Bed or chair with supporting surfaces having angular positions variable in relation to each other

Feb. 28, 1967 g. p. c. nielsen 3,305,877

BED OR CHAIR WITH SUPPORTING SURFACES HAVING ANGULAR POSITIONS VARIABLE IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER

Filed Oct. 7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

<img file="US3305877A_D0001.tif" />

Feb. 28, 1967 g. p. c. nielsen 3,305,877

BED OR CHAIR WITH SUPPORTING SURFACES HAVING ANGULAR POSITIONS VARIABLE IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER

Filed Oct. 7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US3305877A_D0002.tif" />

3,395,877

Patented Feb. 28, 1967

United States Patent Office

3,305,877

BED OR CHAIR WITH SUPPORTING SURFACES HAVING ANGULAR POSITIONS VARIABLE IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER

Georg Peter Christian Nielsen, Copenhagen, Denmark, assignor to Christensen, Allen &amp; Co., Copenhagen, Denmark, a firm

Filed Oct. 7,1965, Ser. No. 493,771 Claims priority, anplication Denmark, Oct. 16, 1964, 5,133/64

Claims. (CI. 5—67)

The invention relates to a bed or chair with supporting surfaces having angular positions variable arbitrarily in relation to each other, the supporting surfaces being supported by frames which are interconnected by links and which by means of at least one locking mechanism may be fixed in an adjusted position in relation to the bed proper.

An object of the invention is to provide a bed in which the inclining position of the back supporting surface in relation to a horizontal plane may readily be varied and fixed in any arbitrary position, preferably by a person lying in the bed, and in such manner that the adjustment requires no mechanical power or exertion of manual strength. It is a further object to make the bed in such manner that the user or patient has no- tendency, as is otherwise the case, to slide down towards the foot of the bed when the back supporting surface has been turned up into a more or less inclining position.

An essential feature of the bed -according to the invention is that a seat supporting surface is mounted substantially horizontally in a parallel guide consisting of at least one system of bars with two bars which -are parallel with each other and pivotal about two fixed points of the bed structure located beneath a back supporting surface, each bar being furthermore pivotally connected with a downwardly extending arm that is rigidly connected with the seat supporting surface, the fixed center of rotation of the upper parallel bar being located on a pivotal axis , for the frame of the back supporting surface; the said frame may in any angular position be locked to the bed structure by means of a locking mechanism, preferably operable from the bed.

When the locking mechanism is released by the person lying in the bed, the seat supporting surface will by the 45 action of gravity move downwards, retaining its substantially horizontal position, and at the same time the frame of the back supporting surface which is linked to the seat supporting surface will swing upwards with the person in the bed raising the upper part of -the body. When the 50 desired inclined position of the back is reached, the locking mechanism is again operated so that the frame of the back supporting surface is locked in that position. On moving downwards, the seat supporting surface carries with it the frame of the supporting surface for the thigh- 55 bones so that this supporting surface is brought into an inclined position opposite to that of the back supporting surface. As a result the occupant of the bed is prevented from sliding forward as the back supporting surface is raised. The design is very suitable for use in connection 60 with beds of the kind in which the supporting surfaces for back and thigh-bones are lamellae attached at one end to the supporting frame while at the other end they extend between corresponding lamellae that constitute the seat supporting surface. 65

An essential feature of one embodiment of the bed according to the invention having a bed structure with two longitudinal side members and a parallel guide at each side member is that the side members have a downwardly cranked or depressed section extending beneath the frame ⁷θ of the seat supporting surface and beneath parts of the frames for the back and thigh-bone supporting surfaces, the upper parallel bar of each guide being constituted by a bar beneath the side of the frame of the back supporting surface, which frame is -pivotal about an axis through the side members directly beside the cranked sections. The cranked section affords room for lowering of the seat supporting surface from lying to sitting position and the cranked section is well suited for attachment of supporting and locking means.

To enable a patient occupying the bed to readily readjust it from sitting to lying position and conversely by utilizing his own weight, the locking mechanism for fixing -and releasing the back supporting surface should be as easily operable as possible. This is achieved in a bed with one or more locking mechanisms of the kind having a spindle that is axially displaceable by the action of a pressure member, the said spindle having transverse holes for fixing of transverse bars to outer supporting means. The said bed has the essential feature that supporting bars pivotally mounted in the back supporting frame are passed through transverse holes provided in a pivotal -tube mounted on the bed and that the pressure member at at least one end of the spindle is constitued by a longitudinally adjustable pressure screw mounted -in a holder which may be swivelled by means of a handle. When the said pressure screw is substantially coaxial with the spindle, the pressure screw may tread on a pressure rod that is freely displaceable in an axial bore of the spindle so as to wedge the nearest transverse supporting bar between the pressure rod and the hole edges of the tube attached to the bed structure, displacing the spindle in such manner that the remaining supporting bar or bars are locked between hole edges in the spindle and the pivotal tube, respectively. The handle for operating the swingable holder may without difficulty be passed forward beside the bed and thus be operated by the person in the bed. There may likewise at the other end of the pivotal tube mounted on the frame be provided a pressure member in the form of a screw screwed into the spindle so that either this screw or the swin-gable pressure member may be used as desired. This enables, among other things, a nurse to fasten the back supporting surface in a definite inclined position by means of a locking member which cannot, or can only with difficulty, be reached by a patient that is unable to operate the bed mechanism appropriately.

