Abstract
Oscillating hospital bed that smoothly changes the body support points to vary the effective area of body support on the bed with slow, constant oscillations, in the directions of the width and length of a mattress support, characterized by having sets of drive systems attached to a chassis which supports other components, such as an electric motor, a control panel, a thread vertical shaft, a rotation shaft and noise and vibration absorbing cushions.
Claims
1. Oscillating hospital bed for preventing decubitus ulcers comprising an arched mattress support, a longitudinally orientated cylindrical shaft connected to the mattress support and configured to allow the mattress support to oscillate transversely, a first vertical shaft having a worm thread, the first vertical shaft connected to the mattress support and configured to raise and lower to cause transverse oscillations, a vertically orientated cylindrical shaft connected to the mattress support and configured to allow the mattress support to oscillate vertically, a second vertical shaft having a worm thread, the second vertical shaft connected to the mattress support and configured to raise and lower the mattress support to cause vertical oscillations, two drive systems, one driving the first vertical shaft for transverse oscillations and the other driving the second vertical shaft for longitudinal oscillations wherein said each of the two drive systems are battery-operated without connection to an electric grid, said two drive systems operate by intermittent electrical pulses so as to increase battery life, wherein said two drive systems oscillate the mattress support for preventing decubitus ulcers.
Description
ILLUSTRATIONS
(1) So as to enable proper visualization and a clear understanding of the concepts applied to the preferred embodiment, schematic illustrative figures are attached where:
(2) FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of the arched mattress support;
(3) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the flat mattress support;
(4) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the mattress support showing the components that drive the arched support;
(5) FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the coupling to the arched support.
(6) FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of two sets of drive systems that are attached to the chassis;
(7) FIG. 6 shows the control panel blocks diagram; and
(8) FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of the control panel.
(9) Below is a detailed description of the figures mentioned above.
(10) FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-section of the arched mattress support (1); to simplify this report, only the arched mattress support is shown (2), and, as shown in FIG. 2, the flat support (2A) is removable and is placed on the arched support (2) by a groove or any other suitable means; FIG. 1 shows the arched mattress support (2) in the center or resting position (A); it also shows the arched mattress support (2) in the maximum elevation position (B) with the elevation applied to one of the longitudinal ends, due to the action of the cylindrical shaft, which connotes the symmetrical contrary change on the opposite side; thus raising one of the longitudinal ends of the arched support (2) by H height will produce a difference equal to 2H between the ends of the arched mattress support (2), which, when in the resting position, were level; also seen is a dashed line representing the plane (P) parallel to the floor and the cylindrical shaft (3), which is attached to the arched support (2) over the entire length of its longitudinal center line with the cylindrical shaft being hinged to the two shafts (5) attached to the supports (5A) placed at the longitudinal ends of the chassis (4) so that the arched support (2) can rotate around its middle or center part and create transversal oscillations.
(11) FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the flat support (2A) and its relationship with the arched support (2) to which it is coupled and whose behavior is the same as that of the support.
(12) FIG. 3 is a schematic, non-dimensional cross-sectional view showing the components that drive the arched support (2) to produce the transversal oscillations made by the mechanical devices such as electric motors, shafts, and conventional gears that together form the drive system (SA), which comprise the preferred version of the equipment of this invention, this form being but one of dozens that may possibly be used to deliver the movements provided by this invention, such as hydropneumatic solutions, it can be seen in FIG. 3 that the motor (7) and other drive components are appropriately attached to the chassis (4), with the chassis (4) being crossed by the vertical pinion (11); also seen is the electric motor (7) driven by a power drive (PWM) in the control panel (PC), which preferably operates at 24V DC, is silent and with a reversible rotation direction; the electric motor's shaft (7) has a gear (8) connected to another gear (9) and a minimum pitch (10), which drives the worm thread vertical shaft (11) intended to move the flat or arched mattress support (2) vertically; also seen is the coupling (13) that carries out the vertical coupling of the tip (12) of the vertical shaft (11), which allows adjustment of the coupling (13) and tip (12) of the vertical shaft (11) to the lateral movements between the tip (12) of the vertical shaft (11) and the flat or arched mattress support (2) resulting from transversal oscillations.
(13) The microprocessed control panel (PC) controls the motor's speed and rotation direction, as well as the rotation time in each direction, which results in controlling the amplitude and frequency of the flat or arched mattress support's oscillations in the transverse direction; also seen is the rotation shaft support (5), which couples with the cylindrical shaft (3) attached to the arched mattress support (2), the equipment's chassis (4), and the noise and vibration absorbing cushion (6), which dampens noise and vibrations from the support (5A); also shown is the support (14) of hoods (15) and (16) that surround and protect the vertical screw shaft (11) from accidental contact and dust.
