Hospital Bed Lifter with Sliding Wheel Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lifting and transportation devices for hospital beds often struggle to accommodate beds of different shapes and sizes, and fail to provide sufficient clearance for obstructions like bed pedals, leading to inefficiencies and safety concerns during handling and movement.
Innovation Solution
A device with wheel engagement attachments that are slidably movable along a guide plate, capable of adjusting to different wheel diameters and orientations, and featuring a self-aligning mechanism to securely engage spaced apart wheels, allowing for efficient lifting and transportation of hospital beds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If jaw mechanisms grip part of the bed frame, then the bed can be lifted and transported, but the device fails to accommodate frames of different size and shape and may fail to provide sufficient clearance beneath obstructions
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses wheel engagement attachments that can accommodate different wheel configurations, diameters, and spaced apart distances through a universal engagement mechanism. The attachments are designed to engage wheels rather than frame parts, making the device universally applicable to various bed types without requiring complex adjustments for different frame sizes and shapes.
Solution Approach 2:
The wheel engagement attachments are moveable with respect to the main body along a second axis, allowing dynamic adjustment during the lifting process. The attachments can be positioned at greater spaced apart distances than the wheels before being moved inwardly for engagement, enabling the device to adapt to different wheel configurations dynamically rather than requiring fixed complex adjustments.
2Reliability
If jaw mechanisms grip the bed frame, then lifting can occur, but the device may interfere with obstructions such as bed pedals and mid-height obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the engagement point from the bed frame to the wheels. By engaging the wheels rather than the frame, the lifting mechanism is taken out from the problematic area where obstructions like pedals exist, eliminating interference issues while maintaining reliable lifting capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The engagement approach transitions from horizontal frame gripping to vertical wheel engagement. The attachments move along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis, engaging wheels from below and lifting upward, thereby clearing obstructions that would interfere with horizontal frame engagement while maintaining ease of operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the device engages wheels rather than frame, then universal compatibility is achieved, but the mechanism requires precise alignment before engagement
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel engagement attachments are first positioned at greater spaced apart distances than the wheels before being moved inwardly towards the wheels for engagement. This preliminary positioning allows the device to approach the bed without risk of collision, then precisely align and engage the wheels in a controlled manner, reducing the actual precision required during final engagement.
Solution Approach 2:
The moveable attachment mechanism acts as an intermediary between the main body and the wheels. It provides a buffer zone and controlled transition path, allowing the device to approach, align, and engage wheels progressively rather than requiring direct precise alignment from a fixed position, thereby reducing manufacturing precision requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a lifting and transporting device. The device of the invention is useful for lifting and moving any object which has a pair of spaced apart wheels but is particularly adapted for the lifting and transporting of hospital beds. The bed lifter includes an improved means of engaging a bed and supporting the load of the bed or bed/patient combination during lifting and transportation by engaging the bed wheels and not the bed frame.