HOSPITAL BED WITH PIVOTING HEADBOARD

Abstract: There is disclosed a hospital bed having a pivoted headboard (22) that functions as a work centre. The headboard (22) can be swung to either side of the bed and locked there as well as its normal position at the head of the bed.

Description: This invention relates to a hospital bed having a headboard. The headboard of a hospital bed currently has little function other than retaining the patient's pillow and providing structure for pushing the bed. An objective of the present invention has been to utilize the headboard (or footboard) as a work centre. The work centre concept of the present invention involves the organisation of the headboard on its surface remote from the bed (normally adjacent the bedroom wall) into compartments to contain devices useful in the treatment of patients. These include diagnostic devices such as a blood pressure cuff, a temperature indicator and a nurse s light. The invention further contemplates the mounting on that surface a computer which can include a bar code reader that will read the nurse's badge, the patient's wrist band and record the time of the nurse's call on the patient. With the bar code reader and computer, a complete record of the precise treatment given the patient as well as the recording of the vital signs, administration of medicines and the like. The headboard can also contain the nursing controls for the raising and lowering of a patient's support surface, room lighting, nurse call, T.V. and patient lock-outs. Separate controls are accessible to the patient in each side rail, but where the patient is incompetent, it is desirable to disable the patient controls and provide control only from a position which is accessible only to authorised people, thus the patient lock-outs. EP-A-022375 describes a hospital bed which has an overhanging arm attached to the head of the bed. The end of the arm is provided with a hand-grip to enable the patient to pull her or himself to a sitting position. The arm is formed by a tube of oval cross-section which has its vertical lower part mounted in a guide so that it can be swung about its vertical axis. The lower end of the tube has a conical extension which is enclosed by segments forming brake blocks enclosed in a cylindrical housing. The weight of the tube is taken by a compression spring so that the conical extension is normally held clear of the brake blocks. When the patient grips the handgrip the conical extension is pressed against the brake blocks and the arm is prevented from rotating. US-A-0809352 describes an attachment for a bedstead, which comprises a cabinet. The cabinet is provided with a frame-work which is pivotally mounted upon bedstead post engaging members consisting of resilient arms which pass about the post, said arms being held to the post by means of a bolt. US-A-4952104 describes a wheeled hospital bed which is removably connectible to a drive unit. The bed comprises a plurality of articulated frame sections, a plurality of driven shafts, a linkage interconnecting the driven shafts and the frame sections for articulating the latter in response to rotation of the driven shafts, and a first guide structure. The drive unit includes a plurality of motors and drive shafts, and a second guide structure arranged to intersect with the first guide structure of the bed when the bed is merged with the drive unit in order to orient the bed and drive units such that the drive and driven shafts are mutually aligned. The drive and driven shafts include a self-coupling mechanism for establishing a drive connection therebetween when in a merged condition. The drive unit may be anchored to the floor, or may be supported solely by the bed. In the former case, the bed can be rotatable about a vertical axis relative to the drive unit while maintaining connection therewith. The drive unit carries a pair of side guards which are arranged to straddle the bed. The side guards are connectible to an articulatable section of the bed so as to be movable therewith. Another objective of the present invention has been to provide for the movement of the headboard/work centre from an inaccessible position at the end of the bed to an accessible position at either side at head end of bed. The movement of the headboard has the advantage of swinging the work centre to a position that is completely accessible to the nurse in attendance and returning the work centre to the end of the bed where it is normally adjacent the wall behind the patient. In the latter position, the elements of the work centre are maintained inaccessible to all unauthorised persons and certain elements, such as a computer, are protected from damage. Another objective of the invention has been to provide a pivoting headboard that preferably hugs the sides or end of the bed as closely as possible so as to occupy as little extra floor space as possible while providing the pivoting headboard advantages. A second advantage of the pivoting headboard/work centre has been to provide direct access to the head of the patient during a code situation, a code situation being a traumatic condition such as cardiac arrest where access to the patient may be necessary from the head of the bed. According to the present invention there is provided an elongated hospital bed comprising an elongated frame having an end for a work centre, a work centre, means pivotally mounting said work centre to said end of said frame for horizontal swinging motions to said end and both sides of said bed, whereby said work centre can