Medical Bed Upper Frame Translation for Patient Transfer Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing medical bed designs with articulated bed bases can become unstable due to cantilevered sleeping surfaces, leading to safety concerns and increased complexity and cost due to additional actuators and control mechanisms required for pivoting outer half-facings and retractable supports.
Innovation Solution
A medical bed with an articulated bed base featuring a lower frame with ground supports that allows the bed base to be raised, lowered, or tilted, and an upper frame translating along a central longitudinal axis to facilitate movement towards the footboard, avoiding the need for modifying ground supports and simplifying the design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the footrest is folded towards the ground to enable patient transfer, then the patient can be positioned in a standing position, but the sleeping surface becomes cantilevered causing bed instability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary support structure (the movable support surface extending from the footboard) that acts as a mediator between the cantilevered sleeping surface and the ground. This intermediary element provides additional support during patient transfer operations, preventing bed instability while enabling the footrest to be folded towards the ground for patient positioning.
2Stability of the object's composition
If retractable supports with extensions are added to remedy instability, then bed stability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the support function with the existing footboard structure. The movable support surface is integrated into the footboard assembly, combining the functions of patient support and structural stability in a single integrated component, thereby avoiding the need for separate retractable support extensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The movable support surface automatically adjusts its position and provides support based on the bed's configuration state. When the footrest is folded for patient transfer, the support surface extends to provide stability; when the footrest is in normal position, the support surface retracts. This self-adjusting mechanism eliminates the need for complex control systems and additional actuators.
3Ease of operation
If outer half-facings of the footboard are made to pivot for support handles, then patient support during transfer is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The movable support surface serves multiple functions: it provides structural stability during patient transfer, acts as a support handle for patients, and maintains the aesthetic and functional integrity of the footboard. By making this single component multi-functional, the patent eliminates the need for separate pivoting half-facings and their associated actuators.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention concerns a bed (10) comprising a hinged bed base (12) comprising different articulated parts (14) forming a sleeping surface (16) intended to receive a mattress, the bed comprising a first lower frame (18) with floor supports (20), said lower frame making it possible to raise, lower or tilt the hinged bed base (12) relative to the ground, the bed further comprising a second upper frame (22) interposed between the lower frame (18) and the hinged bed base (12), this upper frame supporting the hinged bed base (12), and the bed extending along a longitudinal central axis (L10) between the foot (24) of the bed and the head (26) of the bed, the bed (10) being characterised in that the upper frame (22) is mounted in translation along the longitudinal central axis (L10) on the lower frame (18).