Hospital bed-rail hook

<td> May 31, 1960 Filed Oct. 22, 1958 . &amp; ~ /0- hlG.2. I 1 ²⁸ ( 'S</td><td> M. E. HINSHAW 2,938,696 HOSPITAL BED-RAIL HOOK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4^1 F*·¹ Wⁱ&gt;&gt;K ^z-7^39-^ \j S;NN SsHWI Fig.3 &gt;~' F , m£4- 40 ^20 ^^/S 1 1 ~^&lt;τ 32. \ 4 r^⁶ rj \ 2β j I ^⁷⁶ A 1 'u''^34J\ ³°\T) ^2 INVENTOR. Mary Ελ Hinshaw ?------atbnJidu. ^77-U</td>

May 31, 1960

2,938,696

Μ. E. HINSHAW HOSPITAL BED-RAIL HOOK

Filed Oct. 22, 1958

Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US2938696A_D0001.tif" />

F7g5

<img file="US2938696A_D0002.tif" />

INVENTOR.

<img file="US2938696A_D0003.tif" />

United States Patent Office

2,938,696

Patented May 31, 1960

2,938,696

HOSPITAL BED-RAIL HOOK

Mary E. Hinshaw, 434 3rd Ave., Iowa City, Iowa

Filed Oct 22,1958, Ser. No. 769,002

Claims. (Cl. 248—215)

This invention relates to hopsital equipment and more particularly to a device for supporting a liquid storage vessel upon a bed rail.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an extremely simple and efficient hook for conveniently supporting a liquid storage vessel upon a side rail of a bed without the need for trying or otherwise further securing a storage vessel to the bed structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bed rail hook of the above type that is entirely constructed from one piece of flat metal formed in the shape of a hook.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a bed rail hook of the above type that is entirely formed from a completely closed irregular wire frame of unusual weight supporting and shape retaining characteristics.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a hospital bed rail hook bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in operation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hospital bed rail hook made from wire in accordance with the present invention in operative use;

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the bed rail hook shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a wire frame from which the bed hook made in accordance with the present invention is constructed;

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a bed rail hook, similar to the one shown in Figure 2, but formed of a single piece of flat metal stock, and

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the flat metal type hook shown in Fig. 4 and in accordance with this invention, a portion of a bed frame shown dotted and arranged therewith.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, a hospital bed rail hook 10 made in accordance with the present invention is shown in operative use supported upon the side rail 12 of the bed 14 for supporting a liquid storage vessel 16 directly therefrom. The liquid storage vessel 16 is of the type ordinarily used to store urine delivered thereto through a conduit 18 from a patient 20 that is bedridden.

As is more clearly shown in Figure 3 of the drawing, the hook 10 is entirely formed from a completely closed irregular shaped wire frame 20 having a substantially straight base end 22 with a pair of spaced apart parallel sides 24 that continue into a pair of converging central side arms 26 that are adjacent to a pair of slightly tapered side arms 28 immediately adjacent to the restricted segment 30 of a fingerlike terminal section 32. It will be noted that this frame 20 is completely symmertical about a longitudinal central axis. The finished hook 10 illus2 trated in Figure 2 of the drawing is formed from the wire frame 20 by bending the fingerlike end 32 backwardly and upwardly toward the opposite base end 22 thereof. The base end 22 is, in turn, folded backwardly 5 and downwardly into spaced apart parallel relationship with the parallel side element 24 to define a hanger portion for releasable supported engagement upon the side rail 12 of the bed. The section of the wire frame 20 intermediate the hanger portion and the finger portion 10 is then bent to form the shape illustrated in Figure 2, such that the liquid storage vessel 16 carried upon the finger portion 32 which extends through the finger receiving loop 34 of the vessel, is disposed beneath the underframe of the bed 14, out of the sight of the patient and 15 out of the way of nurses, cleaning women, and other hospital attendants. It will be noted that both the finger portion 32 and the hanger portion 22 are offset laterally from the general plane of the central section of the device, both in the same direction so as to provide for this 20 underslung type of support.

As clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawing, the hook 10 is entirely formed from one piece of flat sheet metal stock producing a frame 40 having a base portion 42 embodying a terminal end portion 43 and 25 spaced parallel sides 44, said base continuing into an inwardly tapered arm 48 with sides 49 formed with a restricted portion 50 adjacent a finger like terminal portion 52 with curved end 53. This frame 40 is also completely symmertical about a longitudinal contral axis. 30 The finished hook 10 illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 is formed from thin sheet metal stock by bending the fingerlike end 52 backwardly and upwardly toward the opposite base end 42 thereof. The base portion 42 is, in turn, folded downwardly and backwardly into spaced apart 35 parallel relationship to define a larger portion for releasable supported engagement upon the side rail 12 of the bed. The hook is so shaped with the finger portion 52 to extend through the finger receiving loop 34 of the vessel shown in Figures 1 and 2 and keep the vessel 40 beneath the underframe of the bed 14. This smooth, sheet metal type bed rail hook embodies at least one feature of improvement over the wire type in that the rollers on the lower side of the bed springs will roll over the base portion 42 with less trouble if the hook was so 45 located to encounter a roller.

This device is preferably formed from stainless type metal of high strength characteristics so as to be completely durable and dependable in use.

While various changes may be made in the detail con5θ struction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.