Illumination – With furniture – Bed
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-09
2001-05-22
Sember, Thomas M. (Department: 2875)
Illumination
With furniture
Bed
C005S905000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234642
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the priority of German Patent Application Serial No. 298 06 588.6, filed Apr. 15, 1998, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, in general, to a bed, and more particularly to a hospital bed or nursing bed of a type including a frame with movable components which are adjustable by at least one electric motor accommodated in a casing and actuated by a control block which includes a printed circuit board and is disposed within the casing or externally onto the casing or separately from the casing.
Hospital beds or nursing beds are known in many designs. Oftentimes, the patient is incapable to adjust the frame, for example the leg portion or the back portion so that the adjustment must be carried out by the nursing staff. Therefore, beds are increasingly in demand which are equipped with drives to adjust the movable components so that the patient is only required to operate a hand switch to initiate the adjustment whereby certain functions, in particular those provided for therapy are triggered solely by the nursing staff.
The drive or drives are designed to best suit the required operations. Typically, hospitals or nursing homes place several beds in a single room. While each bed is equipped with a reading lamp, in situations when the patient needs to get up during nighttime and thus the lighting for the room is turned off, it is normally necessary for another person that is not bed-ridden to switch on the reading lamp. In addition, other patients in the room may become annoyed when a reading lamp is turned on during nighttime for a patient to leave the bed. Still, it is necessary to illuminate the respective area around the bed to allow a patient to safely leave the bed and subsequently get back into the bed. While it is conceivable to install a night lamp underneath the bed frame securely fix it thereto, it is still necessary, regardless of its configuration, to connect the lamp to an electric wall outlet via a fixed or loose cable. The presence of such a cable is, however, annoying in particular during daily cleaning works.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved bed, obviating the afore-stated drawbacks.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved bed which permits a night illumination of an adjoining bed area in a cost-efficient manner, when the room lighting is turned off.
These objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter, are attained in accordance with the present invention by so combining a light source with the control block of a drive for adjustment of components of the bed frame that the light source is connected to an electrically conductive pathway of the circuit board within the control block for supply of electric power.
In accordance with the present invention, the power supply for the light source is now realized by the circuit board integrated in the control block for the drive mechanism. Thus, there is no need to route any additional cables or to use any annoying, loose cables. The casing of the drive mechanism, typically made of plastic material, does not require any modifications of the tools for manufacturing the casing of the control block. The illumination can be realized in a very simple manner. The light source can be appropriately placed that the area adjoining the bed becomes sufficiently illuminated for the patient to get safely into the bed. In the event such a placement is not possible, the light source may be designed in such a manner that the radiating light beam is directed to illuminate the area around the bed.
According to a feature of the present invention, the light source is disposed inside the casing of the control block and placed, preferably soldered, directly onto the electrically conductive pathway of the circuit board. This represents a simple solution and permits the light source to be attached to the electrically conductive pathway during production of the circuit board. Thus, no significant additional work is required for wiring the drive mechanism. It is only necessary to provide a respective opening in a wall or lid of the casing of the control block for passage of the light radiation. Normally, however, the circuit board is spaced at a distance to the wall or lid of the casing so that the provision of a bridging luminescent rod or light-conducting rod in immediate vicinity of the light source may be appropriate, with the rod penetrating an opening in the wall or lid of the casing for transmitting the light radiation to the area to be illuminated. These rods are very cheap. The opening for passage of the luminescent rod or light-conducting rod may have a funnel shaped configuration or truncated cone shaped configuration whereby the greater diameter faces the circuit board. Suitably, the luminescent rod or light-conducting rod is sealed against the opening by a gasket to prevent moisture or contaminants to penetrate into the interior of the casing of the control block.
In the event, the circuit board is positioned at a relatively small distance to the wall or lid of the casing, or immediately juxtaposed thereto, the provision of the luminescent rod or light-conducting rod may be omitted altogether. In this case, it is advantageous to place a lens in the opening of the casing to widen and scatter the light radiation. Typically, the lens is made of plastic, e.g. polycarbonate. During injection molding of the casing or lid for the control block, the lens can be placed into the mold and injection molded therewith. It is also possible to subsequently glue or insert the lens as a separate part in the opening.
According to another feature of the present invention, the light source is a light-emitting diode, regardless of the involved design of the control block, in order to radiate the light beam in a directed fashion.
The light source can be switched on in many ways. For example, a hand switch may be provided which is electrically connected to the circuit board. The use of a hand switch requires, however, the patient to actuate a particular push button key for operating the light source. The activation of the push button key may, however, be difficult in darkness. Therefore, it may be advantageous to combine the operation of the light source for example with an upward movement of the back portion, i.e. the light source is turned on when the back portion of the bed frame is elevated. This is attained by placing the light source in parallel with one of the drives for adjustment of components of the bed, so that starting of this drive results in a simultaneous illumination of the light source.
It is also possible to install a sensor within the mattress of the bed, for example a sensor which responds to weight changes, in order to switch on the light source. Such a weight change normally occurs when the patient moves to the upright position before leaving the bed so that a major portion of the body weight acts on the middle zone of the bed and is registered by the sensor to subsequently switch on the light source. Another possibility includes the use of a photocell or a contactless feeler for operating the light source. These components are installed at a location where the patient sits after rising from the recumbent position. Optionally, the light source may be coupled with a suitable control mechanism for switching on the light source with a time delay. By means of another control mechanism, the light source can be turned off after a set time delay.
In addition, all previously described variations may be equipped with a twilight switch which turns on the light source as soon as a certain degree of dimness is encountered. The circuit may however also be configured in such a manner that the light source continuously illuminates during darker periods by means of a twilight switch that operates as permanent light.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3728606 (1973-04-01), Finnegan et al.
patent: 4472845 (19
Dewert Antriebs- und Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KG
Feiereisen Henry M.
Sember Thomas M.
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