Patient Bed Control Layout and Fowler Pivot Force Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing patient handling devices face challenges in providing intuitive and efficient controls for pivoting and lifting mechanisms, often requiring excessive force and complicating access to controls based on the patient's position, which can hinder caregiver efficiency and patient safety.
Innovation Solution
The patient handling device incorporates electric actuators, biasing members, and innovative control panels and handles that allow for manual and electrical pivoting of the deck sections, with staggered control panel placement and independent handle operation, enabling easy access and reduced force requirements for caregivers, along with a pedal-activated lift system for vertical adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If controls are placed on a single side of the deck, then the device structure is simpler, but caregivers must reach across the patient to access controls, increasing operation difficulty and potential patient disturbance
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented into two separate control panels positioned on opposite sides of the deck. Each control panel contains the necessary controls for operating the patient handling device, allowing caregivers to access controls from either side without reaching across the patient. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by prioritizing ease of operation while accepting increased device complexity through duplicated control interfaces.
2Reliability
If manual pivoting capability is provided, then the device can operate without electrical power, but excessive force is required to pivot the deck sections manually
Solution Approach 1:
A biasing member is introduced as a counterweight mechanism that partially offsets the weight of the deck sections. The biasing member stores mechanical energy when the deck is in a lowered position and releases it to assist in raising the deck, reducing the force required for manual pivoting. This allows the device to be manually operable without excessive force while maintaining the capability to function without electrical power, resolving the technical contradiction.
3Ease of operation
If electric actuators are used for pivoting, then the force required to operate controls is reduced, but the device becomes dependent on electrical power and more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The control handles are designed with multi-functionality to operate both the electric actuators and the manual biasing mechanism. The same handles that control the electric motorized pivoting can also directly manipulate the biasing member when electrical power is unavailable. This universal design allows the system to provide ease of operation through electric actuators while maintaining the ability to function manually, accepting the increased device complexity as a trade-off for enhanced operational capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A patient handling device, such as a bed, stretcher, cot, or the like, includes a deck on which a patient may lie and which is surrounded by siderails. Control panels may be mounted on the siderails in a staggered fashion to improve the ease of accessing the control panels. A handle assembly may be included near the top of the Fowler section of the deck which allows a pair of handles to be squeezed independently for manual pivoting of the Fowler section. Squeezing one handle does not increase the force required to subsequently squeeze the other handle. The pivoting of the Fowler section may also be carried out automatically through an electrical actuator. The raising of the deck may be carried out through an electrical pump that pumps hydraulic fluid, and which may be activated near the top end of the stroke of a reciprocating pedal.