AN APPARATUS FOR REDUCING THE RISK OF DEVELOPING DECUBITUS ULCERS AND ADJUNCT TO TREATMENT THEREOF ON IMMOBILE PATIENTS

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for reducing the risk of developing decubitus ulcers on bedfast or immobile patients and adjunct to the treatment thereof. Said apparatus comprising a bed frame, a plurality of spaced apart pusher assemblies transversely disposed on said bed frame, each said pusher assemblies being defined by a hollow shaft being rotatably secured to said bed frame, a worm and hollow gear combination provided on said hollow shaft, a plurality of slits spacedly provided on said hollow shaft, an internal screw shaft rotatably disposed within said hollow shaft with one end extending outwardly through said hollow gear, said internal screw shaft being provided with secondary worm and gear combination, a plurality of spaced apart internally threaded bushings screwably held along said internal screw shaft, a protruding member projecting outwardly from each internally threaded bushing and through corresponding slit of said hollow shaft, and a pusher member securedly held on each of said protruding member.

Claims

1. Apparatus for reducing the risk of bedfast patients developing decubitus ulcers comprising a bed frame, a plurality of spaced apart pusher assemblies transversely disposed on said bed frame, each said pusher assemblies being defined by a hollow shaft being rotatably secured to said bed frame, a worm and hollow gear combination provided on said hollow shaft, a plurality of slits spacedly provided on said hollow shaft, an internal screw shaft rotatably disposed within said hollow shaft with one end extending outwardly through said hollow gear, said internal screw shaft being provided with secondary worm and gear combination, a plurality of spaced apart internally threaded bushings screwably held along said internal screw shaft, a protruding member projecting outwardly from each internally threaded bushing and through corresponding slit of said hollow shaft, and a pusher member securedly held on each of said protruding member.

2. Apparatus for reducing the risk of bedfast patients developing decubitus ulcers according to claim 1 wherein said pusher member is defined by a substantially number 4-shaped body having an upstanding support post with an abbreviated first pusher portion laterally projecting from the upper end of said upstanding support post, an intermediate portion inclinedy and downwardly projecting from the end of said abbreviated first pusher portion, an abbreviated second pusher portion extending vertically and downwardly from the lower end of said intermediate portion, and terminating to a horizontal portion provided thereof.

3. Apparatus for reducing the risk of bedfast patients developing decubitus ulcers according to claim 1 wherein said slits on said hollow shaft together with said pusher members are arranged in a series formation along said hollow shaft and covering every quadrant of a 360 degree cycle.

4. Apparatus for reducing the risk of bedfast patients developing decubitus ulcers according to claim 1 wherein the hollow shafts together with the pusher members are activated to make a quarter turn periodically in a predetermined intervals.

5. Apparatus for reducing the risk of bedfast patients developing decubitus ulcers according to claim 1 wherein the area of contact between the back of the patient and a pusher member within a series or a cycle is not repeated.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bed of the prior art;

[0015] FIG. 2 shows the top view of the bed frame overlay being used to reduce the risk of developing decubitus ulcers or bedsores on immobile patients and adjunct to treatment thereof according to the present invention;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view take from line 2-2 of FIG. 2;

[0017] FIG. 4 is an isolated perspective view of the rectangular shaft holding the plurality of pusher members;

[0018] FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view taken along FIG. 4;

[0019] FIG. 6 is an isolated perspective view of the rectangular shaft showing the internal parts thereof;

[0020] FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken from line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

[0021] FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the pusher member taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 4;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Referring now to the several views of the drawing wherein like reference numerals designate same parts throughout, shown is the invention for an apparatus for reducing the risk developing decubitus ulcers or bedsores on bedfast or immobile patients generally designated as reference numeral 10.

[0023] Said apparatus 10 is adapted to be mounted on top of an ordinary bed “B” shown in FIG. 1. Said apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 2, comprises an adjustable bed frame 12 having a pair of opposing U-shaped complementary members 13 and 14, a pair of opposing elongated rails 15 and 16 supporting the free arms 17 of said opposing U-shaped complementary members 13 and 14, at least one adjustable threaded shaft 18 rotatably mounted longitudinally along middle portion of said pair of U-shaped complementary members 13 and 14, said threaded shaft 18 having its opposing ends 18a rotatably secured at the web portion 13a and 14a of the U-shaped complementary members 13 and 14, an internally threaded carrier 19 screwably associated with said threaded shaft 18, a pair of opposing beams 20 outwardly projecting from said internally threaded carrier 19 with the distal ends 21 respectively secured on the opposing arms of one of said U-shaped complementary members 13 and 14, and a plurality of spaced apart pusher assemblies being represented by reference numeral 22 as shown in FIG. 4 rotatably disposed transversely within said bed frame 12. Said pusher assemblies 22 although not shown in FIG. 2 are understood to be spacedly transversely on said bed frame 12.

