METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MOVING A HOSPITAL BED OR ANOTHER WHEELED OBJECT |
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申请号 | US14891094 | 申请日 | 2014-05-15 | 公开(公告)号 | US20160067130A1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2016-03-10 |
申请人 | Omni-Drive Holding ApS; | 发明人 | Lars Nøhr Kofoed; Mogens Ilsted Bech; Henrik Nøhr Kofoed; | ||||
摘要 | A wheeled object, such as a bed (26), is moved by means of a separate driving device (10). The total driving device (10) including a motor driven driving wheel (15) has such dimensions that it may be substantially fully housed in the space defined between lower surface of the bed and the floor surface and is moved into such space. Thereafter an upper surface (21) of the driving device is moved into force transmitting engagement with the lower surface of the bed or object and the driving wheel (15) is moved into driving engagement with the supporting surface or floor. A separate control unit (24) communicating with the motor driven driving wheel may then be operated so as to energize the driving means and move said object. Because the driving device does not extend substantially beyond the outlines of the bed (26) or object, a highly increased maneuverability is obtained. | ||||||
权利要求 | |||||||
说明书全文 | The present invention relates to a method for moving a wheeled object, such as a hospital bed, along a supporting surface or floor by means of a separate driving device. The objects to be moved are of the type defining a gap or space between the floor and a lower surface of the object positioned at a higher level, such as the bottom surface of a bed frame supported by bed legs with wheels. Hospital beds and other manually movable objects are usually provided with casters, wheels, rollers or other means allowing the objects to be pushed manually, such objects are herein designated “wheeled objects”. However, if the objects have to be moved longer distances driving devices in the form of so-called bed or trolley movers or bed tractors may be used. When such known driving devices are connected to an end of the bed or object to be moved, all or a major part of the driving device extends beyond the outline of the bed or object. This means that manoeuvering of the object requires a relatively large space and that the bed lifts in hospitals normally are too small for housing such known bed mover with a hospital bed connected thereto. The present invention provides a method for moving a wheeled object by means of which the manoeuverability of the object may be substantially improved and the above mentioned problem may be solved. Thus, the method according to the invention comprises moving the total driving device, including a motor driven driving means, substantially fully into the gap or space defined between the floor and the said lower surface of the bed or object, moving an upper surface of the driving device into force transmitting engagement with the lower surface of the object, moving the driving means into driving engagement with the supporting surface or floor, and operating a separate control unit communicating with the motor driven driving means so as to energize the driving means and move said object. Because the driving device does not extend substantially beyond the outlines of the object or bed to be transported the total assembly does not occupy more space than the object itself, whereby the manoeuverability of the object is improved substantially. Furthermore, the separate control unit may be arranged in any desired position on the object to be moved, or the control unit may be handheld. Thus, the driving device may be operated from any convenient position. The force transmitting engagement between the upper surface of the driving device and the lower surface of the object may be obtained in any suitable manner, such as by shaping these two surfaces so that they may fit into each other or by providing these surfaces with an anti-skid material. The upper surface of the driving device may be moved into force transmitting engagement with the lower surface of the object, for example by means of suitable actuators, springs, or the like, and the driving means may be moved into driving engagement with the supporting surface or floor by similar separate actuators or springs. In the presently preferred embodiment the said upper and lower surfaces are moved into force transmitting engagement when the driving means is moved into driving engagement with the supporting surface or floor, which means that the same biasing means, such as actuators or spring devices, is used for moving the said upper and lower surfaces into engagement and for forcing the driving means into driving engagement with the floor. If the driving means are moved into engagement with the supporting surface or floor with a sufficiently high force, this may allow manually turning of the object or bed around a vertical axis defined by the contact point between the driving means and the supporting surface or floor surface, so that the manoeuverability of the object is improved substantially. It has been found that a force corresponding to 40-95%, preferably 70-90%, and more preferred approximately 80% of the total combined weights of the object being moved and of the driving device is suitable. The control unit may be connected to the driving device by means of an electric cord, preferably of the extensible type. It is preferred, however, that the control unit and the driving device are communicating wirelessly, so that the driving device may be moved into and out of the gap or space below the object or bed frame in any direction without entangling a cord with parts of the object no matter