GB2302672A

GB2302672A - Ambulance trolley with powered scissor linkage

Info

Publication number: GB2302672A
Application number: GB9513053A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Rixon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-06-27
Filing date: 1995-06-27
Publication date: 1997-01-29
Also published as: GB2302672A9; GB9513053D0

Abstract

The trolley is operator pushed and guided but is capable of being placed in the ambulance, or other vehicle, by one person unaided. The bottom wheeled chassis 1 is connected to a top patient carrying unit 2 by means of a powered scissor linkage 3. The actuator 4, which may be hydraulic or a low-voltage magnetic linear actuator, is controlled by push buttons 5 linked to a control unit 6 via a flying lead. When elevated, castors 7 attached to the front of the upper unit support most of the load on the vehicle's floor while the other end is supported by the attendant. After the chassis has been retracted the entire trolley is pushed, on its main castors 8, into the ambulance.

Description

SEMI-AUTOMATIC AMBULANCE TROLLEY This invention relates to an ambulance trolley and in particular to a trolley which,when in use with an injured or distressed patient,does not require to be physically lifted into or out of an ambulance or other vehicle.

Statistics in the U.K. reveal that 75% of all ambulance personnel who are injured at work invariably sustain back injuries whilst lifting or moving patients and much of this is due to the fact that the trollies currently in use require two attendants to lift it into or out of a vehicle and during these movements one person is liable to take an unduly high proportion of the load and are thereby strained or injured.The prior art reveals that much work has been reported in this area of automation of the ambulance stretcher trolley and pertinent examples are to be found in the teachings of U.S.5,063,624 which lists its innovation as a "twin jack bed" but which is simply a patient support base operated in the vertical or in the incline by hydraulic cylinders but restricted normally in use to areas with a plug-in mains electricity supply; or again in the teachings of the FR.2,546,4o2 where the trolly supports are rigidly held by inclined jambs whose bottom ends are articulated on the supports but whose top ends are guided in translation along the stretcher platform and can be locked at various positions by location into toothed racks and where the trolley can be manipulated single handed because as it is pushed against the tail-gate of a vehicle the reaction force starts to collapse and fold the supports and,as forward force is maintained, the unit folds as it progresses into the vehicle to leave a simple platform whose undercarriage is now unused except for its castors or wheels.There is a need therefore for an ambulance trolley which is semi-automatic in the sense that it is operator pushed and guided but which is capable of being placed in the ambulance,or other vehicle,by one person unaided. Such a trolley is the subject of the present invention where there is provided a semi-automatic ambulance trolley comprising a wheeled bottom chassis member which is connected to a top member,on which the patient rests,by means of a hydraulically driven scissors linkage system and where the top member is equipped with a front set of castors so that when the driven scissors linkage raises the top member to a level which allows the top pair of castors to contact the ambulance,or other vehicle's, floor the weight of the whole patient occupied unit can be borne between the castors on the vehicle's floor and the attendant at the other end of the unit so that thereafter the attendant can activate a low voltage linear actuator which retracts the undercarriage into the folded or closed position thus allowing the unit to be fully pushed into the vehicle and then locked in position for travelling.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the semi-automatic ambulance trolley in the folded or retracted position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the semi-automatic ambulance trolley in the raised or extended position.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the trolley in its raised or extended mode.

Referring to the drawings the semi=automatic ambulance trolley comprises a bottom wheeled chassis member 1 which is connected to a top patient carrying unit 2 by means of a scissors-like linkage 3 which is powered by a low voltage magnetic linear actuator 4 so that the trolley can have its patient carrying unit 2 raised or lowered by activation of the flying lead buttons 5 which are linked to the control box 6.When in use the ambulance attendant places the patient on the trolley at its lowest level and then fastens the safety straps whereupon he can now press the "Raise" button on 5 so that the trolley is elevated to a height which is slightly above the ambulance floor height but where the castors 7 can rest on the floor so that the attendant can hold the rear of the trolley in a level position, with most of the load on the ambulance floor via the castors 7,retract the chassis member 1 and thereafter push the entire trolley into the ambulance where it can be locked into the vehicle in the normal ambulance safety manner. When the ambulance arrives at a hospital the trolley is removed from the vehicle by reversing the above procedure. When inside hospitals the trolley can be raised or lowered to suit the height of beds,couches or operating tables without the need to handle or pickup the patient. Such trolleys can oe fitted with safety rails and when in hospital,with the unit at the desired height, these rails can be lowered and the patient "slid" across to transfer to the required situation on the hospital's equipment.

In practice the unit is conveniently made from aluminium tube with the wheels 8 horizontally opposed with brakes and on anti-static tyres,whereas the front castors 7 are rubber on nylon and supported on a single axel. Although the unit can have its lifting and lowering actions powered by hydraulic cylinders it is preferred to use low voltage magnetic linear actuators for this purpose.

Claims

1. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley comprising a wheeled bottom chassis member which is connected to a top member, on which the patient rests, by means of a hydraulically driven scissors linkage system and where the top member is equipped with a front set of castors so that when the driven scissors linkage raises the top member to a level which allows the top pair of castors to contact the Ambulance, or other vehicle's, floor the weight of the whole patient occupied unit can be borne between the castors on the vehicle's floor and the attendant at the other end of the unit so that thereafter the attendant can activate a low voltage linear actuator which retracts the undercarriage into the folded or closed position thus allowing the unit to be fully pushed into the vehicle and then locked in position for travelling.

2. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a wheeled bottom chassis member is connected to a top member by means of a low voltage linear actuator driven scissors linkage system.

3. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the driven scissor linkage means and the retracting undercarriage means are one and the same.

4. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley as claimed in any preceding claim including safety rails and, with the unit at the desired height, these rails can be lowered to permit patient transfer to an Hospital's equipment.

5. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley as claimed in any preceding claim which is made from metal, plastics or composite material, or from a combination of these materials but more conveniently aluminium tube.

6. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, Figs 1 to 3.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS 1. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley comprising a wheeled bottom chassis member which is connected to a top member, on which the patient rests, by means of a low voltage linear acutuator driven scissors linkage system and where the top member is equipped with a front set of castors so that when the driven scissors linkage raises the top member to a level which allows the top pair of castors to contact the Ambulance, or other vehicle's, floor the weight of the whole patient occupied unit can be borne between the castors on the vehicle's floor and the attendant at the other end of the unit so that thereafter the attendant can activate a low voltage linear actuator which retracts the undercarriage into the folded or closed position thus allowing the unit to be fully pushed into the vehicle and then locked in position for travelling.

2. A Semi-Automatic Ambulance Trolley as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a wheeled bottom chassis member is connected to a top member by means of a hydraulically driven scissors linkage system.