FR2533436A1 - LIFTING APPARATUS FOR SICK - Google Patents

Abstract

A. SICK LIFTING EQUIPMENT WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF PERFORMING WEIGHING AND INCLUDING A VERTICAL SUPPORT STRUCTURE, A RIGID LIFT ARM IN A cantilevered door projecting over the support structure and carrying or being suitable for carrying a support organ OF PATIENT AT THE END OF THE ARM REMOTE FROM THE SUPPORT STRUCTURE AND A LIFTING MECHANISM ENSURING THE RISE OR DESCENT OF THE ARM. B. ARM 3 MOVES ON A RECTILINEAR PATH AND A LOAD CELL 9 INCLUDING A TENSIOMETER 18 IS INCORPORATED IN ARM 3 IN AN INTERMEDIATE POSITION ALONG IT AND IS ARRANGED TO BE SENSITIVE TO SHEAR EFFORTS EXERCISING ON THE ARM WHEN IT IS IN CHARGE, ASSOCIATED ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS PROVIDING AN INDICATION OF THE WEIGHT OF A PATIENT CARRIED BY THE SUPPORT ORGAN 4. C. SICK LIFTING DEVICE ALLOWING THE SAME TIME TO WEIGH THE PATIENT.

Description

The present invention relates to lifting devices used in

  hospitals and elsewhere to raise

  sick people and people with disabilities in general.

  There is a growing demand for the availability of lifting devices of this kind, which also offers the possibility of weighing, instead of a single central weighing device or several weighing devices distributed in the rooms and halls. For example, a lifting device offering the possibility of weighing, hereinafter referred to as "lifting and weighing apparatus", has obvious advantages because it enables a patient to be weighed at the edge of his or her body. bed or in the bathroom when it's already

undressed for example.

  Various examples of lifting devices are known

  They all have various disadvantages and can be considered in general as suitable lifting devices for transforming them into weighing apparatus rather than levagb machines which also offer the possibility of weighing. to suspend a patient to the lifting arm of a lifting device via a removable weighing unit 9 but this solution has the disadvantage that it is necessary to mount the weighing unit to use it and the dismantle once the weighing is complete (hence the risk of not being available at the desired time) and it is limited to the suspension of the patient using slings It is further difficult to ensure satisfactory accuracy with a such unit

Weighing

  Suitable weighing devices are also known in weighing apparatus, in which a weighing mechanism is incorporated in the lifting arm close to a column of the lifting apparatus, but the weighing mechanism comprises a rod arrangement parallelogram that pose problems of friction and wear at the pivots, which has a detrimental influence especially on the long-term accuracy and the mechanism is sensitive to bending moments of the arm Thus, positioning the patient to weighing relative to the arm is important In addition, previous achievements do not allow to weigh a patient while he is sitting on a support of

type called "bath chair".

  The object of the present invention is to provide a lifting and weighing apparatus which overcomes the disadvantages

  mentioned above and which, moreover, may be designed to allow

  to use various types of patient support means and / or various arm configurations with the same

  basic construction of the hoist.

  The subject of the invention is therefore a patient lifting apparatus which also offers the possibility of carrying out weighing, which apparatus comprises a vertical support structure, a rigid cantilever lifting arm protruding from the support structure. support and being adapted to support a patient support member at the outer end of the arm remote from the support structure, a lifting mechanism for raising or lowering the arm in a rectilinear path, a a load cell which includes a blood pressure monitor or a transducer displacement measuring device and which is incorporated

  in the arm in an intermediate position along that-

  and arranged to be responsive to the shearing forces exerted on the arm due to the weight it is loaded with, and associated electronic indicating and sensing circuits for providing an indication of the weight of a patient worn on or in the patient support member. Preferably the support structure comprises a

  vertical support column carried by a mobile chassis.

  The load cell is preferably mounted in the arm near the support structure and the electronic circuits, if mounted on the arm, are preferably arranged between the load cell and the support structure so that the handling of the circuit controls has no influence on the load carried by the outer end of the arm and therefore has no

  influence on the signal coming from the load cell.

