BASKET STRETCHER WITH DETACHABLE ROLLER GEARS

The present invention is related to a basket stretcher comprising a stretcher body and a plurality of rollers carrying a stretcher body for moving the basket stretcher.

Basket stretchers of the above kind represent an important equipment part to be used by members of a rescue crew. For example, fire workers are often in the situation to transport an injured or unconscious patient to a safe place. The patient is placed within the stretcher body, which has a generally trough shape, and secured therein by a safety harness. It takes several rescue crew members to lift and carry the basket stretcher over a long distance.

Since the basket stretcher must be lifted by physical strength, problems arise with patients with a higher body weight than usual. In particular it is almost impossible even for sereral well-trained fire workers with good physical skills to lift a basket stretcher with an obese patient and to carry it over a long distance. If the space in which the basket stretcher is located is quite narrow, like a small room or a narrow passageway, it is even impossible to handle the basket stretcher with the help of enough persons for lift-ing its weight. Furthermore, lifting the basket stretcher by many persons always implies the danger that members of the rescue staff or the patient within the basket stretcher are hurt by falling or stumbling, or one of their limbs is hurt by getting jammed between the basket stretcher and a wall, etc.

For the above reasons basket stretchers have been developed that are equipped with rollers under the stretcher body. However, such basket stretchers can move accidentally on an unleveled ground if they are not secured manually, which is often the case in rescue situations in which the attention of the members of the rescue team must be focused to many different items.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a basket stretcher that can be moved easily on rollers if desired, making it possible to transport even obese patients with high body weight, but decreasing a danger of undesired accidental movements of the basket stretcher, for example, on an uneven ground.

This object is achieved by a basket stretcher comprising the features of claim 1.

The basket stretcher according to the present invention comprises rollers that are suspended within roller gears provided with manual handling means to bring the roller gear from an unloaded position into a loaded position in which the roller is loaded by the stretcher body. These manual handling means provide control over the state of the basket stretcher, i. e. if the stretcher body rests on the ground with the rollers unloaded so that accidental motions of the basket stretcher are impossible, or if the stretcher body rests on the rollers so that it can be moved easily to transport the patient lying within the stretcher body. With other words, a manual operation of the handling means is necessary to bring the basket stretcher into the position in which it rests on its rollers. The degree of control over the basket stretcher and its position or movement is increased to a great extend.

Preferably the roller gears are detachable from the stretcher body.

More preferably, the manual handling means comprise a lever to push the respective roller gear into a loaded position supporting the stretcher body or its rim.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the roller gear comprises a roller brake to stop the roller.

More preferably, this roller brake can be operated by the manual handling means. For one example, the roller brake is operated by a brake handle provided at the end of the lever as described above.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a roller brake is releasable by a handle of the manual handling means and keeps the braking position when the handle is not operated. In this case the handle for releasing the brake operates like a dead man switch so that it must be activated by manual force to move the roller. If this force is released, the roller brake automatically takes its braking position to secure the basket stretcher and to prevent accidental movements.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the roller gear is equipped with a load sensor to measure the total load of the stretcher body and its content.

More preferably, the basket stretcher is equipped with display means to display the load measured by the load sensor. The measured load is an important information for a paramedic or a physician at the rescue site for dosing the amount of a drug to be dispensed to the patient within the basket stretcher according to her/his body weight.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the basket stretcher is equipped with transmission means to transmit data representing the load measured by the load sensor to an external receiver.

More preferably, the basket stretcher is provided to be carried by a lifting device, and the external receiver is comprised within a control unit of the lifting device. If there are certain limits of loading the lifting device, the transmitted data representing the measured load can be compared to data representing these limits, and the control unit of the lifting device may decide whether or not the load of the stretcher body and its content exceeds these limits.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lifting device is an aerial device comprising a telescopic arm to which the basket stretcher can be attached, and the control unit is provided to calculate extension limits of the telescopic arm on the basis of data received by the control unit from the basket stretcher. In this case the extension limits of the telescopic arm, for example, the outreach in the horizontal direction, can be adapted dynamically depending on the load data received from the basket stretcher.

The present invention is further related to an aerial device, comprising a telescopic arm, with a reception for carrying a basket stretcher according to the present invention as discussed above, and a control unit is provided to calculate extension limits of the telescopic arm on the basis of data received from the basket stretcher and representing the load of the stretcher body and its content. This aerial device may be, for example, a telescopic turnable ladder mounted on a fire fighting vehicle.

These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to embodiments of the present invention described in the following figures.

The only figure is a schematic partial view of an embodiment of a basket stretcher according to the present invention.

