Apparatus for conveying incumbent person

An apparatus for conveying incumbent persons comprises a main body and a plurality of loading mechanisms movably supported on the main body for insertion between an incumbent person and a surface on which the person is supported. Each loading mechanism consists of a pipe structure and a bag-like loading sheet which constantly covers the outer surface of the pipe structure and one part of which is contained inside the pipe structure. The loading sheet is paid out from the inside of the pipe structure when the loading mechanism is being inserted between the person and the supporting surface and is drawn back into the inside of the pipe structure when the loading mechanism is being retracted.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an apparatus for conveying an incumbent person, 
more particularly to an apparatus for conveying a disabled person or an 
invalid (herein frequently referred to simply as a "person") lying on a 
bed, operating table, stretcher or the like and unable to stand or walk. 
2. Prior Art Statement 
For conveying such an incumbent person it is generally necessary to somehow 
bring a conveyance means near or in contact with the person and then to 
cause an operating force to act on the person. Conventional methods that 
are extensions of techniques for transporting heavy loads have been 
developed for this purpose and involve, for example, using an apparatus 
resembling a forklift to lift the person together with his bed or using a 
crane-like device suspended from the ceiling for lifting the person by 
means of a sling constituted of belts, a net or a sheet. In addition, one 
particularly excellent method that has been developed involves inserting a 
loading plate between the person and the supporting surface (e.g. the top 
of a bed) and then conveying the person on the plate. In this method, the 
loading plate has belts wound thereon and the belts are paid out 
synchronously with the movement of the plate, thus eliminating slippage at 
the plate surfaces in contact with the person and the supporting surface. 
The principle involved is shown in FIGS. 6(A), (B) and (C). The loading 
plate 31 is arranged in upper and lower segments which are separated by 
spacers 32 and respectively have belts 33a and 33b wound thereon. When 
moving toward the incumbent person 36 (FIG. 6(A)), the belt 33a on the 
upper segment rotates counterclockwise while the belt 33b on the lower 
segment rotates clockwise. The reference numerals 34 and 35 respectively 
denote the main body of the apparatus and the support (e.g. bed) on which 
the person is lying. The upper belt 33a moves beneath the person 36 (FIG. 
6(B)) and then after the person has been completely loaded on the upper 
segment of the loading plate 31 as shown in FIG. 6(C) the plate 31 is 
returned to the main body 34. At this time, the lower belt 33b only is 
rotated counter clockwise so that the person 36 can be conveyed without 
slippage between the contacting surfaces. A large number of apparatuses 
for conveying incumbent persons which operate on this principle have been 
developed. These are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,947,902, 
3,967,328, 4,073,016, 4,077,073 and 4,680,818, U.S. patent application 
Ser. No. 031,668, and Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 47(1972)-34477, 
56(1981)-16659, 56(1981)-24536 and 56(1981)-34298. While all of these 
relate to belt-type conveyance systems, they propose various systems for 
driving and controlling the plates and belts. As a system which has 
actually been marketed there can be mentioned the Full Automatic Stretcher 
DR-520 sold by Takara Belmont K.K. of Japan. 
These systems are capable of conveying a person with relatively small 
driving power but entail a problem as to safety. As shown in FIG. 7, the 
loading plate is constituted in two segments and spacers are ordinarily 
provided between them at their opposite ends. Thus it is not possible to 
provide belts on the end portions and these portions are used for the 
provision of a driving means or the like for the loading plate. Therefore, 
when one of these portions strikes against the person to be conveyed, the 
person is apt to be injured because of the large amount of friction 
arising between the end portion and the person. Moreover, where a loading 
plate of large area is used, it is necessary to provide spacers at several 
locations. This makes it impossible to use only a single belt and the 
usual practice is to provide a plurality of belts in parallel. This 
increases the risk of the person's hair or fingers getting caught under 
the lateral edge of a belt in the unbelted region between two adjacent 
belts. It is also undesirable from the point of sanitation since it 
provides openings into which dirt, loose hairs and the like can be drawn. 
For avoiding these problems it might be thought advisable to use one of 
various other conceivable conveyance methods in which the conveyance means 
is brought in direct contact with the person to be conveyed. However, from 
the points of safety and of reducing pain and discomfort to the person, 
the belt system is considered to be the best. 
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for conveying an 
incumbent person which is superior from the points of safety and 
sanitation and which enables the person to be conveyed smoothly. 
For achieving this object, the present invention provides an apparatus for 
conveying an incumbent person comprising a main body, a plurality of 
loading means disposed on the main body, each loading means being 
constituted of a pipe structure and a loading sheet which constantly 
covers the outer surface of the pipe structure and has one portion thereof 
positioned inside the pipe structure, means for extending the loading 
means for insertion beneath a person to be conveyed and for retracting the 
means back to the main body after the person has been loaded thereon, 
means for paying out the loading sheets from the inside of the pipe 
structures when the loading means are being extended and means for drawing 
the loading sheets back into the inside of the pipe structures when the 
loading means are being retracted. 
