GB2219201A - Side walls for a bed - Google Patents

Abstract

Sides for a bed 18 comprising a sheet 20 extending beneath the bed and beyond each side thereof. Eyelets 24 are provided on the sheet's corners, one pair of eyelets detachably engageable with clips 26 on either side of the bed head and the other pair detachably engageable with legs 30 mountable on the bed rails 10. The legs 30 are movable between an in use upright position, and an out of use position lying on and along the bed rails. A roof may also be provided for attachment to the bed. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in or Relating to Beds The present invention concerns improvements in or relating to sides for beds, especially but not exclusively hospital beds and cots.

In many instances it is found necessary to provide a patient with a bed having sides. Presently this need is satisfied either by placing a patient in a bed which is provided with sides, that is a cot, or alternatively by fixing metal sides especially made for the purpose to the bed. In both instances the exercise can be time consuming and laborious and the cot thereby provided has hard sides which can injure a disturbed patient colliding .with them.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate these disadvantages.

According to the present invention there is provided sides for a bed comprising a sheet whose length is no more than the length of the bed and whose width is greater than the width of the bed whereby when the sheet is placed below the mattress of the bed its sides can be drawn up alongside and above the sides of the mattress, attachment means for the sheet fixed to the bed and corresponding attachment points in the sheet at or near its corners.

Preferably the sheet is formed from a reticular material manufactured from a synthetic plastics resin, for example polypropylene.

Preferably the attachment means comprises first means attachable to the bed head and adapted to receive the attachment points on the upper corners of the sheet and legs attachable to the bed rails and having second means at or near their upper ends adapted to receive the attachment points on the lower corners of the sheet.

Preferably the legs are pivotally mounted in a clamp by means of pins housed in slots in the clamp, the pins being movable down the slots after pivoting the legs to the upright position. Preferably the slots are 'L' shaped with an open upper end and an upper and a lower pin is provided on each leg, the lower pin being engageable in the base of the 'L' when the leg is in the upright position to maintain it in said position.

Alternatively the legs may be engageable with the clamp to maintain it in said upright position.

Preferably the edges of the sheet which, in use, form the upper edges of the sides of the bed are provided with stiffening tapes. Preferably the stiffening tapes includes one member of a strip fleeceand-hook fastening.

Preferably a further sheet having other members of the fleece and hook fastening along its edges is provided to form a top for the bed, the further sheet having attachment points co-operable with the legs and bed head attachment means.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a bed, bed sides and a top therefor, and Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a clamp member.

A bed includes two longitudinal bed rails 10 fixed to a bed head 12 having two uprights 14 and a cross member 16. A standard mattress 18 is supported on the bed.

Sides for the bed are provided by a sheet of woven polypropylene reticular material 20 whose length is less than the length of the mattress and whose width is equal to the width of the mattress plus twice the depth of the mattress plus twice the height of a side above the top of the mattress.

Each edge 22 of the sheet forming the sides is bound with a relatively stiff tape 22 stitched there to and is provided with attachment points in the form of brass eyelets 24 at each end thereof.

An attachment means in the form of an eyelet clip 26 is clamped at an appropriate height to each upright 14 of the bed head by any suitable removable clamp means and a further eyelet clip 28 is provided near the free end of each of a pair of legs 30 fixed to the bed rails 10 by removable clamp means 32, which are illustrated in more detail in Fig. 2.

The clamp means 32 each comprise an upper channel member 34, each limb 36 of which is provided with an 'L' shaped slot 38 with an open upper end. The leg 30 is made of tubular steel and is mounted within the channel member 34 and has two pairs of pivot pins 40, 41 projecting radially therefrom, the pins being pivotally and slidably mounted in the slots 38 with a lower pair 41 of the pins engageable in the base of the 'L' . A channel base plate 42 is provided. Each clamp means 32 is arranged so that when not in use, by lifting the leg 30 such that the upper pair 40 of the pins is lifted out of the slots 38 the leg 30 can be pivoted downwardly to lie along and on top of the bed rail 10. When in use the upper end of the leg 30 will be urged outwardly and the lower pair 41 will then engage in the base of the 'L' .A fixed plate 44 is arranged in facing relationship with the plate 42 at a distance therefrom which is greater than the depth of the bed rail. A bolt 46 having a handle 48 at one end is threadably mounted in the plate 44 and is rotatedly fixed at its end opposite the handle 48 to a clamping plate 50 which, on movement of the handle 48 moves towards or away from the fixed plate 42 to enable the clamp to be clamped to the bed rail 10.

