US146281A - Isaac m - Google Patents

Description

4shets--sheerr' l. M; Ranuras. Fracture Apparatus or I nval- Patented1an..6,`1s74gf f p1A lNvENT'oRl.

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I M. ananas. Fracture Apparatus or Invalid Bedsteads.' N0. 145,281.` a Patentedlan.6,1;874.

l wf/Wwf i @y am I. M. RHUDES. Fracture Apparatus or Invalid Bnedsteads. No, 146,281, Patenredm.6,1874.`

Ll. WITNESSES. L INV NToR.

` UNITED STATES PATENT N OFFICE.

` isAAC M. RHODES, OE HANCOCK, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT INY FRACTURE APPARATUS. "on lNvAuo-BEDSTEADS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1216,28] dated January. (iJ` 1874; application filed December 19, 1873.

To all whom it may concern: i

Beit known that I, IsAAC M. RHODES, of Hancock, in the county of Houghton and State of Michigan, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Fracture Apparatus and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to .the annexed drawings making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a longitudinal section of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view. Fig. 4 is a bottom view. Fig. 5 is a side view. Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, l0, and l1 are detail views of the forms. Fig. l2 is a side view of my apparatus when adjusted to a fracture of the lower extremities.

This invention has relationV especially to surgical apparatus which are intended for. use in the treatment of fractures of the lower limbs and diseases of the joints, and which are also useful as reclining couches and chairs for invalds. The essential features of my invention and improvements are, first, a fracture apparatus having joints for the hips and knees, which are adjustable and capable of being set so as to exactly coincide with the axes of articulation of the hip and knee joints of different persons for the purpose of allowing movements to be given to the body of a patient, or to the lower limbs, without displacement or in i any manner interfering with the adopted treatment, as will be hereinafter explained; second, a bed or stretched support for the body and lower limbs, which is held under constant and uniform tension during and after any adjustment of the back, the seat, or the lower leg sections, as will be hereinafter explained 5 third, certain novel means for raising and lowering the sections at the knee-joints, and for elongating or shortening the thigh sections to adapt the apparatus to persons of different sizes, and also to the kind of treatment which the circumstances of the case may require, as will behereinafter explained.

The followingis a description of my im provein ents In the annexed drawings, A represents the frame which supports the apparatus, which frame is composed of side standards rigidly secured together by means of cross-bars, and,

if desired, it may be mounted on caster-wheels for conveniently moving it about. This frame A supports the articulating sections, to wit, a

back-section, B, a seat-section, B1, and a lower leg-section, B2. The back-section is connected to the frame A by two pivots a d, and this section-can be inclined at any desired angle by means of an extensible prop, (l, which is com-V posed of two rods sliding one within the other and hinged at b b. A spring-latch, b', is applied to the lower rod of this prop, which will catch into any one of a number of holes made into the upper or sliding rod, and firmly support the back-section B at any angle required.

-The seat-section B1 is longitudinally extensible, and is composed of fixed side pieces c c,

i adapted to receive and serve as guides for two endwise-adjustable side pieces, c1 c1. The seat y proper is composed of narrow strips c2, c3, and c, which are tongued and grooved together and covered with thinsheet-metal plates d d', on which latter is the seat-extension D1 of a back-stretcher, D. The seat-strips o2 are secured rigidly to a transverse bar, c, which is fastened tothe side pieces c c below the hipjoint pivots a a, and also to a transverse bar, e', forward of kthe bar e. are all secured at their front ends to a transverse bar, f, which is secured to rigid arms g The seat-strips c2 c4 depending from the side piecesc1 c1. It will i thus be seen that the seat-section is longitudinally adjustable, and that `the plates d d,.

1 which are secured, respectively, to the crossbars c and f and overlap one another, afford a practically unbroken support when the seat `is extended.

To extend or shorten the seat for thighs of different lengths, the following simple device is employed: D2 is a ri ght-and-left-hand screwshaft, which has its end bearin gs in the arms g, and on which are applied two nuts, 2 2, to which latter the forked ends of two levers, 3 3, are pivoted. The rear ends of these levers are pivoted to the cross-bar e', which is fixed to pieces c c, as above described. By turning the screw D2 the nuts 2 2 can be made to approach or recede tom each other. I shall employ a removable crank-key for turning the.

screw D2, and construct both ends of this screw to receive such key. The lower-leg section B2 is composed of two side pieces, 7L h, connected by a foot-board, hl, and a sheet-metal plate, h2, which latter is properly cushioned. rIhis sec! tion B2 is connected to the ends of the side pieces c1 c1 of the seat-section B1 by means of pivots i i; also, by means of slotted sectors E and a clamping device. rIhe slotted sectors are piv-V oted to the side pieces 7L la, and receive, through their slots arod,j, which passes loosely through the arms g g and anintermediatetube, j1,.and receive thumb-nutsj2 on their ends. By loosening a nut, jz, on either end ofthe rod j, both sectors E will be loosened, and the lower legsection, B2, can be adjusted at any desired an gle with respect to the seat-section, and again fixed by tightening the same nut. I shall employ brace-rods 5 5, which connect the tube j to the seat-pieces c4, and thus assist in rmly sustaining the sections B1 B2 in whatever position they may be adjusted. F designates a right-and-left-hand screw, extending horizontally across the front part of frame A, and having its end bearings in brackets 6 6. On this screw two nut-s, 4 4, are applied, to which the lower forked end of two levers, F F', are pivoted, which levers cross each other, and have their upper ends pivoted to eye-pieces secured to the lower sides of the seat-pieces 02 c2. By turning the screw F, the nuts 4 4 are made to approach or recede from each other, and the seat-section can be thus adjusted and iixed at any desired inclination. The screw F can be turned from either side of the apparatus by means of the crank-key above referred to.

