US3437089A

US3437089A - Restraining belt

Info

Publication number: US3437089A
Application number: US611022A
Authority: US
Inventors: John T Posey
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-01-23
Filing date: 1967-01-23
Publication date: 1969-04-08
Anticipated expiration: 1986-04-08
Also published as: GB1153370A

Description

April 8, 1969 J. 1'. POSEY 3,437,089

RESTRAINING BELT Filed Jan. 25, 1967 I N VEN TOR. a/m T/ w'z/ BY v mz United States Patent 3,437,089 RESTRAINING BELT John T. Posey, 1739 Meadowbrook Road, Altadena, Calif. 91001 Filed Jan. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 611,022 Int. Cl. A61g 7/04; A61f 5/02 US. Cl. 128134 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a bed patient restraining device or belt, and more particularly the present invention increases the ease with which such devices may be applied as well as the effectiveness in restraining the patient.

Devices that tend to restrain the patient in his bed have long been known. All known devices use buckles to tie the end of the belt to each other, or buckles in conjunction with hooks to tie the ends of the belt to the bed. These devices are difficult and cumbersome to apply. Moreover, the prior devices frequently have accelerated wear of the belt in the area of the buckles. A further shortcoming of the conventional devices is that to keep the patient comfortable and to avoid skin irritations such as rashes, they have to be wrapped around the patients body in a rather loose manner. This permits the patient to slip out of the belt. In instances where the patients are children, or, for example, have just regained consciousness after an anesthetic, a positive restraint is important to prevent them from sustaining serious injuries which they cannot appreciate at the time they attempt to free themselves.

My invention remedies these shortcomings by providing a belt that is secured to the bed by wrapping it around the frame and by fastening the ends of the belt to suitable portions of the beds understructure, such as the springs. It is also more easily applied because the need to buckle the ends underneath the bed has been eliminated.

In addition, I provide a harness that attaches to the belt and reaches over the patients shoulders. In this manner the patient cannot slide out of a loosely tied loop in the restraining belt. He is effectively, yet comfortably, restrained from leaving the bed.

These and other aspects of my invention will be more fully appreciated from a consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in

which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the restraining device and the harness installed on a bed with the restraining belt in an open position; and

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a bed showing one end of the restraining device attached thereto.

The present invention comprises an elongated strap 10 with either end attached to a bed 12, a belt 14 secured to the elongated strap 10 and a first and a second harness loop 16 and 18 with one end secured to the belt 14 and the other end secured to the elongated strap 10.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the elongated strap 10 is provided with conventional and commercially available self-locking snap rings 20 on either end. The belt 14 comprises a first strip 22 and a second strip 24 each secured at a respective end to the elongated strap 10' at spaced locations to permit the

strips

22 and 24 to be wrapped around the waist of a patient. The free end of the second strip 24 carries a conventional buckle 26 which receives and secures the loose end of the first strip -22 to form the belt 14.

The first and the second harness loops 16 and 18, respectively, are secured to the elongated strap 10, say, by conventional stitching. The opposite ends of the harness loops are stitched together to form a belt loop 27 through which the first strip 22 may be passed. The first and the second harness loops are arranged to cross each other as shown in FIG. 1, and are stitched together at the crossing point 28. By crossing the harness loops and securing them together the patient is prevented from spreading the harness loops 16 and 18 apart whereby he could slip them off his shoulders and free himself.

The strap, the belt and the harness loops can be made of any suitable material, but preferably they are of a strong, reinforced webbing which can be laundered by ordinary means. The belt can furthermore be made in small, medium, and large sizes to accommodate patients of different ages and sizes.

To use the restraining devices on a patient lying in a bed, the elongated strap 10 is placed transverse to the bed. The elongated strap is of sufficient length to permit its ends to extend beyond the side of the bed and hang loosely. Each end of the elongated strap 10 is tightly wrapped around a frame 30 forming part of the bed to make a snug, frictional fit around the frame. The loose ends of the elongated strap 10 are stretched taut and attached to a member of the beds understructure, such as a spring for example, by engaging the snap rings 20 with it. The elongated strap 10 is in place and cannot be removed without unlocking the snap rings 20.