The plurality of loading means are disposed in parallel on the upper 
surface of the main body and the loading sheets are constituted of a 
material which is stretchable in the circumferential direction of the pipe 
structures but is not stretchable in the axial direction thereof. The 
arrangement is such that the speed at which the loading means are inserted 
beneath the incumbent person is mechanically matched with the speed at 
which the loading sheets are paid out. The speed of retraction of the 
loading means after loading of the person thereon and the speed of drawing 
in the loading sheet are also matched. After the loading means have been 
inserted between the person and the supporting surface, the loading sheets 
are neither paid out nor wound in with respect to the loading means and 
the person is transferred to the main body of the apparatus while 
remaining stationary with respect to the loading means. The ends of the 
loading sheets inside the pipe structures are connected with wires the 
other ends of which are connected with loading sheet wind-in devices 
within the main body of the apparatus, whereby appropriate relative motion 
is realized among the apparatus components. 
With this arrangement, in picking up the person, when the loading plate 
constituted by the plurality of loading means is extended toward the 
person by a force from an appropriate means applied to brackets provided 
on the proximal ends of the loading means, wind-in devices are 
simultaneously rotated to pay out the wires. If at this time, the loading 
sheet wind-in devices in the main unit to which the ends of the loading 
sheets are connected are stopped, no slippage will arise between the 
loading means and the person or between the loading means and the 
supporting surface because the loading sheets will be paid out from the 
insides of the pipe structures. Then when the person is conveyed to the 
main body of the apparatus, the loading means are retracted toward the 
main body of the apparatus while at the same time the wires are wound in 
so that the loading sheets are drawn into the pipes, whereby the person 
can be transferred to the main body of the apparatus as desired. 
The above and other features of the present invention will become apparent 
from the following description made with reference to the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE, PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B), reference numeral 1 designates one of a 
plurality of loading means disposed on the upper surface of a main body 10 
of the conveyance apparatus so as to be insertable between the object to 
be conveyed (ordinarily a person) and the surface supporting the object 
(ordinarily a bed). Each loading means 1 is constituted of a pipe 
structure 2 and a loading sheet 3. The loading sheet 3 is in the form of a 
bag. Part of it is held within the interior of the distal end of the pipe 
structure 2 and the remainder passes over the exterior of the pipe 
structure 2 to keep its outer surface covered at all times. The end of the 
loading sheet 3 within the pipe structure 2 is connected to a wire 6 the 
other end of which is connected with a wire wind-in device 7 located on 
the main body 10. The other end of the loading sheet 3 is fixed to a 
loading sheet wind-in device 9. The pipe structure 2 has a bracket 8 for 
attachment to a propulsion means on its lower surface and when the pipe 
structure 2 is driven via this bracket for insertion between the person 
and the bed, the loading sheet 3 is paid out from the interior of the 
pipe. On the other hand, when the pipe structure 2 is retracted, the 
loading sheet 3 is drawn into the pipe. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of 
the loading means 1 are disposed on the upper surface of the main body 10 
at intervals small enough to ensure that the person supported thereon will 
not come in contact with the top of the main body 10. The loading sheets 3 
are formed of a material which stretches in the circumferential direction 
of the pipe but does not stretch in the axial direction thereof. Such a 
loading sheet 3 can be realized, for example, by an arrangement such as 
shown in FIG. 2 which shows a number of non-woven cloth strips 5 laminated 
on a rubber sheet or knit cloth 4. The pipe structures 2 should preferably 
be made of plastic so as to be light of weight and to minimize the 
coefficient of friction between the pipe structures and the loading 
sheets. For enhancing the strength and cushioning effect of the pipe 
structure 2 it is advantageous to give it an oval cross section with the 
minor axis oriented vertically. The interval between neighboring pipe 
structures 2 should be determined with consideration to the pressure 
(weight) exerted thereon by the person to be conveyed. 
The loading sheet 3 is provided with a slit (not shown) at an appropriate 
location for permitting movement of the bracket 8 and passage of the wire 
6. 
