16. Additionally, the articulated end portion of the frame part 32 is linearly movable in a longitudinal direction of the support frame 16 upon swinging movement of the frame part 32. Thereby the lying or sitting position of the patient may be adjusted. The lower leg supporting bed frame part 38 is articulated with one end thereof to another end of the upper leg supporting bed frame part 36 so as to enable adjustment of the knee inclination angle of the patient. The inclination of the various articulated bed frame parts may be adjusted by any known devices, such as a cylinder piston device, a threaded rod and an electric motor, etc. (not illustrated in the figures).
Further, the bed frame parts 32 and 38 carry side rail members 40 and 42 in order to prevent the patient from falling out of bed. The side rail members 40 and 42 are swingably mounted to the respective bed frame parts 32 and 38 via respective arms 35, 37 so as to be swingable between a working position (illustrated in fig. 1) in which the side rail members 40 and 42 prevent the patient from falling out and also prevent lateral access to the bed, and a rest position (illustrated in fig. 4), in which the side rail members 40, 42 are swung towards the ground in order to enable lateral access to the bed. The bed 10 further comprises a head side end bar 44 fixedly mounted to the lower support structure 12 and a foot side end bar 48 fixedly mounted to the support frame 16. The head side end bar 44 and the foot side end bar 48 carry a plurality of accessories, for example a U-shaped manoeuvering bar 50, a foot side panel 52, a head side panel 54, a pole 56 for carrying a container for infusion liquids, for example, and a patient helper 58 carrying a grip (not illustrated in fig. 1) for helping the patient change his position in the bed.
As further shown in fig. 1, a plurality of holding devices 60 is mounted to the bed frame parts 32, 36, 38. As a first aspect, these holding devices 60 serve for supporting respective mattress supporting panel parts 62, 66, 68 with respect to the respective bed frame parts 32, 36 and 38. The mattress supporting panel parts, in turn, carry a mattress (not illustrated in fig. 1).
As a second aspect, the holding devices 60 serve for laterally fixing the mattress 70 represented in fig. 3 by broken lines with respect to the respective bed frame part (bed frame part 38 in figs. 2 and 3).
As can be seen particularly in figures 2 and 3, the holding device 60 substantially comprises three portions. A first portion is a mounting portion 72 for fixedly mounting the holding device 60 to the bed frame part 38 by a screw 74, a bolt, or the like. A second portion is an abutment portion 76 connected to the mounting portion on a side thereof remote from the panel part 68, which serves for laterally fixing the mattress with respect to the bed frame part 38. The abutment portion 76 extends substantially vertically with respect to a supporting face 78 defined by the mattress supporting panel part 68, and therefore, a lateral face 80 of the mattress 70 abuts against the abutment portion 76 of the holding device 60. It has to be noted that each of the mattress supporting panel parts defines a supporting face for supporting the mattress, and the supporting faces of the respective mattress supporting panel parts, in common, define a mattress supporting face of the bed 10.
In particular, the mounting portion 72 and the abutment portion 76 with the leg portions 82, 84 and the leg connecting portion 86 are constituted by an integrally formed part.
A third portion of the holding device 60 serves as a supporting portion 88 for supporting the mattress supporting panel part 68. The supporting portion 88 is disposed on a side of the mounting portion near the panel part 68 and comprises a supporting projection 90, which is overlaid by an edge portion of a circumferential edge 92 of the panel part 68.
The supporting projection 90 is provided by a separate supporting plate 94 fixed to the supporting portion 88 of the holding device 60. Alternatively, the supporting projection 90 and the supporting portion 88 of the holding device 60 may be constituted by an integrally formed part.
As can be seen in figure 2, a recess 96 is formed in the circumferential edge 92 of the panel part 68, which allows the mounting of the holding device 10 with its supporting portion 88 between the bed frame part 38 and the panel part 68, and which simultaneously avoids an excessive gap between the bed frame part 38 and the panel part 68. Furthermore, the recess 96 cooperates with the support portion 88 for fixing the respective panel part against longitudinal movements.
As a third aspect, the holding device 60 serves for carrying a safety belt fastening bar 98 with respect to the bed frame part 38 on which the holding device is mounted.