function as a headboard or footboard when at the end of said bed and can be swung to either side of said bed for the convenience of nursing procedures. Preferably the bed comprises a cam track on said frame, a follower on said work centre disposed in said cam track, said cam track being configured to guide said work centre to positions closely adjacent the end and sides of said bed while permitting said work centre to clear the corners of said bed. The surface of the headboard, remote from the frame may be organised with a computer, diagnostic and treatment accessories, and bed controls as desired. Tailoring such organisation to a hospital's requirements is contemplated. Among the major advantages of the hospital bed of the present invention are the following: It can provide a complete work nursing centre without adding to the "footprint" of the bed, that is, the floor space required by the bed. It can permit access to the patient from the head of the bed. It can save the nursing personnel a lot of time and steps by providing all of the nursing accessories in a very convenient place. It can locate a computer (when stored) in a protected position. It can provide for nurse controls that are inaccessible to unauthorised persons. It can open up the foot of the bed, previously used for controls, patient chart and the like, to additional procedures. The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the invention applied to a hospital bed; Fig. 2 is a disassembled, perspective view of the interconnection of the mechanical elements making up the pivoted headboard; Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the headboard; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of Fig. 3; Referring to Fig. 1, the bed has a frame 10 which is mounted on casters 11. A bed frame 15 is provided to which the patient support panels are mounted. See application Serial No. 7-034,232, filed April 2, 1987, for details of the bed frame, patient supporting panels and operating controls, which patent application is specifically incorporated by reference to form a part of the present disclosure. The head end of the bed is indicated at 20. Its corner portions 21 are preferably slightly chamfered or rounded off to permit a tight swinging path of the headboard with respect to the bed frame. A contoured headboard 22 is formed as a generally vertical wall 23 mounted on a pivoting head frame 24 (Fig. 2). The side of the headboard opposite the bed frame is provided with compartments 25 to receive the nursing accessories such as vital signs and measuring devices including stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and the like. A computer 26 having a keyboard 27 is mounted on the headboard. The keyboard is shown in a vertical attitude but can pivot to a horizontal attitude when in operation. The bed frame 15 includes longitudinal members 30 and three transverse members 31, 32 and 33 at the head end of the bed. The transverse members support a pivot plate 35 having a central hole 36. A U-shaped cam track 37 is attached by brackets 38 at its ends and bracket 39 at its centre to the bed frame. The cam track 37 has an inverted channel 40 in which a follower, to be described, rolls. A centre lock catch 45 and two side catches 46 having recesses 47 are fixed to the cam track. A support 50 having a threaded pivot post 51 is mounted under the plate 35 with the pivot post 51 passing through the opening 36 and secured thereto by a nut 52. Rollers 53 on cruciform bars 54 forming the support 50 engage the underside of the plate 35 to form a rolling antifriction contact between the support and the plate. The vertical headboard frame 24 having a vertical section 60 is slidably mounted on the support 50 by means of a rectangular sleeve 61 that is fixed to the vertical section 60 of frame 24 and is slidable on a horizontal bar 62 projecting from the support 50. The sleeve 61 is rigidly and integrally connected to said vertical section 60 and carries a roller 63 that rides in the channel 40 of the cam track 37. The frame has the contoured headboard 22 shown in phantom lines in Fig. 2 and in elevation in Fig. 3, the headboard 22 being moulded to the frame 24. A pair of locks 66 that are spring-loaded into their full line position shown in Fig. 2 are mounted on the sleeve 61 in a position to engage the lock catches 45 and 46. Each lock is attached to a cable 68 which is connected to the end 69 of a release handle 70. Release handle 70 is pivoted at 71 to the frame and is movable from the full line locked position to the broken line unlocked position wherein it pulls the lock to the broken line position shown in Fig. 2 to release it. The end of each lock has a tapered surface 73 that permits the lock 66 to ride out of the centre lock catch. If, when viewed from the foot end of the bed, the headboard is to be swung to the right side of the bed, the handle at the right side of the headboard is pivoted to release the lock 66 at the right side. This permits the headboard to swing in a clockwise direction as viewed from the top of the bed. The unreleased lock on the left side is cammed out of the lock catch by the tapered surface 73. When the headboard reaches its 90° position on the right side of the bed, the curved surface on the lock catch 46 cams the locks 66 and permits them to slide into latching position in the recess 47. Comparable manipulation of the locks is required to swing the headboard to the left side of the bed. In the operation of the invention, the nurse, upon entering the patient's room, operates