Source: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/49373883/Medical-Bed-With-Openable-Top-Rail---Patent-5742959
Timestamp: 2015-08-04 18:36:13
Document Index: 104999173

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 32', 'arts 32', 'arts 32', 'art 32', 'art 44', 'art 44', 'art 44', 'art 44', 'art 46', 'art 48', 'arts 46', 'arts 46', 'arts 46']

Medical Bed With Openable Top Rail - Patent 5742959 by Patents-160
49373883
FIELDOF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a medical bed and, more particularly, to a medical bed having an openable top rail on one or both sides to accommodate tubes and wires which may be attached to a person in the bed.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious types of medical beds, including cribs, are currently available for use in hospitals, medical facilities and the like. In situations where a person in a medical bed or a child in a crib needs to be connected to various tubes and/ormonitor wires, such tubes and/or wires conventionally are passed through vertical bars underneath the top rail in a side of the bed or crib. Each time a person or a child is taken out or put back in such a bed or crib, the tubes and/or wires need to bedetached and reattached. This process can create many problems.For example, the detaching and reattaching of tubes such as IV tubing, feeding tubing, vent tubing, etc. so that the tubes can pass over or under the top rail of a bed creates a situation where the tubes can be contaminated by bacteria or othercontaminates. Also, a person on tubes goes without the material which is passing through the tubes such as food, oxygen and the like while the tubes are detached in order to remove the person from a bed where the tubes are passed through the verticalbars in a medical bed. In addition, many tube and monitor devices have alarms on them that go off when they are detached. This can easily awaken a person being removed or transferred from a medical bed. Still other problems result when an emergencyrises and medical personnel have a tendency to quickly drop the side of a medical bed down in order to reach in and work on a person since there isn't time to detach each tube and monitor wire. In such situations, the tubes and wires often get detachedfrom the person's body.Moreover, because a substantial amount of time is required to disconnect and reconnect tubes and/or wires attached to a person such as a child, a child with suc
United States Patent: 5742959
A medical bed having a pair of spaced ends and a pair of opposed sides
connecting the ends. At least one of the sides has a top rail, a bottom
rail and a plurality of spaced vertical bars extending therebetween to
form a plurality of unobstructed vertical spaces. A part of the top rail
extending over one or more of the unobstructed vertical spaces is movable
to form an opening at the top through which tubes and wires connected
between a person in the bed and medical devices outside of the bed may be
moved without disconnecting them from the person when the person is moved.
5/93.1  ; 5/429; 5/430
A61G 7/05&amp;nbsp(20060101); A47D 007/01&amp;nbsp(); A47D 007/02&amp;nbsp()
5/93.1,100,425,428,429,430
Necowitz
1.  A bed comprising:
at least a part of said top rail extending over one or more of said unobstructed vertical spaces, said part of said to rail being movable away from said one or more unobstructed vertical spaces while said vertical bars remain stationary, to form
an opening at the top of said one or more unobstructed vertical spaces.
2.  A bed according to claim 1, wherein said part of said top rail which is movable is pivotally connected at one end to an adjacent part of said top rail.
3.  A bed according to claim 2, wherein said part of said top rail is pivotally connected for pivoting in a horizontal plane.
4.  A bed according to claim 2, wherein said part of said top rail is pivotally connected for pivoting in a vertical plane.
5.  A bed according to claim 1, wherein said part of said top rail which is movable is completely removable from said crib.
6.  A bed according to claim 1, wherein said part of said top rail which is movable is telescopically connected at one end to an adjacent part of said top rail.
7.  A bed according to claim 1, wherein the entirety of said top rail is removable.
8.  A bed according to claim 1, which further includes means for lowering said one of said sides from a normal upper position to a lower position.
9.  A bed according to claim 1, wherein both of said sides have a top rail, a bottom rail and a plurality of spaced vertical bars extending therebetween, said vertical bars forming a plurality of unobstructed vertical spaces between said top and
bottom rails and at least a part of said top rail extends over one or more of said unobstructed vertical spaces, said part of said top rail being movable away from said one or more unobstructed vertical spaces while said vertical bars remain stationary,
to form an opening at the top of said one or more unobstructed vertical spaces.
