US2676643A - Armchair therapy cart - Google Patents

Description

April 27, 1954 Filed July 1, 1952 E. A. MILLER E-I'AL ARMCHAIR THERAPY CART 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INvEN-rops,

ELWOOD A. MLLEP, 32 BENJAMIN V KLAIN,

Mam

HFORNEY p 7 1954 E. A. MILLER E'AL 2,676,643

ARMCHAIR THERAPY CART Filed July 1, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INvENToRs, ELWOOD A. MLLEP, BENJAMIN. V KLA/N,

April 27, 1954 E. A. MILLER ETAL ARMCHAIR THERAPY CART 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 1., 1952 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE ARMCHAIE THERAPY CART Application July 1, 1952, Serial No. 296,584

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a cart of substantially the same height as the top side of the customary hospital bed whereby a patient may be readily transferred from the bed to the cart, and then the cart, at will, may be transformed into a Wheel chair by easy manipulation of a single lever, the wheel chair being adjustable in respect to the height of the seat and the inclination of the back.

The invention involves a structure which is extremely rigid when in the cart condition, and likewise is sturdy and free of any twisting action in any of the chair conditions. In the cart condition, there is a bed surface formed, the top side of which is in a common plane without any interruptions thereacross. In either the cart or chair position, the structure is extremely stable and is mounted on wheels for easy movement from place to place.

Medical authorities are now insisting upon patients having certain heart conditions to be up out of bed in a chair particularly, and yet these authorities are urging that a minimum amount of exertion be had in getting the patients into chairs and back from the chairs into bed for the prone position. This invention is particularly adapted for use by such persons, although its use is not limited thereto.

To those versed in the art, many advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a view in side elevation and partial section of a structure embodying the invention shown in the chair condition;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the same structure in side elevation shifted to the cart condition;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the structure in the cart condition; and

Fig. 5 is a View in rear elevation of the structure in the chair condition.

A foundation frame structure is formed to consist of the parallel fore and aft rails to and H; the spaced apart, vertically disposed posts i2 and i3 on the right hand side interconnected by a horizontally disposed top rail I4 and spaced apart vertical posts l5 and [6 on the left hand side rising from the rail ll, interconnected by a top horizontally disposed rail 11. The side rails It and H extend rearwardly from the upright posts 92 and I5 a distance to be-interconnected by their rear end portions by the cross rail 58. Near the junctions of the cross rail I8 with the lower rails 80 and II there are mounted the caster wheels is and 29. Preferably braces 2| and 22 are employed to extend diagonally upwardly from near the rear end portions of the side rails l0 and H to the rear upright posts I2 and I5.

The lower side rails l0 and H extend forwardly beyond the front posts 13 and I6 and carry hand operated carriage wheels 23 and 24. These wheels 23 and 24 are preferably mounted upon a common horizontal axis at right angles to the rails i5] and H.

A back section generally designated by the numeral 25 is formed to have side rails 26 and 21 carried in parallel relation, and rockably pivoted intermediate the ends of those respective rails 25 and 2'? with rear end portions of the top rails i4 and ii. The bolts 28 and 29 constitute the pivot means in the present disclosure.

A foot board support generally designated by the numeral 3! has outer side rails 32 and 33 which are respectively hinged by their upper rear end portions to the forward ends of the top rails M and I 7. These side rails 32 and 33 are pivoted to the rails 14 and I! by means of the bolts 36 and 35. This board support 3| has the side rails 32 and 33 interconnected by a lower transverse member 36 and two intermediate cross members 3'! and 38.

A seat frame generall designated by the numeral 39 has parallel side members 43 and M each respectively connected by its rear ends with the lower ends of the back side rails 25 and 27. This interconnection between those respective rails is through a rod 42 passing through a spacer tube so. The side members 4% and 4! are interconnected by frame members 4 5 at the front, and at the rear, Fig. 4. 1

The forward ends of these side rails or members 40 and M are rockably interconnected with the foot support member side rails 32 and 33, by means of a through rod 46. The location of the rod 42 in reference to the pivot bolts 28 and 25! is at a distance therefrom equal to the distance between the bolts 34, 35 and the rod 46 as measured along the respective rails 32 and 33. That is, the rails 30 and d! are at all times parallel to the top rails M and H.

