Hospital Bed Siderail Latching for Entrapment-Safe Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Movable siderails in hospital beds can increase the likelihood of patient entrapment and pinching due to changeable gaps, and existing mechanisms require significant effort to adjust between secure and accessible positions, often inhibiting caregiver movement.
Innovation Solution
A siderail system with a latching mechanism that allows for one-handed operation, enabling the siderail to be moved between raised, lowered, and intermediate positions while bypassing the intermediate locked position when moving from lowered to raised, and automatically locking in the intermediate position when pasted, with assist devices reducing the force needed for movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If movable siderails are used to protect patients from bed egress, then patient safety is improved, but the likelihood of patient entrapment and pinching increases due to changeable gaps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by defining specific gap dimension parameters (minimum 60mm, maximum 235mm) between siderail components to eliminate entrapment risks while preserving protective function. This resolves the contradiction by changing the dimensional parameters of the siderail system to simultaneously achieve safety and prevent entrapment.
2Ease of operation
If siderails are locked in intermediate positions to facilitate patient access, then patient care is improved, but the mechanism complexity increases requiring movement to raised position first
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies inversion by reversing the conventional latching logic: instead of requiring the siderail to be raised to unlock before lowering to intermediate positions, the system is designed so that lowering automatically unlocks and locks at the intermediate position. This inverted approach simplifies the operation to a single downward motion while maintaining the ability to achieve intermediate locked positions.
3Reliability
If gap spacing is reduced between siderail portions to prevent entrapment, then patient safety is improved, but the ability to provide caregiver access is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by establishing specific gap dimension ranges (60-235mm) that simultaneously prevent entrapment while allowing caregiver access. The bypass mechanism further modifies the operational parameters by enabling quick transition through the intermediate position, ensuring that safety gaps do not impede urgent caregiver access during patient egress or emergency situations.
Data Source
AI summary
A patient support incorporates a lying surface and at least one siderail on at least one side of the support. The siderails are operable between a raised position, an intermediate position, and a lowered position. When unlocked and urged from the raised position to the intermediate position, a latching mechanism automatically locks the siderails in the intermediate position. When urged from the lowered position to the raised position, the locking mechanism permits the siderails to pass through the intermediate position without locking, and to subsequently lock at the raised position. In the intermediate position, the siderails may define a gap through which a patient can ingress or egress the bed. In the raised and intermediate positions, the siderails may define gaps between each other and/or between the siderails and a headboard and footboard, that are sufficiently small to prevent accidental egress, and sufficiently large to prevent pinching and entrapment.