IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDS FOR HOSPITAL AND SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lineham Hodgkins, of Barnes, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDS FOR HOSPITAL AND
SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 7th January 1879, and dated the 12th July 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Linehain Hodgkins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th July 1878.
JOHN LINEHAM HODGKINS, of Barnes, in the County of Surrey. IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BEDS FOR HOSPITAL AND SIMILAR PURPOSES."
«
This Invention relates to improvements in beds chiefly for use in hospitals or
similar institutions, and is designed to provide a bed which will readily yield and
adapt itself to the movements of the person lying thereon, and will be more com-
fortable and convenient than beds as ordinarily constructed for similar use.
Although chiefly designed for use in hospitals my improved bed may also be
advantageously employed in private houses or other places in cases of sickness or
otherwise.
In carrying my said Invention into practice I provide a number of hollow air-
tight tubes or cylinders, which are made of india-rubber or of india-rubber com-
bined with cotton or other fibrous materials, or they may be made of any other
suitable water and air tight substance. These tubes or cylinders are each furnished
at one end with a suitable valve, through which they may be charged with air, gas,
or hot or cold water, or with wool, horsehair, or similar material, as may be desired,
according to the use to which the bed is to be applied in any particular case.
I prefer to construct the valves in such a manner that they will close automatically
when the cylinder is full. For this purpose the valve will be so placed that the
pressure of air, water, or gas inside the cylinders will always close the valve
excepting when it is being kept open for charging. Any other suitable valve may
however be used for this purpose as may be found desirable.
The quality of the material used in the construction of the said cylinders neces-

page_text: sarily varies according to what it is intended they shall contain; for instance, those
which are designed to be inflated with air are made of thin india-rubber, whereas
those designed to receive hot water must be of thicker substance.
I also provide a case to receive and hold the said tubes or cylinders in the
position they are to occupy in forming the bed, and the said case is made as follows,
that is to say I take a piece of some suitable woven fabric, such as bed-ticking,
canvas, or "Hessians," which I double and then unite by sewing or otherwise at
suitable distances in such a manner as to form pockets or receptacles to receive the
cylinders; or instead of taking one piece and doubling the same I may use two
pieces and unite them at their ends. These pockets are at right angles to the length
of the bed, and their number varies according to the number of cylinders which are
to be used for the bed, or in other words, according to the length it is desired the
bed shall be. The said pockets are open at each end, so that the cylinders may be
readily placed therein at either side of the bed or be removed therefrom as
required. This casing serves to keep the cylinders in place, and the bed is thus
. formed.
Upon the top of the above-described casing I adapt a sheet of india-rubber or
other waterproof material, which I make to conform to the configuration of the
upper part of the cylinders, and it is suitably attached at the head and foot of the
bed or otherwise in such a manner as to be removable if desired. If found
desirable I may also adapt a similar sheet of india-rubber to the under side of
the bed.
In some instances I dispense with the above-described casing of woven material,
such as bed-ticking or canvas, and make a casing of india-rubber or other water-
proof material, which is cemented across at suitable distances to form the pockets.
In this construction the separate sheet or sheets of india-rubber to be placed over
and underneath the bed are not required, as the india-rubber casing will be all that
is necessary.
At about the centre of the bed so constructed I provide several tubes or channels
leading below the bed; and by means of which any urine collected will be carried
away into some receptacle provided for it.
A bed constructed as above described provides great comfort for the person lying
thereon, and is very convenient in cases of sickness. The tubes or cylinders being
made of yielding material, form, when a person is lying upon them, a practically flat
surface immediately beneath him, and the buoyancy resulting from the said
construction is of very great advantage.
The cylinders being removable at pleasure may be replaced by others very con-
veniently in a few minutes, so that an air bed may be quickly exchanged for a hot
or cold water bed, or vice versa, and the advantage of this provision for such a
speedy exchange will be readily understood by those who have occasion to use beds
of this description.
I wish it to be understood that although I prefer to use tubes or cylinders as above
described, the form of these removable sections may be other than cylindrical if
found desirable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Lineham Hodgkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th January 1879.
JOHN LINEHAM HODGKINS, of Barnes, in the County of Surrey.
