Patent CA-2314596-A1 (CA)
Inventor: MORRISSEY PAUL DOUGLAS
IPC: A61G7/10
Filed: 2000-07-25
Abstract: The Wheelchair Guirney is an apparatus which will allow patients to be moved more comfortably from an otherwise difficult position. Many people in various countries are confined to their beds due to infirmity. Serious spinal, back and other lower torso areas of the human body, once injured, oftentimes confines the patients to their bed permanently. Psychologically, as well as for circulation and blood flow, it is necessary for these people to move around. Imagine lying in a bed staring at the ceiling twenty-four hours a day for three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. This for many is, unfortunately, a sad reality. The wheelchair guirney allows for a possible respite, at least temporarily, for such people. This apparatus is wheeled into the room and is positioned alongside the bed of the confined person. Once in position the wheelchair guirney is then locked into a non-movable position by means of a built-in safety brake and also a dual stabilization unit is activated. The two stabilizers are positioned at either side of the guirney and when positioned on the floor, they act as counter weight balances. Depending on the position of the bed, the patient can be removed from either side depending on the amount of space available. All hydraulic and mechanical movements of the wheelchair guirney are assembled in such a manner as to give the patient plenty of time to adjust from a lying to a sitting position and vice versa. Because many of the users are in a lying position for great lengths of time, a deliberately slow sit up position is a must, so as not to allow dizziness due to blood circulation, etc. Most patients cannot lift with the attendant and, therefore, are a dead weight. Various forms of injuries have been sustained by a number of caregivers when transferring a bedridden patient to a wheelchair or guirney for medical necessities, such as x-rays and the like. This new and innovative apparatus is a means by which a person can be transferred from a bed in a safe and painless manner. Not only is the caregiver not at risk by the work involved but also the patient is less bothered by pain from arthritis or stiff joints or post operative pain, etc.     The wheelchair guirney is a dual acting device that acts as a guirney stretcher but also evolves into a sit-up wheelchair. This apparatus consists of two sets of wheels along with three closely separated flat pieces of steel, aluminum, hard plastic or any other material that can be used to comfortably carry an adult person. The mechanical aspects of the device are numerous in that various mechanisms are incorporated in order to allow the set up guirney to work properly. Hydraulic moving parts along with and/or a ratchett turning mechanism attached to a main shaft and/or various cog wheels with movable rods may be incorporated in the design format in order to help the product deliver the general functions for which it is designed. As a person lies in his/her bed, the wheelchair guirney is wheeled into the room and placed alongside the user/patient in a flat down length position. This soft covered guirney with adequate padding inside the leather and/or other covering material permits the user comfort in that they lay and eventually sit on a comfortable padded cushion format. Stabilizers are set on either side of the guirney in order to keep the assembly from becoming out of balance as the flat surface is slid across the top of the bed's mattress to help the patient be simply moved in a lying position to the frame of the guirney. In order to explain this more clearly, please follow the sequence of events as described below. A person is laying in bed (bedridden). The caregiver pushes the wheelchair guirney into the room parallel with the bed. The apparatus is then evenly lined up with the bed and the height mechanism is set to allow the three part flat portion of the guirney to move horizontally straight across the bed while the unit itself, frame and wheels, etc. stay in a locked-in permanent position. The patient is gently rolled on one side and the guirney bed or flat cushioned surface is easily pushed to the person's laying position now on his/her side. The patient simply rolls onto his/her back and is automatically on the extended full length guirney. The caregiver slowly retracts the guirney back unto the frame with the patient on board the device. This eliminates pain from arthritis on joints or any number of possible problems associated with the patient.     Once in a lying position, now retracted back on the guirney's main body, the patient if desired is then slowly placed into a sitting or upright position by means of the hydraulic apparatus being slowly activated. The back and head portion of the person's torso is lifted via the built-in mechanical system while simultaneously the lower extremities, including the individual's legs and feet are lowered into a sitting position. Picture a sit-up position from a lying position with no effort expected from the patient. As an added safety precaution a seat belt and/or shoulder harness can be used to ensure that the patient does not fall forward and as well, side bars or rails are attached in order for the patient to feel more secure. Once the user is in a comfortable sitting position, the attendant caregiver can then push or pull the now wheelchair device wherever they wish to go. Thus the same procedure, except in a reverse sequence of events, once again places the wheelchair guirney alongside the bed or parallel with the bed. They then push the hydraulic button or manually winch the device to slowly turn back into a guirney or flat position. The patient is then gently pushed unto the bed with the help of the hydraulically extended built in bars and once sufficiently in place the extended support bed lifting device allows the patient to roll or slide off the guirney and unto the bed.  Once completed the extension is retracted back unto the guirney frame and is once again a one-piece unit. If desired the caregiver can position the unit back into a wheelchair mode and then place it in a nearby closet or storage room until its next usage.