Source: https://patents.justia.com/patent/6276010
Timestamp: 2019-07-23 07:33:49
Document Index: 270208314

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 59', 'arts 58', 'arts 48', 'arts 58', 'art 57', 'art 58']

US Patent for Stepped locking pin Patent (Patent # 6,276,010 issued August 21, 2001) - Justia Patents Search
Justia Patents Vertically Movable Support For Whole Body Of UserUS Patent for Stepped locking pin Patent (Patent # 6,276,010)
Stepped locking pin
Dec 6, 1999 - Stryker Corporation
An ambulance cot having a wheeled base, a horizontally oriented patient litter support disposed on the base and having an elongate guide extending lengthwise thereof. A support mechanism is provided for supporting the patient litter support for vertical movement relative to the base while being maintained in the generally horizontal orientation. A device is provided for selectively locking the patient litter support at selectively different vertical elevations.
One exception to the aforesaid statement is the emergency vehicle cot disclosed in pending application Ser. No. 09/102 143, filed on Jun. 22, 1999, assigned to the same assignee as is the present application. This emergency vehicle cot, however, requires the synchronized operation of a lifting procedure and an operation of the handles located at opposite ends of the cot by the emergency personnel in order to effect a vertical adjustment of the elevation of the patient supporting surface between the “load position” and positions oriented therebelow. Oftentimes, and in emergency situations, the two emergency personnel do not always lift and operate the handles in synchronization and, as a result, the mechanism automatically resets and it becomes awkward and time consuming to effect a new operation to effect a movement of the patient supporting surface to levels oriented between the “load position” and the lowestmost or folded position. As is explained in the aforesaid pending application, if the attempt to adjust the vertical height of the patient supporting surface is attempted with both emergency personnel not being synchronized in their lifting and handle operation technique, the emergency personnel&apos;s operation of the handle at the foot end of the cot without the simultaneous operation of the other handle by the emergency personnel at the head end of the cot will cause, when the handle at the foot end is released, a safety control mechanism to rest to prevent any single handle from enabling the level of the patient supporting surface to be altered. Thus, it is desirable for there to be provided a mechanism which assures the emergency personnel that an altering of the height of the patient supporting surface can effectively take place only when both ends of the cot are sufficiently supported so as to not jeopardize the safety of the patient supported on the patient supporting surface.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ambulance cot with an improved support mechanism with a safety mechanism which prevents a release of the locking mechanism for the vertical height adjustment unless both ends of the emergency cot are lifted and, therefore, supported by emergency personnel. A control mechanism is purposefully moved to the activated state to enable the emergency personnel to lift while one of them sets the safety mechanism for release and thereafter both of them initiate a safe and controlled raising or lowering of the patient supporting surface.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a control mechanism on the ambulance cot, as aforesaid, for preventing inadvertent collapsing of the support mechanism when the support mechanism is in its highest most position, known in the field as the “load position”.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an ambulance cot, as aforesaid, and a control mechanism, as aforesaid, which must be activated to enable the support mechanism to be released from its “load position” to allow the base to collapse toward the patient litter support to enable insertion of the ambulance cot easily into the emergency vehicle.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a control mechanism, as aforesaid, which is movable between activated and inactive states only when the ambulance cot is in the load position and which, in the activated state, permits a load process to begin by manual operation of only one handle, and which automatically resets to an inactive state upon a manual operation of the handle so that an abort of the load process caused by a release of the handle will always necessitate a reactivation of the control mechanism to enable the support mechanism to be released from its load position to allow the base to collapse toward the patient litter support mechanism to enable insertion of the now fully folded ambulance cot easily into the emergency vehicle.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a control mechanism, as aforesaid, which, when moved to an activated state, permits a lowering of the ambulance cot from the load position to positions below the load position only in response to a lifting of both ends of a sufficient amount to reduce a majority of the load on the wheels and a simultaneous manual operation of one handle of the release mechanism oriented at one of the ends of the ambulance cot.
The objects and purposes of the invention, including those set forth above, are met by providing an ambulance cot having an upper frame forming a bed having a head end and a foot end, a lower frame with wheels being supported on the lower frame. Forward and rearward vertical legs are connected to the upper frame and to the lower frame with the lower frame being approximately centered below the upper frame. At least one longitudinal beam is supported on the upper frame and has a slide slidably mounted on the beam and pivotally connected to the upper end of the front legs. An upper end of the rear legs is pivotally mounted on the upper frame. A locking mechanism is provided for releasably and selectively locking the front slide in selected longitudinal positions on the beam to adjust the positions of the upper frame with respect to the lower frame. The locking mechanism includes at least one locking pin slidably mounted in said front slide, a spring urging the at least one pin toward the at least one beam, stops on the at least one beam engageable by the at least one locking pin to position the upper ends of said front legs in selected positions. A longitudinal release bar is mounted by pivoted arms to the upper frame. The release bar is movable laterally when pulled longitudinally to engage with the pin to effect withdrawal of said pin from the stops. The pin has a catch thereon configured to normally engage the stop to block withdrawal of the pin from the stop when the bar is pulled longitudinally.
