Patent Publication Number: US-6908133-B1

Title: Device for preventing emergency vehicle bumper interference with cot wheel deployment

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to a safety device for preventing an emergency cot from being uncontrollably deployed from a cargo area of an emergency vehicle and, more particularly, to a stop member oriented on a floor surface of the cargo area of an emergency vehicle and configured to interfere with a safety bar provided on the emergency cot as the emergency cot is moved with its wheels engaging the floor surface out of the cargo area to stop the outward movement while at least one wheel on the emergency cot still rests on the floor surface. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   It has been known to provide a safety stop member on a floor surface of a cargo area of an emergency vehicle and have it configured to interfere with a safety bar mechanism on an emergency cot as the emergency cot is moved with its wheels engaging the floor surface out of the cargo area to stop the outward movement while at least one wheel on the emergency cot still rests on the floor surface. A representative prior art mechanism is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The safety stop member  1  is anchored to the floor surface  2  by a plurality of fasteners schematically illustrated at  3 . The safety stop member  1  has a vertically upright surface  4  which faces inwardly of the cargo area of the emergency vehicle and faces away from the access opening into the cargo area. A conventionally provided safety bar  6  on an emergency cot engages the surface  4  as the emergency cot is moved with its wheels engaging the floor surface  2  out of the cargo area to stop the outward movement while at least one wheel on the emergency cot still rests on the floor surface  2 . Typically, the fasteners  3  are oriented between the surface  4  and a rear edge  7  of the cargo area as depicted in  FIG. 1 . A handle mechanism (not illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) on the emergency cot facilitates a movement of the safety bar to a location where continued movement of the emergency cot out of the cargo area will be facilitated without the safety bar interfering with the safety stop member  1 . 
   It is to be noted in  FIG. 1  that the surface  4  is spaced from the rear edge  7  of the cargo area by a distance represented by “X”. This distance is typically in the range of 2 to 3.5 inches. 
   Emergency personnel are accustomed to entering the cargo area of an emergency vehicle through a rear access opening. A step area on top of a bumper is generally provided to facilitate the foot of the emergency personnel to be placed thereon during entrance and exit from the cargo area. There has been a desire on the part of emergency personnel to have present a wider step available to them as they enter and exit the cargo area. However, a wider step has created the problem of the collapsible base on the emergency cot engaging the step as the base is moved from its collapsed position to its deployed position. Thus, it is desirable to provide a safety stop member that will facilitate the continued use of standardized emergency cot configurations in situations where a wider step exists adjacent the access opening to the cargo area of an emergency vehicle. 
   Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a safety stop member that is oriented on a floor surface of an emergency vehicle and is configured to interfere with a safety bar on an emergency cot as the emergency cot is moved with its wheels engaging the floor surface out of the cargo area to stop the outward movement of the emergency cot while at least one wheel on the emergency cot still rests on the floor surface. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety stop member, as aforesaid, wherein the safety stop member consists of an L-shaped member, a rearwardly facing surface of a vertical leg of the L being oriented generally flush with an edge at the access opening, the horizontal leg of the L being fastened to a floor surface of the cargo area by a plurality of fasteners. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety stop member, as aforesaid, wherein when the safety bar on an emergency cot engages the inwardly facing surface of the vertically upright leg of the L, at least one of the plural fasteners holding the safety stop member to the floor surface will be oriented on a side of the safety bar remote from the inwardly facing surface of the vertically upright leg. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a safety stop member, as aforesaid, wherein when the safety bar on an emergency cot engages the inwardly facing surface of the vertically upright leg of the L, all of the fasteners holding the safety stop member to the floor surface will be oriented on a side of the theoretical vertical center line of the safety bar remote from the inwardly facing surface of the vertically upright leg. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The objects and purposes of the invention are met by providing a safety stop member which consists of an L-shaped member, plural fasteners for fastening a first leg of the L to the floor surface, a second leg of the L being oriented in an upstanding relation relative to the first leg and to the floor surface and configured so that the upstanding second leg will interfere with and engage a safety bar on an emergency cot only when the safety bar is positioned adjacent a juncture between the first and second legs. An outwardly facing side of the second leg is oriented generally flush with an edge of the access opening so that when the emergency cot extends outwardly from the access opening in the cargo area and the safety bar engages the second leg, the base on the emergency cot will be sufficiently spaced outwardly of an outwardly facing surface of a step bumper on the emergency vehicle to facilitate an unobstructed deployment of the base to the deployed position thereof. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with safety apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a prior art safety stop member; 
       FIG. 2  is an isometric view of a safety bar on an emergency cot operatively engaging a safety stop member embodying the invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmentary and enlarged sectional view of a safety stop member embodying the invention taken along the line IV—IV of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a side view similar to  FIG. 3  and illustrating the base of the emergency cot in a partially deployed position; 
       FIG. 6  is a side view similar to  FIG. 5  with the base of the emergency cot being fully deployed; and 
       FIG. 7  is an isometric view similar to  FIG. 2 , but with the safety bar having been moved to a second position thereof to facilitate continued movement of the emergency cot out of the cargo area of the emergency vehicle. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 2  is an isometric view from inside a cargo area  10  of an emergency vehicle  11 . The cargo area  10  includes a floor surface  12 , an access opening  13  to the cargo area  10  and an edge  14  at the juncture between the floor surface  12  and the access opening  13 . A door or the like (not illustrated) is generally provided on the emergency vehicle to close the access opening  13 , the door becoming somewhat sealed against the elements by engagement thereof with an outwardly, here a rearwardly facing surface  16  ( FIG. 3 ). 
