Abstract:
An infant warmer has a bed assembly for supporting a baby born prematurely and a heat source with controls capable of maintaining the infant&#39;s body temperature within a desired range. The bed assembly is suitably supported to hold the infant at a convenient elevation. A light shield rests on the bed assembly and is adapted to block light from directly entering the eyes of the infant.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     Priority is claimed to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/205,349 filed on May 18, 2000, which is incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention pertains to infant warmers, and more particularly to an infant warmer having a shield adapted for protecting an infant&#39;s eyes from light. Infant warmers are used for hospital care of newborn babies, particularly those born prematurely and having a low birth weight. Infant warmers typically have a bed for receiving and supporting the newborn baby with a heat source, such as a radiant heater, located above the bed. The heater is thermostatically controlled to maintain the infant&#39;s body temperature within a desired range. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,498,229; 5,841,944; and 5,898,817, issued to Barsky et al., Hutchinson et al., and Salmon et al., respectively, provide examples of prior art infant warmers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An infant warmer is provided that has a bed support holding an infant bed assembly, which is adapted for supporting an infant, such as a baby born prematurely with a low birth weight. A heat source is located above the bed assembly and is held by a support structure that is attached to the bed assembly or to the bed support. A light shield is located on a portion of the bed assembly. The light shield is preferably transparent and capable of supporting an opaque material so that light from a source above the infant is blocked from directly entering the infant&#39;s eyes. 
     The infant warmer preferably includes a light source that is useful to medical personnel examining the infant, and the light shield is preferably adapted to prevent light from the examining light from entering the infant&#39;s eyes directly. The bed assembly has a length, and the light shield preferably covers less than about 50 percent of the length. The light shield is preferably made of a substantially rigid material, and the light shield preferably removably rests upon the bed assembly. 
     In another aspect, the present invention provides a light shield that is adapted to rest on a bed assembly of an infant warmer. The light shield comprises a sheet of substantially rigid material that is formed to provide a lower support surface, which is adapted to contact the bed assembly of the infant warmer. The lower support surface rests on the bed assembly, and the sheet is formed to extend above and over the bed assembly. Sufficient space is provided between an inside upper surface of the sheet and an upper surface of the bed assembly so that the infant&#39;s head can rest on the upper surface of the bed assembly and be spaced apart from the inside upper surface of the sheet of substantially rigid material. The sheet of substantially rigid material is preferably further adapted to block a substantial portion of light from passing through the sheet of substantially rigid material. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The summary of the invention, as well as the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings for the purpose of explaining the invention, but the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments. In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an infant warmer according to the present invention; and 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a light shield according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Infant warmers are typically located in a neonatal unit of a hospital, and the neonatal unit typically has ceiling lights. Further, an infant warmer may have a light that is used when medical personnel examine a baby. Lights such as these shine into the eyes of the baby in the infant warmer and is believed to be an undesirable stimulus for the baby. 
     With reference to FIG. 1, an infant heater  10  is illustrated according to the present invention. Infant heater  10  has a bed assembly A, a bed support B that holds and supports bed assembly A, and a support structure C, which holds a heat source H. A light shield  20  rests on bed assembly A, and light shield  20  can be adapted to reduce the amount of light that enters the eyes of a baby positioned below the light shield, thus protecting the baby from an undesirable stimulation. 
     Bed assembly A includes a bed  22 , which has a head end  22   a  and a foot end  22   b . Light shield  20  rests on or in bed  22  at head end  22   a . Bed  22  has an upper surface  22   c , and a newborn infant, such as a baby born prematurely and having a low birth weight, would be placed on upper surface  22   a . The infant&#39;s head would be placed towards head end  22   a , and the infant&#39;s feet would be placed towards foot end  22 B. Bed assembly A includes side panels  24   a ,  24   b ,  24   c  and  24   d . Side panels  24  (suffixes omitted for simplicity) help to hold heat within bed assembly A so that an infant resting on bed  22  will stay warmer. The infant is typically approximately centered between side panels  24   a  and  24   c.    
     Light shield  20  is adapted to cover the head of the infant. In one embodiment, light shield  20  is made of a transparent plastic material such as an acrylic material. In this embodiment, an opaque blanket can be placed over light shield  20  to block a substantial portion of light from entering directly into the infant&#39;s eyes. Infant heater  10  has a light  28  held by support structure C. Light  28  is generally left off, but turned on by a medical person using a switch  30   a  in a control panel  30 . The medical person may activate light  28  by moving switch  30   a  when examining the infant. The light from light  28  is believed to be an uncomfortable stimulation for the infant, so light shield  20  is preferably used when light  28  is on. 
     Light shield  20  may be used at any time, such as when ceiling lights are on, which light would travel into the eyes of the infant in infant heater  10 , except when light shield  20  is used to block the light. Light shield  20  can have various configurations and can be made of various materials. Light shield  20  is illustrated in FIG. 1 as having opposing vertical sides  20   a  and  20   b , each of which has a lower surface for contacting bed assembly A and holding light shield  20  in a stable position. Extending from vertical members  20   a  and  20   b , light shield  20  has angled members  20   c  and  20   d  that angle inwardly towards each other and above vertical members  20   a  and  20   b . Light shield  20  has an upper planar member  20   e , which is typically in an approximately horizontal plane while in use. Angled members  20   c  and  20   d  join with and support planar member  20   e , holding planar member  20   e  above upper surface  22   c  of bed  22 . 