There are provided a pair of spaced apart rails 48 and d9: secured to the back side of the frame 25 to extend downwardly therealong and below the pivot rod 42, Fig. 1, to have a lower end portion turned substantially perpendicularly backwardly therefrom designated by the numerals 5t and 5! respectively, from the rearends of which there are turned downwardly the legs '52 and 53 respectively in parallel relation to the members 48 and 49. Then there are provided two pairs of spaced apart plates 54, 55 and 56, bridging across the cross members 3'? and 38. Tie rods 58 and 59 pivotally interconnect lower ends of the legs 52 and 53 to extend therefrom forwardly to be pivotally interconnected respectively by their forward ends between the plates 54, 55 and the plates 56, 5?. The locations of the ends of these tie rods 58 and 59 are made to be such that the rods themselves are maintained in parallel relations with the seat frame side members ts and Al.

A bracket 60 is carried in fixed position centrally between the frame side rails It and H, such as upon the intermediate rails SI and 62. A hydraulic cylinder 53 is rockably mounted on this bracket Bil to extend forwardly and upwardly to interconnect through a bracket M with the forward end portion of the seat frame 38. The bracket '64 is hereinshown as being mounted on the front cross rail "45 of this member 35. The cylinder 63 ispreferably-of the double acting type, and is interconnected with a fluid supply hose-65 which in turn connects with a hydraulic pump and reservoir 66 which may be selectively mounted and attached to either the right or left hand side of the-device. The upper spaces between the vertical posts l2 and It on the one side and I5 and If; on the other side is preferably filled in by a plate '61 in each instance. There is mounted on this plate 6'! to extend outwardly therefrom a shelf '68 on the right hand side and 65* on the left hand side. On each of these shelves is respectively fixed U-shaped spring clips H and i2 respectively within which the unit 56 may be yieldingly received and retained. The unit fit has an operating handle i3 directed upwardly and forwardly herein shown as being positioned alongside the rail 54, Fig. 2.

By suitable up and down rocking of the lever iii, the unit 66 is actuated to force fluid therefrom under pressure through the line 65 to the cylinder 63 so as to cause the piston rod ends I l and 15, Fig. 3, to extend therefrom, and tend to push the forward endof the seat member 35 upwardly. This upward travel can be had only by causing the back member 25 to rock about its pivot bolts 28 and 29 which will lower the upper end of that member 25 and lift the lower end, and simultaneously rock forwardly and upwardly the foot board support member 3|, to bring eventually all of the members into the cart position as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, where the back member 25, the seat member 39, and the leg support member'SI are in straight line positions with their top sides in substantially a common plane, this plane being horizontally disposed. The vari- 0115 members, 25, 29, and 31, can be brought to any desired intermediate positions depending upon the degree of manipulation of the handle "it, and those members will remain stationary as those selected positions may be determined. In other words, the device may be shifted from the chair condition as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5 to the cart condition as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 simply by manipulation of the lever i3. To return the various members from the cart position to the chair position, the valve control member iii may be manipulated to release the pressure in the line 65 so that the various members will tend to-return'to their positions under the influence of gravity, that is to the chair position. The under structure embodying the frame members H! andli and .theposts l2, l3 and it, It are so of preventing confusion in the illustration of the various parts and their interconnection.

The foot board support 3! has hinged there-- over a pair of foot boards 36 and ii, these boards lfian'd ll being hinged on the rod which, as above described, constitutes the pivot rod on which the member 3! itself is hinged to the forward ends of the side members 32 and These foot boards l5 and ll are spaced along the rod ddby-a'central tubular spacer The lower ends of these foot boards l5 and carry the usual step boards l9 and ti! which may be adjustable from thepositions shown in solid lines, Fig. l, to positions shown by the dash lines substantially in a common plane with the boards iii and ll. The exact means for interengaging the step boards "is and 8% with the foot or leg boards "i6 and ii is of standard construction, well known to those versed in the art, and therefore is not herein described.