[0024] Each of said pusher assemblies 22 is defined by a rectangular hollow shaft 23 having their opposing ends 23a rotatably secured along the opposing free arms 17 of said complementary members 13 and 14. As best seen in FIG. 6, said rectangular hollow shaft 23 is provided with a hollow gear 24 which is engage with a driving worm 25 that is connected to a driving motor (not shown). Rotatably disposed within said rectangular hollow shaft 23 is an internal screw shaft 26 having one of its end rotatably secured thereof with one end of said rectangular hollow shaft 23. The other opposing end 27 extends outwardly through said hollow gear 24 of said hollow rectangular shaft 23. Said opposing end 27 is keyed with a secondary gear 28 which is engaged with a complementary secondary worm 29 being driven by another motor (not shown). Screwably connected along said internal screw shaft 26 is a plurality of spaced apart internally threaded bushings 30. Each of said internally threaded bushings 30 is provided with a protruding member 31 projecting outwardly from the outer surface 32 thereof and extending through a slit 33 provided therefor on one of the sides of said hollow rectangular shaft 23, thus, said hollow rectangular shaft 23 would have a plurality of slits 33 provided along its sides with respective protruding members 31 thereof as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. It should be noticed that said slits 33 with corresponding protruding members 31 are arranged in said hollow rectangular shaft 23 in a series formation. Meaning that, if the first slit 33 is disposed on top portion 23a of said rectangular shaft 23, the second slit 33a is disposed at the left side wall 23b. The third slit 33b is then located at the bottom side portion 23c, and the fourth slit 33d is positioned at the right side wall 23d. The four positions of the slits 33a, 33b, 33c and 33d with corresponding protruding members 31 completes the cycle of the series formation thereof. This means that after the fourth slit 33d, another cycle thereof starts and so on. The pusher assembly 22 is further provided with a plurality of pusher members 34, each being fixed attached to corresponding protruding member 31. Thus, the positioning of the slit together with the corresponding pusher members covers the four quadrant of the cycle of 360 degrees.

[0025] Each of said pusher members 34 is defined by a substantially number 4-shaped body 35a having an upstanding support post 35 with an abbreviated first pusher portion 36 laterally projecting from the upper end of said upstanding support post 35, an intermediate portion 37 inclinedy and downwardly projecting from the end of said abbreviated first pusher portion 36, a abbreviated second pusher portion 38 extending vertically and downwardly from the lower end of said intermediate portion 37, and terminating to a horizontal portion 39 provided thereof.

[0026] In using said apparatus 10, said bed frame 12 is adjusted to a desired length, either increasing or decreasing length depending on the height of the patient. Said length is adjusted by rotating the adjustable threaded shaft 18 in a clockwise manner for increasing the length or counter-clockwise for decreasing the length of said bed frame 12. The rotating of said adjustable threaded shaft 18 is done with the use of lever or by means of a motor (not shown) connected thereof. Before laying down the patient on said apparatus 10, the spacing of the pusher members 34 is adjusted according to the instructions given by the attending doctors of the patient. Said spacing of the pusher members 34 is adjusted by rotating slowly the internal screw shaft 26 by means of through the secondary worm 29 and secondary gear 28 combination. With this, the internally threaded bushings 30 moves forwardly or backwardly until a the desired position and spacing is attained. Said internally threaded bushings 30 are then fixed in its position by means of a set screw 40 traversing said bushings 30 and setting it with the internal screw shaft 26. After locking said internally threaded bushings 30 with the internal screw shaft 26, the secondary worm 29 is then disengaged with the secondary gear 28 to allow said internal screw shaft 26 to rotate together with the hollow rectangular shaft 23. At this point, a thin mattress 41 is laid on top of the pusher members 34 as shown in FIG. 3 on to where the patient is laid.

[0027] Initially, only the first pusher members 34 of each cycle along one pusher assembly 22 through the second pusher portions 38 are engaged with the back of the patient. With predetermined intervals, preferably of 1 or 2 hours, depending on the instruction of the attending doctor of the patient, the driving motor is activated to rotate the driving worm 25 and gear combination and said hollow rectangular shaft 23 in a quarter turn, releasing the areas at the back of patient that are engaged with the second pusher portion 38 of said first pusher members 34. Upon completion of the quarter turn, the first pusher portion 36 of said first pusher member 34 now engages with the back of the patient at an area different from the one that have engaged with the second pusher portion 38. At this point, the second pusher portions of the adjacent second pusher members are now in contact with an area at the back of the patient. After 1 or 2 hours, the driving motor is again activated to rotate the hollow rectangular shafts to release the area at the back of the patient with the respective pusher portion of the adjacent pusher members and so on. On direction of the attending doctor, the spacing of the pusher members 34 may again be adjusted so that engagement of the pusher members with the back of the patient may be transferred from one area to another. This approach actually prevents the development of decubitus ulcers or bedsores at the back of the patient or may help in the treatment of such if the patient has already said decubitus ulcers or bedsores