GB2368317A

GB2368317A - Trolley with means to tilt a supported tray

Info

Publication number: GB2368317A
Application number: GB0026270A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Emile Gailis
Original assignee: Leec Ltd
Current assignee: Leec Ltd
Priority date: 2000-10-27
Filing date: 2000-10-27
Publication date: 2002-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 2020-10-27
Also published as: GB2368317B; GB0026270D0

Abstract

A trolley having a base 12 with wheels 18 and a body tray support 30 supports a body tray 50. The tray support 30 is connected to the base 12 by elevation means (60 fig 1), this is a scissor jack comprising a pair of leavers 61, 62 fixed at their base end (68) and slidably connected at their support end (69). A hydraulic piston 70 raises and lowers the elevation means. Tilting means 190 are provided which in combination with the operation of the elevation means (60) enable the tray 50 to be moved to a tilted position. A handle 21 with a stop 192 engages a handle (51) which prevents longitudinal movement, on lowering of the tray support 30 the tray 50 tilts; its upper end supported by the handle 21 and its lower end bing supported by the end tube 37 of the tray support 30. The tilting action means the production if fluids during an autopsy or embalming may be conveniently drained away.

Description

A TROLLEY

The present invention relates to a trolley for transporting body trays. Bodies prior to disposal by burial or incineration may undergo an autopsy at a mortuary or embalming at a funeral parlour.

In both cases, it is usually necessary for an operative to transport the body from a storage location, such as a refrigerator, to an operative location where the autopsy or embalming may take place.

Bodies are normally stored on elongate trays which define shallow tanks or sinks having a drainage opening at one end.

When conducting an autopsy or embalmment it is known to transfer the tray from a trolley onto a static support which defines an inclined support bed for the tray such that the tray is inclined downwardly towards its drainage end so as to facilitate drainage of body fluids from the tray during the autopsy or embalming operation.

A general aim of the present invention is to provide a trolley for body trays which is capable of transporting body trays in a generally horizontal orientation and which is also capable of inclining a body tray to facilitate drainage.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a trolley having a base having ground engagement means for enabling the base to be moved across a floor, a body tray support adapted to support a body tray generally horizontally, elevation means operatively connected between the base and body tray support for raising and lowering the body tray support between a lowermost position and a highermost position, and tilting means

mounted on the base for selective engagement with one end of a tray received on the tray support to arrest lowering movement of said one end of the tray when the tray support is lowered by the elevation means towards its lowermost position from a position above said tilting means to thereby cause the body tray to tilt.

Preferably the tray support is in the form of a horizontal conveyor, preferably a conveyor defined by a series of rollers, to thereby enable a body tray to be slidably moved longitudinally onto the trolley to a transport position.

Preferably stop means are provided which are engageable with the tray to maintain the tray at said transport position.

Preferably the tilting means is defined by an abutment which is engageable with said one end of the trolley. Preferably said abutment is located beyond said transport position (in the longitudinal direction of the tray) so as to be remote from said one end of the tray as it is raised and lowered by the elevation means.

Preferably the tray support is adapted to permit the tray to be moved beyond said transport position and that said one end is able to engage said abutment.

Preferably the abutment is height adjustable relative to said base so as to enable the overall height of the tray and its inclination to the base to be adjusted as desired.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of tilting a body tray on a trolley as defined above, the method including raising the tray support to a height above said tilting means,

moving the tray and/or tilting means so as to cause engagement of one end of the tray with the tilting means on lowering of the tray support towards its lowermost position, and continuing to lower the tray support to a desired height in order to cause the body tray to tilt by a desired amount.

Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a trolley according to an embodiment of the present invention showing the tray support at its lowermost and highermost positions; Figure 2 is a side view of the trolley of Figure 1 with a body tray shown at a tilted position.

Figure 3 is an end view of part of the trolley shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan view of part of the trolley shown in Figure 3.

Figures 6a and b are part sectional views taken along line VI-VI in Figure 5 showing a roller braking mechanism in different modes of operation.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing a manually operated hydraulic pump for actuating the elevation means.

Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing an electrically operated hydraulic pump for actuating the elevation means.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a trolley 10 having a base 12 which is preferably defined by a framework of metal tubes. The tube may be of steel or aluminium.

Preferably the framework, in plan, is rectangular and is made up of two side tubes 14 (only one of which is visible), two end tubes 15 and two crosstubes 16.

The base 12 is adapted for movement over the floor 13 by the provision of four jockey wheels 18 ; preferably each of which is mounted for 360 rotation about a vertical axis 19.

Preferably each wheel 18 is provided with a brake so as to enable the trolley to be securely retained at a desired position on the floor 13.

It will be appreciated that jockey wheels 18 are one example of ground engaging means which enable the trolley to be conveyed across a floor. Other types of ground engaging means, such as ball castors or rollers may be used.

At one end of the base 12, an upstanding framework 20 is attached which serves as a support frame for a handle 21 for an operative to grip for moving and steering the trolley.

The trolley 10 includes a body tray support 30 which is preferably in the form of a rectangular frame which supports a plurality of rollers 32.

The frame is preferably formed by two side tubes 36 and two end tubes 37.

The tubes are preferably formed of steel or aluminium.

The rollers 32 enable an elongate body tray 50 to be slid in its longitudinal direction onto and off the tray support by an operative pulling or pushing the tray 50 using handle 51 located at both ends of the tray 50.

Preferably the body tray support 30 horizontally supports the tray 50; this facilitates the loading and unloading of a tray onto/from the trolley and also does not encourage movement of the tray in one or other of its longitudinal directions once loaded onto the trolley.

A stop 35 is preferably provided which is engageable with a handle 51 at one end of the trap 50 so as to retain the tray 50 against longitudinal movement. Preferably the stop 35 is in the form of a removable hook member which overlaps handle 51.

As illustrated in Figures 5,6a and 6b, at least one of the rollers 32 may be provided with a brake 90 which acts to permit free rotation of the roller 32 or to prevent static of the roller 32.

Accordingly an operative may actuate of the brake 90 to prevent rotation of the roller 32 and thereby prevent horizontal movement of a body tray 50 supported thereon. The brake 90 may be provided either as an alternative to stop 25 or in addition to stop 35.

Preferably the brake 90 comprises an eccentric 91 fixedly mounted on a shaft 92. The shaft 92 is rotatably mounted on the frame 30 and is preferably provided with a handle 93 for causing rotation of the shaft 92.

At one rotary position of the shaft 92 (as seen in Figure 6a) the eccentric 91 is spaced from roller 32 and so permits free rotation of the roller 32.

At an other rotary position of the shaft 92, (as seen in Figure 6b) the eccentric 91 abuttingly engages the roller 32 and so prevents rotation of the roller 32.

Conveniently, handle 93 is located on the outer side of the end frame

member 37 which is located adjacent to handle 21 to facilitate access thereto for an operative when pushing the trolley using handle 21.

The tray support 30 is operatively connected to the base 12 by an elevation means 60. Preferably the elevation means 60 is in the form of a scissor jack arrangement comprising on each side of the base 12 a pair of levers 61,62 which are pivotally connected at a mid-location 63. Lever 61 is pivotally connected at one end 65 to the base 12 and is slidingly connected to the tray support 30 at its other end 66. Lever 62 is pivotally connected to the tray support 30 at its end 68 and is slidingly connected to the base 12 at its other end 69.

A hydraulic piston 70 (Figure 2) is connected between the base 12 and a cross-member 72 extending between the pair of levers 61 for deflecting the levers 61 and thereby causing the tray support 30 to be raised/lowered whilst maintaining the tray support 30 substantially horizontal.

Pressurised hydraulic fluid for raising the tray support 30 may be supplied by a manually operated pump 80 mounted on the framework 20 as illustrated in Figures 1,2 and 7. Alternatively, as illustrated in Figure 8 an electrically powered pump 150, conveniently mounted beneath the base 12 may be provided.

An electrical power source (not shown) such as a battery may also be conveniently mounted beneath base 12. A switch 151 for operating the pump 150 is conveniently mounted on the framework 20.

Tilting means 190 are provided, which in combination with operation of the elevation means 60 enable the tray 50 to be moved to a tilted position (as seen in Figure 2) and then returned to a horizontal position (as seen in Figure 1).

