US771847A - Curative couch. - Google Patents

Description

No. 771,847. PATENTED ooT.11,1904.

1. 1 w. :rrrus.

APPLIOA'I'IOI FILED JULY 31 1902 N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES! INVENTORS eye/ET:

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES Patented October 11, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN TITUS, OF OYSTER BAY, AND WILLIAM TITUS, OF OLD WE STBUBY,

NEW YORK. 7

CURATIVE COUCH.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 771,847, dated October 11, 1904.

3 Application filed Iuly 31, 1902.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN Trrus, a resident of Oyster Bay, and WILLIAM Trrus, residing at Old VVestbury, in the township of North Hempstead, in the county of Nassau and State of New York, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ourative Apparatus; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, m aking a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view of an apparatus made according to our invention, taken in the line at w of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same, taken in the line y 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view, on a larger scale, still further illustrating certain portions of our said. invention. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2 a of Fig. 3, illustrating certain other features of our said invention.

This invention comprises certain new and useful combinations of mechanical instrumentalities whereby atmospheric air artificially tempered by heat or cold to any desired degree may conveniently be applied to the treatment of many and various disorders without requiring the removal of patients from bed or couch and without disturbing them from recumbent positions.

For the practice of our invention there is provided a bed or couch which may be of any suitable construction. As shown in the drawings, it comprises a mattress A, which is placed upon a bedstead or support B. Ordinarily there may be employed in connection with the bed A the usual blankets, coverlets, pillows, &c. For use upon the bed we provide a shell O, which is separately shown in Fig. 3. This shell, as indicated in said figure, is of such a form that when laid upon the bed its edges (0 rest close upon the latter, with the interior of 'the shell providing a space which, except for the notch t, should be substantially closed all around against ingress or egress of atmospheric air. The shell should be of a material which is substantially imper- Serial No. 117,764. (No model.)

vious to the passage of air therethrough, and its shape and size are such that when disposed upon the bed as described a person may be recumbent within and under the same with the head projected outward through the opening provided by the notch 6. Provided at any desired point of this shell, but preferably at or near the foot thereof, as shown in Fig. 2, is a nozzle 0, to which on occasion may be attached an air-pipe D, the opposite end of which may connect in any suitable manner with any appropriate source of heated or of refrigerated atmospheric air. Thus, for example, the full lines in Fig. 2 show the pipe D in communication with a hood cl over an ordinary steamradiator 0, so that air heated by the radiator will pass through the said pipe into the space within the shell when the latter is provided upon the bed, as above set forth. In the same figure the dotted outline shows the manner in which the pipe may instead be connected with a refrigerator or ice-box E, so that cold air may pass from the ice-box through the pipe to the space within the shell. Air, either cold or hot air, may thus be made to surround the patient recumbent upon the bed and within or beneath the shell, the whole person, exclusive of the head, protruding through the opening provided by the notch b, and being thus subjected to the temperature and action of the tempered air. Whether the air shall be tempered hot or cold and the degree to which it is heated or chilled, as the case may be, of course varies with the condition of the patient or the nature of the malady to be cured or alleviated, each case requiring attention upon its own characteristics according to the judgment of the attendant, nurse,

. or physician.

, In the use and operation of the invention it is preferred that the usual coverlets, sheets, &c., (indicated at f in Fig. 1) be employed in connection with the apparatus described over and upon the shell, as shown in Fig. l, for, among other purposes, closing the opening provided by the notch b more closely around the neck of the patient and also to fall upon and protect the patient when the shell is withdrawn from the bed. This withdrawal of the shell is most satisfactorily accomplished by drawing the shell longitudinally from the foot 9 of the bed, the blankets, coverlets, sheets, &c., as the case may be, falling upon and enveloping the patient as the shell is withdrawn, and thereby preventing access of external air to the person of the patient and preventing chill or injury to the patient by a too sudden change of temperature.

The shellCmay be of anysuitable material, such as sheet metal or the like; but for the most convenient handling it should be as light as may be, and for sanitary or hygenic reasons it should be capable ofbeing easily cleansed or disinfected. To secure these advantages, the better construction, so far as at present known to us, is that shown in Fig. 4. In this two frames m and n, of foraminated material, preferably wire-netting, are provided, each of the desired shape of the shell, the inner frame being somewhat smaller than the outer frame m, so as to rest therein. Interposed between the two frames is an air and water proof flexible material u, such as rubber cloth, suitably-proofed canvas, impervious paper, or the like. The two frames being brought singly toward each other with the impervious material it between them the latter is firmly gripped and held in place, the two frames being then fixed together by any suitable meansas, for example, tied together by cords, wires, or the like, as indicated at w. The shell as thus constructed is of little weight and may be readily taken apart to permit the removal of the impervious material a and the cleansing of the frames as occasion may render desirable.

What we claim as our invention is- 1. A shell shaped for application to a bed with its edges closed upon the latter to provide within the shell a space for a person to lie recumbent and composed of inner and outer foraminated frames and an impervious sheet material clasped between them, as described.

2. A shell shaped for application to a bed with its edges closed upon the latter to provide within the shell a space for a person to lie recumbent and composed of an inner and an outer frame of wire-netting with an impervious sheet material clasped between them, as

JAMES A. WHITNEY, Gno. R. HALL.

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