Patent Publication Number: US-10772780-B2

Title: Mobile medical office

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates generally to in-home or off-medical facility medical care and particularly to a portable, light weight, rolling, folding chair/retractable desk combination device that may be used as a mobile medical office. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Significant injuries or chronic illnesses can make it difficult for patients to attend medical appointments outside the home. In addition, access to medical care facilities may be limited to patients in rural or remote areas. In-home or off-medical facility doctor or nurse&#39;s visits, once very common, are making a comeback to address these issues. 
     Unfortunately, a patient&#39;s home or other non-medical facility does not typically provide even the most basic tools the medical professional needs to properly visit with the patient. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure provides a mobile medical office that provides tools needed by medical personnel when visiting with a patient at home or other off-medical facility settings. 
     The mobile medical office of the present disclosure may be easily and efficiently transported, not only within a facility, but also from one facility to another because it is relatively light in weight, particularly as compared to the prior art. Moreover, the mobile medical office is reconfigurable to make it easily deployable, storable, and transportable. Ease of transportation may allow for a single doctor or medical practitioner utilizing a single mobile medical office to provide consultation and/or care to multiple patients at multiple facilities potentially expanding availability of care and/or reducing costs. 
     These and further features of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the description and drawings, particular embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail as being indicative of some of the ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed, but it is understood that the invention is not limited correspondingly in scope. Rather, the invention includes all changes, modifications and equivalents coming within the terms of the appended claims. 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods, and so on, that illustrate various example embodiments of aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. An element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a top front left perspective view of an exemplary device for a mobile medical office in a collapsed or folded configuration. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a top front left perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in a semi-deployed “plane chair” configuration. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a top front left perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in a semi-deployed telescoped configuration. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a top front right perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in the semi-deployed telescoped configuration. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a top front right perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in a semi-deployed telescoped swiveled configuration. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a top front left perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in the semi-deployed telescoped swiveled configuration. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a top front left perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in a deployed state. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a top front right perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in the deployed state. 
         FIG. 9  illustrates a top rear left perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in the deployed state. 
         FIG. 10  illustrates a bottom front right perspective view of the exemplary device of  FIG. 1  in the deployed state. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1-10  illustrate exemplary embodiments of the mobile medical office device  1 .  FIG. 1  illustrates the exemplary device  1  in a collapsed or folded state or configuration.  FIGS. 7-10  illustrate the device  1  in a deployed state or configuration.  FIGS. 2-6  illustrate the device  1  in configurations between the collapsed and deployed configurations. 
     The device  1  may include a frame  2 , a seating support  4 , a back support  6 , a desk platform  8 , a telescoping swivel arm  10 , wheels  12 , and feet  14 . 
     The seating support  4  may be operably attached to a top portion of the frame  2 . The back support  6  may be pivotably attached to the frame  2  at the top portion and particularly at or near a rear top portion of the frame  2 . The device  1  may include brackets  16  that pivotably connect the back support  6  to the frame  2 . In this manner, the back support  6  may be adjustable from a) the collapsed configuration of  FIG. 1  in which the back support  6  is collapsed towards the seating support  4  in a position substantially parallel to the seating support  4  to b) the deployed configuration of  FIGS. 7-10  in which the back support  6  is pivoted away from the seating support  4  in a position substantially perpendicular to the seating support  4 . 
     The wheels  12  may be operably attached to a bottom portion and specifically a rear bottom portion of the frame  2 . 
     The telescoping swivel arm  10  may include a fixed portion and a telescoping portion. The fixed portion may be operably attached to the frame  2  and the telescoping portion pivotably attached to the desk platform  8 . In this manner, the desk platform  8  may be adjustable from the collapsed configuration of  FIG. 1  to the deployed configuration of  FIGS. 7-10 . In the collapsed configuration of  FIG. 1  most of the desk platform  8  is disposed between the bottom portion and the top portion of the frame  2  and between a front portion and a rear portion of the frame  2 . In the collapsed configuration of  FIG. 1 , the desk platform  8  is in a position substantially perpendicular to the seating support  4 . In the deployed configuration of  FIGS. 7-10  the desk platform  8  is above the seating support  4  in a position substantially parallel to the seating support  4 . 
     In  FIG. 1 , the exemplary device  1  has been folded or collapsed by folding the back support  6  towards the seating support  4 , sliding in the telescoping swivel arm  10 , and folding in the desk platform  8 . In this configuration the volume occupied by the device  1  may be minimized for transportation. A user may tilt the device  1  to lift the feet  14  off the floor so that the device  1  rests only on the wheels  12 . The user may then roll the device  1  on the wheels  12 . 
     While the collapsed configuration of  FIG. 1  is a compact configuration ideal for storage and transport, the deployed configuration of  FIGS. 7-10  allows for a doctor or nurse to seat comfortably on the seating support  4  while using the desk surface of the desk platform  8  to write or to rest a laptop computer thereon making the device  1  very convenient for in-home or off-medical facility visits. 
