Hospital Bed Lift System Vertical Actuator Orientation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hospital beds face challenges in safely lowering the mattress platform close to the floor without compromising the bed's ability to raise to normal heights, due to limitations in actuator design and caster wheel placement, which increases the risk of patients falling out.
Innovation Solution
A bed system with a lift system that includes multiple actuators and a horizontally extending envelope, allowing the support deck to be lowered close to the floor while maintaining the ability to raise to a sufficient height, and featuring a powered caster brake system and obstacle detection method for safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the bed frame is folded up to minimize height and bring the mattress platform close to the floor, then patient fall risk is reduced, but the actuators lose vertical force component due to shallow angles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repositions the actuators from a horizontal arrangement (parallel to the floor) to a vertical arrangement (perpendicular to the floor). This dimensional change allows the actuators to maintain full vertical force component even when the bed is in the lowered position, resolving the force loss issue while keeping the mattress close to the floor.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the actuators push horizontally to lift the bed (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by having actuators push vertically. This inversion allows the actuators to work effectively in both the lowered and raised positions without losing mechanical advantage.
2Ease of operation
If caster wheels are placed under the bed deck to enable mobility, then bed mobility is improved, but the bed's ability to go as low as possible is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates the mobility function from the height adjustment function by placing caster wheels on the movable bed deck rather than integrating them into the frame structure. This segmentation allows the bed deck to be lowered independently of the caster wheel placement, enabling the bed to achieve minimal height while maintaining mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the bed deck dynamically movable relative to the frame, allowing it to be positioned at different heights including a lowered position close to the floor. The caster wheels are attached to this movable deck, enabling mobility at any height position without constraining the minimum achievable height.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the mattress platform is lowered close to the floor, then patient safety is improved, but the bed cannot raise to normal bed height effectively
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the actuator orientation from horizontal to vertical, the system gains the ability to effectively adjust height across the full range from lowered (mattress close to floor) to raised (normal bed height) positions. The vertical actuator configuration provides consistent force throughout the entire height adjustment range.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the actuator arrangement (from horizontal to vertical orientation), which fundamentally alters the force characteristics and enables effective operation across the full height adjustment range, maintaining both safety at low height and versatility for height adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
A bed is provided. The bed includes a plurality of wheels contacting the floor, a frame supported by the plurality of wheels, a support deck supported by the frame and having a head end, a foot end, a first side extending between the head end to the foot end, and a second side extending between the head end to the foot end, the support deck being expandable in a transverse extent from the first side to the second side from a first size to a second size, the second size having a larger area than the first size, and an assembly coupled to the support deck, the assembly including a single powered mechanical actuator which expands the support deck from the first size to the second size.