FIG. 14 is a side view of the ambulance cot in a second position below the transport position illustrated in FIG. 9;
FIG. 15 is a side view of the ambulance cot in a third position below the transport position illustrated in FIG. 9;
FIG. 16 is a top plan view of an alternate construction;
FIG. 17 is a top plan view like FIG. 16, but with the components shifted to a second position thereof;
FIG. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a modified pin latch in a first position thereof;
FIG. 19 is a view like FIG. 18, but in a second position thereof; and
FIG. 20 is a view like FIG. 18, but in a third position thereof.
The invention disclosed herein is set forth in detail in the section of the text captioned ALTERNATE CONSTRUCTION. The following disclosure is taken from application Ser. No. 09/102 143, assigned to the same assignee as is the present invention and provides background information for the invention.
A hollow sleeve 66 is rotatably supported in the hole 135 in the casting 134. The bracket 61 (FIG. 3) has a hole 60 therethrough which receives therein one end of the hollow sleeve 66. Both the bracket 61 and the hollow sleeve 66 are appropriately blocked from relative axial movement relative to the casting 134 by spring clips 65. The hollow sleeve 66 also houses therein for reciprocal movement a pin 67. Conventional bushings 68 are provided which slidingly support the pin 67 for reciprocal movement inside the sleeve 66. A spring 69 is interposed between a spring abutment member 71 secured to the inboard end of the sleeve 66 and the inboard end of the pin 67 to urge the pin 67 leftwardly into a selected aperture 31-34 provided in the C-shaped frame member 22. An elongate slot 72 is provided in the upper segment of the sleeve 66 and through which extends a peg 73 fixedly secured to and movable with the pin 67. The peg 73 rotatably supports a wheel 74 which in turn is mounted in a pocket 76 of a guide member 77. The guide member 77 has a laterally opening slot 78 into which is received a part of a control mechanism which will be described in more detail below. An identical hollow sleeve construction is provided at the upper end of the leg part 59 and, as a result, a detailed description of the individual components is believed unnecessary. However, the same reference numeral followed by the suffix “A” has been shown in FIG. 3 to designate the components that effect an urging of the reciprocal pin 67A rightwardly into an appropriately aligned aperture in the sidewall of the C-shaped frame member 23.
A pair of parallel link members 81 are fixedly connected at the foot end thereof to the axle 54. A further axle 82 is connected to and extends between the midlength portions of each of the leg parts 58 and 59. The link members 81, at the head end thereof, are fixedly connected to the axle 82. The leg parts 48 and 49 at the foot end are maintained in parallel relation to the leg parts 58 and 59 by the link members 81. A further pair of parallel link members 83 are replaceably connected at one end thereof to the axle 82 and extend to and are respectively connected to the axle 26 at the head end of the frame 21 of the patient litter support structure 19. A pair of parallel bumper members 84 are replaceably connected to the respective pipe part 57 at one end thereof and to the respective leg part 58 intermediate the axle 82 and the interconnected sleeves 66, 66A and yoke 79. The removable connection feature for both members 83 and 84 is accomplished by conventional screws and nuts and bolts schematically illustrated as at 86. In this particular embodiment, the link members 83 and the bumper members 84 are each composed of an interior metal tube member coated or encircled by a tough bearing grade resin such as an ultra high molecular weight polyethylene to enable the members to withstand substantial striking engagements with exterior body components of the emergency vehicle as the ambulance cot 10 is urged into the interior of the emergency vehicle. As a result, when sufficient damage has been subjected to the link members 83 and the bumper members 84, they can be simply removed and replaced with new link members and new bumper members. The fasteners 86 are each easily removable thereby rendering the aforesaid repair simple and quick.
As is illustrated in both of FIGS. 5 and 12, the width of the elongate bar 89 varies along the length thereof. Adjacent the foot end, the elongate bar 89 has a width W1 and adjacent the head end thereof, the elongate bar 89 has a width W2. This feature is important when the sleeves 66 and 66A and the interconnecting yoke 79 are in the position illustrated 35 in FIG. 5, namely, when the ambulance cot is in the load position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 9. In this position, when the peg 107 engages the abutment surface 111 in response to a tensioning of the chain 113 to cause a lengthwise movement of the elongate bar 89 to the left thereby causing both brackets 101 and 103 to pivot in a clockwise direction about their respective axes 102 and 104, the movement of the elongate bar 89 to the broken line position 89A illustrated in FIG. 5 will be insufficient to cause engagement of the elongate bar 89 with the wheel 74A. As a result, the movement will be insufficient to effect a withdrawal of the reciprocal pin 67A from the aperture 39 corresponding to the load position of the ambulance cot.
FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 9 and 10 illustrate the ambulance cot in the position known as the load position. When the phrase load position is utilized, this means that the ambulance cot is in a condition ready for insertion into the interior of the emergency vehicle. When the ambulance cot is in the load position, the reciprocal pins 67 and 67A are oriented and received in the aligned apertures 34 and 39. As stated above, the aperture 34 is an elongated slot (FIG. 2) extending forwardly from a position axially aligned with the aperture 39 to a terminal end shown schematically as at 171 in FIG. 2. In order to effect a loading of the ambulance cot into the emergency vehicle schematically illustrated in broken lines at 172 in FIG. 9, it is first necessary to pivot the handle 132 to the position illustrated in FIG. 7 so that tension is applied to the elongate chain-like member 131 to draw the elongate bar 117 leftwardly to cause the bracket 119 to pivot, unencumbered by the peg 139, about its pivot axis 121 to the position illustrated in FIG. 7 to orient the wheel 123 to the left of the ramp 128 to urge the elongate bar 89 to the broken line position illustrated in FIG. 7. Thereafter, the ambulance cot 10 can be moved forwardly to the position illustrated in FIG. 9 wherein the leading wheels 153 are oriented in a location above the interior floor surface 173 of the emergency vehicle 171 and the bumpers 84 come into contact with an exterior surface component 174 of the emergency vehicle 172. Thereafter, the handle 161 is pivoted by one attendant lifting the foot end of the cot about the axis upon which it is supported to effect a tensioning of the elongate chain-like member 113 to cause the elongate bar 89 to be moved leftwardly as well as further laterally inwardly toward the longitudinal centerline of the ambulance cot 10 to move the elongate bar 89 into contact with the wheel 74A thereby causing, through the connection of the peg 73A connecting the wheel 74A to the reciprocal pin 67A, a movement of the pin 67A out of the aperture 39. Since the pin 67 is oriented in an elongate slot 34, movement of the ambulance cot 10 to the right (FIG. 9) will cause the support mechanism 46 to move counterclockwise about the axis of the axles 24 and 26 and a corresponding sliding movement of the pin 67 in the elongate slot 34 toward the terminal end 171. As is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, a tension spring 176 is provided and is connected at one end to the side frame member 22 and at the other end to an abutment member 177 schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 that is engaged by the bracket 61 supporting the wheels 62 to urge the abutment 177 toward the terminal end 171 of the elongate slot 34 to effect a tensioning of the spring 176. It is preferably that the bracket 61 be allowed to travel approximately ½″ to 1″ before engagement with the abutment 177 occurs. During the sliding movement of the pin 67 in the elongate slot 34, the support mechanism 46 collapses to the position illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12. This position is known as the folded position, namely, a position that the cot is normally in when it is inside the emergency vehicle with all wheels 18 and 153 resting on the floor surface 173 inside the emergency vehicle 172. Stops 175 are provided for limiting the collapsing movement as shown in FIG. 11.
A further tensioning spring 178 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 and is connected at one end to the axle member 24. The other end of the spring 178 extends 180° around a pulley 179 to a terminal end whereat there is connected an abutment 181 that is engaged by a bracket 182 provided on the sleeve 66A. The bracket 182 is preferably allowed to travel about ½″ to 1″ before it contacts the abutment 181 to begin tensioning the spring 178 as the abutment 181 is moved toward the broken line position thereof as illustrated in FIG. 2. As a result, when the attendants lift the patient litter 141, the springs 178 and 176 will serve to force an orientation of the pins 67 and 67A into alignment with the load position apertures 34 and 39, namely, a neutral position between the effective regions of the springs 176 and 178.
In the preceding embodiment, two handles 156 and 161 are employed to effect a lowering of the patient litter elevation from the load position to positions intermediate the folded position and the load position. This embodiment employs just one handle for accomplishing the same task.
More specifically, the handle 156 and chain 98 are deleted. However, the elongate bar 88 formerly associated with the handle 156 is retained (see FIG. 16) and is now linked by two sets of linkage mechanisms 200 located at opposite ends of the bar 88 to the opposite ends of the elongate bar 89 so that when the handle 161 is operated, the movement of the handle 161 is translated into a leftward (FIG. 16) movement of the elongate bar 89 and, through operation of the linkage mechanisms 200, a leftward movement of the elongate bar 88 as shown in FIG. 17 to effect, as with the preceding embodiment, a retraction of the pins 67 and 67A from the respective sets of aligned recesses 31, 36; 32, 37; 33, 38 and from the elongate recess 34.