The safety belt fastening bar 98 is substantially U-shaped with two leg portions 100, 102 and a leg connecting portion 104. The leg portions 100, 102 are bent in the region of the free ends 106 thereof in an inward direction, and these inwardly bent end portions 108 of the respective leg portions 100, 102 are housed in respective openings 110 provided in each of side faces 112 of the holding device 60.
As can be seen in figure 3, the safety belt fastening bar 98 may be swung between a rest position (represented by full lines in fig. 3) in which the safety belt fastening bar 98 is stored below the mattress and a position (represented by broken lines in fig. 3) in which the safety belt fastening bar 98 is free for fastening a safety belt (not illustrated in the figures) to the leg connecting portion 104 thereof. A safety belt (not illustrated in the figures) fastened to the safety belt fastening bar 98 serves for fixing a patient lying on the bed to the bed in order to prevent the patient from moving in an undesired manner or from falling out of bed. It is preferred that at least one holding device 60 with its safety belt fastening bar 98 is disposed on each side of the upper body carrying bed frame part 32, the hip supporting bed frame part 36 and the thigh supporting bed frame part 38, respectively (fig. 1). Alternatively, the holding devices 60 fixed to the hip supporting bed frame part 36 may be omitted, thus leading to a minimum of four holding devices 60 for safely securing a patient to the bed 10.
As can best be seen in figures 2 and 3, the mounting portion 72 with the supporting portion 88 extends substantially parallel to the supporting face 78 of the panel part 68 and, therefore, also form the part of the supporting face for supporting the mattress 70. In particular, the parallel mounting of the mounting portion 72 results in a minimum deformation of the mattress 70 in an outer peripheral region.
As can be seen in figure 1, a plurality of such holding devices 60 is disposed alongside the upper bed frame 30 with the respective bed frame parts. This leads to the advantage that the mattress is properly fixed with respect to the upper bed frame 60 along the entire length of the mattress. For avoiding a movement of the mattress with respect to the upper bed frame 30 in a longitudinal direction of the bed, for example, towards the foot side panel 52 fixed to the support frame 16, a holding bar 112 is disposed in the region of a foot side end of the bed frame part 38. It is also possible, however, to arrange holding device 60 according to the invention in this region for fixing the mattress against movement in a longitudinal direction.
In figures 4 and 5, a fourth function of the holding device 60 of the present invention is shown. In case lateral access to the bed 10 is necessary, for example, for placing a patient on the bed, the side rail members 40 and 42 are swung down into their rest position. This is done by swinging, for example, the side rail member 40, carried by the upper body supporting bed frame part 32 a direction of an arrow D as shown in figure 4 in its working position and during the swinging movement, the side rail member 40 (and also the side rail member 42) is set off laterally with respect to the holding device 60, in order to permit a free swinging movement of respective side rail members without being hindered by the holding device. Upon approaching its rest position, the side rail member 40 together with the arms 35 at the articulation points 40' of the arms 35 moves into a direction A thus bringing the side rail member 40 laterally under the portion 60a of the holding device 60 laterally extending beyond the bed frame part 32. Therefore, at the beginning of the swinging movement, the side rail member 40 together with the arms 35 is laterally drawn in a direction away from the bedframe part 32, thus releasing the side rail memver 40 from the holding device 60 and permitting a swinging movement of the side rail member 40 back into its working position.
In the rest position of the side rail member 40, an upper portion 41 of the side rail member 40 is placed just below the holding device 60 fixed with respect to the upper body supporting bed frame part 32. Upon a further swinging movement of the side rail member 40 in a direction of an arrow D'or a reverse swinging movement in a direction D'', the upper portion 41 of side rail member 40 abuts against the portion 60a of the holding device 60 projecting beyond the upper body supporting bed frame part 32 in a lateral direction, shown at 41' and 41'' in dotted lines. Thus, the swinging movement of the side rail member 40 in these directions (arrows D'and D'') is locked.
The side rail member may be swung back into its working position by first pulling the side rail member 40 in a direction opposite to the direction of arrow A and then swinging same in a direction opposite to the arrow D shown in figure 4.
The holding device 60 thus prevents the side rail member 41 from swinging to and fro if, for example, the side rail member 40 is positioned in its rest position and the bed is moved on the hospital floor. Further, the side rail member 40 is prevented from mutual interference with a mattress positioned on the bed frame and extending beyond the outer edge of the respective bed frame parts. In its rest position, the side rail member is in a position closer to the bed and at least partially covered by the mattress thus permitting easier access to the bed.