10.  A bed comprising:
a part of said top rail extending over one or more of said unobstructed vertical spaces on at least on side of said solid portion and being telescopically connected at one end to an adjacent portion of said top rail whereby said part of said top
rail is movable to form an opening at the top of said one or more unobstructed vertical spaces.
11.  A bed according to claim 10 wherein a part of said top rail extending over one or more of said unobstructed vertical spaces on each side of said solid portion is telescopically connected at one end to an adjacent portion of said top rail
whereby said part of said top rail on each side of said solid portion is movable to form an opening at the top of said unobstructed vertical spaces.
12.  A bed according to claim 10 wherein both of said sides have a top rail, a bottom rail, an intermediate solid portion and a plurality of spaced vertical bars on both sides of said solid portion extending between said top and bottom rails,
said vertical bars forming a plurality of unobstructed vertical spaces between said top and bottom rails, and a part of said top rail extending over one or more of said vertical spaces on at least one side of said solid portion and being telescopically
connected at one end to an adjacent portion of said top rail whereby said part of said top rail is movable to form an opening at the top of said one or more unobstructed vertical spaces.  Description
Various types of medical beds, including cribs, are currently available for use in hospitals, medical facilities and the like.  In situations where a person in a medical bed or a child in a crib needs to be connected to various tubes and/or
monitor wires, such tubes and/or wires conventionally are passed through vertical bars underneath the top rail in a side of the bed or crib.  Each time a person or a child is taken out or put back in such a bed or crib, the tubes and/or wires need to be
detached and reattached.  This process can create many problems.
For example, the detaching and reattaching of tubes such as IV tubing, feeding tubing, vent tubing, etc. so that the tubes can pass over or under the top rail of a bed creates a situation where the tubes can be contaminated by bacteria or other
contaminates.  Also, a person on tubes goes without the material which is passing through the tubes such as food, oxygen and the like while the tubes are detached in order to remove the person from a bed where the tubes are passed through the vertical
bars in a medical bed.  In addition, many tube and monitor devices have alarms on them that go off when they are detached.  This can easily awaken a person being removed or transferred from a medical bed.  Still other problems result when an emergency
rises and medical personnel have a tendency to quickly drop the side of a medical bed down in order to reach in and work on a person since there isn&#39;t time to detach each tube and monitor wire.  In such situations, the tubes and wires often get detached
from the person&#39;s body.
Moreover, because a substantial amount of time is required to disconnect and reconnect tubes and/or wires attached to a person such as a child, a child with such tubes and/or wires attached tends to get held less.  Also, many medical personnel,
particularly volunteers, do not want to be responsible or may be afraid of disconnecting any tubes or wires attached to a child.  Consequently, less holding of such a child can lead to other problems such as muscular contractions.  Moreover, medical
institutions waste substantial time and money paying professionals to disconnect and reconnect wires and/or tubing each time a child is taken out of a crib.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a medical bed having a top rail or rails which may be readily opened or removed to permit tubes and/or wires connected to a person in the bed to pass through the top of a side of the bed without
being detached from the person when the person is moved.
The present invention achieves the above and other objects by providing a medical bed having a pair of spaced ends, a pair of opposed sides connecting the ends and at least one of the sides having a top rail, a bottom rail and a plurality of
spaced vertical bars extending therebetween to form a plurality of unobstructed vertical spaces between the top and bottom rails.  A part of the top rail extending over one or more of the unobstructed vertical spaces is movable to form an opening at the
top of one or more of the vertical spaces.
The part of the top rail which is movable may take various forms.  The movable portion may be pivotally connected at one end for movement in a horizontal plane, may be pivotally connected at one end for movement in a vertical plane, may be
removable from the bed or may be telescopically connected at one end to slide longitudinally.  A part of the bottom rail also may be pivotally movable and connected to a pivotally movable part of the top rail to form a gate which pivots in a horizontal
plane.  In still another embodiment, the entire top rail may be removable.  The bed also may be constructed so that either or both sides may be lowered from a normal upper position to a lower position for more ready access to the bed.