   In this particular embodiment, a step  17  is provided on the emergency vehicle  11  immediately adjacent the access opening  13  and the upper surface  18  thereof is oriented generally a finite distance below the floor surface  12  inside the cargo area  10  of the emergency vehicle  11 . The top surface  18  of the step  17  is generally of a sufficient depth to accommodate a large shoe size worn by emergency personnel. In this particular embodiment, the depth D of the step  17  is generally 10 inches. Known steps on emergency vehicles have a depth that is generally in the range of 5 to 13 inches. 
   A safety stop member  20  embodying the invention consists of a unitary L-shaped member  21 . The L-shaped member  21  has a first leg  22  of generally uniform thickness secured to the floor surface  12  by a plurality of fasteners schematically indicated at  23 . The L-shaped member  21  includes a second leg  24  oriented at one end of the leg  22  and is upstandingly arranged relative to the leg  22  and the floor surface  12  as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The upper end of the second leg  24  is arced inwardly of the cargo area  10  to define a flange  26  extending generally parallel to and above the leg  22 . The second leg  24  and the flange  26  thereon form a hook-like configuration. The side  27  of the second leg  24  on a side thereof remote from the leg  22  is oriented generally flush with the surface  16  on the emergency vehicle. Further, the thickness “Y” of the second leg  24  at a mid-height level thereof is generally within the range of 0.2 to 0.3 inches, the preferred dimension being generally 0.250 inches. 
   The emergency cot  30  illustrated in the drawings is representative of a typical type of emergency cot having a safety bar  31  pivotally supported thereon. Another representative example of an emergency cot having a safety bar is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,700, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. A central segment  32  of the safety bar  31  is configured to engage an inwardly facing surface  28  of the safety stop member  20  as the emergency cot rolls on its wheels in a direction out of the cargo area  10  through the access opening  13  as depicted by the arrow  33  in  FIG. 3 . The segment  32  of the safety bar  31  engaging the inwardly facing surface  28  of the second leg  24  of the safety stop member  20  is illustrated in broken lines in  FIG. 4 . In the prior art, the segment  32  would have engaged the prior art safety stop member  1  at the surface  4  approximately a distance X (2 to 3.5 inches) from the edge  14  of the opening  13  into the cargo area  10 . It is immediately evident that the segment  32  engaging the inwardly facing surface  28  of the upstanding second leg  24  at a distance Y (0.2 to 0.3 inches, preferably 0.250 inches) from the edge  14  means that the emergency cot  30  can extend further out of the access opening  13  as depicted in  FIGS. 3–6 . Since the depth D of the rear step  17  is longer than other known steps on certain other emergency vehicle configurations, we have been able to accommodate the deeper rear step  17  without necessitating an alteration to the construction and configurations on the emergency cot. Furthermore, we have discovered that the inventive safety stop member  20  can be retrofitted into the cargo area of existing emergency vehicle configurations if it is desired to do so. 
     FIGS. 3–6  illustrate the base  34  of the emergency cot  30  being oriented to extend outwardly of an outermost, here rearwardly of a rearwardly facing surface  36  of the step  17  to enable the base to be moved without interference by the step  17  from its collapsed position illustrated in  FIG. 3  to its fully deployed position illustrated in  FIG. 6 . Following an engagement of the wheels on the base  34  with a ground surface  35 , a handle  37  conventionally provided on the emergency cot  30  can be manipulated by the emergency personnel to effect a movement of the safety bar  31  from the position illustrated in  FIG. 2  to a raised out of the way position illustrated in  FIG. 7  to enable the emergency cot to be moved on its wheels away from the access opening  13  as depicted by the arrow  38  in  FIG. 7 . 
   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.