Thesefoot or leg boards 56 and ill may be eleby rocking thernabout the pivot rod 46 in relation to the member 3 l and held in the rocked positions by means of the arcuate rack bars a which are fixed to the rear sides of the s respectively to extend through a plate 83 when is fixed onthe'forward sides of the cross fraine members 37 and 38, Fig. 2. The teeth 8 of the rack bar in each instance interengage with the margin of the holes 85 and 8E through which the bars extend.

The seat 39 is provided with a hole 88 therethrcugh, through which apan 89 may raised and lowered. This pan-89 is supported upon a platform in turn supported by diametrically :aced apart vertically attached posts iii and as which pass through a sprin 93 in each instance carried by vertically-disposed channel irons ed and 95. These channel irons 8d and 95 are tied together at their lower ends by a cross bar $6. The upper ends of the channel bars at and are attached to brackets 9i and 93 in turn secured to the underside of the seat'til.

By means of that structure the framework consisting of the channels 9 1, Q5, 96 and brackets fi'l 93 are carried with the seat 39 as it may be raised and lowered in respect to the cart and chair positions of the various elements above described.

The raising andlowering of the pan $39 is accomplished by means of operating a rearwardly directed lever 99 which is pivoted centrally of the cross bar 95 and carries an arm its to form with the lever 99 a bellcrank. From the outer end of the arm Hi9 there is a second lever liii pivotally connected thereto, by one end, and by its other end pivotally connected to a bracket i 32 attached to the underside of the platform 9i By rocking the lever 99 upwardly to the position. shown in the dash lines, Fig. l, the pan 89 may be elevated to some such position as indicated by the dash lines abovethe seat 39. The pan d9 may be maintained in the'elevated position by any suitable latching means, herein shown as by means of the hook I03 engaging the releasable latch H14 carried on the underside of the platform 90. By rocking the lever 99 downwardly, upon releasing the latch I04, the platform 90 is lowered against the springs 93 to permit the pan 89 to be removed from the under side of the seat 39, preferably from the rear side thereof.

Thus it is to be seen that we have provided a simplified structure which may be employed not only as a cart onto which patients may be readily placed from the usual bed, but may be then manipulated very readily without exertion to any appreciable extent by the patient into a chair formation. Then the reverse is true that the patient may be shifted while on the chair into the entirely recumbent position as on the cart form, from which the patient may be readily transferred from the bed at the same level.

Therefore while we have described the invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that structural changes may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention, particularly in the mechanical design of the supporting framework and the like, and we therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the followin claim.

We claim:

A combined wheel chair and cart comprising a foundation structure having a pair of fixed, uppermost horizontally disposed side rails; a back frame having side rails; said back frame rails at points intermediate at their upper and lower ends being directly pivoted to the rear ends of said foundation rails; a foot board support frame having side rails, the upper ends of which rails are directly pivoted to the front ends of said foundation rails to hang downwardly therefrom;

a seat frame having side rails; the rear ends of which rails are directly pivoted to the lower ends of said back frame rails, and the front ends of which seat rails are directly pivoted to said foot board support frame rails below said foundation rails; said seat and foundation rails being parallel to each other, and the lengths between pivot points thereon being the same; a pair of members extending downwardly from the lower end of said back frame rails with front faces in approximately the plane of the back side of the back frame; a pair of tie rods pivotally connected by rear ends with lower end portions of said members and pivotally interconnected by their forward ends to said foot board support frame to be in parallel relation with said seat frame rails;

and a hydraulic cylinder motor connected by a lower end to a forward portion of said foundation structure below said seat frame and inclined forwardly and upwardly to connect by its upper end with a forward end portion of said seat frame, rockably shifting and holding said back, seat, and foot support frames between chair and cart, and intermediate position, the axis of said motor being forwardly inclined in all of said positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 679,636 Parmelee July 30, 1901' 2,375,151 Troxell May 1, 1945 2,442,303 Mayfield May 25, 1948 2,540,133 Miller Feb. 6, 1951 2,587,068 Sanders Feb. 26, 1952 2,592,025 Gray Apr. 8, 1952 2,614,267 Perri Oct. 21, 1952

Images