Incubator

Details Incubator Incubator

2001-07-11

2002-11-26

Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)

Animal husbandry

Incubator

C600S022000, C016S312000, C016S313000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06484670

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an incubator designed to bring up premature. babies or the like, who are not capable of adjusting their temperature or the like by themselves without help, by providing them with an appropriate physiological environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1-4
illustrate a related art of the incubators. As shown in
FIG. 4
, the incubator
11
of the related art is installed with a transparent hood
12
on a base unit
14
on a base stand
13
for accommodating a premature baby or the like, and the hood
12
is provided with a nursing window
15
for applying treatment to the accommodated baby inside the hood
12
from the outside of the hood
12
and with a transparent door
16
made of acrylic resin for opening and closing the nursing window
15
. The door
16
and the hood
12
are respectively installed with rotation members
17
and bearings
18
shown in FIG.
3
.
The rotation members
17
and the bearings
18
are respectively provided with cylindrical rotation shafts
21
and completely round bearing holes.
22
, and, by inserting the rotation shafts
21
into the bearing holes
22
, the door
16
is rotatably supported on the hood
12
. Since the rotation shafts
21
are positioned outside the nursing window
15
and on the side of the base stand
13
, the door
16
rotates by its own weight either in the direction to open or in the direction to close the nursing window
15
depending on whether the angle of the door
16
to the nursing window
15
is larger or smaller than a given angle, and the given angle is called a critical angle in the specification of the present invention.
The door
16
and the hood
12
are provided with door fixing devices
23
, and the door fixing devices
23
consist of a nursing window opening and closing knob
24
rotatably installed on the door
16
and a nursing window opening and closing knob receiver
25
of hook shape installed on the front of the hood
12
. Namely, as shown in
FIG. 1
, by fitting the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
into the nursing window opening and closing knob receiver
25
, the door
16
is fixed by the door fixing devices
23
in the state wherein the door
16
closes the nursing window
15
. The door
16
is provided with hand insertion windows
26
of one touch type, and the sides of the hood
12
are also provided with hand insertion windows (not illustrated) of gather-up type.
A bed (not illustrated) for an accommodated baby is provided inside the hood
12
, and bed tilting arms
27
are provided near the nursing window
15
. While the bed can be tilted by manipulating one bed tilting arm
27
, the height of the bed can be adjusted by simultaneously manipulating both bed tilting arms
27
. A control unit
28
is provided near one of the bed tilting arms
27
, and buttons (not illustrated), displays (not illustrated) and the like to control temperature, humidity, oxygen density and the like inside the hood
12
to appropriate values for the accommodated baby are provided on the control unit
28
. The base stand
13
is installed with casters
31
.
In the case of the incubator
11
of the related art such as the above, when any treatment is required to apply to an accommodated baby, a doctor, a nurse or the like releases the fixation of the door
16
by rotating the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
to remove the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
from the nursing window opening and closing knob receiver
25
, opens the nursing window
15
thereafter by rotating the door
16
and applies treatment to the accommodated baby. When treatment to the accommodated baby is finished, the nursing window
15
is closed by door
16
and the door
16
is fixed in the closing state by the door fixing devices
23
in a reverse order of the operation mentioned above.
After finishing treatment to the accommodated baby, however, even if operation up to closing the nursing window
15
by the door
16
is performed, it is possible to overlook the operation to fix the door
16
in a closing state by the door fixing devices
23
. Besides, as shown in
FIG. 2
, if the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
is rotated to the same angle position as the angle position where the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
is fitted into the nursing window opening and closing knob receiver
25
during treatment to the accommodated baby for some reason, it is possible that though the operator thinks he or she has rotated the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
after the nursing window
15
was closed by the door
16
, the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
has not actually been fitted into the nursing window opening and closing knob Receiver
25
, and the door
16
is not fixed by the door fixing device
23
in a closing state.
Moreover, if the inside of the hood
12
is humidified to a high humidity, the inside surface of the acrylic resin made door
16
exposed to highly humid air expands, and thereby the portion of the door
16
near the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
not supported by the rotation shaft
21
warps to the outside surface. As a result, even if the operator rotates the nursing window opening and closing knob
24
after the nursing window
15
is closed by the door
16
, the nursing window opening aid closing knob
24
may not be fitted into the nursing window opening and closing knob receiver
25
, and thus the door
16
may not be fixed by the door fixing devices
23
in a closing state.
Furthermore, in any of these cases, if the door
16
is rotated until the angle of the door
16
to the nursing window
15
becomes smaller than the critical angle, the nursing window
15
is anyway closed by biasing force for rotating the door
16
in the direction to close the nursing window
15
by its own weight, and therefore the operator may not recognize that the door
16
is not fixed in a closing state by the door fixing devices
23
.
However, since the biasing force for rotating the door
16
in the direction to close the nursing window
15
by its own weight is not strong, the door
16
is rotated to open the nursing window
15
if the door
16
is pushed from the inside of the hood
12
by the foot or the like of the accommodated baby under this state. If the nursing window
15
is kept open, the environment inside the hood
12
deviates from the physiological environment appropriate for the accommodated baby and thus it is not preferable to the accommodated baby.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide the incubator wherein, even if opening and closing operation of the nursing window is not securely performed, the environment inside the hood can be maintained to the physiological environment appropriate for the accommodated baby or at least the environment inside the hood hardly deviates from the physiological environment appropriate for the accommodated baby.
In the incubator according to the present invention, if the angle of the door to the nursing window of the hood is smaller than the rotation restricting angle, the door rotation restricting means restrains the rotation by restraining the movement of the center of the rotation from the first position to the second position accompanied by the rotation of the door in the opening direction. Thus, in the case that the angle of the door is smaller than the rotation restricting angle, even if the door is pushed by the accommodated baby from the inside of the hood under the state wherein the door is not fixed by the door fixing means in a closing state, the door does not rotate in the opening direction beyond the rotation restricting angle and the angle of the door does not exceed the rotation restricting angle.
Even if the angle of the door is smaller than the rotation restricting angle, the door rotation restricting means permits the rotation of the door within the angle between the rotation restricting angle and the angle at the state wherein the door closes

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