JPH07231917A - Waiting vehicle and waiting method in hospital - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a waiting method greatly reducing the labor of waiting work in a hospital and provide an unmanned selfpropelling vehicle and a waiting vehicle fitted to the waiting method. CONSTITUTION:An unmanned self-propelling vehicle is automatically driven along the track laid on the passage starting from the first container guide C provided in the vicinity of the cooking room provided to the first basement and ending at the second container guides C1-C3 provided to the pantry stations P1-P3 in the vicinity of the entrance and exits of the second - fourth floors (sickroom floors) of the exclusive elevator E1 of an A-ward and the passage starting from the first container guide C1 and ending at the second container guides C4-C8 provided to the pantry stations P4-P8 in the vicinity of the entrance and exits of the second - fifth floors of the exclusive elevators E2 of a B-ward and a writing vehicle is held just above the unmanned self-propelling vehicle to be drawn. At the time of waiting, the waiting vehicle is automatically driven from the cooking room M to the respective pantry stations P1-P8 and cut off from the unmanned self-propelling vehicle by the waiting persons of the respective floors to be transported to the respective sickrooms to spread dinners held to proper temp. to inpatients.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for serving inpatients (meal serving system) mainly in a hospital (including a nursing facility similar to a hospital such as a nursing home) and a structure of a serving car used for the same. In particular, the present invention relates to an automated serving system aiming at reducing the labor burden of serving.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various problems have been pointed out regarding meals for inpatients in nursing facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes.

First, the meal cost is set to a considerably low price, and the quality of the meal is unsatisfactory for the patient and is unpopular.

Secondly, the cooking room and the ward are often separated from each other, and it takes a long time to carry and serve meals in a large hospital with a large number of inpatients. There was a problem that warm rice, miso soup, etc. would get cold, and cold desserts and drinks would become lukewarm, and the delicious dishes that had been prepared would not be good enough.

Thirdly, with a limited number of nurses, the task of serving a large number of patients requires a great deal of labor and attention, and there is a problem that the mentally and physically labor burden of a weak nurse is too large. It was

Regarding the second and third problems among the above problems, a wagon that can store and carry a large number of dishes serves to improve the transportation efficiency and shorten the serving time.

Further, the interior of the above-mentioned serving car is divided into a refrigerating room and a warming room by an insulating wall, and a refrigerator equipped with a battery and an electric heater enable the serving work while keeping each room in an appropriate temperature state. A wagon, which has the function of keeping food at an appropriate temperature until an inpatient actually eats, has also been devised and put into practical use.

The above-mentioned delivery car is becoming popular mainly in large hospitals, and the meal environment for inpatients is improving.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional food delivery car having a refrigerating compartment and a warming compartment. The heating compartments 1 provided on the left and right sides of the center of the serving compartment 10 are provided with an electric heater 70 embedded in the wall surface. The temperature inside the refrigerating chambers 2 on the left and right is kept at 10 ° C. or lower at all times by the refrigerator 3 provided above the catering car, and each of the dozens of servings placed on the tray is served. The food can be transported at a time while keeping the proper temperature for serving and lowering.

In addition to the above-mentioned basic functions, the catering car 10 has front wheels 4 and rear wheels 5 which are rotatably arranged on the bottom of the catering car body.
And a fixed turntable 6 fixedly arranged between the front wheels and the rear wheels.
In addition to the above, the generally contradictory performances of straight traveling property and turning property are both excellent, and the device is easy to handle.

That is, since the turning fixed wheel 6 is levitated from the ground contact surface by the foot-operated lever 7 and only the freely rotatable front wheels 4 and rear wheels 5 contact the ground contact surface, the catering wheel 10 can be moved laterally. Therefore, it becomes easy to operate in a narrow place and the like, and conversely, when the turning fixed wheel 6 comes into contact with the ground contact surface, the wheels are always directed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. As the straightness of the catering car is improved, it becomes easier to control the movement of the corridor. However, the fixed swing vehicle 6 by the foot-operated lever 7
Switching is a heavy operation for a nurse.

