Abstract:
A transfer belt for assisting in moving patients includes a transfer belt, a mechanism to retract the belt into a compact unit and a mechanism to fix the belt in a fixed loop around a patient at the size desired.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a Rule 1.53(c) (3) conversion of provisional patent application Ser. Nos. 61/369,216 filed Jul. 30, 2010 and 61/365,652 filed Jul. 19, 2010. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to transfer belts, also known as gait belts, which are secured around the waist of medical patients having mobility difficulties. The transfer belt allows a medical assistant, nurse, physical therapist, nursing assistant or other careprovider to assist the movement of the patient by providing a belt which can be grasped by the care provider. 
     When not in use, the transfer belt is wound up into a roll and either put into the care provider&#39;s pocket or set on the table or else worn around the waist or across the chest of a care provider. The care provider has to take off the transfer belt or unwind the transfer belt when they want to use it. After they use it they have to wrap it around and buckle it to themselves or else wind it up and put it into their pocket or set it on the counter. U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,346 shows a transfer belt including side pads. 
     When the care provider wears the belt around their waist or chest, the belt comes into contact with other patients and surfaces. This is an infection control problem. Accordingly, there is a need for a transfer belt that can be retractable and user friendly. Also, there is a need for a retractable belt that is stored inside an external housing unit which acts as a barrier to contact with patients and germs when not in use. There is a further need for a belt which provides these benefits which is inexpensive in cost. 
     The art described in this section is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. §1.56(a) exists. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a transfer belt that is retractable. The spring retractable nature of the transfer belt makes it easier to carry the belt and easier to wind and unwind. The retractable belt increases the safety of the belt because when the belt is retracted into the housing unit it decreases the contact the belt has with other people and surfaces, thus decreasing contact with infectious agents or germs. According to this invention there is provided a transfer/gait belt comprising: a casing which acts as an outer shell or housing for the belt; a dowel mounted for rotation within the casing; a transfer belt wrapped around the dowel and adapted to be withdrawn from the casing; a spring adapted to rotate the dowel to retract the belt after it has been at least partly withdrawn from the casing. The belt may or may not have holes in it. 
     The transfer belt will therefore have a housing into which a transfer belt may be retracted by a spring. The transfer belt itself has a mechanism for forming a discrete loop that can be fastened around a patient to fit as desired. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A detailed description of the invention is hereafter described with specific reference being made to the drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a retractable transfer belt of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the transfer belt of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-section through line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing the belt extended and secured to form a loop; 
         FIG. 5  is a view depicting the belt loop of  FIG. 4  secured around a patient with the casing placed centrally of the patient&#39;s abdomen; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing a t-shaped connector bar being inserted through a belt opening; 
         FIG. 7  is a view similar to  FIG. 6  in which the T-shaped connector bar is tipped to a fixed position; 
         FIG. 8  is a top view of a retractable transfer belt in which the free end of the belt is attached to the casing; 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view showing a transfer belt in which the belt free end connects to the casing via a squeeze buckle; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view showing a transfer belt with a T-bar free end that can be secured to the casing; 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view showing a transfer belt where a T-bar is fixed to the casing and is secured to the belt; 
         FIG. 12A  is a cross-sectional view of a locking mechanism to lock the belt to the case; 
         FIG. 12B  is a cross-sectional view similar to  FIG. 12A  in which the belt is locked; 
         FIG. 13A  is a cross-sectional view of an alternative lock mechanism; 
         FIG. 13B  shows the lock mechanism of  FIG. 13A  in which the belt is locked; 
         FIG. 14A  is a cross-sectional view of another alternative lock mechanism; 
         FIG. 14B  shows the lock mechanism of  FIG. 14A  in which the belt is locked; 
         FIG. 15A  is a cross-sectional view of yet another alternative lock mechanism; 
         FIG. 14B  shows the lock mechanism of  FIG. 15A  in which the belt is locked; 
         FIG. 16  shows a transfer belt apparatus with the belt retracted showing a carabiner clip on the belt free end; 
         FIG. 17  shows a belt in which the belt can be largely removed; 
         FIG. 18  shows a transfer belt apparatus wherein the case can open to replace or clean the belt and spool; and 
         FIG. 19  shows the transfer belt apparatus of  FIG. 18  with the belt and spool removed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and described in detail herein specific preferred embodiments of the invention. The present disclosure is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated. 
     As shown in the Figures, the retractable transfer belt apparatus  10  includes a belt  12  with a free end  14  and an attached end  16 , which may or may not have a plurality of spaced openings or holes  18  located along the belt  12 . 
     As shown, the belt  12  is retracted within a casing  20  which may be quite open to decrease weight. The casing  20  may have a belt clip  22  so the overall device  10  can be clipped to a belt or it may just be placed in a pocket. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the casing  20  includes a spool mechanism  30  to which attached end  16  of the belt  12  is attached. The casing  20  may be formed with a cap  24  for ease of construction. The spool mechanism  30  is operatively connected to a constant pressure spring  32  which functions to retract the belt  12  around the spool  30 . The free end  14  of the belt  12  may pass through an opening  34  in casing  20 . The free end  14  may be reinforced with metal or otherwise sized such that the free end  14  may not pass into the casing  20  through opening  34 . 
