DESC:FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
This invention relates to the field of mechanical engineering.

Particularly, this invention relates to a lateral tilting bed design to reposition a patient to reduce the risk of pressure ulcers, as well as to reduce the efforts and back pain incidences among care taker.

Specifically, this invention relates to a mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Prolonged sleeping posture is one of the most fundamental activities of daily living for the disabled, aged and paraplegic patients who are bed bounded. For these people prolonged supine posture on a bed will be highly risky and harmful. This will further create more critical problems like PU and spasticity. In order to reduce the risk of pressure ulcer patient need to be repositioned on the bed at certain time interval by care taker. This needs more hospital staff, and the shear and friction forces during manual repositioning often damage the patient’s skin.

Bedridden patients are more likely to develop Pressure Ulcers (PU) due to prolonged sleeping in supine posture on hospital bed. PU is developed due to functional imbalance of human body due to gravitational pull of human organs and mechanical loading of human tissues that reduces oxygen supply and damage the tissue. To prevent the PU, high technology beds, Support surfaces and frequent repositioning of patients methods are used. Assisted or manual repositioning of bedridden at hospitals or at home increases incidence of back pain among hospital staff, and there may be chances of skin damage of bedridden due to friction and shearing forces during assisted turning. Lateral tilting bed enables bedridden patients to reposition easily and frequently, that reduces external forces like shear and friction as well as reduces the effort and incidence of back pain among care taker by assisted turning. This reduces the risk of Pus

This invention is to introduce lateral tilting bed, that turn the patient side to side frequently with desired rotation angle and reduce the fatigue of hospital staff need to turn the patient manually.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
An object of the invention is to provide a lateral tilting bed, that turns a patient side to side frequently with desired rotation angle and reduce the fatigue of hospital staff need to turn the patient manually.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
According to this invention, there is provided a mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers, said bed comprises:
- a main frame with supporting legs, said main body frame supports two, medially divided, lateral frames, each of said lateral frames being comprised of at least three corresponding sub-frames, said frames being coupled to each other;
- a lateral tilting mechanism which enables lateral tilting of a patient, characterized in that, said lateral tilting mechanism further comprising: a first bevel gear orthogonally coupled to a second bevel gear, said first bevel gear being operable by a lead screw, said second bevel gear being coupled to a vertically extending rod, said rod being coupled, at its other end, to said frames, in that, as said lead screw is angularly displaced, said coupled first bevel gear also angularly displaces which, in turn, angularly displaces said orthogonally coupled second bevel gear, said angular displacement of said second bevel gear displacing said rod operatively vertically upwards or downwards such that the vertical upward movement of said rod causes said lateral side frames to be angularly displaceable about its medial fulcrum, in an operative anti-clockwise direction, thereby causing tilting of a patient from its parallel position to its tilted position and the vertical downward movement of said rod causes said lateral side frames to be angularly displaceable about its medial fulcrum, in an operative clockwise direction, thereby causing tilting of a patient from its tilted position to its parallel position;
- back and head elevation mechanism which enables back and head lifting of a patient, characterized in that, said back and head tilting mechanism further comprising: a first linkage configured to transfer elevating force applied to a head assembly comprising operative top two frames; and
- a leg lifting mechanism which enables leg lifting tilting of a patient, characterized in that, said leg lifting mechanism further comprising: a second linkage configured to transfer elevating force applied to a head assembly comprising operative bottom two frames.

Typically, said frames are hinged together by fastening mechanisms for tilting.

Typically, each of said lateral frames is at least medially hinged lateral frames, thereby allowing lateral tilting about said hinge.

Typically, upper two sub frames are for head and back elevation.

Typically, lower two sub frames are for leg mobility.

Typically, six side frames with three on each side are for lateral tilting.

Typically, each side frame is individually tilted, laterally, with the help of bevel gear which is operated by a lead screw.

Typically, said first linkage is a 3-bar pivot linkage system used at the centre below said main frame of head section which is then connected to upper head section frame and other end of said link being connected to the lead screw with handle.

Typically, said first linkage is a Y-link connected to a lead screw, said Y-link acting as a fulcrum to raise or lower the head and back section.

