Surgery – Isolation treatment chambers – Incubators
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-12
2001-05-22
Winakur, Eric F. (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Isolation treatment chambers
Incubators
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234954
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to an infant care apparatus and, more particularly, to an incubator having removable doors.
There are, of course, various infant incubators currently in use and all typically comprise an infant compartment within which the infant is positioned in a protective heated environment. There are normally a plurality of walls that are used to surround and enclose the infant and a hood atop of the walls to create that protective environment and to isolate the infant within the infant compartment where that environment is controlled.
It is, obviously, necessary to access the infant within the infant compartment from time to time to carry out an intervention on the infant or simply to place the infant within the infant compartment or remove the infant therefrom. Thus there are movable walls or doors to provide that access. Again, as it typical, the doors are hingedly affixed to the base of the infant compartment and swing outwardly and downwardly to a position where the doors are out of the way of the personnel attending to the infant.
It is necessary, from time to time, to remove the doors fully for cleaning nursing care and during which time, the door is separated from its hinged engagement with the incubator base or chassis. Since the need for cleaning the doors occurs frequently, it is preferable that the doors be capable of being disengaged from the hinge assembly easily, without the need for special tools or the need for maintenance personnel to carry out that removal.
Thus, it is preferable that the door removal be carried out easily by any person responsible for the cleaning or nursing care with a minimum of tools and disruption to the incubator. On the other hand, the hinge assembly or other attachment means must, obviously, safely secure the door to the incubator so as to maintain the integrity of the infant compartment enclosing the infant therein. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an infant incubator having pivotally affixed doors that can be removed easily with a minimum of effort and yet be firmly affixed to the incubator so as to not become disengaged inadvertently.
It would be further preferable for the doors to be readily removable by the user with a simple action using either hand to carry out that disengagement easily and positively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an infant incubator having doors that are pivotally affixed to the infant platform supporting the infant to allow access to the infant and which are easily removable by a simple mechanism that firmly secures the doors in place during use but can be removed readily for cleaning or nursing care.
In accordance with the present invention, a simple button can be depressed to fully remove the door from the incubator an thus can be manipulated simply for such removal and yet, the door removal mechanism is not easily activated inadvertently or by accident and, when holding the door, provides a secure mechanism to retain the door pivotally in place to the incubator. The mechanism allows the button that is used for such door removal to be activated by either hand, that is, from either side of the incubator, for the removal of the door.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3878570 (1975-04-01), Donnelly
patent: 4191174 (1980-03-01), Martin
patent: 4361137 (1982-11-01), Grosholz
patent: 4936824 (1990-06-01), Koch et al.
patent: 5112293 (1992-05-01), Vaccaro
patent: 5649896 (1997-07-01), Barsky
patent: 5810709 (1998-09-01), Simenauer et al.
patent: 6049924 (2000-04-01), Prows et al.
patent: 6155970 (2000-12-01), Dykes et al.
Datex-Ohmeda Inc.
Rathbun Roger M.
Szmal Brian
Winakur Eric F.
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