Emergency Cot Fastening Track with Crash-Stable Guide Rails
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Solution Overview
Problem
Emergency cots in vehicles face challenges in securing and retaining patients during crashes, as existing systems fail to meet new dynamic test standards, necessitating a reliable and efficient cot fastening system that ensures patient safety and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Innovation Solution
A cot fastening system comprising a crash stable fastener track with forward, middle, and rearward fixtures, featuring open side rails and channels that guide and secure the cot, along with a securing mechanism to prevent removal, and optional features like wireless remote control operation, power supply, and data communication, ensuring secure attachment and easy loading/unloading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing cot fastening systems are used, then the system structure is simple, but the system fails to meet new dynamic test standards and cannot ensure patient safety during crashes
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system is divided into multiple independent fixtures (forward, middle, and rearward fixtures) that can be separately positioned and secured along the track. Each fixture independently contributes to patient safety, and the segmentation allows for modular design that meets dynamic test standards while maintaining manageable system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The fixtures are designed to nest within the track structure, with the track providing a guiding framework that contains and organizes the multiple fixtures. This nesting approach allows the complex multi-component system to be compactly integrated within the vehicle space while ensuring each component fulfills its safety function
2Reliability
If a secure fastening mechanism is implemented, then patient retention during crashes is ensured, but the loading and unloading process becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system incorporates movable and adjustable components that can dynamically transition between secure and accessible states. During normal operation, the system allows easy access for loading and unloading, while during crashes, the dynamic mechanisms automatically engage to ensure secure retention, thus resolving the contradiction between security and ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The track and fixtures are pre-configured in positions and orientations that facilitate smooth loading and unloading operations. The preliminary arrangement of components allows caregivers to quickly and easily load and unload patients without complex manual adjustments, while the pre-engineered secure engagement mechanisms ensure automatic patient retention during crashes
3Stability of the object's composition
If multiple fixtures are used to secure the cot, then crash stability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The track structure is designed as a universal framework that serves multiple functions: it guides the fixtures, provides structural support, enables adjustment, and ensures secure retention. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve high cot stability through multiple fixtures while minimizing overall device complexity by having the track perform several roles simultaneously
Data Source
AI summary
Cot fastening systems which fix and hold an emergency cot to a crash stable, cot fastener track included in the system and provided within an emergency vehicle and methods of affixing the emergency cot thereto are disclosed. The track has a longitudinal length with first and second ends, open side rails longitudinally extending between the ends, and a channel centrally located between the rails. The side rails align, accommodate and guide a first fixture of the cot towards the first end as the cot is rolled within the vehicle and to retain the first fixture adjacent the first end at least vertically and laterally therein. The channel accommodates therein and retains a second fixture adjacent the second end at least vertically and laterally therein. A securing mechanism releasably prevents removal of the first fixture from the open side rails and removal of the second fixture from the channel.