     Planar member  20   e  has an inside upper surface  20   f  that is sufficiently spaced from upper surface  22   c  of bed  22  to accommodate the infant&#39;s head. For example, vertical members  20   a  and  20   b  may extend upwardly a distance equivalent to the diameter of the infant&#39;s head, or up to about two or three times that diameter, and angled members  20   c  and  20   d  may extend upwardly and inwardly so as to hold planar member  20   e  at a distance spaced from the infant&#39;s eyes. 
     Light shield  20  may be opaque and may be made of a metal or opaque plastic material, or it may be made of wood. In one embodiment, light shield  20  is made of a substantially transparent material, such as an acrylic material, and light shield  20  is covered by an opaque material, such as a baby blanket. Any suitable opaque material can be used to cover light shield  20  so as to make it substantially impervious to light rays. Light shield  20  can also be made of a thermally insulating material so as to help keep the infant warm by partially preventing heat loss from the infant&#39;s head. In another embodiment, the light shield can be a frame for holding an opaque material, such as a blanket, and the frame may have no solid planar members. Such a frame can be made of wire. 
     Bed  22  has a length between head end  22   a  and foot end  22   b . Light shield  20  is located toward head end  22   a  and extends toward foot end  22   b . Light shield  20  preferably covers enough of bed  22  so as to substantially block light from directly entering the infant&#39;s eyes. At the same time, it is believed that a portion of upper surface  22   c  should not be covered so as to provide access to the infant by medical personnel and/or to allow heat from heat source H to pass directly to the infant or upper surface  22   c  of bed  22 . In one embodiment light shield  20  covers up to about 60 percent of the length of bed  22 . In other embodiments, light shield  20  covers between 10 and 50 percent of the length of bed  22 , 20 to 40 percent of the length of bed  22 , 15 to 35 percent of the length of bed assembly  22 , or about 25 percent of the length of bed  22 . 
     With continued reference to FIG. 1, bed support B of infant heater  10  includes a frame  40 , which has rails  40   a  and  40   b  connected together by a cross member  40   c . Wheels or casters  42  are attached to frame  40 , which allow infant heater  10  to be rolled easily on a floor. A support column  44  extends upwardly from cross member  40   c  of frame  40 . Support structure C is secured to support column  44 . In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, support structure C extends upwardly from support column  44 , and bed assembly A is secured to support structure C, but other arrangements can be used. A cabinet  48 , which has drawers  50   a ,  50   b  and  50   c , is attached to support column  44 . Bed assembly A has bed support arms  22   d  and  22   e , which are secured to and extend from support structure C. 
     Temperature is regulated in bed assembly A for the infant using a temperature sensor (not shown) and a thermostatic control  30   b  in control panel  30 . Further details for making and using an infant heater are provided in the prior art, such as by U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,517, issued to Falk et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,449, issued to Benson et al., both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. 
     Turning to FIG. 2, a light shield  60  is illustrated according to the present invention. Light shield  60  is illustrative of one of many embodiments of a light shield according to the present invention. Light shield  60  has vertical support members  62  and  64  and a semi-circular structure  66  joined with vertical support members  62  and  64 . A semi-circular member can be used without straight or vertical members. Semi-circular structure  66  has an inside surface  66   a , which should be adequately spaced from an infant&#39;s head that is covered by the light shield. For example, the light shield should be adequately spaced to allow the infant to breathe properly. 
     A light shield according to the present invention can be made by heating and bending a sheet of plastic of a desired size to provide a lower surface that can rest on or in a bed assembly of an infant warmer or can be attached to the bed assembly of an infant warmer. The sheet of material is preferably substantially ductile and malleable. One can start with a rectangular sheet of material, possibly having a thickness ranging between about one-eighth of an inch to about one-half of an inch. The sheet of material can be bent and/or rolled so that it has an upper inside surface when placed in an orientation illustrated in FIGS. 1 or  2 . With the sheet bent or rolled so as to have at least two lower contact surfaces capable of resting on a planar surface, an inside upper surface of the light shield should be between about five and about thirty inches above the planar surface, preferably between about ten and about twenty inches above the planar surface. The size and shape of the light shield should be adapted to accomplish the purposes outlined herein. 
     A light shield according to the present invention can be placed on or off of a bed assembly, depending on whether its use is desired at a particular time. Alternatively, the light shield can be secured to the bed assembly or to a different portion of the infant heater so as to block light from entering an infant s eyes or to support an opaque material that substantially blocks light from entering an infant&#39;s eyes. The infant heater and the light shield of the present invention operate to reduce undesired light stimulation to the eyes of an infant, particularly a premature baby having a very low birth weight and susceptible to distress caused by light entering the eyes. It is believed that the present invention provides a healthier and more soothing environment for a newborn baby that requires hospital care. 
     While the present invention has been shown and described in its preferred embodiment and in certain specific alternative embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize from the foregoing discussion that various changes, modifications and variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. Hence, the specific embodiments and any specific components and the like are merely illustrative and do not limit the scope of the invention or the claims herein.