A stand-up bedside hoisting apparatus includes a base; three legs fixedly connected an inner ends to the base to stably support the entire hoisting apparatus; a pivoted-arm mechanism including a lower rotary shaft that is rotatable relative to the base within a safe angular range, and an upper suspension arm that can be turned up and down relative to the rotary shaft; and a hanger pivotally connected to a front end of the suspension arm for holding a hoisting carriage to carry and move a patient. The hoisting apparatus may be easily and conveniently erected to stand up at one side of a sickbed without the need of being fixedly mounted to a wall or floor, and could therefore be moved for use at any place as necessary.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a stand-up bedside hoisting apparatus including legs that enable the whole hoisting apparatus to stably stand up without the need of being fixedly mounted to a wall or floor, so that the apparatus may be conveniently relocated when a sickbed is moved to a different place as needed.

A bedside hoisting apparatus is conventionally designed to fixedly mount to a wall or floor adjacent to one side of a sickbed to assist moving of an ill abed patient or an aged person between the sickbed and a wheelchair or other medical equipment either in a hospital or at home. Thus, a bedside hoisting apparatus not only enables a bedside attendant to take care and move the patient or the aged in an energy-saving manner, but also protects the patient or the aged against injury or impact in the course of moving.

All the currently available bedside hoisting apparatus are wall-mount type. That is, these bedside hoisting apparatus are fixedly mounted to a wall or floor and have the advantage of compact volume to occupy only a small room. However, the hoisting apparatus are immovable once they are mounted to the wall or floor. To protect the patient and the aged from impact and falling, the bedside hoisting apparatus must have strong structure and be firmly attached to the wall or the floor to safely support the weight of the patient or the aged. In many developed countries, such as the United States, only a certified professional is allowed to install the wall-mount type bedside hoisting apparatus.

When the sickbed is to be moved to a different place, the bedside hoisting apparatus has to be dismounted from the wall or the floor and re-mounted on a wall or floor in the vicinity of the relocated sickbed by the certified professional. It is time-consuming to do so and would increase the user's burden.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a stand-up bedside hoisting apparatus that could stand independently and stably without the need of mounting to a wall or floor. A consumer could purchase the apparatus and install the same by himself. The apparatus could be easily relocated whenever the sickbed is moved to a different place, and therefore provides higher elasticity in use.

To achieve the above and other objects, the stand-up bedside hoisting apparatus of the present invention mainly includes a base; three legs fixedly connected an inner ends to the base to stably support the entire hoisting apparatus; a pivoted-arm mechanism including a lower rotary shaft that can be rotated relative to the base within a safe angular range, and an upper suspension arm that can be turned up and down relative to the rotary shaft; and a hanger pivotally connected to a front end of the suspension arm for holding a hoisting carriage to carry and move a patient.

In the stand-up bedside hoisting apparatus of the present invention, one of the three legs is forward extended from a front side of the base, while the other two are extended from two lateral sides of the base in two opposite directions, so that the three legs are arranged in the shape of a letter T.

Moreover, the base of the hoisting apparatus is provided with an upright hollow column, into which a lower end of the rotary shaft of the pivoted-arm mechanism is inserted for the rotary shaft to rotate leftward and rightward relative to the upright column. The upright column is provided at a top rear edge with a stopper, and the rotary shaft is provided on an outer surface with a radially extended pin adapted to abut on two ends of the stopper on the upright column, so that the rotary shaft is rotatable within in a range limited by the stopper and the pin to avoid collision of the hoisted patient with a wall adjacent to the sickbed.

The hanger is pivotally connected to the suspension arm via a pivot joint, so that the hanger is 360-degree rotatable relative to the pivoted-arm mechanism and turnable to and fro to change a distance between the hanger and the front end of the suspension arm, enabling easy orientation of the hoisted patient to a desired position before completely lowering the patient to the sickbed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer toFIGS. 1 and 3that are rear perspective and side views, respectively, of a stand-up bedside hoisting apparatus according to the present invention. The apparatus mainly includes a base10, a front leg20, two lateral legs30and40, a pivoted-arm mechanism50, and a hanger60.

Please refer toFIG. 2that is an exploded front perspective view of the base10and the legs20,30and40. The base10is provided with an upright column11that defines a central shaft hole12; two braces13,14downward and outward extended from two lateral sides of the upright column11and having two forward-opened brackets131,141, respectively, fixedly connected to lower outer ends thereof; and two wheels15,16spaced below the base10(seeFIG. 1) to facilitate convenient moving of the base10and provide supporting force to the base10when the hoisting apparatus is in use and sinks the base10.

