Abstract:
An IV pole assembly includes an IV pole having a vertically oriented center rod, hooks for supporting an intravenous bag and a support base and a caddy having a plurality of compartments having at least one compartment sized and shaped to hold a magazine and at least one compartment sized and shaped to hold an item selected from the group consisting of eyewear, a beverage bottle, a personal electronic communications device and a personal listening device. An engagement is included for holding the caddy at a generally fixed position along the vertical length of the pole; wherein attaching the caddy to the pole results in a storage area for holding a patients personal items that moves with the IV pole.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/801,470 filed May 19, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates generally to IV pole accessories, and, more particularly, to IV pole attachments to improve the utility of the pole to personal needs of the patient. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    In the health care industry, intra-venous (IV) poles have become commonplace tools in any health care facility. Although originally intended as a solution for suspending fluids and medications for intra-venous delivery to a patient, the utility of these poles have been adapted to support a variety of medical care equipment, including, but not limited to, automated IV delivery systems, monitoring equipment, oxygen tanks and other medical related equipment that is often tailored to the patient&#39;s medical needs. IV poles themselves are intended to be suspended above the patient and can be supported by a moveable or wheeled base on the floor or from mounting posts located on a hospital bed or wheelchair. 
         [0006]    These devices are easily adapted for mobility and a releasable upper portion of the pole can easily be moved from a post support on a bed to a post support on a wheelchair to a free standing mobile base. In this way the supporting equipment necessary to the medical care of the patient is always at hand. 
         [0007]    One drawback is that often the patient&#39;s own needs are not attended to by such mobility. The ability to move quickly from one place to another often means that the personal affects of the patient are left with the last place the patient was located either near the hospital bed or associated with a wheelchair. Personal affects such as eyewear or other personal item can be lost. Often the patient&#39;s demeanor and well being can be affected by long waits at various locations wait for a X-Ray or Cat-Scan. The patient would be in a much better position to spend the time if their personal affects had traveled with them. 
         [0008]    Medical personnel are often focused on the medical needs of the patient and often the personal needs may be overlooked. Thus, the need exists for a way for patients to bring along their personal affects without the need for medical personnel to get distracted from attending the patient&#39;s medical needs. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    An IV pole assembly includes an IV pole having a vertically oriented center rod, hooks for supporting an intravenous bag and a support base and a caddy having a plurality of compartments having at least one compartment sized and shaped to hold a magazine and at least one compartment sized and shaped to hold an item selected from the group consisting of eyewear, a beverage bottle, a personal electronic communications device and a personal listening device. An engagement is included for holding the caddy at a generally fixed position along the vertical length of the pole; wherein attaching the caddy to the pole results in a storage area for holding a patients personal items that moves with the IV pole. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, the engagement is a clamp clamped onto the pole and a bar extend between the caddy and clamp in spaced apart relation. 
         [0011]    In another embodiment, the IV pole includes a handle clamp and the engagement includes a clamp arrangement for clamping to the handle clamp and suspending the caddy there from. 
         [0012]    In another embodiment, the caddy includes a support member for suspend the caddy from auxiliary equipment coupled to the IV pole. 
         [0013]    In yet another embodiment, the caddy includes a strap assembly for holding the caddy to the IV pole by strapping it onto the auxiliary equipment. 