(14) FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the coupling (13) attached to the arched support shown in FIG. 2, which makes the mobile coupling between the tip (12) of the vertical shaft (11) and the arched mattress support (2) shown in the previous figures; this feature allows the tip (12) of the vertical shaft (11) to move horizontally within the coupling (13) so the devices of this invention are not subject to the forces and transversal movements resulting from the rotation of the arched mattress support (2), which is attached to the cylindrical shaft (3); it can be seen that the coupling (13) is in the shape of the letter C with an open hole in the lower part into which the tip (12) of the vertical shaft, which is T-shaped, can slide, with the coupling being applied to any point of the arched mattress support (2) closest to one of the edges.
(15) FIG. 5 is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of an example of the equipment of this invention with two sets of drive systems (SA) that are attached to the chassis (4) in a suitable manner and are composed of the mechanical devices that apply the oscillations to the arched support (2), one for transversal oscillations and the other for longitudinal oscillations; the arched support (2) is seen and, by means of transparency, the cylindrical shaft (3) and coupling (13); also seen are the shafts (5) and supports (5A), placed at the longitudinal ends of the arched support (2), the cushions (6), and the two drive systems (AS), coupled to the two vertical shafts (11), which is placed to right of FIG. 5 and is coupled to the coupling (13) by its tip (12) to raise and lower the chassis (4) longitudinally and is supported on the bed frame (F); the minimum raising or lowering position of the chassis (4) is mechanically maintained by the support limiter (S1), which is attached to the bed frame (F); it can also be seen to the left of FIG. 5) that the chassis (4) can rotate around its shaft (EGC), attached to the support (S2), which is also attached to the bed frame (F).
(16) FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the pillow support (ST), which is attached to support (S3) through the support (S4) and height adjuster screw (RA), which is inserted through the cephalic end of the chassis (4) and whose height is adjustable through the height adjuster (RA), whose function is to secure the user's head in a fixed manner without moving in response to changes in body position resulting from transversal oscillations and avoid labyrinthism in people who are sensitive to motion.
(17) FIG. 6 shows the control panel blocks diagram (PC) that presents the preferred embodiment of its operation; the upper part of FIG. 6 shows the power unit in a way that is separate from the operating unit, which, in this example, is composed of a controlling charge rectifier (C), which charges two 12-V batteries, and a voltage regulator (D), which supplies 24 V to two motors and 5 V to the CPU by means of two parallel batteries.
(18) The blocks in the lower part of FIG. 6 show the tilt sensor (E), which has two measuring axesone for the longitudinal tilt (Y) and another for the transverse tilt (X)of the support mattress (2), as shown in the previous figures, which provides the CPU with tilting measurements relative to these two axes, with the CPU preferably equipped with three memoriesRAM for calculating variables, FLASH, which contains the firmware, and EEPRON, which contains the predetermined operating parameters and start-up conditions and also has two ports for I and J power drives that connect to K and L motors, respectively dedicated to producing longitudinal oscillations along the Y axis and transversal oscillations along the X axis; a dedicated input port (G) for the keyboard, an output port (H) for display data from the control panel (PC), plus, there may also be two analog ports, not shown, for inputting information on the currents instantaneously applied to (K) and (L) motors, and which switches them off in case of overload before they get hot.
(19) FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of the control panel (CP), illustrating its embodiment, having been designed to be conventionally controlled so that the training of operators or users of this invention would be simple and easy, i.e., operated as a key cell phone consisting of one display (26), alphanumeric, backlit, with two lines of sixteen characters and eight keys, that allows the activation and control of various functions, such as:
(20) The first touch key activates the START function (17)the green LED lights upand the second key activates the STOP functionthe red LED lights up; a key to activate the Return both tilts to the level position (18); a key to activate MENU (19), where the display shows TRANSVERSAL and LONGITUDINAL; a set conventionally arranged with five keys, the main navigation key activating ENTER (20), which allows sub-menus to be accessed and changed, i.e., access and make changes in transversal and longitudinal directions, as per the MENU shown on the display (26), and when the ENTER key (20) is pressed the second time, the display (26) shows three digits, the last digit to the right being a decimal point, and by pressing the ENTER key (20), the amplitude in centimeters and duration in minutes are set for either direction, as selected on the MENU, and display (26) digits blink to remind the user of the possibility of new programming by using the set of navigation keys placed at the four cardinal points around the ENTER key (20), the upper key being UP (21), the lower key being DOWN (22), the left key LEFT (23), and the right key RIGHT (24); the display (20) also has an alarm buzzer (25) that emits an overload sound signal and informs the user that the motors (K and L) have been switched off.
