Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to a patient supporting apparatus for use in surgical procedures and, more particularly, to a patient supporting bed having multiple attachments for facilitating multiple uses of the patient supporting bed.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Wheel supported beds for use in patient care have become more and more sophisticated and more versatile. Beds used as patient supports are now being used to transport patients from a room in which patient care is provided to other facilities within a health care establishment without necessitating removal of the patient from the bed. One of the uses includes a use in a surgical theatre and for multiple types of surgery, such as head, neck and shoulder surgery as well as urological surgeries. The needs of the surgeon for the aforesaid types of surgeries are multiple and are often not available on a single patient supporting bed thereby necessitating the purchase of multiple styles of patient supports in order to accommodate each particular need.  
           [0003]    Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a patient supporting bed having multiple features capable of operative connection to the bed to facilitate multiple and differing uses for the bed, such as surgeries to be performed upon the patient.  
           [0004]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed, as aforesaid, wherein the patient supporting deck thereof includes a head, seat and foot section with the foot section being composed of two components separately and independently connected to the bed on the edge of the seat remote from the head section.  
           [0005]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed, as aforesaid, wherein there is provided a fluid receiving receptacle oriented in a normally stowed position beneath the seat section and being deployable to a position immediately below the perineal edge of the seat section, that is, the edge of the seat section remote from the head section.  
           [0006]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed wherein one of the foot sections serves as a foot end fowler capable of mimicking the articulation of the head section so that a patient supported on the seat section will have the feet supported on the head section and the back resting against the foot end fowler.  
           [0007]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed, as aforesaid, wherein the structure of the overall bed in the area beneath the foot section is completely open so as to provide an unobstructed space for the surgeon to use during surgical procedures.  
           [0008]    It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed having support rails extending coextensively along opposite side edges of the patient support deck and capable of mounting various accessories, such as side rails and/or patient leg supports and the like.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    The objects and purposes of the invention are met by providing a patient supporting apparatus in the form of a bed having a base, a pair of elongate generally parallel extending and laterally spaced support frame members on the base. A pedestal is oriented between a top side of the base and each of the support frame members to facilitate elevational movement of the support frame members. A patient support deck is mounted on the support frame members and includes a head section and a seat section, the seat section including a deck plate oriented in a horizontal plane mounted to and extending between the support frame members. A pair of laterally spaced support brackets are provided on either the base or the patient support deck adjacent to the seat section along a side thereof remote from the head section.  
           [0010]    The above set forth patient supporting apparatus is capable of operatively connecting to various components. In order to facilitate this operative connective relation, the patient supporting apparatus includes a fastening member having separate first and second coupling elements thereon supported on each of the support brackets for movement between two positions. Separate first and second patient supporting devices each having an attachment member configured to operatively removably and separately connect only to a selected one of the two coupling elements is provided. The first patient supporting device is a foot section supported on a first of the coupling elements. The second patient supporting device is a foot end fowler section supported on a second of the coupling elements.  
           [0011]    The aforesaid patient supporting apparatus also includes a guideway on each of the support brackets, the guideway supporting a frame and having a track thereon. A receptacle is removably mounted on the track and for movement relative to the frame, the receptacle being stowable beneath the deck plate and deployable so that the receptacle is oriented immediately below the perineal edge of the seat section. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    Other objects and purposes of this will be apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a patient supporting apparatus minus the foot section and illustrating a fluid collecting receptacle in the deployed position beneath the perineal edge of the seat section;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is an isometric view illustrating the fluid receiving receptacle in a first position and a first position of a supporting frame on which it is slidably supported;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is an isometric view illustrating a second position of the fluid receiving receptacle relative to the frame;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is an isometric view illustrating a third position of the fluid receiving receptacle and a second position of the frame relative to the supporting structure therefor;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a fastener arrangement for facilitating separate connection of first and second patient supporting devices;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5, but viewing the structure from a different perspective and with the coupling elements being in a first position thereof;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is a view like FIG. 6, but with the coupling elements having been shifted to a second position thereof;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 8 is an isometric view similar to FIG. 1 except that the fluid receiving receptacle has been moved to a stowed position beneath the seat section and one of a plural number of foot sections has been inserted into the coupling elements;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 8 particularly illustrating a foot end fowler separated from the patient supporting bed;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 10 illustrates an isometric view of a foot section that can be operatively connected to the patient supporting apparatus in place of the foot end fowler device illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9; and  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view through the patient supporting apparatus with a foot section mounted thereto. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0024]    Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words “up”, “down”, “right” and “left” will designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “head end” and “foot end” of the bed will refer to, respectively, the right end of the bed and the left end of the bed illustrated in FIG. 1. The words “in” and “out” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the device and designated parts thereof. Such terminology will include derivative and words of similar import.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 1 illustrates a patient supporting apparatus  10  embodying the invention. The patient supporting apparatus  10  includes a base  11  supported on plural castered wheels  12 . An upstanding pedestal  13  is mounted on the top side of the base  11  and includes a conventional jack system (not illustrated) for raising and lowering a frame  14 . The frame  14  has thereon a patient support deck  16  consisting of a head section  17  and a seat section  18  as illustrated in FIG. 11. The frame  14  specifically includes a pair of elongate and parallel support frame members  19  and  20  as illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 2. As illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 2, a deck plate  22  is supported on and is fastened to an upper extremity of each of the elongate support frame members  19  and  21 . The deck plate  22  is oriented in the seat section  18  whereas a further deck plate  23  illustrated in FIG. 11 is oriented in the head section of the patient support deck  16 . A mattress  24  is supported on the patient support deck  16 .  