         [0014]    In another embodiment, the caddy is in the form of fabric compartments and includes straps that connect for hanging from an IV pole. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    Other aspects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a partially exploded perspective view of an Intra-venous (IV) pole with an IV pole caddy and an eyewear holder according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a side view of an alternate embodiment of an IV pole caddy according to the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a side view of an alternate embodiment of an IV pole caddy according to the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a side view of an alternate embodiment of an IV pole caddy according to the present invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of an alternate embodiment of an IV pole caddy according to the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view of the IV pole caddy of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a clamp for an IV pole caddy according to the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a clamp for an IV pole caddy according to the present invention; 
           [0024]      FIG. 9A  is a perspective view of an alternative IV pole caddy according to the present invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 9B  is a backside view of the IV pole caddy of  FIG. 9A ; and 
           [0026]      FIG. 9C  is a perspective view of a clamp for an IV pole caddy according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0027]    With reference to  FIG. 1  for purposes of illustration, a free standing IV pole  20  having a coaster wheels  22  attached to a base  24 , a vertical pole  26  terminating at an upper end  28  with hooks  30  for holding IV bags  32  also includes a representative piece of auxiliary equipment  34  in the form of an IV pump and includes a handle  36  for pushing the pole in the form of a cylindrical bar  38  bent into a circle having a radius at the longitudinal center of the pole and supported by plurality of radiating spokes  40  that connect about a clamp  41  that in turn connects to the pole. Advantageously, a patient caddy  42  having attachment means in the form of a pole clamp  43  is configured for attachment to the IV pole  20 . The caddy includes a compartment housing  44  suspended by a support bar  46  for connection to the clamp  43 . The clamp  43  is preferably configured with a pole support  48  and threaded screw  50  for securely holding the pole between the pole support and the screw base  51 . A knob  52  allows for easy manual attachment and release of the clamp from the pole. A clamp of the type suitable for this purpose is sold by Pryor Products of Oceanside, Calif. under the name Standard C-Clamp (cat. #283). Secured by screws  54 , the reinforced bar  46  extends from the clamp  43  and attaches, or is formed integrally with, the compartment housing  44 . The compartment housing includes a plurality of compartments that include, but are not limited to, a book or magazine holder  56 , a cup holder  58  and water bottle holder  60 , a holder for electronic devices  62  such as, but not limited to, an MP3 player or cellular telephone, medine and other holders  65 , as well as an elastic loop material or molded plastic ring  64  for holding eyewear or an eyeglass holder  66 . 
         [0028]    The caddy compartments may be built to medical facility specifications and may include embodiments constructed from metal such as folded sheet metal and injection molded plastic such as polypropylene. Presently, injection molded plastic is preferred, however, factors such as intended load of the caddy, fire regulations and cost considerations may result in other desired manufacturing configurations. 
         [0029]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , an alternate embodiment of an IV pole caddy  42  includes a plurality of compartments similar to  FIG. 1  and shown with cup  67 , bottle  68  and eyewear  69 . An L-shaped engagement member  70  extends up and away from the plurality of compartments for attachment to auxiliary equipment on the IV pole. An adhesive bonding tape or opposing sides of hook and loop material  72  and  74  may be used to attach the L-shaped member  70  to the auxiliary equipment  34 . The IV pole caddy  42  then maintains a relative position on the IV pole via attachment to the auxiliary equipment  34 . The L-shaped member  70  may be formed integrally with the plurality of caddy compartment or may be attached by screws (not shown). It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that different screw holes may be used to adjust the height of the L-shaped member  70  relative to the plurality of compartments so that the housing may be lowered to rest on the handle of the IV pole  36 . This adds greater stability to the caddy attachment and places the caddy within easy grasp of a standing user. 
         [0030]    An alternative embodiment of a caddy  42  includes a plurality of compartments configured similarly to  FIG. 1  and a clamp  80  ( FIG. 3 ) for attaching the IV pole caddy to an outer rim of the handle clamped to the IV pole. The clamp is of a similar type the configuration of  FIG. 1 , but is rotated  90  degrees relative to the clamp  43  of  FIG. 1  for engaging the bar  38  of the handle clamp  36 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this configuration can be included as part of a universal kit with the reinforced bar such that the plurality of compartments may be in one configuration attached directly to the clamp or in another configuration attached by means of the reinforced bar of  FIG. 1 . 
         [0031]    An alternate embodiment of a caddy  42  includes a plurality of compartments similar to  FIG. 1  and includes a support extension  84  ( FIG. 4 ) attached by at least one, but preferably two support bars  86  connected by a horizontal cross-member  87  and threadably engaged by strap eyelets (not shown) with a nylon strap  90  for attachment to an auxiliary piece of equipment. The strap may complete a loop either by engagement with opposing ends having hook and loop material or by means of a releasable latch or buckle. 
