US46569A - Improvement in invalid-beds - Google Patents

Description

.. `"fiUruTeD STATES 'PATENTv rrr-cn.

RODNEY H. MATHEws, on PAINES'VILLE, onto.

IMPRVEMENTv IN INVALID-BEDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 46,569, dated February .'28, 1865.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, 1l oDNEY H. Ma'rrrnws, ofPainesville, in the county of Lake and State of Ohio, have invented a new and lmproved Sick-Bed and Accouching Frame of Portable Construction and Ido hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings ofthe same, and makin g part of this specication, in whichi Figure 1 is a view in perspective of my said sick-bed and accouching-frame; Fig. 2, a plan -view of the same; Fig. 3, a sectional view showing the same set up and supported'so as 'to form a chair; Fig. 4, a sleeved apron of water-proof fabric used in connection with the said bed. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged views of one each of the pairs of adjustable foot and shoulder blocks, also used in connection with said frame, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a cushion which iits into andy closes the-aperture inthe mattress of said sick-bed. Fig. 8

represents the said frame folded up and;

strapped, showing' its portable character.

The letters of reference marked thereon indicate similar parts in all the gures.

The object of this invention is toprovid'e medical practitioners, nurses, and others having care of the sick with a bed or couch which is so constructed that it can be easily and readily made available as a sickbed, couch, or chair, combining the essential qualities of ease, comfort, and cleanliness to the patient and convenience on the part of the nurse or attendant, and which, in the case of parturient pa tients, is readily converted into an accouching bed'or frame, its constructive parts being such as to materially aid the/patient at the time of labor.

The portable arrangement of this improved sick-bed is such tha-t the practitioner is enabled to carry it with him in his attendance on his patients, and to put the same into use by laying it on a common bedstead or any article that will sustain it.

This bed, when folded up and strapped, is very compact and takes but little room, which feature,in connection with its sanitary benefits, as will be explained, renders it peculiarly adapted for the use of army and navy hospitals, permanent, temporary, or traveling, being easily packed and handled for transportation.

The following is aalescription of its construction and operationzA, Fig. 1, is a frame of board. It consists of four solid parts, a b o d, the several parts being joined by strips of leather, cloth, or other suitable material. In theportion b of said frame is an aperture, B, Fig. 2, which is closed by a disk or cover, C. 1n the portions a and d. are secured racks or slotted plates e e and fj", and are located as seen in the figure. D and D is a pair of handles, of triangular shape, secured at the sides of the part b of the said fame A. E E are handles of leather secured to the end ed ges ofthe frame, as shown. The said frame is over- F, Fig. 1, which mattress may be of one entire piece, or it may be jointed to conform with the joints of the said frame. In the'said mattress is an aperture corresponding with that of B of the frame A, which aperture is filled, when it isrequired to be so, by the cushion G, Fig. 7. g g and 7L h are longitudinal slits constructed in the said mattress, and correspond in line with the slotted plates c c and fj", Fig. v2. l These slits allow the foot and shoulder blocks H H and I I', Fig. 1, to slide freely' i while adjusting either set to the requirements ot' the patient. The said foot and shoulderv blocks consist of padded surfaces of wood, each having a shank, i, secured into a plate, the saidA plates being provided with hooks k and tongues l, for adjusting and securing i them in the slots of the said plates c e and f j The mattress immediatelyaround the aperture, as well as the sides thereof, is kept from being soiled by the patient by the use of the apron J, Fig. 1, which is provided with a sleeve, K, as seen in the Fig. 4. This sleeved apron is of Water-proof fabric, and is kept in its place on the mattress by fastenings at the corners, as shown. The bed when not in use is folded up, and is kept together by the straps fastened on the sides ofthe frame.. The narrow portion o of the frame allows the mattress to be doubled up, and it also serves as a bottom to `protect the mattress from injury. This portable form is fully shown in Fig. 8.

The above-described bed or frame can be laid on bedsteads of, common construction. If a slatted bedstead, a slat is removed to make space for the aperture B, if on a corded one,

laid by a thin or sufficiently thick mattress,

aperture, the cushion and diskv are removed andthe sleeve of the apron adjusted therein. In cases of frequent or constant use of said aperture, the cushion and disk can be kept'out as lon gas necessity dem ands 5A or, if the weather is warm, it will serve to ventilate the mattress by keeping the said aperture open.

The main object of the sleeved apron is to allow the evacuations or other oifensive matter from the patient `to be removed by passing it through the aperture ofthe mattress .inte` the `vessel placed below it when the patient is in artcumbent or other posture, and thus preventing its soiling oradhering to any part' of the mattress.

It will be seen by reference to theFig. 3, that the above-describedsiek bed or frame can be converted into the form of a chair by shifting it, with the patient thereon, vtoward the edge or'side of the bedstead on whichit lies, so as to allow the legs of the patient to hang down, the feetirestin g on the foot-blocks H. H or on a board placed temporarily across them, the said frame in this form still resting on the bedstead. The handles D D' will afford every faeility in moving and turning` the frame with its burden without touching the patient. This is obviously a convenient way of easing the patient without removal from the bed. v Thisimproved sick-bed is especially adapted to the use and convenience ofthe hospitalsot' the army and navy, as independent of its portable feature its sanitary property will render it of great benefit to sick and Wounded men, especially in those often-recurring` cases requiring the vigilant and constant attention of the nurse to keep the patient and bed clean after evacuations or deposit of offensive matter.

Its construction also admits the patient to be carried from one locality to another, and of being shifted in position Without handling or touching the patient.

lVhen the above-described frame is used for aecouching purposes the sleeved apron allows the placenta or after-birth and fluid contents tobe easily removed and drained into i the proper vessel placed beneath the aperture ofthe mattress without soiling it or the bedclothes. The fot blocks before described, in conjunction withthe shoulder-blocks I l and, as occasion requires, with the handles D D', will enable the patient tomuse her physical strength at the proper moment of labor. These means will also dispense with the attendance of the extra help usually called in on such occasions.

Having described and explained the `construction, opera-tion, and adaptation of my invention, whatl cla-im therein 'as new, and de sire to secure by Letters Patent, is#- 1 The sleeved apron J, of water-prooffabric, constructed and us'ud as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The frame A, jointed as described, and l consisting ot' four sections -or parts, a, b, c, and d, the said sections being rigid transversly, but yielding at the joints longitudinally, as and for the'purpose specified. 3. The foot-blocks H H' and shoulder blocks I 1, constructed as described, or any equivalent construetion, in combination with the slotted plates e e and f f', ortheir equivalents, for adjusting and securing them therein, as and for the purpose set forth. i

4. The use and employment of the triangular handles D Aand D', as herein explained, and for the purpose specilied. 'i

5. As a new and improved article of manufacture, the described portable sick-bedand aecouehing-frame, constructedand arranged as stated, and for the purposesfset forth.

RODNEY LLMATHEWS. Witnesses:

J. Ij. SINGLE, E. HUNTlNGToN.

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