To enable the swingable holder to be fixed in position, it may in a preferred embodiment according to the invention -be passed slightly beyond the position in which the holder is coaxial with the spindle to rest -in contact with a stop which according to the invention is conveniently constituted by an adjustable screw projecting from the swingable holder and forming a stop -for the holder in the said locked position.

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows an embodiment of the bed according to the invention, viewed from the side,

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the same, certain parts being removed for the sake of clarity,

FIGURE 3 is a locking mechanism for fixing the position of the back supporting surface, viewed towards the head of the bed, on an enlarged scale, and

FIGURE 4 a part of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 3, viewed from -above.

The bed shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 has a base frame or structure including longitudinal side members 1 for supporting a number of supporting surfaces linked to each other, each having a closed supporting frame. Side members 1 are provided with depressed section D. The said supporting frames -are all hinged together along axes extending transversely of the bed, and a frame 2 of the

3,305,877 ³seat supporting surface is at each side member carried by a parallel guide consisting of two bars 3 and 4 and a downwardly extending arm 5 in fixed connection with the frame 2 which is superposed above section D. By this system of bars the seat supporting surface may perform a translatory movement upwards and downwards, the 'bars 3 and 4 turning about pivot points 6 and 7 on either side member.

In the embodiment disclosed, the upper bar 3 of the parallel guide forms the side in the frame 8 of the back j supporting surface so that the said frame pivots about the transverse axis through the points 6 and thus, in its unlocked position, will swing upwards about the said axis when the person lying in the bed raises the upper part of his body and thus by his weight forces the seat : supporting surface downwards. Frame 8 is partially superposed above and can tilt into section D. By movement of frames 8 and 2 the frame 10 of the thigh-bone supporting surface is also turned, whereby this surface is brought into an upwardly inclining position preventing the user of the bed from sliding forward.

The bed illustrated is of the kind in which the back and thigh-bone supporting surfaces are constituted by lamellae 9 which are attached at one end to the frames 3 and 10, respectively, their other end being passed into spaces between lamellae 9' which are attached to the frame 2 and constitute a seat supporting surface. The seat supporting surface may be fixed in the desired level by means of a locking mechanism 11 for locking upwardly extending suppoting bars 11' attached to the frame. Corresponding locking mechanisms 11 with supporting bars 11' are provided at the other frames of the bed. The effective length of the seat supporting surface may be adjusted by transverse bars 12 which support the lamellae 9 being displaced in racks (not shown) provided beneath the frame 2.

In the bed according to the invention there may be used with special advantage a locking mechanism of the kind shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. At the side member on one side of the bed is attached a bow 14 in which a longitudinally adjustable pressure screw or thrust device 13 is pivotally mounted by means of a swingable holder 13'. When the pressure screw 13 is at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the bed, it is in alignment with an axially displaceable spindle 15 mounted in a pivotal tube 20 on the bed. In the said position the pressure screw 13 is pressing against a pressure rod 17 which is displaceable in a bore provided in the spindle 15, and the said pressure rod 17, again, treads on a transverse bar 19 which is freely pivotal on the frame 8 of the back supporting surface and is passed through transverse holes provided in the tube 20 and the spindle 15. A similarly pivotal transverse bar 18 is passed through holes provided in the spindle 15 and the tube 20 at the other side of the bed. As the pressure rod 17 treads on the transverse ⁵⁵bar 19 the latter is wedged between the pressure rod and the opposite hole edges in the tube 28', and the spindle 15 which has a flange 16 is subjected to tension, whereby the other transverse bar 18 is wedged between the hole edges in the spindle 15 and the tube 20, respectively. ⁶⁰For the sake of clarity the locking mechanism is not shown in detail in FIGURES -1 and 2, but from FIGURE 1 it will be appreciated how a handle 22 for turning the pressure screw 13 may be passed forward beside the bed. The swingable holder 13 carries a projecting adjustable 65 screw 21 constituting a stop for the holder in the locked position, in which the pressure screw 13 is turned slightly beyond the position in which it is coaxial with the spindle 15, so that the locking mechanism is not liable to release itself, the abutting ends of the pressure screw 13 and the pressure rod 17 being formed as hard ball surfaces.

In the opposite end of the spindle 15 is formed a female thread for a pressure screw, if necessary, that may tread on the transverse bar 18 so that the back supporting surface may also be fastened from this side of the bed. The locking mechanisms 11 for the other supporting frames may be designed in corresponding manner.