It will be seen from the above description that either one of the three sections B B1 B2 can be adjusted and fixed at any desired inclination; that these three sections can be adjusted and iixed in the same plane; Yand that the seat or thigh sect-ion can be extended or shortened, to adapt it to persons having different lengths of thi gli-bones. p

I will now describe the adjustments at the hip and knee joints, and the manner of applying the stretcher. The pivots au should coincide with cach other, and also with the axis of articulation of the hip-j oint; and to this end, I arrange these pivots a a above that part D of the stretcher D on which rests the buttock, and make them adjustable by means of several holes, a a', which are'V made through the standards of frame A and through the rounded ends of the side-pieces c c; or this adjustment maybe made by means of slots and suitable clamps, so that, whatever may be the size of the patient, the pivots a a can be set to coincide with his hip-j oints. I thus avoid giving an improper movement to the thigh and hip, should it be necessary to adjust the back or the seat scctions about said pivots a a.. The pivots fi i,

- connecting the lower leg-section B2 to the seatsectiou B1, are elevated above that part of the stretcher on which the popliteal portions of the legs rest 5 and these pivots i i' are also adjustable by lmeans of several holes, (or slots,) t', so that they can be made to coincide with the axes of articulation of the knee-joints.

The stretcher D D may be made of any suitable iexible material, the seatfportion of which is secured to the cross-bar e, and properly stued to form a comfortable cushion. The back portion of this stretcher is stiffened laterally by means of narrow strips of wood, whalebone, metal, or other suitable material, Vwhich strips are sewed into the stretcher, so as to support the same on two longitudinal ledges, 7c 7c, which, in practice, will be made wider than I have represented them in the annexed drawings, Fig. 4. Another object of said stiifening-strips is to cause that portion of the stretcher which is at and near the hip-joint articulations to accommodate itselfl to the convex shape of the forms J J, where this stretcher is drawn around them when the back-section is raised. This gives the proper concave shape to the stretcher beneath the buttock of the patient. The upper portion of the stretcher is carried beneath and over a roller, l, and provided with a stiffeningrod, to the ends of which rod straps m are secured. These straps are carried over and beneath short rollers n u, thence upward and over the rear convex surfaces o two forms, J J, over the rear rounded ends of pieces c c, and are attached to these pieces, as shown in the drawings. The back portion of the stretcher is thus held under tension. The rear convex edges of the two forms J J are concentric, or nearly so, to the axes of the pivots a a, for the purpose of taking up the slack in the back portion of the stretcher and keeping the same under constant and uniform tension, whatever may be the angle of inclination given to the back-section B. The forms J J are secured inside of the section B1 by means of the nuts on the pivots a a and shoul- Yders on the forms,7 which shoulders abut snugly against the rear ends of the pieces c c.

I shall employ forms of different radiuses corresponding to the number of adjustments which are required at the hip-joint articula tions.

To keep the lower portion of the stretcher under constant and uniform tension, I employ a compensating contrivance, as follows: L L represent two cords, which are secured to a rigid rod sewed into the seat end of the stretcher, and which are carried around pulleys o o, thence back between seat-pieces c2 c4 and around pulleys p p, and thence back again to the ends of pieces c2, to which the cords L are secured. The pulleys o o are attached to cords r r, which are passed around pulleys 1" r fixed to the foot-board h', and thence carried back, passed through eyes s s, and attached to the ends of the thigh-pieces c1. The eyes s s are iixed into the lower edges of theside pieces h h, near the joints i i. When the lower legsection B2 is iiexed or extended the tension of the lower or seat portion of the stretcher is uniformly maintained by the taking up or letting out of the cords r r between their iixed points on the sections c1 c1 and the eyes sY s. The cords L L and the seat portion of the stretcher are also kept under proper tension during and after adjusting the thigh-pieces c1 c1 by the taking up or letting out of the cords L L where they pass around the pulleys ,p o. N N represent foot-boards, which are pivoted to a slide, N', that can be fixed to the side pieces h h by means of setscrews. These foot-boards are also adjustable laterally. When it is necessary to adopt counter-extension the slides N' N' are left free to move, and, after adjusting the adhesive straps around a foot-board, the weight-cord will be secured centrally to the said straps and carried over pulleys which will be adjustably attached to the board h' of the section B2. l? represents a back-rest, which is secured to the side pieces of the back-section B by means of transverse rods, and which is Xed with relation to the stretcher D. This rest P prevents any inconvenience to the patient during the adjustment of the back section, which might be occasioned by the sliding` motion of the stretcher. The opening Fig. 4, represents a passage for allowing a person, while on the chair, to conveniently dei'ecate.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of the back-section B, and seat `cr thigh section B1, connected substantially as specified, with the supportingframe A, for the purpose mentioned.

2. The forms J J and the straps m m, combined with the stretcher D D', and its backsection B, substantially as described.

3. The combination of cords and pulleys L o p r', arranged 'as described, with the stretcher D, the section B1, and the seat-pieces 01 c1 c2 o2, as and for the purpose set forth. j

4. The knee-joint, formed by the diagonal adjustable pivots i f, in combination with the `eXtensible pieces c1 c1 and lower leg-sections j hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

isAAc M. nnonns.

Witnesses GEORGE E. UPHAM, PHIL. C. MASI.

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