INCUBATOR WITH REMOTE CONTROL AND DISPLAY MODULE

Abstract: An infant incubator in which the controls and displays are provided in a module which is in proximity to but spaced from and above the hood of the incubator at generally the eye-level of a standing adult.

Description: INCUBATOR Him EJEMΩTE £ΩS BΩ MD DISPLAY tfΩΩU E Technical Field The present invention relatesr in general, to infant incubators and, in particular, to an infant incubator having a control and display module positioned for easier access and better viewing than provided by currently known incubators. Background Δι£. An incubator is a medical unit which provides a controlled environment for a premature or otherwise delicate or sick infant. The incubator isolates the infant from the outside atmosphere which might be the source of infections or which might be inadequate to aid the infant in overcoming his difficulty. Infant incubators generally are provided with control means for adjusting the environment within the incubator (i.e., the temperature, humidity, and oxygen content of the atmosphere within the incubator) and display means for indicating the conditions of the environment within the incubator and the condition of an infant positioned within the incubator (i.e., res¬ piration rate and skin temperature). All known incubators have the controls and displays mounted on the front of the base of the incubator and below the hood. This location of the controls and displays is inconvenient to those attending to the care of an infant within the incubator. One must bend down to read the displays and, when the front door of the incubator is open to provide complete access to an infant, one must work around the open front door. In addition, in order to observe the displays which indi¬ cate the conditions within the incubator and the condi¬ tion of the infant, one must be right at the incubator and cannot observe these displays from a remote loca¬ tion. Disclosure ol Invention An incubator, constructed in accordance with the present invention, includes a base having an infant support and a hood mounted on the base and adapted to enclose the infant support. Also included are air conditioning means for developing conditioned air with¬ in the base and below the infant support and for circu¬ lating the conditioned air from below the infant sup- port into the hood and returning air from the hood to below the infant support. This incubator further includes first sensing means for developing signals representative of the conditions of the environment within the hood and second sensing means for developing signals representative of the condition of an infant positioned within the hood. A control and display module is provided for (1) controlling the environment within the hood and (2) displaying the conditions of the environment within the hood and the condition of an infant within the hood. The control and display module is mounted at a position in proximity to but spaced from and above the hood at generally the eye-level of a standing adult. Also included are means for transmit¬ ting and receiving signals between the control and display module and: (1) the air conditioning means to control the environment within the hood, and (2) the first and the second sensing means to display the conditions of the environment within the hood and the condition of an infant positioned within the hood. Exief Description _£. ili≤ Drawing Ref erring to the drawing: Figure 1 is a front, perspective view of an infant incubator constructed in accordance with the present invention; and Figure 2 is a rear perspective view showing the manner in which the control and display module of the incubator is mounted on the base of the incubator. ££&£ ϋΔdέ Ω! Carrying Ωut iH≤ Invention U.S. Patent No. 3,335,713 is incorporated herein by reference to supplement the disclosure of various components of an incubator, the details of which do not form a part of the present invention. Referring to the drawing, an incubator, con¬ structed in accordance with the present invention, includes a base 10 having an infant support 12 and a hood 14 mounted on base 10 and adapted to enclose infant support 12. Also included in the incubator are air conditioning means for developing conditioned air within base 10 and below infant support 12 and for circulating the conditioned air from below the infant support into hood 14 and returning air from the hood to below the infant support. For additional details on an infant support which can be used and the apparatus for developing and circulating conditioned air, reference is made to U.S. Patent No. 3,335,713. An incubator, constructed in accordance with the present invention, also includes first sensing means for developing signals representative of the conditions of the environment within hood 14 and second sensing means for developing signals representative of the condition of an infant positioned within the hood. The first sensing means can include, for example, a thermometer positioned at an appropriate location with- in hood 14 for developing a signal representative of the temperature within the hood. The second sensing means can include, for example, a skin temperature probe attached to the infant for developing a signal representative of the temperature of the infant. For additional details on the various sensors which can be used to monitor the incubator conditions and the condi¬ tion of the infant, reference is made to U.S. Patent No. 3,335,713. An incubator, constructed in accordance with the present invention, further includes a control and display module 16 for controlling the environment with hood 14 and displaying the conditions of the environ¬ ment within the hood and the condition of an infant within the hood. Control and display module 16 has a plurality of controls 18 which can control, for example, the temperature, humidity, oxygen content and circulation rate of the conditioned air which is intro- duced into hood 14. Control and display module 16 also has a plurality of displays 20 which can display the various parameters of the hood environment and the physical condition of the infant. The circuitry for effecting the desired controls and developing the desired displays can be of conventional construction and operation. Control and display module 16 is positioned in proximity to but spaced from and above hood 14 at generally the eye-level of a standing adult. The posi¬ tioning of control and display module 16 is such that it is clear of movement of hood 14 as the hood is pivoted to an open position about an axis extending along the rear side of base 10. As shown most clearly in Figure 2, control and display module 16 is mounted by means of a ver¬ tically disposed post 22 which is attached at its lower end to base 10 and has the control and display module attached to its upper end. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, control and display module 16 is mounted for pivotal movement about a vertical axis. As a result, the control and display module can be posi¬ tioned to suit the needs of those attending the infant in the incubator as they treat the infant or monitor the infant and the incubator conditions from a remote location. Control and display module 16 is attached to post 22 by means of a support arm 24 which is attached to the post, a bracket 26 to which the control and display module is attached, and a sleeve 28 which extends through vertically aligned openings in the support arm and the bracket and defines the vertical axis about which the control and display module pivots. A locking mechanism is provided to fix the position of control and display module 16. For the embodiment of the invention illustrated, this locking mechanism includes a release latch 30 attached to bracket 26 for pivotal movement toward and away from support arm 24. Release latch 30 carries a pin 32 which is movable into and out from a series of openings 34 in support arm 24 as the release latch is moved toward and away from the support arm. A leaf spring 36, attached to bracket 26 and bearing against release latch 30, urges the release latch toward support arm 24, so that pin 32, carried by the release latch, will enter one of the openings 34 and lock control and display module 16 in place. To move the control and display module, release latch 30 is moved away from support arm 24 against the action of leaf spring 36 to retract pin 32 from opening 34. While pin 32 is clear of any opening 34 , control and displ ay modul e 16 can be moved to the desired position and when rel ease latch 30 is rel eased, pin 32 can enter an opening 34 at the new position of the control and display modul e. Also included in an incubator, constructed in accordance with the present invention, are means for transmitting and receiving signals between control and display module 16 and the air conditioning means and the first and second sensing means. Such means include wires 38 which extend between a connector 40 in base 10 and control and display module 16. The sensors in hood 14 and on the infant and the air conditioning means are electrically connected to connector 40 in the usual manner. In this way, controls 18 on the control and display module control the operation of the air condi¬ tioning means to control the environment within hood 14 and displays 20 on the control and display module display the conditions of the environment within the hood and the condition of an infant positioned within the hood. For the embodiment of the invention illus¬ trated, post 22 is hollow and wires 38 extend from base 10 through the post. Wires 38 exit post 22 and extend beneath support arm 24 and up through sleeve 28 to control and display module 16. While in the foregoing there has been des¬ cribed a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims: IN THE CLAIMS: 1. An incubator comprising: a base having an infant support; a hood mounted on said base and adapted to enclose said infant support; air conditioning means for de eloping conditioned air within said base and below said infant support and for circulating conditioned air from below said infant support into said hood and returning air from said hood to below said infant support; first sensing means for developing sig¬ nals representative of the conditions of the environ¬ ment within said hood; second sensing means for developing signals representative of the condition of an infant positioned within said hood; a control and display module for: (1) controlling the environment within said hood, and (2) displaying the conditions of the environment within said hood and the condition of an infant positioned within said hood; mounting means for positioning said control and display module in proximity to but spaced from and above said hood at generally the eye-level of a standing adult; and means for transmitting and receiving signals between said control and display module and: (1) said air conditioning means to control the environ- ment within said hood, and (2) said first and said second sensing means to display the conditions of the environment within said hood and the condition of an infant positioned within said hood. 2. An incubator according to claim 1 wherein said mounting means include: (a) a vertically disposed post, (b) means for attaching the lower end of said post to said base, and (c) means at the upper end of said post for attaching said control and display module to said post. 3. An incubator according to claim 2 wherein said hood is attached to said base for pivotal movement of said hood about an axis extending along the rear side of said base and said control and display module is mounted to be clear of pivotal movement of said hood. 4. An incubator according to claim 2 wherein said means for attaching said control and dis¬ play module to said post include means for pivoting said control and display module about a vertical axis. 5. An incubator according to claim 3 wherein said means for attaching said control and dis¬ play module to said post include means for pivoting said control and display module about a vertical axis. 6. An incubator according to claim 2 wherein said post is hollow and said means for trans- mitting and receiving said signals include wires extending from said base through said post to said control and display module. 7. An incubator according to claim 5 wherein said means for pivoting said control and dis¬ play module include: (a) a support arm attached to said post, and (b) a bracket mounted on said sup¬ port arm for pivotal movement relative to said support arm and to which said control and display module is attached. 8. An incubator according to claim 7 wherein said means for pivoting said control and dis¬ play module further include means for locking said bracket at a selected pivotal position. 9. An incubator according to claim 8 wherein said means for locking said bracket include: (a) a series of openings in said support arm. (b) a release latch mounted for move¬ ment toward and away from said series of openings and having a pin movable into and out from said openings, and (c) means for urging said release latch toward said series of openings. 10. An incubator according to claim 9 wherein said support arm and said bracket have ver¬ tically aligned openings and said means for pivoting said controls and display module further include a sleeve extending through said vertically aligned open¬ ings. 11- An incubator according to claim 10 wherein said post is hollow and said means for trans¬ mitting and receiving signals include wires extending from said base through said post and said sleeve to said controls and display module.

Inventors: HEINEMAN WILLIAM A, STORTI WILLIAM J, VACCARO ROBERT K, HEINEMAN, WILLIAM, A., STORTI, WILLIAM, J., VACCARO, ROBERT, K.
Applicants: AIR SHIELDS, AIR-SHIELDS, INC.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A61G11
IPC codes: A61G11