When the serving work in the hospital is performed by the serving car 10 as described above, first, the dishes are cooked in the cooking room attached to the first floor or the basement of the hospital, and the dishes on the tray are charged in advance with the battery. The hot and cold storage rooms are housed in a car that is kept at an appropriate temperature, and the catering staff (nurse) pulls the car and transports it to the hospital room on each floor using a normal elevator, and then the pantry station. (In some cases, it is a so-called nurse station.) In cooperation with other nurses who have been waiting, they serve catering to each inpatient.

[0013]

As described above, an inpatient in a hospital is in the bed of each ward of each ward, and the nurse in charge of each floor is supposed to set up and down the set one by one.・ Shimozen work generally required a lot of work.

That is, the weight of the normal size of the catering car is 200
Since it weighs about kg, it is necessary to pay close attention to safety when transporting, and usually from the cooking room on the first floor or the basement to each ward (in a large hospital, several high-rise wards of about 10 stories are lined up. It is not difficult to imagine that each nurse's room is a considerable distance and the elevator must also be used, so that the burden on the nurse is great both for nerves and body.

Further, since a large number of nurses are engaged in the catering work during the meal time in the morning and evening, the usual nursing work becomes thin.

[0016] Therefore, if it is possible to save the trouble of transporting the catering car from the cooking room, which has nothing to do with the nursing work, to each ward, it is extremely safe, and the catering work becomes efficient, and the nurse's catering work is performed. There is no doubt that this will be a good news for the hospital as a result of a significant reduction in the labor burden, and for hospitals as well, in line with the future charge for meal costs for inpatients.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a hospital, particularly a large hospital, the cooking room and the hospital room of each ward are distant from each other, and a great deal of labor is required for the nurse's catering work. In this case, there is provided a catering vehicle and a catering method (system) capable of reducing the labor of catering work and improving the catering efficiency.

[0018]

According to the present invention, (1) a passage starting from a first container guide provided near a cooking room of a hospital and ending at a second container guide provided at a pantry station on each floor of a building. An unmanned self-propelled vehicle that is automatically driven along a track laid on the unmanned self-propelled vehicle, and a delivery car that is held directly above the unmanned self-propelled vehicle and is towed;
At the time of serving, the catering car is automatically driven from the cooking room to each of the pantry stations at the time of catering, and then the catering staff on each floor separates the catering car from the unmanned self-propelled vehicle and carries only the catering car to each hospital room. The above object is achieved by disclosing a catering method in a hospital, which is characterized in that the patient is catered to an inpatient.

(2) Further, by providing a photoelectric sensor arranged on the upper surface of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle and two to four lock pins that move up and down by an electric circuit using the photoelectric sensor as a switch on the upper surface of the self-propelled vehicle. Is placed on an unmanned self-propelled vehicle, the photoelectric sensor senses the vehicle directly above and the lock pin projects upward and is fitted into a fitting hole provided on the bottom of the vehicle to serve the serving. By providing an unmanned self-propelled vehicle and a catering car, characterized in that the horizontal movement of the vehicle is held by a lock pin and is configured to be towed following the movement of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle. The above-mentioned problems are achieved.

(3) Further, in the catering car having a front wheel and a rear wheel rotatably arranged on the bottom of the catering car body, and a turning fixed wheel fixedly arranged between the front wheel and the rear wheel, the catering car An electric switch circuit including a photoelectric sensor attached to the bottom surface, a DC motor, a gear box, a cam shaft, and a spring, so that the fixed rotating vehicle can be moved toward and away from the ground surface. By providing the vehicle levitation device, the photoelectric fixed sensor works to automatically levitate the turning fixed vehicle from the ground contact surface in a state where the catering vehicle is located on the unmanned self-propelled vehicle (2). The above object is achieved by providing a catering car.

[0021]

In the method of serving food in a hospital according to claim 1 of the present invention, an unmanned self-propelled vehicle which is generally used for transporting goods in a large factory is used.

Since this unmanned self-propelled vehicle automatically pulls the serving car, it is not necessary for the nurse to pull the serving car (usually having a weight of about 200 kg) from the kitchen to each floor of each ward, and at the time of serving After the catering car is automatically operated from the cooking room to each of the pantry stations, the nurse on each floor separates the catering car from the unmanned self-driving car and carries only the catering car to each hospital room near the same floor and is an inpatient Since it is done according to the procedure of servicing, it is safe and greatly reduces labor.

