US3084348A

US3084348A - Cushioned fracture bedpan

Info

Publication number: US3084348A
Application number: US127284A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alverta M Parker; Paul J Ulibarre
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1961-07-27
Filing date: 1961-07-27
Publication date: 1963-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 1980-04-09

Description

April 9, 1963 A. M. PARKER ETAL I 3,084,348

CUSHIONED FRACTURE BEDPAN Filed July 27, 1961 J44 vaern M. Roe/ 52 PAUL J [12/80/925 /3 INVENTORS.

rates trite This invention relates to bedpans and particularly to fracture bed pans.

When caring for a patient in a hospital, who has suffered a fracture of one or more of the bones of the body, the body of the patient is necessarily practically immobilized so that it is quite difficult to insert a bedpan between the bed and the patient and remove the same. Because of these limitations it is a general practice to use, in such cases, an uncushioned shallow bedpan known as a fracture bedpan. When it is necessary for a patient to rest upon this pan more than a short time, it is quite uncomfortable due to the cutting of the peripheral edge of the bedpan into the flesh of the patient.

It is an object of the present invention to produce a cushioned fracture bedpan which presents a soft padded surface about its entire perimeter to the flesh of the patient when inserted beneath the patient.

The discomfort experienced by th patient in the use of fracture bedpans in accordance with the common practice above described, is increased by the difficulty of removing the bedpan from beneath the patient after the bedpan has become pressed deep into the flesh of the patient, this difliculty being aggravated by the small amount of space between the patient and the bed in which the nurse must work.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cushioned fracture bedpan which has its entire perimeter cushioned in its contact with the body of the patient but which may readily be inserted and then withdrawn from beneath the patient without discomfort being suffered by the patient.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects, as well as further objects and advantages, will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention drawn approximately to true scale and partially broken away to show the hidden structure of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the cushioned fracture bedpan shown in FIG. 1, end portions of the latter being broken away to show the structure thereof in sec tion.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

Referring specifically to the drawings the invention is there shown as embodied in a cushioned fracture bedpan which includes a bedpan vessel 11 of a peculiar wedge shape and tapered plan configuration and a cushioned platform 12 which is slideably associated with said vessel.

The vessel 11 has a flat bottom "13, a semi-circular high end wall 14, a semi-circular low end wall 15, sharply converging sidewalls 16 which merge tangentially at their ends with

end walls

14 and 15, and a short endless flange 17 which lies in a flat plane which sharply converges relative to plane of the bottom 13. Flange 17 extends outwardly from the upper edges of end walls 1 and and sidewalls 16, and merges with a deck 18 having a concave edge :19 which lies in the same plane as the flange 17 and is integral therewith so as to cover an extremely shallow end portion 21) of the vessel 11 adjacent the end wall 15.

The vessel 11 also has a handle 21 which is formed integral with the end wall 14 and extends outwardly therefrom parallel with the plane of the bottom 13.

The platform 12 includes a flat base 25 which is preferably made of hard rubber or some equivalent stiff material. This base lies fiat against the flange '17 and deck 18 of the vessel 11 and has an opening 26 which conforms to the opening of the bedpan formed by upper edges of end wall 14, sidewalls 16 and edge 19 of the deck '18, this base having a marginal portion 27 which extends outwardly beyond the outer edge of the flange 17. Formed integral with the base 27 and extending downwardly from the marginal portion 27 thereof opposite the sidewalls 16 are a pair of bosses 28 having grooves 29 for receiving the straight portions of the flange 17 extending laterally from said sidewalls. The platform 12 also includes a soft rubber pad 30 which conforms to the shape of the base 25, lies flat against the upper surface of the latter, and has

semi-circular lips

31 and 32 which extend downward ly respectively about the curved end edges of base 25 to retain the pad 3%) stretched in place on top of said base. The platform 12. is adapted to be optionally made with the pad 30 as a separate element from the base 25 and readily separable therefrom for sterilizing purposes, or on the other hand, the pad 30 may be bonded to the base 25 so that these may be sterilized together and never be separated.

Operation As above indicated, the cushioned fracture bedpan 10 of the present invention is especially adapted for use in the care of a patient suffering from bone fracture which necessitates practically immobilizing the body of the patient. A considerable problem is thus presented in the introduction of a bedpan under the patient and in the removal of the bedpan therefrom. Because of this problem it has become a practice to use uncushioned bedpans in caring for such patients which cut into the flesh of the patient and are not only uncomfortable to the patient but render it more diflicult to remove the bedpan after the patient has laid upon it for a few minutes.

The invention overcomes this problem in the following way. The cushioned platform 12 is first inserted beneath the patient and as this takes a relatively small space and as its upper surface is padded by the pad 30 this may be easily done without discomfort to the patient. The vessel 11 of the bedpan is then inserted under the platform 12 with the very thin end portion 20 of the vessel entering underneath the wider end portion of the platform. The vessel 11 is thus slid under the platform 12 until the vessel becomes wedged between the bosses 28 with the flanges 17 entering the grooves 29 as shown in the drawings, and particularly in FIG. 3. The patient is thus subjected to a minimum of frictional engagement with the flanges 17 of the vessel 11 as the vessel 11 is separated from the patient by the platform 12 during this movement of sliding the vessel into place beneath the platform.

While the patient is resting on the bedpan 14) his contact with this is rendered comfortable by the pad 30 having direct contact with the body of the patient. The removal of the bedpan 10 from beneath the patient is also made relatively easy by the facility with which the vessel 11 may be withdrawn from beneath the platform 12 by seizing the handle 21 of the vessel and pulling this out from under the platform while the latter remains in contact with the body of the patient between the patient and the bed. The operation is then completed by sliding the platform 12 horizontally from between the patient and the bed.