Typically, said second linkage is a 3-bar pivot linkage system used at the centre below said main frame of head section which is then connected to leg section frame and other end of said link being connected to the lead screw with handle.

Typically, said second linkage is a Y-link connected to a lead screw (20), said Y-link acting as a fulcrum to raise or lower the leg section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:
The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of the bed;

Figures 2a, 2b, and 2c illustrate the mechanism through which this lateral tilting mechanism is achieved;

Figures 3a, 3b, and 3c illustrate the mechanism through which this back and head elevation mechanism is achieved; and

Figures 4a, 4b, and 4c illustrate the mechanism through which this leg lifting mechanism is achieved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS:
According to this invention, there is provided a mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers.

This mechanically operable multiple-tilting hospital bed is capable of easily repositioning patient’s body.

Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of the bed.

In at least an embodiment, this bed comprises a first base frame (fixed frame) (1) with supporting legs on which main frame is supported. This main body frame (1) supports two, medially divided, lateral frames (2, 3). In other words, the lateral frames can be termed as a left side lateral frame and a right side lateral frame. The lateral frames are hinged, medially, thereby allowing lateral tilting about the hinge by means of bevel gears (14, 15) operated by lead screws (13). Each of the lateral frames (2, 3) are comprised of at least three corresponding sub-frames (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). In other words, the left side lateral frame is comprised of three sub-frames and the right side lateral frame is comprised of three sub-frames. The frames are coupled to each other.

All these frames are hinged together by nut and screw for tilting. The upper two sub frames are for head / back elevation, lower two sub frames are for leg mobility, and six side frames with three on each side are for lateral tilting.

Reference numeral 10 refers to side railing.
Reference numeral 11 refers to head board.
Reference numeral 12 refers to a manually operable lead screw.

In at least an embodiment, the bed is provided with a lateral tilting mechanism which enables lateral tilting of a patient.

Figures 2a, 2b, and 2c illustrate the mechanism through which this lateral tilting mechanism is achieved.

All side frames are connected to lateral tilting mechanism with the help of pair of bevel gears and lead screw. Lateral tilting is done on central three hinges.

Each side frame is individually tilted, laterally, with the help of bevel gear (14) which is operated by a lead screw (13). As the lead screw is angularly displaced, a coupled first bevel gear (14) also angularly displaces which, in turn, angularly displaces an orthogonally coupled second bevel gear (15). This angular displacement of the second bevel gear displaces a rod (16) extending orthogonally and operatively vertically upwards or downwards. This rod is connected to the lateral tilting side frames. Thus, the vertical upward movement of the rod causes the lateral side frames to be angularly displaceable about its medial fulcrum, in an operative anti-clockwise direction, thereby causing tilting of a patient from its parallel position to its tilted position. Similarly, the vertical downward movement of the rod causes the lateral side frames to be angularly displaceable about its medial fulcrum, in an operative clockwise direction, thereby causing tilting of a patient from its tilted position to its parallel position. Reference numeral 17 refers to a handle.

The purpose of lateral tilting provision in hospital beds is to reposition a patient to get relief from skin bed interface pressure and for some physical activities. This lateral tilting mechanism is only available in electrically operated beds. Problems with electrically operated beds are that they only accounted for patient’s weight to lift the load and neglected presence of a visitor. If any visitor sits on the bed, electrical motors need lot of power to lift this extra load and motor quickly burns out. Some other issues like power failure, voltage fluctuations are major concern in remote areas. Using the bed of this invention, lateral tilting mechanism is designed such that a single person such as a nurse can reposition the patient laterally on his / her either sides. In order to keep the manufacturing costs down, newly designed bed has lateral tilting mechanism with manually cranked mechanism to reposition the patient at required angle. Lead screws operated bevel gears on either side of central frame were used.

In at least an embodiment, the bed is provided with a back and head elevation mechanism which enables back and head lifting of a patient.

Figures 3a, 3b, and 3c illustrate the mechanism through which this back and head elevation mechanism is achieved.

Reference numeral 18 refers to the back / head section.

