Roll-in Cot Wheel Alignment Mechanism for Ambulance Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multipurpose roll-in emergency cots are inadequate in managing weight, balance, and ease of loading at varying heights, particularly when rolling into rescue vehicles like ambulances, vans, aircraft, and helicopters.
Innovation Solution
A roll-in cot design featuring a support frame with pivotably and slidably coupled legs, hinge members, and a wheel alignment mechanism with a timing mechanism that ensures improved balance and easier loading by maintaining wheel alignment across various positions and heights, utilizing a reduction ratio to synchronize leg movement with wheel orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the cot uses a manually actuated design with X-frame geometry, then it provides stability and support for heavy loads, but it requires significant manual effort for lifting and loading patients
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical actuation system with an electric motor-driven actuation system. The motorized actuator automatically adjusts the cot to various positions and heights, eliminating the need for manual lifting and positioning efforts while maintaining the structural strength of the X-frame geometry for supporting heavy loads.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the cot is designed as a complete unit with fixed wheel orientation, then it provides structural stability, but it becomes difficult to load into rescue vehicles with limited space and varying entry heights
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates dynamically adjustable components including wheels that can rotate between vertical and horizontal orientations, and legs that can pivot and extend. These dynamic features allow the cot to adapt its configuration for different loading scenarios while maintaining structural stability through the rigid X-frame support structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cot is divided into separable components including the patient support surface that can be detached from the wheeled undercarriage. This segmentation allows the support surface to be rolled separately into tight spaces within rescue vehicles, while the undercarriage can be positioned independently for optimal loading configurations.
3Device complexity
If the cot uses a fixed wheel orientation, then it maintains simple structural design, but it creates unpredictable rolling behavior and poor handling on various surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamically adjustable wheel orientations that can be rotated between vertical and horizontal positions based on the operating surface conditions. This dynamic adjustment provides predictable rolling behavior on different surfaces while maintaining relatively simple structural design through the use of basic rotation joints.
Data Source
AI summary
Roll-in cots having wheel alignment mechanisms. According to one embodiment, a roll-in cot includes a support frame, a pair of legs pivotably and slidably coupled to the support frame, and a pair of hinge members that are pivotably coupled to the support frame and to one of the legs. The roll-in cot also includes a wheel linkage pivotably coupled to the pair of legs and a wheel alignment mechanism. The legs and the hinge members pivot relative to one another in a relative angular rotation ratio and the wheel alignment mechanism rotates the wheel alignment mechanism relative to the hinge members at a reduction ratio. The relative angular rotation ratio of the legs and the hinge members is approximately inverse to the reduction ratio of the wheel alignment mechanism.