The front and the two lateral legs20,30,40are connected at their respective inner ends to the base10with fastening means. The front leg20extends forward from the base10and the two lateral legs30,40extend sideward in two opposite directions from the base10, so that the three legs20,30and40are arranged in the shape of a letter T. All the three legs20,30and40are provided at their respective lower outer ends with height-adjustable supports21,31and41to provide sufficient supporting force for the entire hoisting apparatus to stand stably.

The purpose for the three legs20,30and40to extend in the form of a letter T is to adapt the entire hoisting apparatus to most places at where the hoisting apparatus is employed to hoist a patient. That is, it is usually to locate the two lateral legs30,40alongside a wall and the front leg20alongside a bedside. The column11is provided at a top rear edge with an axial projection17to serve as a stopper, the function of which will be described latter.

The two lateral legs30,40are extended through the forward-opened brackets131,141and detachably connected thereto with fastening means to ensure firm connection of the lateral legs30,40to the base10. The lateral legs30,40may be separated from the forward-opened brackets131,141and turned into a folded position to locate at two sides of the front leg20to occupy only very small space, as shown inFIG. 7. To hold the two lateral legs30,40to the folded position, the base10is correspondingly provided with through holes18,19, through which fastening means may be extended to lock the lateral legs30,40to two sides of the front leg20.

The front leg20is a two-section telescopic leg. A front section thereof may be telescopically received on a rear section to shorten an overall length of the front leg20, as shown inFIG. 7. A wheel22is provided below an outmost end of the front leg20. When the front section of the front leg20is telescoped into the rear section and the two lateral legs30and40are turned into the folded position, the wheel22is in contact with the ground to facilitate moving of the entire hoisting apparatus. The two lateral legs30,40may also be provided at predetermined positions with wheels32,42, respectively, to enable turning of the legs30,40to the folded position in a smooth and energy-saving manner.

Please refer back toFIGS. 1 and 3. The pivoted-arm mechanism50is mounted on the base10and includes a rotary shaft51, a suspension arm52, and an extension mechanism53. The rotary shaft51forms a lower part of the pivoted-arm mechanism50and has a lower end rotatably inserted into the shaft hole12of the upright column on the base10. The suspension arm52is pivotally connected at a rear end to an upper end of the rotary shaft51so as to turn up and down relative to the rotary shaft51. The extension mechanism53includes a main body531pivotally connected to connecting lugs511projected from a lower part of the rotary shaft51(seeFIG. 3), and an extension tube532extendably received in the main body531and having an outer end pivotally connected to connecting lugs521projected from the suspension arm52. When the extension tube532is driven to extend from or retract into the main body531of the extension mechanism53, the suspension arm52is caused to turn up or down relative to the rotary shaft51and the base10.

As can be seen fromFIGS. 2,3and4, the rotary shaft51is provided at an outer surface with a radially extended pin512that would be in contact with two lateral ends of the stopper17provided on the top rear edge of the upright column11to limit a rotating angle of the rotary shaft51. That is, the stopper17and the pin512together define a safe range for the rotary shaft51to turn leftward and rightward, so that a patient hoisted on the hoisting apparatus of the present invention would not collide with the wall alongside which the two lateral legs30,40of the hoisting apparatus are positioned.

Please refer toFIGS. 1,3,5and6. The hanger60is a conventional device having claws61provided at outer ends of two arms thereof for hanging a hoisting carriage (not shown) therefrom, and two opposite lugs62provided on a top of the hanger60. The hanger60is pivotally connected to a front end of the suspension arm52via a pivot joint70.

The pivot joint70includes a U-shaped bracket71pivotally connected at two upper ends to the front end of the suspension arm52, and a pivot bolt72perpendicularly extended through a bottom of the bracket71and rotatable relative to the bracket71by 360 degrees. The two lugs62of the hanger60are pivotally connected to the pivot bolt72, so that the hanger60is turnable to and fro relative to the suspension arm52and 360-degree rotatable relative to the bracket71. This arrangement enables lowering of the hoisted patient toward the sickbed in desired position and direction. When the hoisted patient is lowered with his or her hips in contact with the sickbed, the hanger60may be turned relative to the pivot bolt72of the pivot joint70to change a distance between a lower end of the hanger60and the front end of the suspension arm52, and turned relative to the bracket71to orient the hoisted patient to the desired position. In this manner, it would not need to move the patient any further once the patient has been completely lowered onto the sickbed. The patient is therefore well protected from undesired pull or push while being moved between the sickbed and a wheelchair or other medical equipment.

The stand-up bedside hoisting apparatus of the present invention is easy to erect and transport, allowing consumers to erect the hoisting apparatus by themselves. The bedside hoisting apparatus of the present invention therefore provides more elasticity and convenience in use as compared with the conventional ones that must be fixedly mounted to the wall or floor.