The first container guide provided in the vicinity of the cooking room of the hospital and the second container guide provided in the pantry station on each floor of the ward serve as a station (standby state) for the above-mentioned unmanned self-driving car, and serve as a catering car and unmanned self-propelled car. Connection with car
Detachment is done.

A track (for example, a tape having a high reflectance taped on the floor) is laid in a passage starting from the first container guide and ending at the second container guide, and the unmanned vehicle is equipped with a photoelectric sensor. The control device controls the drive motor and the steering device to perform unmanned traveling.

Each of the front and rear wheels of the above-mentioned catering car can freely rotate, so that it is easy to follow the automatic driving of an unmanned vehicle.

Next, in the unmanned self-propelled vehicle and the catering car according to the second aspect of the present invention, the catering car and the unmanned self-propelled car are automatically connected. That is, the photoelectric sensor arranged on the upper surface of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle and the lock pins 2 to 4 that move up and down by an electric circuit using the switch as the switch are provided on the upper surface of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle. When the photoelectric sensor senses that the car comes directly above, the lock pin protrudes upward and is inserted into the fitting hole provided on the bottom of the car, so that the car is horizontal. The movement in the direction is held by the lock pin. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually connect the catering vehicle and the unmanned self-driving vehicle each time, and an accident of forgetting to connect will not occur.

Next, the vehicle according to claim 3 of the present invention is fixedly arranged between the front and rear wheels and the front and rear wheels rotatably arranged on the bottom of the main body of the vehicle to increase the straightness. And a rotating fixed wheel configured as described above, which includes an electric switch circuit including a photoelectric sensor attached to the bottom of the vehicle, a DC motor, a gear box, a cam shaft, and a spring. A turning fixed vehicle levitation device is provided.

In the normal state, the cam is oriented vertically, and the fixed fixed wheel is kept in contact with the ground contact surface while compressing the spring.

On the other hand, when the fixed turning vehicle is levitated, the cam rotates 90 degrees to the side by the DC motor, the spring relaxes and lifts the fixed turning vehicle, and thus the fixed fixed vehicle floats above the ground surface. It becomes a state.

The slewing fixed vehicle levitation device operates when it is connected to the unmanned self-propelled vehicle through the first and second container guides, and the slewing fixed vehicle floats above the ground contact surface during automatic operation. Therefore, the fixed turn vehicle does not interfere with the automatic driving by the unmanned self-driving vehicle, and the followability is improved.

After disconnecting the serving car from the unmanned self-propelled car,
It is configured such that the fixed vehicle for turning can be freely contacted and separated by a switch on the hand of the puller (in this case, the photoelectric switch is closed in a circuit manner). Therefore, unlike the conventional case, the operation by the foot-operated lever is not necessary, and the switching can be easily performed at hand.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a serving vehicle and a serving method in a hospital according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual view of a system for explaining a catering method in a hospital according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of a catering vehicle and an unmanned self-propelled vehicle in a container guide, and FIG. 3 is a catering vehicle and an unmanned self-propelled vehicle. It is a side view at the time of towing.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the catering vehicle, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining the mechanism of the turning fixed vehicle levitation device.

In FIG. 1, the feature of the serving method in the hospital according to the present invention is that the elevator for exclusive use in the ward A starts from the first container guide C0 provided in the vicinity of the cooking room M on the first basement floor of the hospital. Pantry station P1 near the entrance to the 2nd to 4th floors of E1 (the floor with the sickroom)
2-5 of the exclusive elevator E2 of the ward B and the passage which ends in the 2nd container guide C1-C3 provided in -P3
The front view of FIG. 2 and the side view of FIG. 3 which are automatically operated along the track L laid in the passage terminating at the second container guides C4 to C8 provided in the pantry stations P4 to P8 near the floor entrance and exit are shown in FIG. Unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11 as shown
And a serving car 20 which is held and towed directly above the unmanned self-driving car 11, and when serving, after the serving car 20 is automatically driven from the cooking chamber M to each of the pantry stations P1 to P8. The person in charge of catering on each floor separates the catering car 20 from the unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11 and carries only the catering car 20 to each hospital room so that the inpatient can have a meal maintained at a proper temperature.

Here, the pantry station is a small room or a catering room for storing tableware and food, and in a hospital, a nurse station waiting for a nurse may be an alternative or continuous room.