where the control unit is arranged. The control unit may, for example, have control buttons marked “Forward”, “Backward”, “Right”, and “Left”. When an operator wants to move a hospital bed or another wheeled object by using the method according to the invention he or she may grip the bed at and position the control unit on either the headboard or the footboard. When the operator actuates a button “Forward” of the control unit he/she would intuitively expect the bed to be driven in the direction he/she is facing no matter at which end of the bed the control unit is positioned. Therefore, the “Forward” direction is preferably defined as the direction from the control unit towards the driving device, and according to the invention the position of the driving device in relation to the control unit may be determined by electronic direction means, such as electronic compasses, installed in the driving device and the control unit, respectively. Preferably, the driving device is arranged in such a position under the object to be moved that the driving means of the driving device is positioned on or close to a vertical line through the gravity center of such object. The bed or object may then more easily be manually manoeuvered or turned around the contact point of the driving means with the supporting surface or floor. The driving means may be of any kind, such as a driving belt. Preferably, however, it comprises at least one driving wheel or driving roller. When the object is to be driven upwardly along an inclined surface the driving means must be forced harder into contact with the supporting surface or floor in order to avoid slipping. If on the other hand the bed or object is to be moved downwardly along an inclined surface the friction between the driving means and the floor surface should be sufficient to prevent the object from moving unintentionally fast. Therefore, the driving device may comprise inclination means for defining the inclination of the supporting surface and means for evaluating the risk of undue movement of the object under the influence of gravity. In addition to the driving means the driving device may have supporting wheels, such as casters, and sensing means allowing the driving means to automatically move the driving device into position in said gap or space beneath the object or bed, when a corresponding button of the control unit has been actuated. The supporting wheels may be mounted resiliently vertically in relation to the driving means. In that case the driving means may be forced into driving engagement with the supporting surface or floor by moving the upper surface of the driving device into force transmitting engagement with said lower surface of the bed or wheeled object. The invention further provides a driving device for moving a wheeled object of the type having a lower surface positioned above a supporting surface or floor, so as to define a gap or space there between, such as a bed, along such supporting surface or floor, said device having dimensions allowing it to be substantially fully housed in the gap or space defined below said lower surface, said driving device comprising a frame defining an upper surface thereof, motor driven driving means mounted on said frame, means for forcing the frame upwardly so as to move the upper surface of the frame into force transmitting engagement with the lower surface of the object when positioned in said gap or space, means for moving the driving means into driving engagement with the supporting surface or floor, and a separate control unit for controlling the operation of the forcing means, the moving means and the motor driven driving means. The motor driven driving means may be mounted rotatably about a substantially vertical axis in relation to the frame so as to allow change of the driving direction of the driving wheel by rotating the driving means about such axis into the desired angular position. In principle, the motor driven driving means could be biased into contact with the supporting surface or floor by biasing means positioned between the lower surface of the object and the upper surface of the device frame. It is preferred, however, that the motor driven driving means is movable vertically in relation to the frame. Such biasing means may be of any suitable type, such as actuators, pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders or springs, such as a gas spring. Because it is important that the contact pressure between the driving means and the supporting surface or floor can be adapted to the varying circumstances—such as weight and load of the object being moved and inclination and surface characteristics of the floor—it is important that the biasing force of the biasing means is adjustable. Separate biasing means may be used for biasing the upper surface of the device frame into force transmitting contact with the lower surface of the object to be moved and for biasing the driving means into driving contact with the supporting surface or floor, respectively. However, it is preferred that the biasing means for forcing the device frame upwardly comprises said adjustable biasing means for forcing the driving means into driving contact with the floor. The driving means may be movable along a substantially vertical path by means of actuators or pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders. In the preferred embodiment the driving means is mounted at one end of an arm or a lever, which is rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis, so that the driving means are movable along an arc of a circle. The driving means and the moving means are preferably arranged in a cylindrical housing of a driving unit which is