In operation, the clamp means 26 and 32 are atlache(i al appropriate positions to a bed to be fitted the bed sides of the present invention and the sheet. 20 is located under the mattress with equally sized portions projecting on either side of the mattress.

The portions are raised to an upright position. The brass eyelets 24 are fixed to the eyelet clips 26,28 on the bed head and the leg tops. At this point the legs 30 are raised above the bed rails 10 but not in the final vertical position. After fixing the sheet 20 to the legs 30 the legs are pulled to the vertical position thereby tensioning the sides and when the legs 30 are in this position they can be dropped such that the lower pair 41 of pins drops fully into the slot 38 and engages in the base of the 'L' In view of the nature of the material forming the bed sides a patient colliding with or falling against them will not be injured as they will, to, a certain extent, yield to accommodate the patient but not sufficiently to allow the patient to fall out of the bed.

In a modification illustrated in Fig. 1 a roof is provided for the bed. This involves the clamping of a further attachmerlt means 60 at the centre of the cross member of the bed cnd, the attachment means 60 carrying an eyelet clip 62.

The stiffening tape 22 on each side of the bed has one member of a hook-and-fleece fastening (VELCRO, Registered Trade Mark) attached thereto along its length. The roof 64 is formed from two sheets of polypropylene reticular material 72,72' seamed along the centre such that the roof 64 defines an apex at the head of the bed. Lateral stiffening tapes are stitched to the edges of the roof 66 and have the co-operating members of the fleece and hook strip fastenings attached thereto. Eyelets 74 are provided at each end of the stiffening tape and the apex of the roof has a brass eyelet 70. It will be realised therefore that to provide a roof for the bed the brass eyelets 74 are fixed to the eyelet clips 28,26,60 respectively and the fleece and hook fastening along the lateral edges of the bed sides and the roof are pressed together.

Various other modification can be made without departing from the scope of the invention for example, any clamp means can be employed. The means for mounting the legs may vary, for example, they may comprise simple tubular steels legs mountable in sockets provided in the bed rail or they may include a combination of sockets and pins such that the legs can be pivoted when the legs are not fully in the sockets.

The material for providing the bed sides need not be a reticular material but could be a solid woven knitted or sheet material.

Claims (13)

1. Sides for a bed comprising a sheet whose length is no more than the length of the bed and whose width is greater than the width of the bed whereby when the sheet is placed below the mattress of the bed its sides can be drawn up alongside and above the sides of the mattress, attachment means for the sheet fixed to the bed and corresponding attachment points in the sheet at or near its corners.

2. Sides according to claim 1, in which the sheet is formed from a reticular material manufactured from a synthetic plastics resin.

3. Sides according to claim 2, in which the reticular material is polypropylene.

4. Sides according to any of claims 1 to 3, in which the attachment means includes first means attachable to the bed head and adapted to receive the attachment points on the upper corners of the sheet.

5. Sides according to claim'4, in which the attachment means includes legs attachable to the bed rails and having second means at or near their upper ends adapted to receive the attachment points on the lower corners of the sheet.

6. Sides according to claim 5, in which the legs are pivotally mounted in a clamp by means of pins housed in slots in the clamp, the pins being movable down the slots after pivoting the legs to the upright position.

7. Sides according to claim 6, in which the slots are 'L' shaped with an open upper end and an upper and a lower pin is provided on each leg, the lower pin being engageable in the base of the 'L' when the leg is in the upright position to maintain it in said position.

8. Sides according to claim 7, in which the legs are engageable with the clamp to maintain it in said upright position.

9. Sides according to any of the preceding claims, in which the edges of the sheet which, in use, form the upper edges of the sides of the bed are provided with stiffening tapes.

10. Sides according to claim 9, in which the stiffening tapes includes one member of a strip fleeceand-hook fastening.

11. Sides according to claim 10 when dependent on claim 5, in which a further sheet having other members of the fleece and hook fastening along its edges is provided to form a top for the bed, the further sheet having attachment points co-operable with the legs and bed head attachment means.

12. Sides for a bed substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

13. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter herein disclosed, wheth.er or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.