Patent Publication Number: US-2005139736-A1

Title: Intravenous equipment support on mobile pole assembly

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
      This Non-Provisional Application claims benefit to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/474,695 filed May 30, 2003. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates generally to intravenous equipment supports and more specifically to mobile intravenous equipment supports.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      It is known that in hospitals, health care facilities, nursing homes, and the like, intravenous solution bags containing various intravenous solutions or fluids, blood, and medicants, to name a few, are used to treat patients. It is also known that intravenous equipment hangers are used to support and hang the intravenous solution bags near the patient. Known hangers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. D437,639 S and U.S. Pat. No. D437,640 S, both issued to Wayne J. Breda and Bradley Piper, and both incorporated herein by reference. These known intravenous equipment hangers include mounting supports for mounting the hangers to a wall or other structure. They also include extendable hanger bars that may be selectively moved and positioned relative to the mounting supports and thus relative to the wall, thereby providing a height adjustment mechanism for the hanger. Mounted to one end of the hanger bar is one or more hooks on which are mounted the intravenous solution bags. The known hangers may also be used without the mounting supports.  
      The present invention is directed at improving upon existing intravenous equipment hangers.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention is generally directed to mounting intravenous equipment hangers, like the hangers of U.S. Pat. No. D437,639 S and U.S. Pat. No. D437,640 S, to a mobile pole assembly. The pole assembly generally includes a pole and a wheeled base. The base includes hazard markings on the surfaces of the base visible from above. The hazard markings preferably include alternating black and bright yellow stripes.  
      More specifically, in one embodiment, the present invention includes a device for supporting and transporting intravenous equipment. The device further includes a telescoping support assembly having an inner bar and an outer bar sleeve. A hanger is mounted to the inner bar. The hanger defines support arms and at least one hook for mounting of the intravenous solution bags. The telescoping support assembly is mounted to a mobile pole assembly. The mobile pole assembly includes a pole for receiving and mounting the outer bar sleeve of the telescoping support assembly and a wheeled base assembly for supporting the pole. The wheeled base assembly further includes a plurality of support legs and wheels mounted to the support legs. Hazard indicators are located on the wheeled base assembly that are visible from above.  
      Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims and drawings in which like numerals are used to designate like features. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of an intravenous equipment support on a mobile pole assembly of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a side elevation view of an exemplary mounting of the intravenous equipment support on the mobile pole assembly.  
       FIG. 3  is a side elevation view of the intravenous equipment support.  
       FIG. 4  is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of the intravenous equipment support.  
       FIG. 5  is a partial side elevation view of the wheeled base assembly.  
       FIG. 6  is a top plan view of the wheeled base assembly of  FIG. 5 . 
    
    
      Before the embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items and equivalents thereof.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1-4 , an exemplary embodiment of the invention generally includes an intravenous equipment support  10  mounted to a mobile pole assembly  12 . The intravenous equipment support  10  includes a telescoping support assembly  14  defining an inner bar  16  that is selectively movable within an outer bar sleeve  18 . In other words, the inner bar  16  slidably fits within the outer bar sleeve  18  and can be selectively adjusted depending on the desired height of the intravenous equipment support  10 . The inner bar  16  may be held in position at the desired height using any known technique including the depicted clamping collar  17 , pins, set screws, fasteners, and the like.  
      Referring to  FIG. 4 , the outer bar sleeve  18  defines an upper end  32  from which extends the inner bar  16  and a lower end  34  that, as described below, mounts to the mobile pole assembly  12 . The inner bar  16  and outer bar sleeve  18  define a generally tubular shape and cooperatively engage with each other. The inner bar  16  and outer bar sleeve  18  may be made of any suitable lightweight material, such as aluminum or stainless steel. Other shapes and configurations of the inner bar  18  and outer bar sleeve  18  may be used to provide the desired telescoping feature.  
      A hanger  20  is mounted to end  36  of the inner bar  16 . The hanger  20  may be rotated or turned by selectively rotating or turning the inner bar  16 . The hanger  20  defines outwardly extending arms  22  and one or more hooks  24  connected to, or formed integral with, the arms  22 . The hooks  24  serve to hang the intravenous solution bags, not shown, near the patient. The hooks  24  may define any known shape and configuration that will serve to hang the intravenous solution bags.  
      In an exemplary embodiment, a pair of support brackets  26  extends outwardly from the outer bar sleeve  18 . The support brackets  26  at end  28  are mounted or attached to the outer bar sleeve  18 . At the opposite end  30 , the support brackets  26  define an L-shape that serve to hang the outer bar sleeve  18  to a wall mount plate  31 . The present invention is thus adaptable from a wall mount configuration to a mobile configuration and described herein. Referring to  FIGS. 2-3 , in an exemplary embodiment, a support arm or brace  27  extends between the support brackets  26  to provide additional structural integrity to the support brackets  26 .  
      As depicted in  FIGS. 1-2 , the lower end  34  of the outer bar sleeve  18  mounts to the mobile pole assembly  12 . The mobile pole assembly includes a vertically extending pole  40  that is mounted to a wheel assembly  42 . The pole  40  at end  44  defines a mounting sleeve or collar  46  which receives and mounts the lower end  34  of the outer bar sleeve  18 . Once the lower end  34  of the outer bar sleeve  18  is positioned on the pole  40 , a detent pin  48  is inserted through the collar  46  and pole  40  and into the outer bar sleeve  18  to secure the outer bar sleeve  18  to the pole  40 . One skilled in the art will understand that other techniques for securing the outer bar sleeve  18  to the pole  40  are possible with the invention.  
      As illustrated by  FIG. 5 , the pole  40  at end  50  is fastened to the wheel assembly  42  through the use of a fastener  52 . The wheel assembly  42  includes a base  54  that further includes a plurality of support legs  56  that are centrally joined together at the location where the pole  40  mounts to the wheel assembly  42 . The support legs  56  are held in position through the use of a fastener  57 . As depicted by  FIGS. 5-6 , the support legs  56  extend radially outwardly and in a spaced-apart relation, and each leg defines a leg end  58  on which is mounted a conventional wheel or caster  60 . Each wheel  60  is secured to each leg end  58  through the use of a fastener  62 . Each wheel will rotate and turn relative to the leg end  58  and relative to each other to provide a wheel assembly  42  with easy movability. However, it should be understood that with the invention one or more of the wheels  60  may be fixed or non-rotatable relative to the other wheels. One skilled in the art will realize that other wheels and wheel assemblies may be used with the invention to provide a movable wheel assembly.  
      Referring to  FIG. 6 , each support leg  56  defines a top surface  64  on which are located hazard markings  66  that are visible from above. The hazard markings  66  preferably include alternating black and bright yellow stripes; however, other hazard markings or indicators may be used with the invention. The hazard markings  66  draw one&#39;s attention to the wheel assembly  42  and to therefore warn the person of the wheel assembly  42  so that the person does not trip over, or become entangled with, the wheel assembly  42 .  
      Variations and modifications of the foregoing are within the scope of the present invention. It should be understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text and/or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the present invention. The embodiments described herein explain the best modes known for practicing the invention and will enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention. The claims are to be construed to include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the prior art.  
      Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.