Beds – Invalid bed or surgical support – With body member support or restrainer
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-06
2001-06-26
Trettel, Michael F. (Department: 3628)
Beds
Invalid bed or surgical support
With body member support or restrainer
C005S639000, C005S640000, C005S643000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06249923
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hospital stretcher, and particularly, to a surgical stretcher used for head and neck surgery. More particularly, the present invention relates to a surgical stretcher having a head rest that is adjustable relative to a back section of the stretcher and having hardware, such as a wrist rest assembly and extender board assemblies, that are used in conjunction with the head rest.
Hospital stretchers having head rests that support the head of a patient during head and neck surgery are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,797 to Failor et al. Hospital stretchers having wrist rests that support the wrists of a surgeon performing surgery on the head and neck of the patient are also known. See, for example, the Failor et al. '797 patent and U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,011 to Evans.
Some head rests are adjustable so that the surgeon can move the head of the patient to a desired position and some wrist rests are adjustable so that the surgeon can move the wrist rest to a desired position relative to the head of the patient. See, for example the Failor et al. '797 patent which shows a knob at a foot end of the stretcher that can be rotated to rotate a plurality of hollow and slotted connecting tubes, an extension shaft, an adjustment rod, a plurality of universal joints, and a slide shaft, all of which operate through a worm gear reducer to adjust the position of a head support plate which is situated at a head end of the stretcher. The Failor et al. '797 patent also shows an adjustable wrist rest assembly having a longitudinally-extending square tube which fits into a slightly larger longitudinally-extending square tube that is centrally positioned with respect to sides of the head support plate and that is welded to the bottom of a main support plate connected to the head support plate.
Head rests on stretchers used for head and neck surgery typically have smaller widths than the rest of the surface which supports the patient to facilitate access to the head of the patient by the surgeon. Some stretchers having head rests may include extension assemblies that mount to the stretcher adjacent to the head rest to increase the overall width of the support surface in the vicinity of the head and shoulders of the patient. See, for example, the Failor et al. '797 patent which shows a head rest extension assembly that mounts directly to the head rest. The head rest extension assembly of the Failor et al. '797 patent includes a U-shaped plate and a longitudinally-extending square tube that can fit within the centrally positioned tube mounted to the main support plate when the wrist rest assembly is removed from the centrally positioned tube. See also, the Stryker Model 1068 Head and Neck Surgery Stretcher advertising literature which shows a pair of padded head extensions that rigidly attach to a litter of the stretcher and that remain at a single position adjacent to a head piece while attached to the litter.
Arm boards that can be coupled to the sides of a stretcher and arranged to support the arms of the patient are known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,972,505 to Weickgenannt. Some arm boards can pivot relative to the stretcher so that an arm of the patient can be moved to a desired position, for example, to receive IV fluids.
Stretchers having foot pedals that can be engaged to actuate a center wheel mechanism and braking mechanisms of the stretcher are also known in the art. Stretchers having a head rest may include such foot pedals beneath the head rest. See, for example, the Failor et al. '797 patent and the Stryker Model 1068 Head and Neck Surgery Stretcher advertising literature. Sometimes these foot pedals can get in the way of foot-operated surgical equipment that the surgeon uses during head and neck surgery.
What is needed is a surgical stretcher having a head rest that can be easily adjusted relative to a back section of the stretcher by a caregiver or surgeon while standing at a head end of the stretcher. The stretcher should include an adjustable wrist rest assembly that can attach to and detach from the head rest. The stretcher should also include a pair of extender boards that can couple to sides of the back section and pivot between a first position in which the extender boards function as head rest extenders and a second position in which the extender boards function as arm boards. In addition, the position of the back section of the stretcher should be manually adjustable when the extender boards are in either the first or second positions. A stretcher having a foot pedal that can be moved to an out-of-the-way position to prevent interference of the foot pedal with foot-operated surgical equipment would provide many advantages to surgeons as well.
According to the present invention, a surgical stretcher is provided including a frame and a patient-support deck coupled to the frame. A head rest is coupled to the patient-support deck. The head rest includes a pair of longitudinally-extending spaced-apart socket tubes and a bottom plate extending transversely between the socket tubes. A side plate angles upwardly from each of the socket tubes so that a head cushion-receiving space is defined between the side plates. Each of the socket tubes has an interior region and each socket tube is open so that portions of a wrist rest assembly can be inserted into the interior region of the socket tubes.
A wrist rest assembly includes a first rod that can be received in the interior region of one of the pair of socket tubes and a second rod that can be received in the interior region of the other of the pair of socket tubes. The wrist rest assembly includes an end tube coupled to the first rod and a knob mounted on the second tube and coupled to the end tube. The knob can be rotated in a first direction to bind the first and second rods against respective socket tubes to prevent movement of the first and second rods relative to the head rest and the knob can be rotated in a second direction to unbind the first and second rods from respective socket tubes to allow movement of the first and second rods relative to the head rest.
The stretcher includes a bracket that couples the head rest to the back section. The bracket is coupled to the patient-support deck for pivoting movement about a transverse first pivot axis. The head rest is coupled to the bracket for pivoting movement about a transverse second pivot axis. A grip handle is coupled to the head rest and the grip handle has a side handle portion extending alongside the head rest in spaced-apart relation therewith so that the grip handle can be grasped to control pivoting movement of the head rest and bracket relative to the patient-support deck.
The stretcher includes a first locking mechanism that locks the bracket relative to the back section and a second locking mechanism that locks the head rest relative to the bracket. A release button is coupled to the first and second locking mechanisms. The release button can be pressed to simultaneously unlock the first and second locking mechanisms so that the head rest can be manually repositioned relative to the back section and relative to the bracket. The release button is positioned to lie between the side handle portion of the grip handle and the head rest so that the release button can be pressed while the side handle portion of the grip handle is grasped.
The patient-support deck includes a back section coupled to the frame for pivoting movement about a transverse pivot axis. The back section has first and second longitudinal sides and a transverse end extending between the sides. In addition, the back section has a substantially planar back-support surface. An extender board having an extension surface substantially coplanar with the back-support surface can be coupled to each side of the back section for pivoting movement relative to the back section.
An actuator couples the back section to the frame of the stretcher. The actuator is lockable to prevent pivoting movement of
Heimbrock Richard H.
Minnelli Patrick J.
Walke James L.
Barnes & Thornburg
Hill-Rom Inc.
Trettel Michael F.
LandOfFree
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