Referring to the drawings, a medical bed in the form of a crib, generally referred to by the numeral 10, having a pair of spaced ends 12 connected by a pair of opposed sides 14 is shown in FIG. 1.  At least one of the sides comprises a top rail
16 and a bottom rail 18 connected by a plurality of spaced vertical bars 20.  The vertical bars 20 form a plurality of unobstructed vertical spaces 22 therebetween.  Preferably the side has a solid portion 24 in the center thereof.  Although a crib is
shown to illustrate the present invention, it will be understood the invention is applicable to medical beds having sides with top and bottom rails connected by a plurality of spaced vertical bars.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, at least one of the sides 14 is slidable from a normal upper position to a lower position to permit easier access to the interior of the crib.  A rod 26 is attached to each end 12 of the crib by suitable
brackets 28 attached to the ends.  Springs 30 are supported on the brackets 28 for engaging the bottom of side 14 when it is lowered.
The top rail 16 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is provided with one or more movable portions 32 which may be pivoted in a vertical plane as shown by the dotted lines in FIG. 1.  Each movable portion 32 may extend across one or more vertical
spaces 22 whereby when a movable portion is pivoted upwardly one or more of the spaces are open at the top.
This feature is very advantageous in that a child in a crib undergoing medical treatment often is connected to tubes and/or monitoring wires 34 which extend through one or more of the vertical spaces 22 to be connected to other medical equipment
With this construction, whenever it is desired to remove a child from the crib without disconnecting any tubes or wires, the moveable parts 32 of the top rail may simply be pivoted to an upward, open position and the tubes pass through the
openings at the top of the vertical spaces as the child is lifted.  If desired, the entire side 14 may be lowered as well as the moveable parts 32 opened when it is desired to have access to and/or lift a child in the crib.  Accordingly, a child may be
picked up and/or removed from the crib without detaching any wires or tubes to which the child may be connected.
The movable parts 32 may be connected by appropriate means such as hinges 36 to an adjacent portion of the top rail.  Moreover, suitable locking means 38 may be provided at the free end of the movable part 32 and an adjacent part of the top rail
to lock the movable part in position when it is closed.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the movable portion of the top rail is comprised of a section 40 which is telescopically received in an adjacent portion of the top rail.  In this construction, the movable telescoping portion 40 is slidably
received within an opening or channel 42 formed in an adjacent part of the top rail 16.  Although the drawing shows the telescoping portion 40 as only extending over one of the vertical spaces, the telescoping portion may be enlarged to extend over more
than one of the spaces 22.  Moreover, in this embodiment, the side 14 of the crib is fixed rather than being slidable downwardly.  Suitable locking means 38 also may be provided to lock each telescoping portion 40 to an adjacent part of the top rail.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the movable part 44 of the top rail is entirely removable from the top rail as shown in the dotted lines.  When the movable part 44 is in position connected to the rest of the top rail, suitable locking means 38
may be provided at each end to maintain the movable part in position.  As with the other embodiments the movable part 44 may extend over more than one space 22 so that when the movable part 44 is removed, more than one space is opened at the top.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the top rail 16 is provided with a hinged movable part 46 and the bottom rail 18 is provided with another hinged movable part 48 and the two movable parts 46 and 48 are connected by one or more vertical bars 20
to form a gate which may be pivoted in a horizontal plane to an open position.  Again, suitable locking means 38 may be provided at the ends of one or both movable parts 46 and 48 and the adjacent sections of the top and bottom rails.  As shown in FIG.
4, any tubes or wires 34 may be inserted between a fixed vertical bar 20 and a movable bar 20 connected between hinged movable parts 46 and 48 whereby when the gate is opened, the tubes and/or wires 34 may be removed through the open space in the top
rail 16 created by the opening of the gate.
Numerous other modifications and adaptions of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and thus, it is intended by the following claims to cover all such modifications and adaptions which fall within the true spirit and
"Medical Bed With Openable Top Rail - Patent 5742959"
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Water_Bed___The_Benefits_Of_A_Water_Bed
500 BED
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