GB2470487A

GB2470487A - A bed ladder for a bedridden patient

Info

Publication number: GB2470487A
Application number: GB1008479A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Bill Jones
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-05-23
Filing date: 2010-05-21
Publication date: 2010-11-24
Also published as: GB201008479D0

Abstract

An aid to enable bedridden patients to move along a bed, e.g. into a sitting position, comprises a ladder-like member 10 having several cross-pieces 12 extending between a pair of longitudinal members 14, and a turned-up loop portion 16 serving as an abutment member which abuts against the foot of the bed frame. In use, the occupant of the bed engages the rungs 12 of the ladder with his/her feet to facilitate movement along the bed thus avoiding the problem of slipping feet on the bed sheets and being able to reposition themselves without requiring assistance from nursing staff. The rungs of the ladder may be formed on straight sections extending between the supports or they can have curved ends so that the rungs lie in a different plane to that of the longitudinal supports [as shown in Fig.6].

Description

Bedridden patients aid.

The mvention relates to a bedridden persons aid, primarily intended for use by hospital patients with limited mobility.

Some hospital patients, for example those having had surgery on a knee joint by reason of which they are temporarily bedridden, find it very difficult to move themselves along their beds when they need to sit up for meals or for any other purpose. Nursing staff are reluctant to offer assistance, and in fact are instructed not to do so because so many nurses have been quite seriously hurt in the past whilst rendering assistance. It is now regarded as best practice for such assistance not to be given, with the result that it is now vitally important for patients to be provided with every aid which they can possibly find of assistance in moving entirely by their own power. The initial cost of providing such aids can be more than offset by the savings made in staff absences and compensation payments for injuries caused by rendering assistance. However, a further and vitally important consideration is that any aid provided, whatever its purpose, must be able to be kept clean to a very high standard of cleanliness, preferably by the simple expedient of being wiped clean at regular intervals with the use of a suitable disinfectant capable of removing any harmful micro-organisms.

According to the invention, there is provided a bediidden persons aid in the form of a ladder-like member having a main part formed by a number of cross-pieces extending between a pair of spaced apart longitudinal members, the aid, when placed on the patients bed, being useable by the patient engaging his or her feet with said cross-pieces, to facilitate movement along the bed, one end of the aid having aportion turned at a right angle to said main part and serving as an abutment member against the bed frame. The cross-pieces extending between the pair of spaced apart longitudinal members may be straight and located in the same plane as said longitudinal members. Alternatively, said cross-pieces may be of humped shape. The construction of the aid, in particular the manner in which the surfaces of the cross-pieces merge smoothly into the surfaces of the spaced longitudinal members, may be such as to ensure that the aidisfreefromcrevicessothatitcaneasilybewipedcleanandfreefromany harrnf Iii micro-organisms. The cross-pieces will preferably be more closely spaced than a conventional ladder, that is to say with a spacing in the region of 150mm. The spacing of the longitudinal members may also be in the region of 150mm. The aid will preferably be made from stainless steel tube.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, particular constructions will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first example of a bedridden persons aid embodying the invention, Figure 2 is a detail view in the direction of arrow 2 in Figure 1, this being drawn to a larger scale than Figure 1, Figure 3 is a section along the line 3 -3 in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 of a second example of a bedridden persons aid embodying the invention, Figure 5 is a detail view in the direction of al-row 5 in Figure 4, drawn to a larger scale than Figure 4, Figure 6 is a perspective view of an aid very similar to that of Figure 4, again with several modifications, and Figure 7 is a view in the direction of anow 7 in Figure 6.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, the bedridden persons aid there illustrated has been made of stainless steel tube of about 23mm outside diameter and can be seen to be in the form of a ladder-like member having a main part, generally indicated 10, formed by a number of cross-pieces 12 extending between a pair of spaced longitudinal members 14. At one end of the aid the longitudinal members are turned up at a right angle and, at the end 16, form an upstanding loop; at its other end 18 a similar loop is formed in the same horizontal plane as the longitudinal members of the main part of the aid.

Referring now in particular to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the way in which the cross-pieces 12 have been secured to the longitudinal members 14 has involved the flattening of end portions of the lengths of tube forming the cross-pieces, and the subsequent welding of the flattened end portions to said longitudinal members. As shown, at each welded connection, the welding is at two different locations, that is to say at the extreme end of the cross-piece, indicated 20, and at the underside of the flattened end portion, indicated 22.

The welding at 20 closes off the crevises formed between the end surfaces of the flattened end portion of the respective cross-piece and the top surface of the top surface of the longitudinal member 14. The welding at 22 is to close off the crevise which would otherwise exist between the under surface of the flattened end of the cross-piece and the side surface of the longitudinal member. (It will be understood that, for the sake of clear illustration, the crevise closed by the weld 22 is shown in Figure 3 to be somewhat wider than it might be expected to be in practice).