Preferably the tilting means is defined by handle 21 which is provided with a stop 192 that is engageable with handle 51 at one end of the tray 50 to prevent its longitudinal movement.

Accordingly, if the tray support 30 is raised to a position above the handle 21, it is possible to slide the tray 50 forwardly (after removal of stop 35) so that its end is directly above the handle 21. On lowering of the tray support 30, the stop 192 engages the end of the tray and continued lowering of the tray support 30 causes the tray 50 to tilt; its upper end being supported by the handle and its lower end being supported by the end tube 37 of the tray support 30.

Preferably the height of the handle 21 relative to the base 12 is adjustable so as to enable the degree of tilt or the overall height of the tray for a given degree of tilt to be adjusted.

Preferably as seen in Figures 3,4 height adjustment of the handle 21 is achieved by telescopically mounting the handle 21 in the framework 20 and providing clamping means for holding the telescopic connection at a desired position.

In this connection, handle 21 is preferably provided with a pair of depending arms 122 each of which is telescopically recovered within upright tubular frame members 123.

A locking mechanism 125 is provided for locking the telescopic position of arms 122 within frame members 123. The locking mechanism 125 preferably comprises a pair of rods 126 slidably received within handle 21 for longitudinal movement.

An actuator 124 is provided for moving the push rods 126 outwardly into locking engagement with respective arms 122. Preferably the actuator 124 comprises a screw threaded shaft 127 having an end formation 128 wedgingly engaged with inclined end faces 129 of push rods 126. A handle 13 is provided on shaft 127 to enable an operative to rotate shaft 127 and cause it to move its end formation 128 further between opposed end faces 125 (to cause push rods to move outwardly to lock arms 122).

Release of the arms 122 is achieved by rotating shaft 127 in the opposite direction.

Accordingly in operation, the handle 21 is raised to a desired height and fixed in position prior to lowering the tray onto it for tilting.

As shown in Figure 2, conveniently the trolley may be moved to a fixed sink 100 and then fixed in position on the floor by braking its wheels. The tray 50 may then be tilted such that its drainage end 52 overlaps the sink 100. An autopsy or embalming may then be performed on the tilted tray 50 with body fluids draining away into sink 100.

After completion of the operation, the tray 50 is returned to is horizontal position and then moved away on the trolley to a storage location.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A trolley having a base having ground engagement means for enabling the base to be moved across a floor, a body tray support adapted to support a body tray generally horizontally, elevation means operatively connected between the base and body tray support for raising and lowering the body tray support between a lowermost position and a highermost position, and tilting means mounted on the base for selective engagement with one end of a tray received on the tray support to arrest lowering movement of said one end of the tray when the tray support is lowered by the elevation means towards its lowermost position from a position above said tilting means to thereby cause the body tray to tilt.
2. A trolley according to Claim 1 wherein said tilting means is defined by an abutment which is engageable with said one end of the tray.
3. A trolley according to Claim 2 wherein said abutment is height adjustable relative to said base so as to enable the overall height of the tray and its inclination to the base to be adjusted as desired.
4. A Trolley according to Claim 1,2 or 3 wherein said tray support is in the form of a horizontal conveyor to thereby enable a body tray to be slidably moved longitudinally onto the trolley to a transport positions.
5. A trolley according to Claim 4 when depended on Claim 2 or 3 wherein stop means are provided which are engageable with the tray to maintain the tray at said transport position, said abutment being located beyond said transport position in the longitudinal direction of the tray so as to be remote from said one end of the tray as it is raised and lowered by the elevation means.
6. A trolley according to Claim 5 wherein said tray support is adopted to permit the tray to be moved beyond said transport position so that said one end is able to engage said abutment.
7. A trolley substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
8. A method of tilting a body tray on a trolley according to any of Claims 1 to 7, the method including raising the tray support to a height above said tilting means, moving the tray and/or tilting means so as to cause engagement of one end of the tray with the tilting means on lowering of the tray support towards its lowermost position, and continuing to lower the tray support to a desired height in order to cause the body tray to tilt by a desired amount.