Battery-Powered Actuator for Emergency CPR on Hospital Beds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hospital bed designs face challenges in providing a safe and cost-effective emergency CPR functionality, particularly when AC power is unavailable, as they often rely on mechanical clutches that can cause injury and are expensive, with additional components like gas springs increasing complexity and cost.
Innovation Solution
A patient support apparatus with an emergency CPR feature that uses a battery-powered linear actuator to control the head section's descent, ensuring a controlled rate of movement without a mechanical clutch, thereby preventing sudden drops and reducing component complexity and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a mechanical clutch is used to enable emergency CPR functionality, then the bed can be lowered without AC power, but the risk of injury to caregiver and patient increases due to free-falling head section
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical clutch system with an electrical motor system powered by a battery. The motor provides controlled descent of the head section through regulated power delivery, eliminating the uncontrolled free-fall mechanism inherent in clutch-based systems. This substitution transforms the emergency CPR mechanism from a purely mechanical operation to an electromechanical one, enabling controlled lowering without AC power while preventing injury from sudden drops.
2Reliability
If a release clutch is added to the linear actuator for emergency CPR, then emergency functionality is provided, but the cost increases by approximately 40%
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the battery serve multiple functions: it powers the bed's electronic controls during normal operation and powers the motor for emergency CPR functionality when AC power is unavailable. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate emergency mechanisms like clutches or gas springs, reducing overall system cost while maintaining reliable emergency capability. The existing motor infrastructure is repurposed for dual use, avoiding the 40% cost penalty of adding specialized emergency hardware.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a gas spring is added in parallel with the head actuator to control descent, then the head section falls more slowly, but the device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical gas spring system with an electrically-controlled motor system. The motor regulates the head section's descent rate through controlled power delivery to the actuator, achieving smooth lowering without the need for parallel mechanical springs. This electromechanical approach reduces device complexity by eliminating the gas spring component while maintaining controlled descent, and reduces space requirements by removing the physically larger footprint associated with mechanical spring systems.
4Reliability
If a mechanical clutch system is used for emergency CPR, then the bed can be lowered without power, but the footprint and space requirements increase for low bed designs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the mechanical clutch component from the linear actuator system. By eliminating the clutch mechanism entirely and relying on battery-powered motor control for emergency CPR, the design reduces the footprint of the actuator assembly. This extraction of unnecessary mechanical components allows for more compact bed designs with lower clearance requirements, while the battery-powered motor provides the needed emergency functionality without adding spatial burden.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables safe and controlled CPR functionality without AC power, reducing the risk of injury and component costs, while allowing for more compact designs and lower bed heights, benefiting both caregivers and patients.
Implementation Method 1
uses a battery-powered linear actuator to control the head section's descent
Implementation Method 2
the head section is always lowered in a controlled rate of descent
Data Source
AI summary
Emergency CPR systems for patient support systems utilizing backup battery power. For example, an emergency CPR switch attached to a hospital bed provided with a patient support platform having a portion that is pivoted between a flat position and an inclined position by a motor powered by a battery during emergency usage. The emergency CPR switch includes: a first relay disposed between the battery and the motor; a controller configured to provide a motor control signal to control the motor; and a switch electrically connected to the first relay. When the switch is operated the first relay is activated to drive the motor with the battery in a direction placing the pivotable portion in the flat position and control of the motor by the motor control signal is disabled or overridden.