mounted centrally in the device frame so as to be rotatable about a substantially vertical axis. Thereby the driving direction of the driving means or driving wheel may be changed by rotating the driving unit in relation to the device frame. As mentioned above, the driving device may comprise electronic direction means installed in the driving device and the control unit, respectively, for determining the position of the driving device in relation to the control unit, as well as inclination means for defining the inclination of the supporting surface and means for evaluating the risk of undue movement of the object under the influence of gravity. The driving device may be provided with supporting wheels, such as casters, mounted on the frame for supporting the driving device when moved in position by the driving means beneath the object to be moved. These supporting wheels may more or less be lifted out of contact with the floor when the driving means is biased into driving contact with the supporting surface or floor. The driving device may also have sensors allowing the driving means to automatically move the driving device into position beneath the object to be moved when a corresponding button of the control unit is touched. The invention will now be further described with reference to the drawings, wherein The driving device 10 shown in A pair of spaced, transversely extending guide rails 16 are fixed to mounting plates 17, which are in turn mounted on the upper side of the frame 11 by means of screws 18. These screws extend through slits 19 in the mounting plates 17 so as to allow adjustment of the position of the guide rails 16 on the frame 11. A pair of contact rails 20 arranged at opposite ends of the driving device 10 on the upper surface thereof are provided with pads 21 of a non-skid material, and a handle 22 is connected to a side surface of the device frame 11 by means of a linkage 23 allowing the handle to be folded from an upper position of use shown in In When the driving device 10 according to the invention is to be used for moving a wheeled object, such as a hospital bed 26, it may first be moved into a position next to one side of the bed as shown in The movement of the driving device 10 and the bed carried thereby may be fully controlled by means of the separate control unit 24 which may, for example, be attached to the head board 30 or foot board 31 of the bed, or it may be handheld. The function of the driving unit 14 may be wirelessly remote controlled by means of the control unit 24, or the control unit may be connected to the driving unit by an extensible cord. As explained more in detail later the driving unit 14 and therefore also the driving wheel 15 may be rotated about a vertical axis between two or more angular positions, whereby the driving direction may be changed. Because a major part of the weight of the bed is carried by the centrally arranged driving wheel 15 the bed can also easily be turned manually about a central turning point defined by the driving wheel. It is understood that when the driving device 10 according to the invention is in use it is almost fully received in the space defined below the bed frame 27 and within the rectangular area defined by the bed wheels 29. Therefore, the manoeuvrability is substantially improved. When the bed has been moved to its desired position, the bias of the driving wheel 15 is decreased and the driving device 10 is released from the bed and driven in a transverse direction out from the space below the bed frame—either opposite to that in which it was driven into the space or further in the same direction. In the latter case the stop pawls 25 are first rotated into their retracted position. In the following the driving unit 14 is described in more detail with reference to The driving unit 14 is mounted in the device frame 11 so as to be rotatable about its central vertical axis in relation to a mounting flange 46 which may be fastened to the device frame. Thus, the driving direction of the driving device 10 may be changed by rotating the driving unit 14 in relation to the frame 11. In the embodiment shown in the drawings the unit 14 may be rotated between only two angular positions corresponding to forward-backward and sideward right-sideward left, respectively. These two rotational positions are indicated by steps 47 formed in the inner contour of the flange 46. The driving unit 14 may be rotated between the said positions by means of an electric motor 48 and a corresponding gear box 49. A pinion fastened to the output shaft of the gear box 49 may for example engage with a toothed rim on the inner surface of the mounting flange 46. A plug 50 mounted on the mounting flange 46 may connect the various electrical motors and other electrical devices of the driving unit 14 to a battery (not shown) arranged in the device frame 11 or to another electrical source. The function of the said motors may be controlled by an operator by means of the control unit 24 which may be connected thereto by an extensible cord via the plug 50. Preferably, however, the drive unit 14 is wirelessly remote controlled by the control unit. The bias of the driving wheel 15 into contact with the floor surface is preferably adjusted automatically. As an example, the bias may be detected by weighing cells arranged for example under the pads 21. When the bias reaches a maximum it indicates that the total weight of the bed is carried by the driving device 11 and the bias may then be diminished approximately one fifth. It should be understood that the above description is an example only, and that various amendments and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the attached claims. |