MENTS IN BEDS FOR HOSPITAL AND SIMILAR PURPOSES."
" IMPROVE-
This Invention relates to improvements in beds chiefly for the use of invalids,
and is designed to provide a bed whose special features will render it very valuable
in hospitals and other places where the use of beds of ordinary construction is
impracticable or inconvenient.
It is of the highest importance in many cases that the occupant of a hospital bed
should be placed in different positions from time to time, and that various parts of
his body should be raised or lowered to facilitate surgical operations or to give
special support to one or more of such parts, and it is desirable and necessary that
when a patient has to be moved upon a bed the moving may be effected in such a
manner as to avoid the necessity of exertion on his part as much as possible.
There are also many cases in which the patient is incapable of the slightest exertion,
and as every movement of his body has then to be effected by the attendants, it is
of great importance to provide means whereby such movements may be facilitated
with as little disturbance as possible to the patient.
Many appliances have been adopted in hospitals to effect the objects above
named, but all that are known to me are more or less complicated in their
construction and imperfect in their action, being at the same time costly to
manufacture.
By means of my said Invention I provide a bed which is simple in construction,
capable of immediate adjustment at any part without disturbing the occupant
thereof, easily cleaned, exceedingly comfortable, and so constructed that all the
wants of the patient may be readily attended to however helpless he may be.
A bed constructed according to my Invention has the further advantage that it
may be manufactured at a comparatively small cost, and readily repaired when
injured.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 is a plan of a bed constructed according
to my Invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the same partly in section; Figures 3
and 4 show portions of the same detached.
Similar letters indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
According to the said Invention I construct the bed of a series of separate parts
or sections a, preferably cylindrical in shape, which sections being united as herein-
after described form the bed. One of these sections is shewn separately in
Figure 3. When in the bed they are so placed or arranged together that any
one or more may be readily removed, either partially or entirely, thus providing
means for altering the level of the bed at any part thereof, and over a greater or
smaller surface of the same, as may be required for any purpose.
I prefer to unite the cylinders or tubes a forming the said separate sections by
means of a case b, made of any suitable material, such, for instance, as canvas, bed-
ticking, or Hessians, this case being so constructed as to contain as many distinct
pockets or separate spaces c as there will be tubes or cylinders to make up or
constitute the bed.
The case 6 may be made of one piece of material doubled and united, or two or
more pieces may be used and suitably joined. The pockets c are formed by uniting
and securing together, as shewn at d, the two sides of the material forming the
case 6 at such intervals as will leave openings, or pockets c of sufficient capacity
to allow the tubes or cylinders a to be placed therein in such a manner that they
may be readily withdrawn therefrom as required, care being taken that there is
sufficient space between the cylinders to prevent their pressing each other when
depressed by the weight of the occupant of the bed.

page_text: The material of which the case is made may be united by cement, by stitching,
or in any other convenient manner, and I propose to provide a number of openings e
in the case between some of the tubes or cylinders a at the centre of the bed,
which openings, serve to carry off any, urine that might otherwise collect at
these parts.
In some instances instead of providing one case to receive the whole of the tubes
or cylinders forming one bed, I provide several cases, which when placed together
with the tubes therein form one bed, the object of this arrangement being that
some of the tubes may be capable of removal at one operation with the case
covering the same, this being an advantage under some circumstances; for instance,
it may be desirable in the performance of a surgical operation or otherwise to have
a clear space under the central part of the body of a patient, which space may be
obtained at once in a bed in which a number (say three) of such tubes in a separate
case constitute one section thereof at that part, as the said section may be readily
withdrawn after exhausting the air or water from the cylinder, the patient being
then supported on the head and foot portions of the bed.
The tubes or cylinders a are made of india-rubber or similar waterproof material,
and may be of any suitable dimensions. I find in practice that a diameter of five
inches is desirable, although any other suitable diameter may be adopted, and the
length of each tube a will depend upon the width of the bedstead upon which the
bed is to be used.