         [0032]    It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the common configuration of the plurality of compartments in  FIGS. 1-4  allows the necessary components for each of these configurations to be included in a universal assembly kit in which all desired configurations may be supplied in one product and assembly of different configurations are made by the user. 
         [0033]    In another alternative embodiment, the caddy is in the form of a nylon canvas bag  94  ( FIG. 5 ) formed with a plurality of book and magazine compartments  96  and  98  as well as expandable net pockets  100 - 103  formed in a wall of the book/magazine compartment  96  for holding eyewear, a beverage container, a cellular phone or portable music player along with additional compartments for additional personal items. The pockets  100 - 103  are preferably made from expandable net material to conform and hold various items of differing sizes. The outer mouth is preferably reinforced with a cord material  106  having elastic rubber at the center. As presently shown two book compartments are included and which could also hold a compact notebook computer. The book and magazine compartments  96  and  98  have expandable sidewalls  108  and  110  and a wide fabric strap  112  spanning the front and back walls of the book compartments to hold them together when attached by hook and loop material to the front wall  114  and draw out excess space. The strap may be expanded in width to extend between the sidewalls to function as a cover for the book compartments. The strap is preferably of a elastic material including rubber fibers woven therein to hold front and back walls together. The front wall  114  preferably includes a two-ply fabric with a cardboard or other form holding like material therein. The back wall  116  ( FIG. 6 ) includes a similar configuration with a removable form holding material  118  such as hard board material or plastic. The removable form holding material may be withdrawn and used on the lap of a seated user as a writing surface. The material is removed through a resealable opening in the sidewall that is held in a closed form by hook and loop material. 
         [0034]    Strap pairs at the top  120  and  122  and bottom  124  and  126  are positioned respectively with each nylon strap in spaced apart relation about the middle portion of the back wall  116 . In a preferred embodiment similarly aligned upper and lower straps  120  and  124  and  122  and  126 , respectively, are formed from a single nylon strap in which reinforcement stitching of the strap along the back wall is intended to increase the weight holding capability of the straps and caddy. Furthermore the seams of the caddy are stitched in a manner similarly used for backpacks and other like load bearing fabric containers. The straps are fitted with engagements  128  that may be in the form of hook and loop material or more preferably side release buckles  130  and  132  ( FIG. 8 ) such as the type sold by strapworks.com of Eugene, Oreg. under models SRBSA and SRBDA. The buckles  130  and  132  can be used to hold the IV pole caddy onto an IV pole either above the handle clamp by adjusting the straps to hold the pole snuggly while the bottom the caddy rests upon the handle. Alternatively, it can held below the handle clamp by weaving the uppers straps around the spokes and the pole. The lower straps are adjusted for a snug engagement around the pole. Finally, a separate clamp  134  ( FIG. 7 ) can used with strap hooks  136  and  138  in which the upper straps are buckled about the pole and allowed to rest in the strap hooks. The lower straps are adjusted to snuggly hold the IV pole. In his manner the IV caddy will resist movement during movement of the IV pole. 
         [0035]    In another embodiment, the IV pole caddy  140  ( FIG. 9A ) with similar construction as in  FIG. 1  includes a compartment housing with compartments for holding a magazine or books  141 , beverage containers  142  and  144 , a compartment for an electronic device, medicine or the like  146 , a container for writing instruments  148 , and a drawer  150  for holding miscellaneous items. The drawer islocated in a hollow region at the bottom of the compartment housing. A knob  152  for pulling out the drawer is included and may be optional supplied with a lock and key. The backside of the caddy  140  ( FIG. 9B ) is attached by screws or rivets  154  to at least two clamps  156 . The clamps include opposing arms  157  and  158  that surround the IV pole  160  and are drawn together by a setscrew  162 . 
         [0036]    It should also be noted that for security concerns all of the embodiments described here in could be made with transparent materials in order to permit security personnel to make efficient inspection of the items contained in the IV pole caddy. 
         [0037]    Thus, from the embodiments described an IV pole can be adapted to carry the personal items of a patient and make the time and travel with the pole a more pleasant experience. 
         [0038]    Although the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the appended claims should be construed broadly, to include other variants and embodiments of the invention, which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and range of equivalents of the invention.