The figure shows a part of a basket stretcher 10, with a generally trough-shaped stretcher body 12 that is shown in section. It has an inclined right side wall 14 delimited at its upper end by a rim 16 with a generally circular cross-section. The bottom 18 of the stretcher body 12 is mainly flat. Inside the stretcher body 12, a safety harness (not shown) for securing a patient lying therein is disposed.

At the right side of the basket stretcher 10, a roller gear 20 is attached that is provided with a roller 22 at its bottom. The roller 22 can rotate around a horizontal axis 24, which lies within a lower suspension part 26 encompassing the roller 22 from above with opposite vertical flanges 28. This suspension part 26 itself can be turned around a vertical axis so that the roller 22 can be positioned into any desired driving direction.

The suspension part 26 is rotatably mounted below an attachment part 30 with an attachment portion 32 engaging the rim 16 of the stretcher body 12 from below and abutting at the inclined side wall 14. In the position shown in the figure, the bottom 18 of the stretcher body 12 is positioned above the ground such that the load of the stretcher body 12 and its content (not shown) rests on the roller. With other words, in the position shown in the figure, the roller 22 is loaded by the weight of the stretcher body 12 and its contents. This position shall be noted as the loaded position in the following description.

The roller gear 20 shown in the figure is only one example of a plurality of roller gears 20 distributed along the rim 16 around the stretcher body 12. In particular the roller gears 20 are detachable from the stretcher body 12 and can be attached at laterally opposed positions at the stretcher body 12 individually.

As shown in the figure, each roller gear 20 further comprises a lever 34 extending vertically above the attachment part 30. At its top end, the lever 34 is equipped with a handle 36 for manually operating the lever. If the lever 34 is turned from the vertical position shown in the figure in the counterclockwise direction around the axis defined by the circular cross-section of the rim 16, the attachment portion 32 of the attachment part 30 is released from the side wall 14 of the stretcher body 12, and the basket stretcher 10 is lowered to the ground until its bottom 18 touches the ground. In this position the roller gear 20 can be released completely from the stretcher body 12. The position in which the bottom 18 of the stretcher body 12 is supported by the ground and not by the roller 22 shall be denoted as an unloaded position with respect to the roller 22.

For attaching the roller gear 20 to the stretcher body 12, the attachment part 30 is attached by its attachment portions 32 at the rim 16 of the stretcher body 12, and the lever 34 is turned in the clockwise direction until it reaches the vertical position shown in the figure, in which the attachment portion 32 touches the side wall 14 of the stretcher body 12 again. During this movement the roller 22 is increasingly loaded by the weight of the stretcher body 12 and its content.

The roller gear 20 further comprises a roller brake 21 to stop the roller 22 and to prevent accidental movements of the basket stretcher 10. This roller brake 21 can be operated by a brake handle 38 disposed within a handle 36 for turning the lever 34. The brake han-dle 38 is a pulling handle that keeps a braking position if it is not operated, i. e. no upward pulling force acts on the brake handle 38. The brake handle 38 is connected to a brake at the bottom of the roller gear 20 within the support portion 26 by a vertical bar 40 extending through the lever 34. If the brake handle 38 is lifted manually, the brake 21 is released, and the roller 22 can run freely.

The roller gear 20 is further equipped with a load sensor (not shown) to measure the total load of the stretcher body 12 and its content. The load measured by the load sensor can be displayed by a suitable display means. The data representing the load measured by the load sensor may also be transmitted by a transmission means disposed within the roller gear 20 to an external receiver. This external receiver is comprised within a control unit of a lifting device, for example, within a telescopic ladder of a fire fighting vehicle that is provided at its end with an attachment means to attach the basket stretcher 10. The control unit is provided for controlling this telescopic ladder as one example for an aerial device. With such aerial devices, it is of high importance to calculate extension limits of the telescopic arm depending on the load acting on the tip of the telescopic arm. This load is represented by the data transmitted by the transmission means to the external receiver within the control unit. Depending on these data, the control unit can calculate the extension limits of the telescopic arm. If certain load limits are exceeded, the control unit may indicate that it is impossible to carry the basket stretcher because of an overload.

Moreover, the measured load is an important information for a paramedic or a physician at the rescue site for dosing the amount of a drug to be dispensed to the patient within the basket stretcher according to her/his body weight.

In case of a plurality of roller gears 20 attached at different positions of the rim 16, the loads determined by the load sensors within the different roller gears 22 can be summarized to a total load that is used by the control unit to calculate the extension limits of the telescopic arm of the aerial device.