Abstract:
A labor grip mechanism on each side of a main frame of a birthing bed, each labor grip mechanism having a post with a free end and a hand grip mounted on the free end. A first mounting construction is provided for slidably supporting each post for simultaneous movement between a first position wherein the hand grip is stowed underneath the patient support and a second position wherein the hand grip is oriented wholly out from underneath the patient support. A second mounting construction is provided for supporting each post for simultaneous rotational movement between the second position wherein the hand grip is also oriented in a plane beneath the plane of the patient support and a third position wherein the hand grip is oriented in a plane above the plane of the patient support. A hand grip positioning device is provided for facilitating the rotational movement only when the posts are in the aforesaid second or third position.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a birthing bed and, more particularly, to a birthing bed equipped with a labor grip mechanism on each side of the bed to assist the mother in creating maximum thrust during the birthing process. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is widely known to provide labor grip mechanisms on a birthing bed to assist the mother in creating maximum thrust during the birthing process. U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,327 and pending application Ser. No. 09/614,357, filed Jul. 12, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,269 are cited as two exemplary forms of a labor grip mechanism on a birthing bed. It is desirable to simultaneously deploy the labor grip mechanism and to move the labor grip mechanism to a stowed position out of the way when they are not needed. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a labor grip mechanism on both sides of a birthing bed and which are simultaneously movable between a stowed position beneath the patient support and an in-use position wherein the hand grip is oriented above the upper surface of the patient support. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide a labor grip mechanism, as aforesaid, wherein the action required to effect a simultaneous deployment of both of the labor grip mechanisms is quick and simple. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a labor grip mechanism, as aforesaid, which is durable, steady to the birthing mother thereby psychologically causing the birthing mother to apply strong forces thereto in creating the maximum thrust forces required to assist in the birthing process. 
     It is a further object of the invention to provide a labor grip mechanism, as aforesaid, wherein the entirety of the labor grip mechanism is stowable wholly beneath the patient support. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The objects and purposes of the invention are met by providing a labor grip mechanism on each side of a main frame of a birthing bed, each labor grip mechanism having a post with a free end and a hand grip mounted on the free end. A first mounting construction is provided for slidably supporting the posts for simultaneous movement between a first position wherein the hand grips are stowed underneath the patient support and a second position wherein the hand grips are oriented wholly out from underneath the patient support. A second mounting construction is provided for supporting the posts for simultaneous rotational movement between the second position wherein the hand grips are also oriented in a plane beneath the plane of the patient support and a third position wherein the hand grips are oriented in a plane above the plane of the patient support. A hand grip positioning device is provided for facilitating the simultaneous rotational movement only when the posts are in the aforesaid second or third positions. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with labor grip mechanisms of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a bottom left isometric view of a labor grip mechanism in the first position thereof; 
     FIG. 2 is a bottom right isometric view of the labor grip mechanism in the same position as has been illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a bottom left isometric view similar to FIG. 1, but with the labor grip mechanism moved to a second position; 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom left isometric view of the labor grip mechanism similar to FIG. 1, but in the fully deployed position; 
     FIG. 5 is a bottom right isometric view of the illustration in FIG. 4; and 
     FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a rack and pinion mechanism for providing simultaneous movement of the labor grips. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words “up”, “down”, “right” and “left” will designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “in” and “out” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the device and designated parts thereof. Such terminology will include derivatives and words of similar import. 
     In the drawings, only a fragment of a birthing bed  10  has been illustrated, namely, that part of the bed  10  having a mattress section  11  upon which the birthing mother sits with her legs extending beyond the right edge  12  thereof. If desired, another mattress surface can be provided to the right of the mattress section  11  and therebelow so that the feet of the birthing mother can rest thereon. 
     The mattress section  11  is supported on a mattress frame  13  which in turn is elevatably supported on a main frame  14 . The mechanism for elevating the mattress frame  13  up and down in relation to the main frame  14  is well known in the art and, accordingly, a further detailed discussion thereof is believed unnecessary. 
     A labor grip mechanism  15  is mounted on both lateral sides of the main frame  14  as shown in FIG.  6  and both labor grip mechanisms are the mirror image of each other and include a post  16  having a free end section  17  and a hand grip  18  mounted at the aforesaid free end  17 . For purposes of simplifying this disclosure, only one labor grip mechanism is shown in the drawings and will be described in detail. 
     In this particular embodiment, the post  16  is an elongate rod-like member having a first section  19  and a second section  21  forming an angle θ (FIG. 3) formed therebetween. The handle  18  is a continuation of the rod-like member and is bent at a 90° angle with respect to the section  21 . A protective member  22  is secured to the free end of the pipe section, namely, the handle  18 . 
     The labor grip mechanism  15  further includes an elongate straight rod section  23  connected at a right angle to the rod section  19 . The straight section  23  is supported in a guide opening  24  provided on the main frame  14 , which guide opening guides the straight section  23  between a first position thereof illustrated in FIG. 1 and a second position thereof illustrated in FIG.  3 . An additional support mechanism  45  described in more detail below in reference to FIG. 6 is provided for assisting the guiding of the straight section  23  between the aforesaid first and second sections, particularly in order to stabilize the straight section  23  when it is in the second position illustrated in FIG. 3. A spring  26  is either anchored to the main frame  14  on a side of the birthing bed remote from the side illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawings and is connected at the other end to the end of the straight section  23  remote from the rod section  19  or is embodied in the additional support mechanism  45  discussed in more detail below. As the straight section is transitioned between the first and second positions, the spring  26  will generate a return force urging the straight section  23  and, consequently, the labor grip mechanism to the first position of the labor grip mechanism illustrated in FIG.  1 . While the spring  26  is illustrated in FIG. 3 as a tension spring, it will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that the straight section  23  can be configured to operate utilizing a compression spring as will be described below with reference to FIG.  6 . 