The first strip 22 and the second strip 24 are thus located on the bed. The buckle 26 is opened to release the first strip 22. The first strip is further slidably removed from the loop formed by the first and the second harness loops 16 and 18, respectively. The loose ends of the first strip 22 and the second strip 24 are turned to face towards the ends of the elongated strap 10 to permit a patient to be placed intermediate the points where the first and the second strips are secured to the elongated strap. The first and second harness loops 16 and 18 are extended in an upward direction toward the patients head, as viewed in FIG. 1, to form a generally V-shaped opening between the belt loop 27 and the crossing point 28 of the two harness loops. The patient may now be placed on the bed with his waist covering the intermediate portion of the elongated strap 10 between the first strip 22 and the second strip 24. The patients head rests in the generally V-shaped space formed by the extended harness loops 16 and 18.

The ends of the harness loops 16 and 18 forming the belt loop 27 are pulled over the patients head so one harness loop fits snugly over each shoulder of the patient. The first strip 22 is passed through the belt loop 27 and the buckle 26 on the second strip 24 to snugly fit the first strip and the second strip around the patients waist.

The patient is now effectively restrained from leaving the bed. The belt 14 formed by the first strip 22 and the second strip 24 restrains the patient from leaving the bed in a sideways direction. The harness loops 16 and 18 prevent the patient from slidably freeing himself from his engagement with the belt 14. The patient cannot free himself by slidably moving in a downward direction away from the position of his head as viewed in FIG. 1, since the increasing size of the patients trunk cannot slide through and beyond the belt 14.

Thus, this invention not only positively restrains the patient to the bed, but also permits the belt 14 to be tied much more loosely than with prior devices-without sacrificing the restraining effectiveness of this device. The patients comfort is thereby increased since discomfort and skin irritations caused by tightly fastened belts are substantially reduced.

What is claimed is:

1. A restraining device for keeping a patient in bed, the device comprising an elongated strap adapted to be disposed across a bed, means for securing the ends of the strap to the bed, a belt secured to the intermediate part of the strap, means for fastening the belt around the Waist of the patient, a first harness loop secured at one end to the belt and at its other end to the strap, the first harness loop being of suflicient length to make a snug fit over one shoulder of the patient, and a second harness loop secured at one end to the belt and at its other end to the strap, the second harness loop being of suificient length to make a snug fit over the other shoulder of the patint.

2. A restraining device for keeping a patient in bed as claimed in claim 1 wherein the harness loops cross behind the patients back.

3. A restraining device for keeping a patient in bed as claimed in claim 2 wherein the harness loops are secured together at a point where they cross.

4. A restraining device for keeping a patient in bed, the device comprising an elongated strap adapted to be disposed across a bed, a snap ring on each end of the strap to secure the ends of the strap to the bed, a belt secured to the intermediate part of the strap, means for fastening the belt around the waist of the patient, a first harness loop secured at one end to the belt and at its other end to the strap, the first harness loop of sufiicient length to make a snug fit over one shoulder of the patient, and a second harness loop secured on one end to 4 the belt and at its other end to the strap, the second harness loop being of sufficient length to make a snug fit over the other shoulder of the patient.

5. A restraining device for keeping a patient in bed, the device comprising an elongated strap adapted to be disposed across a bed, means for securing the ends of the strap to the bed, a first and a second strip secured to the intermediate portion of the strap disposed across the bed, the first strip being provided with a buckle to fasten the second strip around the waist of the patient to form a belt, a first harness loop secured at one end to the belt and at the other end to the strap, the first harness loop being of suflicient length to make a snug fit over one shoulder of the patient, and a second harness loop secured at one end to the belt and at its other end to the strap, the second harness loop being of sufficient length to make a snug fit over the other shoulder of the patient.

6. A restraining device for keeping a patient in bed as claimed in claim '5 whereby the first and the second harness loops are stitched together to form a loop through which the belt may be passed to secure the first and the second harness loops of the belt.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,816,262 7/1931 Ritter 128134 1,930,378 10/1933 Beagan 12 8--134 X 3,046,982 7/1962 Davis 128-434 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 244.