GB2056378A

GB2056378A - Hospital patient transfer vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2056378A
Application number: GB8025176A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: MATBURN Ltd
Current assignee: MATBURN Ltd
Priority date: 1979-08-02
Filing date: 1980-08-01
Publication date: 1981-03-18
Also published as: FR2462903A1; DE3029228A1; GB2056378B; ZA804413B; JPS5623950A; AU6101180A

Abstract

A hospital patient transfer trolley has a movable base 1. A carrier unit is supported by a support column 5 on the base so that it can be raised and lowered and tilted. The carrier unit includes a pair of opposed carrier arms 7 movable between a closed position in which they can engage opposite sides of a patient supporting surface 8 of an operation table 9 and an open position in which they are disengaged from the opposite sides of the patient supporting surface. The carrier unit can be raised, lowered and tilted by hydraulic rams and can be opened and closed by a hydraulic ram. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Hospital patient transfer vehicles This invention relates to hospital patient transfer vehicles, hereinafter called trolleys.

A patient undergoing surgery has to be transferred from a hospital bed to an operation table and after the operation to be transferred from the operation table to the bed or to another trolley. For many reasons, it is desirable to keep the amount by which the patient has to be handled to a minimum.

In order to reduce the amount of patient handling, it has been proposed to make some operation tables with removable tops and to use such tables with movable transfer trolleys which can move onto the side or end of the table and engage a fork-like structure of the trolley beneath the top of the table and then lift and remove the table top and its supporting frame. This provides a relatively expensive patient transfer system because operation table tops and their supporting frames are inevitably rather expensive and for the system to be really useful it requires to be used with a table having more than one patient supporting top.

More recently, some operation tables have been proposed in which the patient supporting surface can be removed from its supporting frame so that it can be interchanged for another patient supporting surface which may, perhaps, be specifically designed to perform a particular kind of operation. These recently introduced operation tables have a patient supporting surface or top comprising four sections arranged in end to end relationship namely so-called upper and lower trunk sections, a head section and a leg section, the top having no inherent rigidity. No way has yet been provided of removing such a simple, and therefore inexpensive, nonrigid patient supporting surface from its supporting frame for the purpose of transferring a patient. An object of the present invention is to provide a way of removing this deficiency.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a hospital patient transfer trolley comprising a movable base, a carrier unit supported by the base so that it can be raised and lowered and tilted and including a pair of opposed carrier arms movable between a closed position in which they can engage opposite sides of a patient supporting surface of an operation table and an open position in which they are disengaged from the opposite sides of the patient supporting surface, means for raising, lowering and tilting the carrier unit, and means for opening and closing the carrier arms.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying schematic drawings in which: Figure 1 is an elevation of a patient supporting trolley and a surgical operation table, Figure 2 is an elevational view showing the trolley partly moved into engagement with the operation table, Figure 3 is an end view, and, Figure 4 is a plan view.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a hospital patient transfer trolley comprises a base 1 mounted on castor wheels 2 at one end and on fixed wheels 3 at the other end. A brake, not shown, operated by a pedal 4 is associated with the fixed wheels 3. A lift ram is movable in a central support column 5 mounted on the base.

The ram supports a carrier unit comprising a yoke 6 pivotally mounted on the ram and opposite carrier or grab arms 7. The ram is operable to position the carrier arms 7 at the same height as the patient supporting top 8 of a surgical operation table generally designated 9. The ram is preferably a hydraulic ram, but it may be operated by air pressure or by electrical or mechanical means or by a combination of any of these.

The trolley can be moved endwise of the table 9 as shown in Figure 2 until the base 1 of the trolley straddles the base 10 of the table and the carrier arms 7 of the trolley lie on opposite sides of the top 8 of the table 9. The carrier arms 7 are then closed together to grip the sides of the table 8 and to impart rigidity to the removable top 8, the top having no inherent rigidity as it is designed to flex as part of the table movement. The trolley can then be moved away from the end of the table carrying the top with it. When the trolley and the table top 8 have been removed, the patient can remain lying on the table top 8 for the purposes of recovery or while he is being wheeled to a bed or to another transfer trolley.

The various movements of the carrier unit are controlled by a selector mechanism, not shown, mounted on the base.

The carrier arms 7 of the trolley are carried by horizontal support arms 14 mounted on the yoke 6. These arms 14, can be extended or retracted i.e.

moved to open or closed positions, to adjust the spacing between the opposed carrier arms 7.

Thus, the arms can be opened as shown in broken lines in Figure 3 to permit them to pass on either side of a table top 8 as shown in Figure 2 or they can be closed together (as shown in full lines in Figure 3) to grip the opposite sides of the top 8 and to impart rigidity to the various sections of the table top. The opening and closing of the carrier arms is effected by a hydraulic ram 15, or by air pressure, mechanical or electrical means or by a combination of any of these.

The carrier arms 7 have opposite internal channels 16 in which the edge portion of the table top 8 may be received. Side rails 11 are mounted on the outside of the carrier arms so that equipment, such as for example, a drip set can be fitted to the trolley.

The trolley also has a tilt ram 12 movable in a cylinder 13. This ram 12 is operable to tilt the trolley unit so that a patient being supported on the trolley may be placed in a Trendelenburg position. As shown in the drawings, the ram 12 is hydraulically operated but it may, if desired, be operated by air pressure or by electrical or mechanical means or by a combination of any of these.

Claims

1. A hospital patient transfer trolley comprising a movable base, a carrier unit supported by the base so that it can be raised and lowered and tilted and including a pair of opposed carrier arms movable between a closed position in which they can engage opposite sides of a patient supporting surface of an operation table and an open position in which they are disengaged from the opposite sides of the patient supporting surface, means for raising, lowering and tilting the carrier unit, and means for opening and closing the carrier arms.

2. A trolley as claimed in claim 1, in which the carrier arms have opposite internal channels in which edge portions of a patient supporting surface can be received.

3. A trolley as claimed in either preceding claim, wherein the carrier unit includes a yoke pivotally mounted on a vertically movable ram supported on the movable base, support arms on which the carrier arms are mounted and a hydraulic ram connected with the support arms and operable to move the support arms, and with them the carrier arms, between open and closed positions.

4. A trolley as claimed in claim 3 comprising a tilt ram connected with the yoke and operable to tilt the yoke about its pivot.

5. A hospital patient transfer trolley substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.