  The load cell is preferably flanged between a short arm protruding from the support structure, forming an inner end portion of the arm and a longer outer portion of the arm that carries the patient support member. Such a flange attachment of the load cell has several advantages. Firstly, it makes it possible to replace the outer end portion of the arm with a different section but having a similar flanged attachment, for example an arm which supports the patient in a bathroom chair without feet by an arm that allows to suspend the patient with slings; secondly, the load cell can easily be changed for maintenance or repair purposes, and thirdly it is possible to initially supply a basic lifting device without the possibility of weighing, the purchaser may subsequently incorporate a cell therein. in the latter case, a different outer arm portion may be initially mounted, which is of greater length to compensate for the lack of the load cell, or the arm may be the same, the load cell being

  replaced by a spacer block.

  The load cell is preferably constituted by a symmetrical side-cut metal block which leaves upper and lower webs interconnecting the two arm portions and which flex under the shear load on the arm, in the manner described in FIG. of a parallelogram without pivots The deformation of this parallelogram can be detected by a central member of the load cell which extends through the cutout thereof, along the neutral axis of the arm, and on which the tensiometers are The tensiometer and the circuits can be of conventional design, preferably as they provide a fast response and ensure good long-term stability with a weighing accuracy of

the order of 0.045 kg.

  An embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of the hoisting apparatus; Figure 2 shows a detail thereof on a larger scale; FIG. 3 is a partial plan view corresponding to FIG. 4 shows the modification according to a view in

similar plan.

  The lifting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 comprises a mobile frame 1 comprising four corner rollers 1a, a vertical lifting column 2 mounted centrally at the rear of the frame 1, a lifting arm 3 protruding from the column 2 , and a patient support member 4 under

  form of stretcher attached to the outer end of the arm 3.

  Column 2 is of telescopic type having a lower portion 5 fixed to the frame 1 and an upper portion

  6 at the upper end of which is fixed the arm 3.

  A manual lifting mechanism (not shown) disposed within the column 2 includes a crank that can be rotated to lengthen or shorten the column, thus ensuring the raising or lowering of the arm 3 in a rectilinear path. The arm 3 comprises at the inner end a section 7 which is fixed on the column 6 and at the outer end a section 8 on which is fixed the support member 4 A tensiometer load cell 9 is incorporated in the

  arm 3, being fixed by flanges to sections 7 and 8 of the arm.

  As can be seen in FIG. 2, the load cell 9 is fixed between flanges 10 and 11, respectively, on the arm portions 7 and 8. The arm portion 7 comprises a plate 7a welded to the upper portion of FIG. the column 6 and on which the flange 10, also in plate form, is fixed by bolts 12 after the flange plate 10 has been fixed on the load cell 9 by flanged bolts 12 a The outer portion 8 the arm is fixed on the outer face of the load cell 9 by means of

bolts 13 -

  The load cell, shown in FIG. 2 with a spaced apart side casing, is of a type designed to be sensitive to the shear forces exerted in the lift arm but practically insensitive to moments of rotation. The consequence of this is that the weighing device is effectively sensitive only to the vertical load formed by the weight carried by the arm and therefore the type of patient support member used and the position occupied by the arm. The load cell 9 consists of a machined lateral cut-out metal block 14 which leaves upper and lower thin webs to remain. lower, 15 and 16 respectively, by which the portions 7 and 8 of the arm are interconnected. These sails bend under the load so that the cut central portion of the block acts in effect in parallelogram without Pintles A thin central chord 17, which extends through the cutout 14 along the neutral axis of the load cell 9, comprises a conventional tensiometer 18 cemented on its side The inner and outer portions 9a and 9b of the block of the load cell, on either side of the cutout 14, have a thickness adequate so that the tightening of the bolts 12a and 13 can not deform the block and affect the accuracy of the weighing.