On the other hand, the first and second container guides are the starting and ending stations of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11, and are located on both sides of the towed vehicle 20 as shown in the front view of FIG. The guide rollers 16 attached to the wheel guide rails 15 are used to hold the wheels, so that the wheels can be safely put in a standby state.

Further, the tracks L1 and L2 are, for example, tapes having a high reflectance applied to the floor.
The unmanned traveling is performed by controlling the drive motor and the steering device so as to follow the tape stretched on the passages L1 and L2 by the photoelectric sensor which emits detection light downward and a computer circuit (not shown).

In the catering system shown in FIG. 1, the catering car 20 and the battery charging device 12 of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11 and the charging station 13 are provided in the vicinity of the first container guide CM. It is shown.

The unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11 comprises a drive / steering device using a motor, a track tracking device using a photoelectric sensor,
A rechargeable battery and a control device are elements, and the mechanism is equivalent to an unmanned self-propelled vehicle used for highly automated material transportation in factories, and a detailed description is omitted.

Next, the catering car 20 and the unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11 may be connected by using some kind of locking means, but the present inventor saves the time and effort of the connection and ensures the connection. In order to avoid forgetting to connect, the connection was automated (claim 2).

That is, in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, there are two photoelectric sensors 12 arranged on the upper surface of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11, and two lock pins 13 which are moved up and down by an electric circuit using them as a switch. It is provided near the center,
When the delivery car 20 is placed on an unmanned self-propelled vehicle, the photoelectric sensor 12 senses that the delivery car 20 is directly above, and the lock pin 13 is projected upward and is fitted on the bottom face of the delivery car. Since it is inserted into the dowel hole 14, the horizontal movement of the food cart 20 is held by the two lock pins 13. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually connect the catering vehicle 20 and the unmanned self-driving vehicle 11 each time, and an accident of forgetting to connect will not occur.

Needless to say, the vertical movement of the lock pin 13 can be easily realized by using an electric circuit for driving a solenoid valve or an actuator.

Next, the vehicle 3 according to claim 3 of the present invention
As can be seen from the side view of the bottom portion of the main body 30 of the delivery car 30 shown in FIG. 4 and the perspective view for explaining the mechanism of FIG. 5, 0 is between the front wheel 4 and the rear wheel 5 and the front wheel and the rear wheel which are rotatably arranged. And a turning fixed wheel 6 fixedly arranged to increase the straightness, and an electric switch circuit 32 (operated by a battery 36) including a photoelectric sensor 21 attached to the bottom of the vehicle. , DC motor 22, gearbox 23a (including worm gear 24 and worm wheel 25) and gearbox 23b (two bevel gears 2)
8), a cam shaft 26 (cams 29 provided with rollers for performing a smooth cam operation are fixed to both ends), and a spring 27 (compression coil spring having an upper end rotatable). A fixed wheel levitation device 40 that is fixed to the main body of the vehicle and has a spring shaft 31 fitted with a spring at its lower end.

In order to provide straightness, D in FIG.
The cam shaft 26 is rotated by the C motor 22 as shown by the arrow, and the spring 27 is set so that the cam 29 stands in the vertical direction.
The frame 35 that holds the turning fixed wheel 6 while compressing is pushed down with the shaft 34 pivotally attached to the car body as an axis. When the cam 29 is completely standing on the frame 35, the cam 29 stabilizes, and the fixed swivel wheel 6 contacts the ground contact surface. FIG. 4 shows this state.

Next, in order to give the turning ability, the DC motor 22 is rotated in the opposite direction to rotate the cam 29 by 90 degrees in the reverse direction. Then, the compressed spring 27 relaxes and lifts the frame 35, so that the turning fixed wheel 6 floats.

The support is kept in contact with the ground plane.

On the other hand, when the fixed swing vehicle is levitated, the cam rotates 90 degrees by the DC motor to turn sideways, the spring relaxes and lifts the fixed swing vehicle, so that the fixed swing vehicle floats above the ground surface. It becomes a state.

The above fixed slewing device 40 for turning fixed vehicle is operated by the photoelectric sensor 21a which directs the detection light downward, and the first and second container guide CMs shown in FIG.
It is set to operate when connected to the unmanned self-propelled vehicle 11 at C1 to C8, and the fixed turn vehicle is lifted from the ground contact surface during the automatic driving.