While in figures 4 and 5 only the locking function of the holding device 60 with respect to the side rail member 40 supported by the upper body supporting bed frame part 32 is shown, the respective holding devices 60 fixed to the thigh supporting bed frame parts also serve for locking the swinging movement of the side rail member 42 supported by the thigh supporting bed frame part 38.
As the holding device of the present invention serves for fixing a mattress with respect to the upper bed frame, supporting the mattress supporting panel parts with respect to the respective bed frame parts of the upper bed frame and supporting a safety belt fastening bar for fixing a patient retaining safety belt thereto, the holding device of the present invention obviates the necessity for providing a plurality of different devices serving for one of the above-mentioned applications. This leads to a substantially simplified structure of the upper bed frame and to a reduction in manufacturing costs. Further, the holding device of the present invention allows free access to the bed from either side of the bed for placing a patient into the bed or removing a patient from the bed.
As the safety belt fastening bar articulated to the holding device of the present invention is swingable between a rest position in which it is invisible and a position in which it is free for fixing a safety belt thereto, the safety belt fastening bar may be swung into the rest position when fixing the patient to the bed is not necessary. In this position, the safety belt fastening bar does not interfere with other parts of the bed or a person standing at a side of the bed and does not deteriorate the appearance of the bed.
Further, the holding devices of the present invention serve for locking the swinging movement of the side rail members attached to the respective bed frame parts in the respective rest positions of the side rail members. An excessive swinging movement of the side rail members can therefore be avoided and the side rail members are prevented from swinging to and fro if the bed is moved on the hospital floor and side rail members are positioned in their rest position.

Claims

Holding device for a bed, in particular a hospital bed, comprising a bed frame structure with a plurality of frame parts (32, 36, 38) movable relative to each other and carrying a mattress (70), each of said bed frame parts (32, 36, 38) supporting a mattress supporting panel part (62, 66, 68), said panel part (62, 66, 68) defining a supporting face (78) for said mattress (70), said holding device (10) comprising:
- a mounting portion (72) for fixedly mounting said holding device (10) to one (38) of said bed frame parts (32, 36, 38),

- an abutment portion (76) adjacent to said mounting portion (72) at a side of said mounting portion (72) remote from one (68) of said panel parts (62, 66, 68), said one panel part (68) being supported by said one bed frame part (38), for laterally fixing said mattress (70) with respect to said bed frame part (38),

- a supporting portion (88) adjacent to the mounting portion (72) at a side of said mounting portion (72) near said one panel part (68) supported by said one bed frame part (38), for supporting said one panel part (68).
Holding device according to claim 1, said mounting portion (72) and said abutment portion (76) constituting an integrally formed part and defining a substantially L-shaped cross-sectional profile, said mounting portion (72) being disposed substantially parallel to a section (78) of said supporting face, said section being defined by said one panel part (68), and said abutment portion (76) extending from said mounting portion (72) in a direction substantially perpendicular to said section (78) of said supporting face.
Holding device according to one of the claims 1 to 2, said supporting portion (88) having a supporting projection (90) supporting a circumferential edge (92) of said panel part (68).
Holding device according to one of claims 1 to 3, said holding device (10) being made of plastics material.
Holding device according to one of claims 1 to 4, said mounting portion (72) and said supporting portion (88) constituting an integrally formed part.
Holding device according to one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a safety belt fastening bar (98).
Holding device according to claim 6, said safety belt fastening bar (98) being articulated to said holding device (10) so as to be swingable between a rest position, in which said safety belt fastening bar (98) is covered by said mattress (70), and a safety belt fastening position, in which said safety belt fastening bar (98) is free for fastening a safety belt thereto.
Holding device according to one of claims 6 or 7, said safety belt fastening bar (98) being substantially U-shaped, having two leg portions (100, 102) and a leg connecting portion (104), said leg portions (100, 102) being articulated with free ends (106) thereof to said mounting portion (72).
Holding device according to one of claims 6 to 8, said safety belt fastening bar (98) being made of metall.
Holding device according to one of claims 7 to 9, said safety belt fastening bar (98) being made of plastics material.
Holding device according to one of claims 1 to 10, at least one holding device (10) being mounted to an upper body supporting bed frame part (32).