FIG. 4 shows an example of the drive mechanism provided in the main body 10 
for operating the loading means described in the foregoing. The wire 6 
attached to the end of the loading sheet 3 situated inside of the pipe 
structure 2 has its other end wound on a pulley 11 constituting the wire 
wind-in device 7, and a gear 13 fixed on the shaft 12 of the pulley 11 is 
engaged with and rotated by a gear 15 of a motor 14. After passing over 
the outer surface of the pipe structure 2, the loading sheet 3 is guided 
over guide rollers 29, 30 and its other end is connected to a wire 18 by a 
connector 17. The other end of the wire 18 is wound on a pulley 16 
constituting the loading sheet wind-in device 9. The shaft 19 of the 
pulley 16 is provided with a gear 21 via a clutch 20 which is on only 
during retraction of the loading means 1. The gear 21 is engaged with a 
gear 23 of a motor 22 for extending and retracting the loading means 1. A 
timing belt 26 links a pulley 24 on the shaft of the motor 22 with a 
timing pulley 25 disposed laterally of the pulley 24, and a shaft 27 fixed 
on the timing belt 26 is pivotally attached to the bracket 8 projecting 
from the lower side of the proximal end of the pipe structure 2. In 
combination, the aforesaid members constitute an apparatus 28 for 
conveying incumbent persons. 
A separate drive mechanism is required for each of the plurality of loading 
means 1 disposed on the main body 10. However, if the shafts 12,19 and the 
shafts of the pulleys 24, 25 are extended in length so as to serve in 
common for all of the drive mechanisms, the number of motors required can 
be held to two and all of the loading means can be operated in unison. 
The operation of the apparatus 28 will now be explained. When a person 
lying on a bed or other support 31 is to be picked up, the main body 10 is 
brought near the support 31 as shown in FIG. 4 and the motor 22 for 
extending/retracting the loading means 1 is operated to cause the timing 
belts 26 to rotate counterclockwise. The movement of the timing belts 26 
is transferred to the loading means 1 via the brackets 8, causing all of 
the loading means 1 to move simultaneously in the direction of the support 
31. The tips of the loading means 1 are thus inserted under the person 
lying on the support 31. At this time the motor 14 is operated to pay out 
the wires 6. On the other hand, the loading sheet wind-in devices 9 are 
halted so that the loading sheets 3 will be paid out from the interior of 
the pipe structures 2 and thus eliminate slippage between the loading 
means 1 and the person and between the loading means 1 and the supporting 
surface. While the loading means 1 are being extended, the wires 6 are 
paid out at a speed which is double that of the loading means 1, whereby 
the speed of insertion of the loading means 1 beneath the person and the 
speed at which the loading sheets 3 are paid out are mechanically matched. 
As a result, the loading sheets 3 can be paid out from the interiors of 
the pipe structures 2 smoothly and the loading means can be inserted 
beneath the person smoothly. On the other hand, at the time of retracting 
the loading means 1 toward the main body 10 after the person has been 
loaded thereon, the wires 6 are drawn in at the same speed as that of the 
pipe structures 2. 
When a person is to be transferred from the loading means onto a bed or 
other supporting surface, it suffices to carry out the aforesaid 
operations in reverse. Specifically, the pipe structures 2 and the loading 
sheets 3 are extended and paid out at the same speed until the person has 
reached the desired position on the supporting surface. Next, the pipe 
structures 2 are retracted and simultaneously the wires 6 are wound in at 
the same speed. As a result, the loading sheets 3 are progressively drawn 
into the inside of the pipe structures 2 and the person remains on the 
supporting surface. 
As explained above, in the present invention the pipe structures 2 of the 
loading means 1 are enclosed by the loading sheets 3 so that there are no 
gaps at which the person being conveyed can come in contact with the pipe 
structures 2. This is different from the case of a conveyance plate which 
consists of a structural member for supporting a person and belts wound 
thereabout. Further, the pipe structures used in the present invention are 
advantageous in that they easily flex in the radial direction, providing a 
cushioning effect for the person being picked up and conveyed. Also, since 
the pipe structures 2 are driven to extend and retract by a horizontal 
shaft 27 pivotally attached to the proximal end thereof, the pipe 
structures are to some degree able to adapt to the contour of the person 
being conveyed, as shown in FIG. 3. 
In the apparatus for conveying an incumbent person according to the present 
invention, the loading means which apply an operating force with respect 
to the person to be conveyed are completely covered by the loading sheets. 
Thus there is no danger of the person's hair or fingers being caught in 
any part of the apparatus during loading or unloading. Moreover, the 
person is constantly in contact with loading sheets which are stationary 
with respect to the person so that the person is not subjected to larger 
than necessary contact pressures. The apparatus of the invention is thus 
superior to the conventional conveyance plate type apparatuses in terms of 
both safety and sanitation. Another advantage of the apparatus according 
to the invention derives from the fact that the parallelly arranged 
plurality of loading means (pipe structures) are rotatable by a certain 
angle about a horizontal axis, which makes it possible for the loading 
members to enter beneath the person along a line that approximates the 
contour of the person's body. The cushioning effect of the pipe structures 
further makes it possible to support and convey the person with optimum 
comfort.