  A digital indication and electronic control unit

  U, comprising indication and detection circuits of conventional design, is mounted on the column 2 in a suitable position near the arm 3 on the column portion 6 and is connected to the tensiometers 18 This unit U is autonomous thanks to internal batteries and includes an ON / OFF switch and various controls, such as a reset control for setting the zero when the support member 4 is empty, and that the manipulation of the switch and the controls does not add additional load on the end portion 8 of the arm 3, it has no influence on the signals from the load cell 9 The control unit comprises a timing circuit which serves to cut the current supplying the blood pressure monitors after a predetermined interval when a stable indication of the displayed weight has been obtained, saving

  thus the energy of the batteries and prolonging their useful life.

  The lifting apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 3 is provided with an arm 3 of short overall length, the stretcher-shaped support member 4 being fixed to the end of the arm 3. cantilever on two down tubes 19 which, seen from the side, are bent,

  as shown in Figure 1 and which move outward

  For example, FIG. 4 shows how the arm portion 8 of FIGS. 1 and 3 can be replaced by a longer outer arm portion 20 having a larger diameter. it is therefore possible to use the same fastening screws 21 and the arm portion 20, of which only a portion of the inner end is shown on FIG. FIG. 4 may be of any desired type. Thus, it may be designed to carry a patient support member in the form of a bath chair without feet, or it may have means for attaching the support slings of a patient. patient or a stretcher girth support, these patient support arrangements being well known and used with

  lifting devices without the possibility of weighing.

  The structure of the basic lifting apparatus of FIG. 4 also differs with respect to the lifting mechanism, the column 22 in this case not being of the telescopic type. Instead, a trolley is provided. (not shown) movable along the hollow rectangular column 22, carriage on which is fixed the short inner end portion of the arm so as to pass through a longitudinal slot 24 formed in the front side face of the column 22 This arm portion 23 comprises a flange 25, identical to the flange plate 10, for fixing the load cell 9 Thus, in this case also, the arm 3 undergoes a rectilinear movement

  in translation during the ascent and descent of the arm.

  The particular shape of the load cell 9 and its disposition on the arm, making it possible to obtain a cell which is sensitive only to the shearing forces exerted on the arm and which is substantially independent of the bending moments on the one Hereby, it is possible to use an outer arm portion 20 of any desired length and any patient support device. Of course, it will be appreciated that, for reasons of stability, the arm and support arrangements must be always be adapted to the configuration of the chassis 1 so that the suspended weight acts inside the supported zone

bounded by the casters la.

Claims (7)

  A patient lifting apparatus with the possibility of weighing and comprising a vertical support structure, a cantilevered rigid lifting arm protruding from the support structure and carrying or adapted to carry a support member patient provided at the outer end of the arm away from the support structure and a lifting mechanism for raising or lowering the arm, characterized in that the arm (3) moves up and down in a rectilinear path and that a load cell (9) which comprises a tensiometer or transducer displacement measuring device (18) is incorporated in the arm at an intermediate position therealong and is arranged to be responsive to shear stresses exerting on the arm (3) when the arm is under load, associated electronic indication and detection circuits (U) providing an indication of the weight of the patient supported ar the organ of patient support (4).   Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the support structure comprises a vertical column   (2) carried by a movable frame (1).   Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the electronic circuits are mounted on the   support structure (2) or on the arm (3) between the structure   ure of support and the load cell (9).   Apparatus according to any of the claims   preceding, characterized in that the load cell (9) is mounted in the arm (3) near the structure of support (2).   Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the load cell (9) is flanged between a short section (7) protruding from the support structure (2), which constitutes an inner end portion of the arm (3), and an outer portion of an arm   longer that supports the patient support member.   Apparatus according to any one of the claims   previous, characterized in that the load cell consists of a rectangular metal block having a symmetrical lateral cutout (14) leaving upper and lower webs (15, 16) which connect portions of the arm between which the cell load (9) is arranged and which flex under the shear load exerted on the arm in the manner of a parallelogram without pivot.   7 Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that a central chord (17) of the load cell (9) extends through the cutout (14) thereof along the neutral axis of the arm (3) and tensiometers (18) are fixed on   said central members (17) for detecting deformity said parallelogram.