The tubes a are properly constructed to be inflated with air or to be filled with
hot or cold water, and if desired some may contain water and some may contain
air, so that the bed may be a water bed, an air bed, or a combined water and air
bed, and the facility for change is so great that any alteration can be effected imme-
diately without disturbing the occupant; for example, if cold water should be
required at any particular part of the bed in place of hot water, or vice versa, or if
air is required to replace either hot or cold water, the contents of the tube or tubes a
at the part where the alteration is required are discharged by means of a valve f
provided upon each of the tubes a, and the latter are then filled or partially filled
with whatever fluid is required to take the place of the fluid previously contained
therein...
The cases which contain the tubes or cylinders a are open at each end, so that
the tubes a may be inserted or withdrawn from either side of the bed, and each
tube is provided at one end with one of the said valves f, preferably constructed of
metal, for the purpose of facilitating the filling and discharging of the tubes a with
air or water. I prefer to construct the valves f. in such a manner that they will
close automatically when the tubes or cylinders a are full by the action of the
fluid within the same, although any suitable valve may be employed.
In some cases for particular purposes I fill the tubes or cylinders a with horse-
bair, wool, or other similar materials instead of with air or water, and a suitable
opening is provided for the insertion of such materials.
I propose to provide some of the pockets in each bed with two tubes, as shewn in
Figure 4, instead of only one, that is to say, the length of each of such tubes will
equal only about half the width of the bed with which they are to be used. This
arrangement provides additional facility for adjustment and alteration, as one of
such short tubes may be drawn out and the other left in, or both may be drawn
partially out, leaving a space between them, or the air or water may be removed or
partially removed from either, and if desirable one of these short tubes may be
filled with hot or cold water and the other with air, or one with hot water and the
other with cold water.
I propose to cover several of the tubes occupying the central part of the bed
with separate cases g, made of some waterproof material less costly than that of
which the cylinders a are made, in order that the latter may be protected from the
injurious effects of urine or other matters, and a waterproof sheet may be placed
over or under the cylinders a, or both over and under the same.
The introduction of a bed pan without disturbing the patient may be readily

page_text: effected by opening the valves in, say, two of the tubes a, whereupon the fluid
escapes, and the cylinders being then empty, sufficient space under the patient is at
once obtained. Then as soon as the bed pan is removed air or water will be again
forced into the cylinders a, which will thus be slowly inflated, the introduction and
removal of the pan being thus effected without moving the patient. If the patient's
head requires to be raised or lowered the necessary adjustment is accomplished with
the greatest ease, as it is only necessary to charge the cylinder a under the pillow
with more air or water, or to let some of the said fluid escape therefrom, according
to whether the pillow is to be raised or lowered. Any part of the bed may be.
adjusted in the same manner, and more or less support can therefore be thus pro-
vided wherever it may be required at a moment's notice without disturbing the
occupant.
By taking a separate tube and, placing it underneath the bed any part thereof
can be specially raised so as to place the occupant at any desired inclination. This
separate cylinder may be rolled along between the bedstead and the bed to any part
of the latter, and the occupant will thus be put into the desired position gently and
easily, and may be as readily released from this position when no longer required to
occupy the sanie.
A bed so constructed may also be easily and conveniently folded into various
forms, so as to support the occupant in a sitting or any other posture.
One great advantage of this improved construction is that if either of the tubes
or cylinders a should be injured, and require to be repaired, it may be withdrawn
and another substituted therefor immediately without disturbing the patient and
at a small cost, whereas with air and water beds as ordinarily constructed a slight
amount of injury at any part is sufficient to render the entire bed useless.
The spaces h between the tubes a above and below the case permit free circulation
of air through the bed, which is of great advantage in beds of this class, and these.
spaces form gutters, into which urine will escape from the surface of the tubes a,
and will thus be carried away from the surface upon which the patient lies.
I have described and shewn the sections as of cylindrical form, which I find to
be most suitable, but I wish it to be understood that other forms may be adopted
if desirable, and the said sections may be arranged longitudinally instead of trans-
versely on the bed.
Having thus fully described the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it understood that I claim a bed constructed of separate parts or
sections placed within a suitable case, or otherwise held together, and capable of
containing air or other fluid, and of independent removal or adjustment, and of
inflation and exhaustion by means of valves or other devices, and which bed may
or may not be provided with other parts or sections filled with horsehair, wool, or
the like, and with means for the discharging or removal of urine and for the
circulation of air, all as and for the purposes above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lineham Hodgkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.