       FIGS. 2-6  illustrate the device  1  in semi-deployed configurations between the collapsed and deployed configurations. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the device  1  in a “plain chair” configuration in which the back support  6  has been pivoted away from the seating support  4  to a position substantially perpendicular to the seating support  4  while most of the desk platform  8  remains disposed between the bottom portion and the top portion and between the front portion and the rear portion of the frame  2 . This “plain chair” configuration may be useful when a simple seating device (with no writing or typing surface) is needed. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate the device  1  in a telescoped configuration in which most of the desk platform  8  has been moved above the top portion of the frame  2  but remains between the front and rear portions of the frame  2 . This is accomplished by telescoping (i.e., sliding) out the telescoping portion of the telescoping swivel arm  10  from the fixed portion. Sliding out the telescoping arm  10  causes the desk platform  8  to rise relative to the seating support  4 . The device  1  may include a lock  14  (e.g., a knob block) that may be locked to secure the telescoping portion to the fixed portion in this configuration (or the swiveled telescoped configuration of  FIGS. 5-6  and the deployed configuration of  FIGS. 7-10 ). In this telescoped configuration, the desk platform  8  remains substantially perpendicular to the seating support  4 . To retum the device  1  to the collapsed or “plain chair” configurations of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the lock  18  may be loosened to let the telescoping portion of the telescoping arm  10  slide back into the fixed portion. 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  illustrate the device  1  in a swiveled telescoped configuration in which most of the desk platform  8  remains above the top portion of the frame  2  but the desk platform  8  has now been swiveled around to be in front of the front portion of the frame  2 . In this swiveled telescoped configuration, the desk platform  8  remains substantially perpendicular to the seating support  4 . 
     From the swiveled telescoped configuration of  FIGS. 5 and 6  the desk platform  8  may be swiveled up to the deployed configuration of  FIGS. 7-10  in which the desk platform  8  is above the seating support  4  in a position substantially parallel to the seating support  4 . 
     The present disclosure describes the frame  2  as having top, bottom, front, and rear portions. These terms are used for reference and the frame  2  may take various forms that include singular or plural amounts of each of these portions. For example, in the figures, the bottom portion of the frame  2  has three general portions: 1) two rear bottom portions to which the wheels  12  may be attached and 2) a front bottom portion to which the feet  14  may be attached. Similar results may be accomplished by a frame  2  having, for example, a single bottom portion to which the wheels  12  and the feet  14  may be attached. These same principles apply to all portions of the frame  2 . 
     The back support  6  may have built thereon a handle that, in the configurations of  FIGS. 2-10  in which the back portion  6  is substantially perpendicular to the seating support  4 , may be used to roll the device on its wheels  12 . For example, in the deployed configuration of  FIGS. 7-10 , a user may grab the handle, tilt the device  1  onto the wheels  12 , and pull to roll the mobile medical device  1  on the wheels  12 . Once at the desired location, the user may release the handle for the device  1  to rest on the wheels  12  and on the feet  14 . The feet  14  may be made out of a material (e.g., rubber) that prevents the device  1  from rolling when the feet  14  are in contact with the floor. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates the exemplary device  1  in a deployed state. The device  1  has been further unfolded by swiveling the desk platform  8  up. The telescoping arm  10  may include an elbow  20  with a resistance (e.g., friction) swiveling mechanism that, after the desk platform  8  has been swiveled up to the shown position, retains the desk surface in this position. In the deployed state, the feet  14  rest on the floor preventing the wheels  12  from rotating and, therefore, making the device  1  stable for sitting with comfortable and ergonomic seating support  4  and back support  6 . The deployed desk platform  8  may be used as a writing surface or as support for a laptop or tablet computer. 
     In other embodiments the device  1  may include an attached storage/organizer unit, a supply organizer with optional HIPAA compliant storage, charging ports, Wi-Fi booster, company logo, etc. For example, in all configurations a significant volume remains inside the envelope formed by the frame  2 . A bag or container may be attached to the frame  2  to occupy the volume inside the envelope formed by the frame  2 . A user may then carry supplies in the bag or container. 
     The device  1  may be specifically designed for medical professionals and para-professionals who care for patients in the home or off-medical facility setting. 
     As used herein, an “operable connection” or “operable coupling,” or a connection by which entities are “operably connected” or “operably coupled” is one in which the entities are connected in such a way that the entities may perform as intended. An operable connection may be a direct connection or an indirect connection in which an intermediate entity or entities cooperate or otherwise are part of the connection or are in between the operably connected entities. 
     To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in the detailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “or” is employed in the detailed description or claims (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both”. When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed. Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 624 (2d. Ed. 1995). 
     While example systems, methods, and so on, have been illustrated by describing examples, and while the examples have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit scope to such detail. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and so on, described herein. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific details, the representative apparatus, and illustrative examples shown and described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the preceding description is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.