         [0026]    The patient supporting apparatus  10  includes elevatable side rails  26  independently mounted on respective elongate support frame members  19  and  21 . In addition, an auxiliary elongate rail  27  is secured to each of the elongate support frame members  19  and  21  and extends coextensively with at least the seat section  18 . A further auxiliary elongate rail  28  is supported on the deck plate  23  of the head section  17 .  
         [0027]    Further details of the patient supporting apparatus  10  can be found in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/592,040, filed on Jun. 12, 2000. The brakes operatively associated with the castered wheels can be found in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/592,038, filed on Jun. 12, 2000. A safety side rail configuration disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,385 can be substituted for the safety side rail configuration  26  disclosed herein. Thus, further discussion of this componentry is believed unnecessary, but the subject matter of pending application Ser. Nos. 09/592,038 and 09/592,040 and the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,385 is to be incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0028]    Referring now to FIG. 2, a pair of laterally spaced support brackets  31  and  32  are each secured to a respective elongate support frame member  19  and  21  or to the underside of the patient support deck, particularly, the deck plate  22  adjacent an edge thereof remote from the head section, otherwise known as the perineal edge  33  of the seat section  18 . In this particular embodiment, each of the support brackets  31  and  32  are generally of an inverted L shape wherein one leg of the L is longer than the other. In this particular embodiment, the shorter leg  34  is secured by fasteners  36  to the underside of the deck plate  22 . The longer legs  37  are oriented in parallel vertical planes which extend parallel to a longitudinal axis of each of the elongate support frame members  19  and  21 . In this particular embodiment, each of the long legs  37  have a set of three rollers  38  rotatably supported about spaced horizontal axes, the points of intersection of the axes with the vertical plane of the legs  37  defining an equilateral triangle, the apex of the triangle being elevated above the base of the triangle. The axes of rotation of the respective and corresponding rollers in each set are coaxial.  
         [0029]    A U-shaped frame  41  is supported for movement with respect to the rollers  38 . More specifically, the U-shaped frame  41  includes a pair of parallel legs  42  and  43  and an interconnecting bight  44  connecting one end of each leg  42  and  43  to each other. In this particular embodiment, a longitudinal axis of the bight  44  is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of each of the legs  42  and  43 . In addition, the axes of rotation for the rollers  38  oriented on the base of the aforesaid equilateral triangle are in a first horizontal plane and the axis of rotation at the apex of the triangle is in a second horizontal plane so that the legs  42  and  43  are configured to extend between the two planes, the bottom rollers operatively engaging the underside of the legs  42  and  43  whereas the roller  38  at the apex engages the top surface of the legs  42  and  43  as illustrated in FIG. 2. The bight  44  includes a pair of laterally spaced stops  46  that are upstanding from the top surface thereof.  