Also in the alternate construction, the identical pins 67 and 67A are each replaced with identical pins 201 and 201A respectively, only the pin 201, corresponding to the pin 67 in the previous embodiment, being illustrated in FIGS. 18-20. As is shown in FIGS. 18-20, the pins 201 and 201A each have a section 202 and 202A of reduced diameter thereby defining at each location a notch 203 and 203A, into which notches is received edges 204 and 204A of a respective aperture, here apertures 38 and 33. In this embodiment, the edges 204 and 204A are each tapered as at 206 so that they are reduced in thickness as at 207. A wall 208 of each of the notches 202 and 202A closest to distal ends 209 of the pins 201 and 201A is tapered thereat to conform to the taper 206 on the edges 204 and 204A. As a result, a simple operation of first the handle 132 followed by an operation of the handle 161 will be unsuccessful in retracting both pins 201 and 201A because the respective tapered surfaces 206 and 208 will engage one another.
However, when the lever 132 is operated and thereafter the two attendants simultaneously lift the foot and head ends of the patient litter 141 at the handles 146 and 147, respectively, to remove the wheels 18 from engagement with the ground, the weight of the wheeled base 11 and the manner in which the vertical legs 58, 59 and 48, 49, 51, 52 are linked to the patient litter support structure 19 and to each other will cause the upper ends of the vertical legs 58, 59 and the wheel supporting brackets 61 and 63 connected thereto to both shift toward the head end (to the right in FIGS. 18 to 20) to displace rightwardly the pin 201 (also the pin 201A) from the edges 204 and 204A of the opening 38 and 33 as the pin 201 is shown in FIG. 19. Thereafter, the attendant at the foot end of the ambulance cot 10 can activate the handle 161 to effect a retraction of the pin 201 and through the linkage mechanisms 200 the pin 201A from the respective apertures 38 and 33 as shown in FIG. 20.
an upper frame forming a bed having a head end and a foot end;
wheels supported on said lower frame;
front and rear vertical legs connecting said upper frame to said lower frame with said lower frame approximately centered below said upper frame,
at least one longitudinal beam supported on said upper frame, a front slide slidably mounted on said at least one beam and pivotally connected to an upper end of said front legs, an upper end of said rear legs being pivotally mounted on said at least one beam;
locking means releasably and selectively locking said front slide in selected longitudinal positions on said at least one beam to adjust the positions of said upper frame with respect to said lower frame, said locking means including at least one locking pin slidably mounted on said front slide for movement toward and away from said at least one beam, a spring urging said at least one pin toward said at least one beam, stops on said at least one beam engageable by said at least one locking pin to position the upper ends of said front legs in selected positions, an elongate release bar mounted by pivoted arms to said upper frame and being supported for lateral movement in response to a longitudinal force applied thereto through a handle fastened thereto, said release bar being engageable with said at least one pin to effect a movement of said at least one pin away from said at least one beam and a withdrawal of said at least one pin from said stops in response to said lateral movement of said release bar, and said at least one pin having a catch thereon, said catch being configured to normally engage said stop to block withdrawal of said at least one pin from said stop when said release bar is moved longitudinally.
2. The ambulance cot according to claim 1, wherein each of said stops is an elongate opening in said at least one beam, said elongate opening being elongated along a longitudinal length of said at least one beam, said at least one pin normally being oriented adjacent one end of said elongate opening so that said catch will be normally positioned to engage a first of said edges of said elongate opening.
3. The ambulance cot according to claim 2, wherein said at least one pin is configured to move from said first edge toward a second of said edges oriented at an opposite end of an elongate opening in response to a lifting force being applied to one of said head end and said foot end of said upper frame to thereby facilitate withdrawal of said at least one pin from said elongate opening by operation of said release bar.
4. The ambulance cot according to claim 3, wherein said catch is defined by a reduced diameter section in said at least one pin oriented adjacent a distal end thereof, said reduced diameter section having a finite depth and a finite width to accommodate therein a section of said first edge to thereby prevent withdrawal of said at least one pin.
5. The ambulance cot according to claim 3, wherein said length of said elongate opening is greater than a cross sectional dimension of said at least one pin whereat said reduced diameter section is located.
6. The ambulance cot according to claim 3, wherein said locking means additionally includes control means configured on said front and rear vertical legs to effect a displacement of said at least one pin from said first edge to said second edge only in response to a lifting force being applied to both of said head end and said foot end of said upper frame sufficient to remove a majority of the load from said wheels.
7. The ambulance cot according to claim 6, wherein said upper frame has on an underside adjacent a head end thereof an entry wheel which, upon a resting of said entry wheel on a surface of an emergency vehicle, effects a supporting of said head end of said upper frame so that a lifting of said foot end by one attendant will be sufficient to remove a majority of the load from said wheels.
Patent number: 6276010
Inventors: Christopher B. Way (Richland, MI), Clifford E. Lambarth (Portage, MI)
Application Number: 09/455,092