release handle 70 and swings the headboard work centre from the head end of the bed to one side by pulling handle 70 toward her. The computer keyboard is flipped down exposing a screen. The nurse uses a bar code reader to enter her badge and the patient's wrist band into the computer. Time is automatically entered. Using the accessories mounted on the headboard, the patient's vital signs are taken and immediately recorded into the computer. If the patient is believed to be incompetent, the patient-operated bed controls are disabled and the nurse makes adjustments for the comfort and care of the patient using the controls mounted on the headboard as indicated at 75. When the call upon the patient has been completed, the appropriate release handle 70 is operated and the headboard/work centre is swung to its inoperative position at the head of the bed where the operating equipment is concealed and inaccessible to unauthorised persons by the bedroom wall. In the embodiment just described, the headboard is carried with the bed. That has its disadvantages in situations where the bed is regularly moved from place to place in transferring the patient around the hospital. (See U.S. Patent No. 4,592,104 for a hospital bed useful for travelling about a hospital.) One disadvantage is that delicate, expensive equipment such as a computer must be carried with the bed with probable damage when banged into hospital walls, doorways and the like. Another disadvantage is that there are at least four electrical connections that must be interrupted and reconnected when a move is made. Further, when a computer loses its power, data may be temporarily or permanently lost. From the above disclosure of the general principles of the present invention and the preceding detailed description of a preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the various modifications to which the present invention is susceptible. For example, the mechanism of the present invention could be applied to the footboard of the bed, rather than the headboard. Therefore, we desire to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims: An elongated hospital bed comprising an elongated frame (15) having an end for a work centre, a work centre (22), means (35,36, 50,51) pivotally mounting said work centre (22) to said end of said frame for horizontal swinging motions to said end and both sides of said bed, whereby said work centre (22) can function as a headboard or footboard when at the end of said bed and can be swung to either side of said bed for the convenience of nursing procedures. A bed as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said work centre (22) includes a generally vertical wall (23), means forming compartments (25) on the side of said wall (23) remote from said bed to contain diagnostic devices and the like. A bed as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised by further comprising a cam track (37) on said frame, a follower (63) on said work centre disposed in said cam track, said cam track (37) being configured to guide said work centre (22) to positions closely adjacent the end and sides of said bed while permitting said work centre (22) to clear the corners of said bed. A bed as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that, the bed has corners (21) adjacent said work centre (22) that are arcuately formed to facilitate clearance of the bed corners when said work centre (22) is pivoted between positions. An elongated hospital bed according to any of claims 1 to 4, comprising a U-shaped cam track (37) at one end of said bed, a headboard support (50) pivotally mounted about a vertical axis on the end portion of said frame, a headboard frame (24) mounted for horizontal sliding movement on said support (50), a cam follower (63) mounted on said headboard frame (24) and engaging said cam track (37), said cam track (37) and follower (63) co-operating to permit said headboard (22) to clear the corners of said bed as said headboard (22) is moved to positions at the end and sides of said frame. A bed as claimed in claim 5, characterised by further comprising means (66,45,46) for latching said headboard in positions at the head and at the side of said bed. A bed as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that said latching means comprises a lock catch (45,46) located at three spaced positions on said bed frame corresponding to the positions to which said headboard can be moved, and lock means (66) slidably mounted on said headboard frame (24) to co-operate with said lock catches (45,46), and at least one release handle (70) for releasing said lock means (66) from said catches (45,46). A bed as claimed in claim 7, characterised in that said lock means comprises two spaced locks (66) slidably mounted on said headboard frame (24), a release handle (70) on each side of said headboard and each operable to release a respective one of said locks (66), each lock (66) having a tapered surface (73) enabling it to ride out of said catch (45,46) when the other lock (66) has been pulled out with said release handle (70). A bed as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8, characterised in that said headboard frame (24) has a vertical section (60) and a horizontal sleeve (61), said horizontal sleeve (61) being slidably mounted on said support (50), and a headboard (22) moulded on said vertical section (60).

Inventors: FOSTER, L. DALE, NIESE, VIRGIL L.
Applicants: HILL-ROM COMPANY, INC. (AN INDIANA CORPORATION)
Application year: 1988
Main classification: A61G7
IPC codes: A61G7