     As is illustrated in the drawings, the mattress frame  13  includes a cut out section  27  of a sufficient dimension to permit the region of the labor grip mechanism  15  adjacent the juncture between the rod section  19  and the straight section  23  to move therethrough when the labor grip mechanism  15  is transitioning between the first position illustrated in FIG.  1  and the second position illustrated in FIG.  3 . 
     A hand grip positioning bracket  30  is secured by means of a base member  31  to the underside of the mattress frame  13  by means of a plurality of screws (not illustrated) received in appropriate holes  32 . An elongate rod  33  is secured to the base member  31  and extends in a direction generally parallel to the straight section  23 . The distal end of the rod  33  terminates adjacent an outer edge  34  of the mattress frame  13 . A reinforcement or bracing member  36  is secured to the base member  31  and the distal end of the rod  33 . The brace  36  also provides a smooth surface between the end thereof adjacent the main frame  14  through to the end thereof adjacent the distal end of the rod  33 . 
     An elongate arm, also known as a cam,  37  is secured to the straight section  23  and is movable therewith in all directions of movement of the straight section  23 . The cam  37  extends radially outwardly from the straight section  23  and a surface  38  thereof is configured to engage the surface of the brace  36  so as to prevent counterclockwise rotation of the labor grip mechanism  15  about an axis defined by the longitudinal axis of the straight section  23 . Rotational movements of the labor grip mechanism  15  in the opposite direction, namely, the clockwise direction is prevented by a surface  39  on the cam  37  engaging the undersurface  41  of the mattress frame  13 . 
     The labor grip mechanism  15  is movable between the aforesaid first position thereof illustrated in FIG.  1  and the second position thereof illustrated in FIG. 3 by a simple manual force being applied to the post  16  and pulling outwardly in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the straight section  23 . In the second position, the cam  37  will be oriented between the distal end of the rod  33  and the edge  34  of the mattress frame  13  so that the cam  37  can be moved therebetween by rotating the labor grip mechanism about the longitudinal axis of the straight section  23 . Once the cam  37  is moved to a location generally above the rod  33 , the return spring  26  will cause the straight section  23  to retract back into the guide opening  24  to orient the cam  37  on the upper surface of the rod  33  as illustrated in FIG.  4 . The base member  31  forms a stop against which the cam  37  will abut when the cam  37  is oriented above the rod  33  as illustrated in FIG.  4 . The base  31  effectively orients the cam  37  in a position spaced outwardly from the main frame  14  so that the post sections  19  and  21  of the labor grip mechanism  15  are oriented laterally of the mattress frame  13  and mattress  11  mounted thereon. 
     As is illustrated in FIG. 3, the cam  37  has a width X. The spacing between the exterior surface of the rod  33  and the undersurface  41  of the mattress frame  13  is equal to the aforesaid distance X or a slightly greater distance so as to facilitate the receipt of the cam  37  snugly therebetween. This snug orientation of the cam  37  between the exterior surface of the rod  33  and the surface  41  of the mattress frame  13  (see FIG. 4) provides a substantial rigidity to the orientation of the hand grip  18  and will provide a perceived sense of security to the birthing mother to cause her to think that as much force as she wishes to place onto the hand grip  18  will be sufficiently supported. 
     The additional support mechanism or translational device  45  is shown in more detail in FIG.  6 . The additional support mechanism or translational device  45  additionally facilitates simultaneous deployment or stowing of both labor grip mechanisms in response to manual forces applied to only one labor grip mechanism  45  to effect deployment or stowing as described above. 
     More specifically, the additional support mechanism  45  includes a pair of axially spaced hollow bearing members  46  and  47  configured to be fastened to the underside of the mattress frame  13  as schematically represented in FIG.  1 . An elongate housing  48  is provided which has a pair of axially aligned openings  49  and  51  in opposite ends which are configured to be coaxially arranged with the holes in the bearing members  46  and  47  so that the straight sections  23  of each labor grip mechanism is axially slidably and rotatively received in and supported by the bearing members  46  and  47  and extend into the interior  52  of the housing. A pair of toothed racks, only one rack  53  is shown in FIG. 6, are slidably supported in corresponding guides  56  and  57 . Each rack  53  is secured to an end of the respective straight section  23  that terminates in the interior of the housing. A compression spring  58  encircles each straight section  23  and is oriented between spring abutments formed by each end wall of the housing  48  and the end of the straight section  23  whereat the toothed rack  53  is secured. The racks  53  are spaced from each other and a pinion gear  59  rotatably supported on the housing  48  is configured so that its teeth schematically illustrated at  61  matingly engage the teeth  62  of each rack. As a result, a pulling force applied to one labor grip mechanism  15  to effect a movement thereof from the first position illustrated in FIG. 1 to the second position illustrated in FIG. 3 will cause the driven rack to rotatively drive the pinion gear  59  and cause a corresponding driven movement of the other rack to effect a corresponding and simultaneously occurring deploying movement of the other labor grip mechanism  15 . The bearing elements  46  and  47  will enable simultaneous rotation of the straight sections  23  between the second position shown in FIG. 3 to the deployed position where the hand grips  18  are oriented above the upper surface of the mattress  11  as well as vice versa. 
     Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.