Beds – Field stretcher – Foldable or knockdown
Patent
1998-04-21
1999-11-23
Melius, Terry Lee
Beds
Field stretcher
Foldable or knockdown
5 11, 5611, 5 861, 16115, 280655, 2806551, 296 20, A47B 100
Patent
active
059876735
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to stretcher undercarriages and is particularly concerned with multi-height adjustable undercarriages which are operable by hand controls such as brake levers, on one or both ends of the undercarriage.
Such height adjustable undercarriages are typically used for loading patients into ambulances where it is necessary to firstly collapse the leading set of undercarriage legs during loading, followed by collapsing the trailing set of legs. The reverse process occurs when the undercarriage is being removed from the ambulance.
An example of a typical height adjustable undercarriage is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,159 dated Apr. 23, 1996, assigned to Ferno Washington, Inc.
A common failing with height adjustable undercarriages is that when a taller than average person is being conveyed into or from an ambulance, the feet of that person tend to extend out past the hand controls on the end of the undercarriage making it difficult for the attendant to move the undercarriage with ease, let alone be able to readily manipulate the height adjusting hand controls. This failing can be overcome when height adjusting hand controls are not required, by using extendable handles which slide within the upper longitudinally extending support framework of the undercarriage, and which extend the effective length of the undercarriage. However when hand controls are present on the end of the undercarriage, their very design and nature means that they must be located in a fixed position to be operable and such extendable handles cannot be used. This problem has been addressed and it has now been found after much trial and experimentation that extendable hand grips with their controls for multi-height adjustable undercarriages, can be produced.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide combination hand grips with controls for adjusting the height of stretcher undercarriages, which are longitudinally movable and operable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided an extendable hand grip control arrangement for a stretcher undercarriage which has height adjustable legs, said arrangement comprising a handle fitted to an end of a tube slidable within an uppermost longitudinally extending undercarriage frame member, said handle having an associated manipulable lever which operates a control mechanism for adjusting the height of the height adjustable legs, the arrangement including a locking bar within the slidable tube which sets the maximum extendable position of the handle and the fully retractable position of the handle.
The control mechanism includes a rod pivotally connected thereto, which rod extends substantially parallel to the slidable tube and through a housing located on the end of the undercarriage frame member, said housing being restrictively moveable in parallel with the undercarriage frame member along a short track fixed to the end region of the undercarriage frame member, said housing having a spring-biased cable fitted thereto which activates the height adjustable legs.
The housing includes a pivoting arm which is adapted to lock into the control rod when the slidable tube is fully retracted and to also set the maximum extendable length of the slidable tube out of the undercarriage frame member.
The locking bar has a projection on one end which extends through an opening in the slidable tube and locates within one of two holes formed in the undercarriage frame member to thereby set the said maximum extendable position of the handle and the fully retractable position of the handle; the other end of the locking bar having a manipulable button which locates in the region of the handle and enables the projection to be released from one or other of the holes in the undercarriage frame member.
Such an arrangement operates as follows. When the slidable tube is fully retracted into the longitudinally extending undercarriage frame member, that is when the handle is not extended, the pivoting arm
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Ferno-Washington, Inc.
Melius Terry Lee
Morales Rodrigo J.
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