US2466482A - Telescope bed tray - Google Patents

Description

April 1949- K. c. RUSSELL 2,466,482

TELES COPE BED TRAY Filed Sept. 25, 1947 Inventor Ki! 6. Russell Patented Apr. 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE '2,466,482 TELESCOPE BED TRAY Kit C. Russell, Tacoma, Wash.

Application September 25, 1947, Serial No. 776,016

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to trays securable to beds, and more particularly to a tray assembly mountable on the foot portion of a bed, the tray proper being shiftable longitudinally of the bed, and the tray together with the supporting members therefor being disposable entirely outside the foot portion of the bed when desired.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a tray assembly for beds in which the tray and the supporting members therefor can be partially collapsed and pivoted into vertical position outside the foot portion of the bed, so that the tray assembly will not interfere with the manipulation of the bed clothing or with the movements of the patient when the device in incorporated with a hospital bed, and allowing free access to the patient or attendants, and of course, providing fOr normal use of the bed when the device is not incorporated with a hospital bed but with beds used in private homes.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of this character which allows the ready movement of the bed, when the tray is in collapsed position as described in the preceding object.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a tray assembly, which is particularly Well adapted for combination with a bed having a foot portion including vertical bars, the attachment bracket of the tray assembly being secured to these bars, and other portions of the tray assembly being adapted to coact with the upper edge portion of said foot portion to support the tray in one position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tray assembly in which the tray proper may be moved longitudinally of the bed, at the convenience of the person using the same.

And' a last object to be specifically mentioned is to provide a tray assembly of this character which is relatively inexpensive and practicable to manufacture, extremely simple to install and use, and which will give generally eflicient and durable service.

With these objects definitely in view, together with other objects which will appear hereinafter as this description proceeds, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in the specification, particularly pointed out in the appended claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing which forms a material part of this application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hospital bed with one of these improved tray assemblies operatively applied thereto;

portion I2, said foot portion comprising a plurality of vertical bars l4 supported terminally between and on the top rail or bar 16 and another rail or bar l8. The top rail may be a continu-ation of the legs 20 and the other rail l8 will ordinarily be disposed parallel to the top rail l6 and spaced downwardly therefrom and terminally connected to the legs 20. It should be understood that the bed illustrated in Figure 1 is proposed as illustrative of any bed suitable for combination with this invention, and that minor modifications may be made in the tray assembly to adapt the same for use with other bed formations.

The instant invention includes a bracket assembly generally indicated by the numeral 22, tubular members 24, rods 26 telescopically arranged With the said tubular members, and a tray 28. The bracket 22 includes a pair of horizontally disposed bars 30 which are clamped in vertically spaced relation to the bars R4 of the bed. Any suitable means may be used to clamp these bars 30 in place, the drawing illustrating simple clamp members 32 secured to the horizontal bars 30 by rivets or bolts 34, and it will be obvious that these clamps may be easily made ajustable to suit the particular spacing of the vertical bars 14 in any specific bed.

A pair of vertically disposed strap members 36 are secured to the horizontally disposed bars 30 by bolts or rivets 3B, and the upper ends of these vertically disposed straps are provided with offset members 40, to the upper ends of which the tubular members 24 are pivoted, as indicated as 42. It will be evident from an inspection of the figures, that the bracket 22 must be adjusted vertically so that the pivot 42 is so disposed that the tubular members 24 will be substantially horizontal when these tubular members are in abutment with the upper edge of the top rail l6 of the foot of the bed.

A pair of rods 44 are telescopically arranged for coaction with the tubular members 24, and the outer ends of these rods 44 are adapted in any suitable manner for securement thereto of a tray 28. The drawing represents this tray 28 as firmly riveted to the rods 44, as at 46. The rods 44 are apertured as at 48 and the adjacent ends of the tubular members 24 are apertured, as at 50, so that a pin 52, provided on each of the tubular members, may be inserted through the registering apertures and the rods 44 have been telescoped within the tubular members 24. If desired, these pins 52 may be secured to the tubular members 24 by short flexible cables 54.

The operation of this invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connection with the above recitation of the objects sought to :be achieved by this invention. It will be clear that the tray assembly, when disposed as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, allows the use of the tray for supporting food, reading matter and the like for the use of a person reclining on the bed, or alternatively, for the use of attendants.

When the device is not to be used, the rods 44 v are telescoped within the tubular members 24, the pins 52 are inserted through the apertures 50 and 48 to hold the assembly in collapsed condition, and the tray, rods 44 and tubular members 24 are pivoted into substantially vertical position at the foot of the bed, it being noted that the total length of the collapsed members is less than the height of the foot portion of the bed so that the bed may be easily moved and the tray will not contact the floor.

It is believed that the foregoing description amply illustrates how this invention may be reduced to practice and that further description is unnecessary. Many minor variations may be made in the details of construction of the inven- 4 tion, and the novelty in this invention will be 4 limited only by a proper interpretation of the terminology in the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A tray assembly mountable on the foot portion of a bed, comprising a bracket securable to the foot of a bed and having offset portions extending beyond the foot of the bed, a pair of tubular members pivoted to said offset portions and having intermediate portions engageable with the upper edge of said foot portion to limit the downward pivotal movement of the tubular members, a pair of rods telescopically mounted in said tubular members, a tray supported on the outer ends of said rods, the tray along with the rods and tubular members being pivotally shiftable into a position beyond the foot of the bed when not in use and in order to facilitate manipulation of bedding.

KIT C. RUSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,256,209 Darlsston Feb. 12, 1918 1,280,256 Lubas Oct. 1, 1918 1,293,631 Diou Feb. 4, 1919 1,462,856 Hartman et a1. July 24, 1923 1,719,614 McIntosh July 2, 1929 1,823,214 Scriven et a1 Sept. 15, 1931 1,894,991 Hayes Jan. 24, 1933 2,245,120 Abresch June 10, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 379,543 Great Britain Sept. 1, 1982 799,431 France June 12, 1936

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