Therefore, the fixed turn vehicle 6 automatically floats up during automatic driving by an unmanned self-driving vehicle and does not interfere with the automatic running, and the followability is improved.

After disconnecting the serving car from the unmanned self-propelled car,
It is configured such that the fixed vehicle for turning can be freely contacted and separated by a switch on the hand of the puller (in this case, the photoelectric switch is closed in a circuit manner).

Therefore, it is not necessary to operate with a foot-operated lever as in the conventional case, and even a weak nurse can easily switch between turning and going straight at hand.

[0053]

The serving vehicle and the serving method in a hospital according to the present invention have the following effects because they are configured as described above.

(1) In the present invention, it is possible to save the labor of delivering a catering car from the cooking room, which has nothing to do with the nursing work, to each ward, and it is extremely safe and the catering work becomes efficient. , It has the excellent effect that the labor burden of the nurse's catering work is significantly reduced.

(2) Further, the serving car and the unmanned self-propelled vehicle are automatically connected to each other, and there is an excellent effect that an accident of forgetting to connect does not occur because it is not necessary to manually perform the connection.

(3) Further, there is an excellent effect that the fixed vehicle for turning automatically floats up during automatic driving by the unmanned self-driving vehicle and does not interfere with the automatic running, and the followability becomes good.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system conceptual diagram for explaining a serving method in a hospital according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a catering vehicle and an unmanned self-propelled vehicle in a container guide.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a catering vehicle and an unmanned self-propelled vehicle according to the present invention during towing.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the bottom portion of the main body of the serving car according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a mechanism of a fixed turning vehicle levitation device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a traditional vehicle having a refrigerating compartment and a warm compartment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Hot Storage Room 2 Cold Storage Room 3 Refrigerator 4 Front Wheel 5 Rear Wheel 6 Rotating Fixed Vehicle 7 Foot-operated Lever 10, 20, 30 Serving Vehicle 11 Unmanned Self-propelled Vehicle 12, 21, 21a Photoelectric Sensor 13 Lock Pin 14 Fitting Hole 15 Rear wheel 17 Swing fixed vehicle 20 Levitation device 22 DC motors 23a, 23b Gear box 26 Cam shaft 27 Spring 29 Cam 32 Electric switch circuit 35 (of fixed swivel vehicle) Frame 40 Swing fixed vehicle flotation device A, B Ward M Cooking room C0 First container guide C1-C8 Second container guide P1-P8 Pantry station L1, L2 Orbit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G05D 1/02 P

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Automatic operation is performed along a track laid in a passage starting from a first container guide provided near a cooking room of a hospital and ending at a second container guide provided at a pantry station on each floor of the building. Unmanned self-propelled vehicle, and a serving car that is held and towed directly above the unmanned self-driving car, and at the time of serving, each serving car is automatically driven from the cooking chamber to each of the pantry stations, and then on each floor. The method of servicing in a hospital, wherein the servicing staff separates the servicing car from the unmanned self-propelled vehicle and carries only the servicing car to each hospital room to serve the inpatient. 2. The vehicle is unmanned by providing a photoelectric sensor arranged on the upper surface of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle and 2 to 4 lock pins that move up and down by an electric circuit using the photoelectric sensor as a switch. When the photoelectric sensor is arranged on the self-propelled vehicle, the lock pin projects upward when the photoelectric sensor senses the vehicle directly above and is inserted into the fitting hole provided on the bottom surface of the vehicle so that An unmanned self-propelled vehicle and a catering car, characterized in that the movement in the horizontal direction is held by a lock pin and is towed following the movement of the unmanned self-propelled vehicle. 3. A delivery vehicle having front and rear wheels rotatably arranged on a bottom portion of the delivery vehicle main body, and a fixed swing vehicle fixedly arranged between the front and rear wheels, wherein the delivery vehicle is attached to a bottom surface of the delivery vehicle. Electrical switch circuit including a photoelectric sensor and DC
On the unmanned self-propelled vehicle, a turning fixed vehicle levitation device is provided, which is configured so that the turning fixed vehicle can be brought into and out of contact with the ground contact surface by a motor, a gear box, a cam shaft, and a spring. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the photoelectric sensor works in a state where the vehicle is located in the vehicle, and the fixed vehicle for turning automatically levitates from the ground contact surface.