         [0030]    An open topped liquid collecting receptacle  47  is configured to mount onto the frame  41  and be movable with respect to the frame  41 . More specifically, the receptacle  47  has an outwardly extending flange  48  adjacent the upper edge thereof, sections of the flange overlapping the respective upper surfaces of the legs  42 ,  43  and bight  44 . The flange  48  is configured to slide on and with respect to the upper surfaces of the legs  42  and  43 . A stop  49  is provided on each leg  42  and  43  at an end thereof remote from the bight  44  to limit the relative sliding movement of the receptacle  47  with respect to the U-shaped frame  41 . For convenience, a handle  51  is mounted on one of the side walls of the receptacle  47 , particularly the side wall of the receptacle which is facing away from the head section  17  of the patient support deck.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2 except that the receptacle  47  has been moved with respect to the U-shaped frame  41  until the outside surface of the side walls of the receptacle have come into engagement with the stops  49  on the legs  42  and  43 . Such relative movement occurs by reason of a manual force being applied to the handle pulling the receptacle to the left. When the receptacle  47  and the supporting U-shaped frame  41  is in the position illustrated in FIG. 2, the weight of the receptacle and frame create a generally clockwise moment relative to the supporting rollers  38  such that the friction resisting movement of the legs  42  and  43  relative to the rollers is greater than the friction between the flange  48  on the receptacle  47  and the upwardly facing surfaces of the legs  42  and  43 . As a result, the receptacle  47  will slide to the position illustrated in FIG. 3 while the U-shaped frame  41  remains in its original position.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 except that a continued force applied to the handle  51  drawing the receptacle to the left will also cause the U-shaped frame  41  to be drawn to the left by reason of engagement of the wall of the receptacle with the stops  49 . The entire assembly of receptacle  47  and U-shaped frame  41  will be allowed to move to the left until the stops  46  come into engagement with the respective rollers at the apex of the triangular array thereof. This compact assembly of receptacle  47  and U-shaped frame  41  and the mount therefor enables the receptacle  47  to be stowed completely beneath the deck plate  22  of the seat section  18 . As is illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 3, the perineal edge  33  of the deck support plate  22  includes a conventional notch  52  therein. In this particular embodiment, the receptacle  47  in the FIG. 2 position is oriented between the head section  17  and the bottom  53  of the perineal notch  52 .  
         [0033]    As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 11, a pair of laterally spaced brackets  56  are secured to the underside of the deck plate  22  of the seat section  18  adjacent respective elongate support frame members  19  and  21 . Each bracket  56  includes an axle  57  coaxial with each other and pivotally supports respective left support bracket  58 A and right support bracket  58 B. The axis of the coaxial axles  57  extends generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the support frame members  19  and  21 . Support brackets  58 A and  58 B are mirror images of each other and are, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, oriented on the left and right sides of the perineal notch  52 . In fact, the brackets  58 A and  58 B are oriented between the respective lateral sides of the receptacle  47  and the respective elongate support frame members  19  and  21 . The receptacle  47  and the support structure therefor has been omitted from FIGS. 6 and 7 in order to facilitate clarity in this description.  
         [0034]    Since the support brackets  58 A and  58 B are mirror images of one another, only the support bracket  58 A will be described in detail with each reference numeral used in the descriptive text being suffixed by the letter “A”. Corresponding reference numerals for the support bracket  58 B will be illustrated in the drawings, but with the suffix “B” added thereto.  
         [0035]    The support bracket  58 A includes a central generally L-shaped member  59 A which includes a generally horizontal leg portion  61 A and a vertically oriented leg portion  62 A as best illustrated in FIG. 11. The L-shaped member  59 A is straddled by a pair of flat plates  63 A and  64 A that are each pivotally suspended from the axle  57 . A pin  66 A is secured to each of the plates  63 A and  64 A and traverses the gap between the plates defined by the thickness of the L-shaped member  59 A. The flat plates  63 A,  64 A and the L-shaped member  59 A therebetween define a first coupling element  67 A. A second coupling element  68 A is fixedly fastened to the first coupling element  67 A by a plurality of fasteners  69 A. More specifically, the second coupling element  68 A includes a flat plate  71 A coupled to the flat plate  64 A on a side thereof remote from the L-shaped member  59 A. A block  72 A is secured to the flat plate  71 A and includes a socket  73 A therein opening outwardly in a direction generally facing away from the perineal edge  33 . Each of the first and second coupling elements  67 A and  68 A include respective abutments  74 A (FIG. 11) and  76 A.  
         [0036]    Spaced from the perineal edge  33  toward the head section is a further bracket  77 A fixedly secured to the elongate support frame member  21 . A spring locking gas spring  78 A is connected to and is oriented between the first coupling element  67 . In this particular embodiment, the body of the spring locking gas spring  78 A is secured to the first coupling element  67 A whereas the rod part  79 A is secured to the bracket  77 A. A manually engageable handle  81 A is pivotally secured to the elongate support frame member  21  adjacent the perineal edge  33  and is connected by means of a linkage  82 A to a mechanism on the rod part  79 A of the spring locking gas spring  78 A to facilitate operation of the spring locking gas spring  78 A in a well known manner. The spring locking gas spring  78 A and the handle activating mechanism are conventional and the gas springs are available through Stabilus GmbH in Gastonia, NC under the trademark BLOC-O-LIFT. Manipulation of the handle  81 A will enable adjustable movement of the support bracket  58 A to and between the positions illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. A rod part  83  unites the operative mechanism controlling the spring gas springs  78 A and  78 B for simultaneous operation so that the first and second coupling elements will remain operative in unison.  
