Transport car for the patient lying area of an operation table

Invention Patent Descriptive Report for TRANSPORT CART FOR SURFACE SUPPORT

PATIENT AT AN OPERATING TABLE.

[001] The present invention relates to a transport cart for the surface that supports a patient from an operating table, comprising a chassis, two supports that are arranged on them and each one having at its upper ends an interface to connect the a complementary interface on the surface that supports the patient, and a lifting device to adjust the height of the interfaces in relation to the chassis.

[002] In a known mode of a transport cart of this type, the supports have a telescopic configuration to allow the height of the interfaces to be adjusted by pushing the supports together or pulling them apart. High moments of inclination, which occur as a result of the notably eccentric support of patients, cause high friction in this type of vertical orientation. Therefore, powerful drives for vertical adjustment have to be provided to overcome this friction.

[003] The invention is based on the objective of specifying a transport cart of the type mentioned above in which vertical adjustment can be carried out with low friction.

[004] According to the invention, this objective is achieved by the fact that the supports are loaded by a pivoting frame that is mounted on the chassis in order to be able to pivot around a horizontal pivot axis and is adjustable by means of the lifting device, in which the supports are each connected to the pivoting frame, by a joint that has a joint axis parallel to the pivot axis and in which the supports are guided, each, on the chassis, in each case vertically adjusted separated from the joint by means of a roller having a roller axis parallel to the pivot axis, in such a way that

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2/4 a line, which runs through the joint axis and the roller axis, perpendicular to said supports, remains vertical in the adjustment of the pivot frame.

[005] The parts involved in the vertical adjustment are all mounted on rotating joints or pivots that can be configured with very low friction. This results in low power loss and, therefore, the lift drive can be simple and inexpensive in its configuration, since it does not have to accommodate any lateral guiding force.

[006] Preferably, the pivoting frame comprises two bars that are articulated to the chassis, each carrying a support and being joined by a cross-brace on which the lifting device acts.

[007] The lifting device may comprise a hydraulic lifting unit or have an electromechanical configuration.

[008] Preferably, the roller is formed by a roller bearing that is connected to the respective support and is guided on the chassis. The guide path can be formed, for example, by a slot in a part that is secure to the frame and in which the roller bearing runs. The course of the guide path is obtained by marking on vertical parallel lines, starting from a circle described by the center of the joint around the pivot axis of the pivot frame, in each case the extension corresponding to the distance between the axis of the joint and the axis rolling. The guide path is defined by the line joining the ends of the extension that are remote to the circle.

[009] The following description describes the invention with reference to an exemplary modality and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the transport cart, according to the invention, along line ll in Figure

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3/4

3, with the pivoting frame in its lowest position;

Figure 2 is a side view of the transport cart with the pivoting frame in its highest position; and Figure 3 is a view of the transport cart from the front, that is, in the direction of arrow A in Figure 2.

[0010] The transport cart illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 comprises a chassis, generally denoted by the reference numeral 10, with a chassis frame 12 consisting of two longitudinal bars 14 joined by two cross bars 16. Steering cylinders 18 are arranged at each end of the longitudinal bars 14. In a central region of the longitudinal bars 14, a vertically directed plate 22 is attached in each case, via a fixation 20 (Figure 3). A guide rail 24, which is connected to the respective longitudinal bar 14, in the vicinity of its front end, by means of an arm 26, is curved out towards the front end of the transport cart, is attached to the lower edge of said plate. The guide rails 24 are intended to facilitate the approach of the transport cart to a column of the operating table on which the patient support surface is located. In addition, a triangular roller holder 28, on which a support roller 32 is rotatably mounted, is mounted on the lower end of the plate 22 in order to be able to pivot about an axis 30. The roller support 32 can be raised or lowered towards the ground by turning the handle 28.

[0011] The chassis 10 carries a pivoting frame which is denoted, generally, by the reference numeral 34 and consists of two longitudinal loaders 36 which, at one of its ends, are joined by means of a crossbar 38 (Figure 3) and at their respective other ends, they are articulated to a support clamp 40, which is carried by the respective longitudinal bar 14, in order to

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4/4 to be able to pivot around a pivot axis 42. The two longitudinal loaders 36 are joined in the vicinity of the cross brace 38, not only by said cross brace 38, but also by an arch 44, in whose longitudinal center the piston rod 46 of a hydraulic lifting cylinder 48 acts which, for its part, is mounted between two arms 50, which are rigidly connected to one of the crossbars 16, in order to be able to pivot around a pivot axis 52. The hydraulic lift cylinder 48 can be actuated using pedals 54 arranged on both sides of the chassis 10 to adjust the pivot frame 34 between the lowest position shown in Figure 1 and the highest position shown in Figure 2 in the direction of the double arrow B.

[0012] Each of the longitudinal loaders 36 carries in a central region, a support clamp 56 on which a support 58, having an interface 60, which can be coupled to a patient support surface (not shown) of a operating table, for coupling to a complementary interface, is mounted on a joint 62 in order to be able to pivot around a joint axis 64. The support 58 further comprises a reinforcement 66 which is connected to the interface 60 and carries at its lower end a bearing bearing 68 which has a bearing shaft 69. Bearing bearing 68 is guided in a guide path 70 formed by a curved slot on plate 22. This orientation of the reinforcement 66 ensures that the support 58 maintains, at all times, the vertical position indicated by the line 72, as the pivot frame 34 rotates around the pivot axis 42. The shape of the guide path 70 can be determined in a simple way by marking parallel lines, starting from a circle that is described by the pivot axis 42 and runs through the junction axis 64, in each case the distance between the joint shaft 64 and bearing shaft 69. A connecting line through the extension support points corresponds to the travel of the guide path 70.