In use, the aid can be placed on a bedridden persons bed with the upstanding loop 16 in contact with the bed frame at the foot of the bed. The person in the bed can then engage his or her feet with the cross-pieces of the main part of the device to facilitate his or her movement along the bed, whether requiring to sit up or for any other purpose.

It has been found that hospital patients who have haLf surgery to knee joints have found the aid to be particularly useflul. Without it they have found that their feet tend to slip easily on the bed sheets when they try to move. With the aid in place they have been able to move with relative ease without needing any assistance from the nursing staff Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in Figures 4 and 5 there is illustrated an aid very similar to that described above but having its cross-pieces located in the same plane as its longitudinal members. Also, as shown in Figure 5, the way in which the cross-pieces have been secured to said longitudinal members is different; in this case the end portions of the lengths of tube forming the cross-pieces have been shaped so that they become part-circular scalings for side surfaces of the longitudinal members. The subsequent welding of the cross-pieces to the longitudinal members will involve the use of a generous amount of weld metal all around each connection to ensure that the crevices produced are all effectively closed oft'. Weld metal is indicated 24 in Figure 5 by way of

example.

In Figures 6 and 7 there is illustrated a further modified form of aid in which the cross-pieces 120 (now only three in number and slightly wider spaced than before) are of humped shape so that the pressure applied to the aid by a patients feet is more in line with his or her body mass. The end portions of the lengths of tube forming the cross-pieces 120 have been shaped in the way illustrated in Figure 5 so that they become part-circular scalings for the longitudinal membersl40, that is to say for the upper surfaces of said longitudinal members in this case. It will be seen that the shapes at the opposite ends 160 and 180 of the aid are slightly different but that they still include generous radii so that the entire device can very easily be wiped clean.

In all the different designs of aid described above, the way in which the surfaces of the cross-pieces are made to merge smoothly into the surfaces of the spaced longitudinal members will ensure that the aid is free from crevices at those points. This feature also contributes towards the aid being very easily wiped clean and free from the dangerous micro-organisms which are at the present time a serious problem in many hospitals. (It will be seen that all the other features of construction of the illustrated examples are completely rounded and therefore free from any inherent crevices).

The aid could be made in different sizes to suit patients of different build.

However, it is thought that, in general, the overall length of the aid will need to be about one metre with the upstanding portion forming the abutment member against the bed frame being in the region of 200mm high. The cross-pieces have been spaced apart with a spacing in the region of 150mm to 200mm with the spacing of the longitudinal members also being in the region of 150mm to 200mm.

Various other modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the exact shape of the opposite ends of the aid is not important. That is to say, the opposite ends need not necessarily be of the shapes shown in the illustrated examples; they can be of any convenient shape, the only essential being to ensure that they are free from crevices and can still be wiped clean with relative ease. (It will be understood that the word crevice is used in this specification to include not only a narrow opening or fissure but a point at which surfaces meet at virtually a right angle so that, for example, a person wiping the area by hand with a damp cloth would be unable, or be very unlikely, to contact and clean effectively that point or area in its entirety).

The tubular material of which the cross pieces or wrungs of the aid are formed, and that of which the longitudinal members are formed, may be of either round section or of square section, but if of square section it will have generously rounded edges.

Claims

Claims 1. A bedridden persons aid in the form of a ladder-like member having a main part formed by a number of cross-pieces extending between a pair of spaced apart longitudinal members, the aid, when placed on the patients bed, being useable by the patient engaging his or her feet with said cross-pieces to facilitate movement along the bed, one end of the aid having a portion turned at a right angle to said main part and serving as an abutment member against the bed frame.
2. A bedridden persons aid according to claim 1, in which the cross-pieces extending between the pair of spaced apart longitudinal members are straight and located in the same plane as said longitudinal members.
3. A bedridden persons aid according to claim 1, in which the cross-pieces extending between the pair of spaced apart longitudinal members are of humped shape.
4. A bedridden persons aid according to claim 3, in which central sections of the cross-pieces are displaced from a plane containing the spaced apart longitudinal members by a distance in the region of 50mm to 70mm.
5. A bedridden persons aid according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the construction of the aid is such as to ensure that its sur&ces are smooth and free from crevices so that it can easily be wiped clean and free from any harmful micro-organisms.
6. A bedridden patients aid according to any one of the preceding claims, in which surfaces of the cross-pieces merge smoothly into the surfaces of the spaced longitudinal members to ensure that in those regions the aid is free from crevices and can easily be wiped clean and free from harmful micro-organisms.
7. A bedridden patients aid according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the cross-pieces are spaced apart with a spacing in the region of 150mm to 200mm.
8. A bedridden patients aid according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the spacing of the longitudinal members is in the region of 150mm to 200mm
9. A bedridden patients aid according to any one of the preceding claims and made from stainless steel tube.
10. A bedridden patients aid constructed, arranged and adapted to be used substantially as bereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by Figs. 1 to 3 or Figs. 4 and 5 or Figs. 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.