The mechanism for tilting comprises a first mechanical linkage (19) which transfers elevating force applied to the head assembly by lead screw. A 3-bar pivot linkage (19) system is used at the centre below the base frame of head section which is then connected to upper head section frame. Other end of this link is connected to the lead screw with handle which lifts the load around 100Kg. This 3-bar pivot linkage is a Y-link connected to a lead screw (20). The Y-link acts as a fulcrum to raise or lower the head / back section.

In at least an embodiment, the bed is provided with a leg lifting mechanism which enables leg lifting tilting of a patient.

Figures 4a, 4b, and 4c illustrate the mechanism through which this leg lifting mechanism is achieved.

Similar to head / back elevation mechanism, lower leg lifting mechanism (21) is also a combination of kinematic links connected to lead screw which then can be lifted by rotating the lever attached to the lead screw.

The mechanism for tilting comprises a second mechanical linkage (21) which transfers elevating force applied to the head assembly by lead screw. A 3-bar pivot linkage (19) system is used at the centre below the base frame of head section which is then connected to upper head section frame. Other end of this link is connected to the lead screw with handle which lifts the load around 100Kg. This 3-bar pivot linkage is a Y-link connected to a lead screw (22). The Y-link acts as a fulcrum to raise or lower the head / back section.

While this detailed description has disclosed certain specific embodiments for illustrative purposes, various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims, and it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.
,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM,

1. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers, said bed comprising:
- a main frame (1) with supporting legs, said main body frame (1) supports two, medially divided, lateral frames (2, 3), each of said lateral frames being comprised of at least three corresponding sub-frames (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), said frames being coupled to each other;
- a lateral tilting mechanism which enables lateral tilting of a patient, characterized in that, said lateral tilting mechanism further comprising: a first bevel gear orthogonally coupled to a second bevel gear, said first bevel gear being operable by a lead screw, said second bevel gear being coupled to a vertically extending rod, said rod being coupled, at its other end, to said frames, in that, as said lead screw is angularly displaced, said coupled first bevel gear (14) also angularly displaces which, in turn, angularly displaces said orthogonally coupled second bevel gear (15), said angular displacement of said second bevel gear displacing said rod (16) operatively vertically upwards or downwards such that the vertical upward movement of said rod causes said lateral side frames to be angularly displaceable about its medial fulcrum, in an operative anti-clockwise direction, thereby causing tilting of a patient from its parallel position to its tilted position and the vertical downward movement of said rod causes said lateral side frames to be angularly displaceable about its medial fulcrum, in an operative clockwise direction, thereby causing tilting of a patient from its tilted position to its parallel position;
- back and head elevation mechanism which enables back and head lifting of a patient, characterized in that, said back and head tilting mechanism further comprising: a first linkage (19) configured to transfer elevating force applied to a head assembly comprising operative top two frames (6, 9); and
- a leg lifting mechanism which enables leg lifting tilting of a patient, characterized in that, said leg lifting mechanism further comprising: a second linkage (19) configured to transfer elevating force applied to a head assembly comprising operative bottom two frames (4, 7).

2. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said frames are hinged together by fastening mechanisms for tilting.

3. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, each of said lateral frames being at least medially hinged lateral frames, thereby allowing lateral tilting about said hinge

4. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, upper two sub frames are for head and back elevation.

5. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, lower two sub frames are for leg mobility.

6. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, six side frames with three on each side are for lateral tilting.

7. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, each side frame is individually tilted, laterally, with the help of bevel gear (14) which is operated by a lead screw (12).

8. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said first linkage being a 3-bar pivot linkage (19) system used at the centre below said main frame of head section which is then connected to upper head section frame and other end of said link being connected to the lead screw with handle.

9. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said first linkage being a Y-link connected to a lead screw (20), said Y-link acting as a fulcrum to raise or lower the head and back section.

10. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said second linkage being a 3-bar pivot linkage (19) system used at the centre below said main frame of head section which is then connected to leg section frame and other end of said link being connected to the lead screw with handle.

11. A mechanical lateral tilting bed for bedridden patients to reduce pressure ulcers as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said second linkage being a Y-link connected to a lead screw (20), said Y-link acting as a fulcrum to raise or lower the leg section.

Dated this 9th day of October, 2017.

CHIRAG TANNA
of INK IDEE
APPLICANT’s PATENT AGENT