         [0037]    The relative angle of movement of the respective first and second coupling elements  67 A,  67 B and  68 A,  68 B is in the range of 35 to 60° with the preferred angle being at 50°.  
         [0038]    The support brackets  58 A and  58 B are configured to operatively connect to differing foot end assemblies, such as a foot end fowler mechanism  83  illustrated in FIG. 9 or a foot piece  84  illustrated in FIG. 10. The foot end fowler  83  is illustrated in FIG. 8 whereas the exploded view thereof is illustrated in FIG. 9.  
         [0039]    The foot end fowler assembly  83  includes a T-shaped section  86  where the crosswise portion of the “T” is configured to mate with the perineal edge  33  of the seat section  18 . In order to facilitate the connection, the crosswise portion of the “T” includes a pair of laterally spaced probes  87  each adapted to be aligned with a respective axis  88  of a socket  73 A and  73 B so that upon reception of the probes  87  into the respective sockets  73 A and  73 B, the stem portion of the “T” will extend away from the perineal edge  33 . Each of the probes  87  has a latch mechanism  89  pivotally supported thereon and operatively movable by manipulation of a handle  91 . The respective latch members  89  are operatively engageable with the abutments  76 A and  76 B to facilitate a locking of the foot end fowler assembly  83  to the respective support brackets  58 A and  58 B. The distal end of the stem of the “T” of the T-shaped section  86  includes an articulatable head piece for supporting the head of a patient and enabling manipulative movements of the head piece to accommodate various orientations of the head of the patient relative to the stem portion of the T-shaped section  86 . The head piece configuration is disclosed in pending application Ser. No. 10/047,743, filed Jan. 15, 2002. Releasable shoulder supports  93  and  94  are fastenable to the T-shaped section  86  in any conventional way to fully support the back part of a patient. If surgery, for example, is to be performed on a patient&#39;s shoulder, a respective one of the shoulder supports  93  and  94  may be removed for that purpose.  
         [0040]    In order to provide additional safety for the patient seated on the patient support deck when the foot end fowler assembly  83  is connected to the patient supporting apparatus  10 , an auxiliary set of side rails  96  can be clamped to a respective auxiliary elongate rail  27  by a conventional clamping mechanism  97 . The auxiliary set of side rails  96  are configured to extend above the patient support deck in a manner illustrated in FIG. 8 so that when the foot end fowler assembly  83  is oriented between positions wherein it is horizontally aligned with the seat to positions inclined with respect to the seat section, the auxiliary set of side rails will prevent patient movement beyond the lateral edges of the foot end fowler assembly  83 .  
         [0041]    The foot piece assembly  84  (FIGS. 10 and 11) include a frame assembly  98  which includes a patient support deck  99 , an auxiliary set of elongate rails  101  oriented along lateral edges thereof and an elevatable side rail assembly  102 . The frame includes a pair of laterally spaced probes  103  each configured to be received into a respective coupling element  67 A and  67 B. Each of the probes  103  has a notch  104  therein and configured to receive the respective pin  66 A and  66 B when the probes  103  are inserted into the respective coupling elements  68 A and  68 B. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the L-shaped member  59 A is recessed below the pin  66 A so as to facilitate the distal end of the probe  103  being fitted under the pin  66 A so that when the foot piece assembly  84  is leveraged on the distal end of the horizontal leg of the L-shaped member  59 A, the notch  104  will move into a coupling relation with the pin  66 A.  
         [0042]    The frame assembly  98  also includes a latch member  105  associated with each probe  103 . Each latch member  105  is pivotally supported on the probes  103  about respective axles  106  and are simultaneously pivoted about the axle  106  by a handle mechanism  107  illustrated in FIG. 11. The latch members  105  are configured to operatively engage a corresponding abutment  74 A and  74 B on the coupling elements  67 A and  67 B. Thus, when the latch members  105  are appropriately engaged with the abutments  74 A and  74 B, the foot piece assembly  84  will be locked to the respective bracket assemblies  58 A and  58 B.  
         [0043]    In operation, the coupling elements  67 A and  67 B are configured so that the axis thereof extends between a horizontal plane and an angle downwardly inclined from the horizontal plane to the limit of movement of the respective support brackets  58 A and  58 B when the foot piece assembly  84  is appropriately secured thereto. The respective axes of the sockets  73 A and  73 B are configured to move from a horizontal plane upwardly to the extent permitted by the support brackets  58 A and  58 B wherein the respective axes of the sockets  73 A and  73 B lie in a plane which is inclined to the horizontal. As stated above, the preferred angle of inclination of the foot end fowler assembly  83  is 50° above the horizontal whereas the angle of decline of the foot piece assembly  84  is 50° below the horizontal.  
         [0044]    Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.

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