It is thus seen that in the cushioned fracture bedpan 10 of the present invention we have produced a combined bedpan vessel and cushioned platform which eliminates .3 7 much of the discomfort from using bedpans experienced at present by fracture patients.

We claim:

1. In combination:v a bedpan which is wedge shaped longitudinally both in vertical and horizontal planes so as to be much shallower at its narrow end than at its opposite end, said bedpan having an upwardly facing opening surrounded by a perimetral laterally extending flange which lies in a flat plane which converges at a sharp angle relative to thebo-ttom of the bedpan; and a flat platform adapted to lie fiat against said flange and covering the same and having inwardly grooved downwardly extending diverging bosses for, receiving converging portions of said flange when said bedpan is inserted beneath said platform as a wedge to tilt said platform upwardly from a position resting on a supporting surface such as a bed, until said flange is wedged tightly in said bosses with said platform superimposed over and flat against said flange, said platform having a closed opening therein conforming to the aforesaid opening of said bedpan and extending a substantial distance outward beyond the outer edge of said flange to provide a relatively ample perimetral supporting surface for the body of a patient, compared to that provided by said bedpan without said platform, the sharp angle of convergence of said flange plane and said bottom of said bedpan causing the narrower end of said platform to remain in contact with said bed during the insertion of said bedpan beneath said platform at least until said bedpan is approximately within a distance of one-quarter the length of said platform from its completely inserted position under said platform.

2. A device for facilitating the insertion'of a fracture bedpan beneath a patient and the removal of such bedpan therefrom Where said bedpan is wedge shaped longitudinally both in vertical and horizontal planes so as to be much shallower at its narrow end than at the opposite end, said bedpan having an upwardly facing opening surrounded by a narrow perimet ral laterally extending flange which surrounds said opening and lies in a fiat plane which converges at a sharp angle relative to the bottom of the vessel, said device comprising: a flat platform adapted to lie flat against said bedpan flange and covering the same and having inwardly grooved downwardly extending diverging bosses for receiving converging portions of said bedpan flange when the latter is inserted beneath said platform as a wedge to tilt said platform upwardly from resting on a supporting surface such as a bed, until said flange is wedged tightly in said bosses withsaid platform superimposed over and flat against said flange, said platform having a closed opening therein conforming to the aforesaid opening of said bedpan and extending a substantial distance outward beyond the outer edge of said flange to provide a relatively ample perimetral supporting surface for the body of a patient, compared to that provided by said bedpan without said platform, the sharp angle of convergence of said flange plane and said bottom of said vessel causing the narrower end of said platform to remain in contact with said bed during the insertion of said bedpan beneath said platform at least until said bedpan is approximately Within a distance of one-quarter the length of said platform from its completely inserted position under said platform, said bedpan likewise being withdrawable from beneath said patient in the opposite direction from which it was inserted under said platform without moving said platform horizontally relative to said patient.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,886,827 Washington May 17, 1959

Claims

1. IN COMBINATION: A BEDPAN WHICH IS WEDGE SHAPED LONGITUDINALLY BOTH IN VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL PLANES SO AS TO BE MUCH SHALLOWER AT ITS NARROW END THAN AT ITS OPPOSITE END, SAID BEDPAN HAVING AN UPWARDLY FACING OPENING SURROUNDED BY A PERIMETRAL LATERALLY EXTENDING FLANGE WHICH LIES IN A FLAT PLANE WHICH CONVERGES AT A SHARP ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BEDPAN; AND A FLAT PLATFORM ADAPTED TO LIE FLAT AGAINST SAID FLANGE AND COVERING THE SAME AND HAVING INWARDLY GROOVED DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING DIVERGING BOSSES FOR RECEIVING CONVERGING PORTIONS OF SAID FLANGE WHEN SAID BEDPAN IS INSERTED BENEATH SAID PLATFORM AS A WEDGE TO TILT SAID PLATFORM UPWARDLY FROM A POSITION RESTING ON A SUPPORTING SURFACE SUCH AS A BED, UNTIL SAID FLANGE IS WEDGED TIGHTLY IN SAID BOSSES WITH SAID PLATFORM SUPERIMPOSED OVER AND FLAT AGAINST SAID FLANGE, SAID PLATFORM HAVING A CLOSED OPENING THEREIN CONFORMING TO THE AFORESAID OPENING OF SAID BEDPAN AND EXTENDING A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE OUTWARD BEYOND THE OUTER EDGE OF SAID FLANGE TO PROVIDE A RELATIVELY AMPLE PERIMETRAL SUPPORTING SURFACE FOR THE BODY OF A PATIENT, COMPARED TO THAT PROVIDED BY SAID BEDPAN WITHOUT SAID PLATFORM, THE SHARP ANGLE OF CONVERGENCE OF SAID FLANGE PLANE AND SAID BOTTOM OF SAID BEDPAN CAUSING THE NARROWER END OF SAID PLATFORM TO REMAIN IN CONTACT WITH SAID BED DURING THE INSERTION OF SAID BEDPAN BENEATH SAID PLATFORM AT LEAST UNTIL SAID BEDPAN IS APPROXIMATELY WITHIN A DISTANCE OF ONE-QUARTER THE LENGTH OF SAID PLATFORM FROM ITS COMPLETELY INSERTED POSITION UNDER SAID PLATFORM.