     In order to form a usable and secured belt loop  40  around a patient  42 , a simple carabiner  44  attached to free end  14  as shown in  FIG. 16  could be fitted through a single hole  18  or a pair of holes to create the desired sized loop about a patient. Alternatively, a connector bar  50  could be attached at the free end  14  and it could easily pass through a desired hole  18  and then rotate and expand out to lock it in place.  FIGS. 1-7  show a t-bar connector  50  which may be attached to a short cable  52  attached to a grommet  54  or any other means of attaching it to the belt end. The t-bar connector  50  may be rotated to pass an end through a belt opening  18 , and then positioned to lock as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The t-bar connector may be a simple bar or may involve a bar in which a pair of connector bars may extend outwardly on an end pivot to form a locked t-connection. 
     Another approach to lock the belt  12  into a loop  40  of a desired diameter would be to put a friction locking element on the belt such as a conventional airline seatbelt clip that could make a friction lock at any position along the belt  12 . With a simple friction lock system no belt holes would be required. 
     In some forms, the belt free end  14  could be looped back and fixed to the casing  20  itself. In such forms, the belt  12  would need to be fixed such that it could not extend out further from spool  30  since the purpose of the belt is to provide a safety point about the patient which a nurse or care provider may hold onto to provide support, balance assistance and to prevent injury if the patient collapses. Some forms shown therefore portray ways to lock the free end  14  to the casing  20  and how to lock the belt  12  to the casing  20  to prevent further retraction or extension. 
       FIG. 8  shows a form in which the belt  12  would extend out from casing  20  and the free end  14  is shown attached to a lock member  58 .  FIG. 9  shows an alternate construction in which free end  14  includes a male belt buckle  60  which may be snapped into a mating female belt buckle  62 .  FIG. 10  shows a form in which t-bar connector  50  may be captured and locked into a slide lock  66 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 11 , the t-bar connector  50  is attached directly to casing  20  and the t-bar connector  50  is simply secured through the desired belt opening  18 . 
       FIGS. 12-15  show some of the ways to lock the extended belt  12  from further extension or retraction in forms in which the free end  14  is secured directly to casing  20 . In  FIGS. 12A and 12B , a slide member  70  is constructed and arranged on casing  20  such that it may pass through a belt opening  18  to lock the belt  12  as shown.  FIGS. 13A and 13B  show an alternate design in which a latch  72  may be lifted causing an attached member  74  to slide through belt opening  18  and lock into a receiving opening  76 .  FIGS. 14A and 14B  show a form in which a lock is achieved with a vertically spring loaded “click-pen” type of connection  80 . As button  82  is depressed, a pin  84  is urged through a belt opening  18  into a receiving opening  86 . A second depression of button  82  may be designed to cause the pin  84  to retract due to spring  88 .  FIGS. 15A and 15B  show a lock similar to  FIG. 12  in which a slide member  90  may slide through a belt opening  18  and be received in a recess  92 . This lock would be similar to the locking mechanisms found in many utility knives. 
     Another responsibility for nurses and other care providers is to measure the length, width, depth or elevation of a patient&#39;s wound, incision, and bruise or else measure the circumference of their waist or extremities. These measurements are taken and documented in the patient&#39;s chart and the like to record the progress or decline of a patient&#39;s incision, bruise etc. Also, some patients are unable to stand up and therefore their height is measured while they lay in bed and the care provider uses a tape measure or could use the spaced indicia markers located along the transfer belt  12  to measure the patient&#39;s height. To assist the care provider in measuring these things, one or both sides of the belt may include spaced indicia markers  96 , such as an English and/or metric ruler along the length of the belt  12 . The markings  96  could be applied in any suitable matter, such as stitching, fabric paint and the like. 
     As shown in the figures, it is possible to form the belt  12  so it could be removable for cleaning. There are several ways in which this could be accomplished. 
       FIG. 17  shows a form in which there are a plurality of hooks  100  sewn or attached to the middle section of the first end of the belt  12 . A plurality of mating eyes  102  sewn or attached to the middle section of the second end. The hooks  100  connect with the eyes  102  and stay together to comprise one belt. When someone wants to wash or detach the belt, the hooks  100  and eyes  102  could be separated to remove most of the belt length. This would also allow the removed belt section to be replaced with a replacement section. The detached section could be used as a transfer belt while detached and reattached when desired. 
       FIGS. 18 and 19  show a transfer belt apparatus  10  in which the casing  20  may be opened and is shown with two mating clamshell sections  110 ,  112 . once opened, the spool  30  with belt  12  may be removed for cleaning or replacement. This would allow removal of the belt for cleaning, or the use of disposable transfer belts within the spool  30 . 
     In any form in which the belt  12  is fixed to the casing  20 , the casing  20  will need to be strong enough to support the expected load of an attached patient. In forms in which the belt  12  is secured back upon itself, the casing  20  may be quite light since it would be subjected to far fewer stresses. The belt  12  may be made from any suitable materials that are used for weight transfer belts including materials used in car safety belts. The thickness and width of the belt  12  may be adjusted as desired in designing the transfer belt apparatus  10  of the invention. 
     This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.