US3197852A

US3197852A - Method of making safety side rails

Info

Publication number: US3197852A
Application number: US255827A
Authority: US
Inventors: Philip C Johnson
Original assignee: F AND F KOENIGKRAMER CO
Current assignee: F AND F KOENIGKRAMER CO
Priority date: 1959-05-28
Filing date: 1963-02-04
Publication date: 1965-08-03
Anticipated expiration: 1982-08-03

Description

1955 P. c. JOHNSON 3,197,852

METHOD OF MAKING SAFETY SIDE RAILS Original Filed May 28, 1959 INVENTOR.

PHILIP C. JOHNSON.

d ameiJ ATTORNEYS FIG. I

United States Patent 3 197,852 METHOD or MAKiNG SAFETY SIDE RAILS Philip C. Johnson, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignpr to F. & F.

Koenigkramer Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, :1 corporation of Ohio Original application May 28, 1959, Ser. No. 816,535, new Patent No. 3,104,402, dated Sept. 24, 1963. Divided and this application Feb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 255,827

. 7 Claims. '(Cl. 29-446) This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 816,535, filed May 28, 1959 now US. Patent No. 3,104,402, issued September 24, 1963.

An object of this invention is to provide a method of making a safety side rail for a patient support, the safety side portion of which side rail is adapted to be raised into patient-restraining position and lowered to a retracted, non-interfering position,

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a device of the above character, the safety side portion of which is adapted to move when released or to be moved in a smooth, positive, quiet manner without cocking or jamming from its raised of operative position to its lowered or retracted position.

i A further object of this invention is to provide a method of making a side rail of the above character, the safety side portion of which is adapted to be locked in operative position in rigid, rattle-free relation to the patient support and adapted to move gravitationally to the-lowered, retracted position when released and be moved to the raised or operative position, in a smooth, positive, quiet manner without cocking or jamming, and with minimum jarring of the patient support.

, Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a safety side rail which is non-rattling when its safety side portion is secured in operative position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making a safety side constructed in a manner that the component parts thereof are in stressed relation to each other in a rigid, unitary, rattle-free structure.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of making internally stressed, rattle-free, safety sides for safety side rails.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains.

In the accompanying drawings and the following description of the embodiment disclosed therein, like reference characters indicate like parts.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a safety side rail embodying the instant invention in relation to fragmentary portions of a patient support, the safety side being-shown in full lines in lowered or retracted relation to the support and fragmentally in dot-dot-dash lines in raised or operative relation to the support;

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken along a line 22 in FIG. 1, more clearly illustrating details of construction of the side rail guide; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view partly in section taken along a line corresponding to line 3-3 in FIG. 1, but showing the latch co-operating with a fragmentary portion of a safety side in raised or operative position in simultaneous co-operative relation to a fragmentary portion of a side rail guide. e

of a person from such a supporting device.

Safety sides or safety side rails are useful in conjunction with various devices for supporting human beings.

Such devices include beds, stretchers used in ambulances,

or other conveyances, hospital beds, stretcher carts used in hospitals for moving patients from place to place, and

as supports for patients in a recovery room following an 3,197,852 Patented Aug. 3, 1965 instant invention may be provided for use in conjunctionwith devices of the foregoing character and the safety side thereof may be raised to operative position and lowered or retracted to permit sidewise entry of departure Safety side rails embodying the instant invention have safety sides which may be raised and lowered smoothly was to eliminate objectionable jarring vibrations of the support'during raising and lowering of the safety side. The noncocking and non-jamming cooperation between the safety side and the guides therefor contributes substantially to the smooth operation, as does the inclined direction of movement of the safety side.

In FIG. 1 of the drawing a fragmentary portion of a support such as a portion of a hospital stretcher cart frame 15 and patient cushioning pad 15 supported thereon are shown in relation to safety side 20, side rail guides 40 and latch 53.

The safety side 20 shown in FIG. 1 has a rim comprising upper rim portion 21 and lower rim portion 22 joined together in complementary relation by aligning plugs 27 to which they are respectively secured by

pins

28, 29.

Cross members

23, 24, 25, and 26 are each supported in parallel relation by and co-operate with

rim portions

21 and 22, which they intersect at an acute angle Y.

Rim portions

21 and 22 of the safety side shown in the drawing may be fabricated from cylindrical metal tubing, for example, welded steel tubing, while cross

members

23, 24, 25 and 26 are lengths of similar tubing of smaller diameter. Spaced apertures are provided at predetermined locations in

rim portions

21 and 22, each adapted to co-operatively receive a portion of a

respective cross member

23, 24, 25, or 26. The cross member receiving apertures are of a size and shape as will result in tight binding engagement between rim and cross members when the safety side is in the assembled condition shown in FIG. 1. When cross members are cylindrical, as are

members

23, 24, 25, and 26, shown, the apertures may be cross member 24, which line 39 intersects at the surface of the rim portion 21. The magnitude of the angle X included between lines 34) and 31 is selected so that the aperture cut by the drill will be large enough to permit easy insertion of the end portion of a cross member such as 24, when its axis or center line 31 nearly coincides with the drilling axis 39, but which is small enough that cross member 24 will bind tightly in non-rattling relation to rim portion 21 when it is swung to the relative position in which it is shown in FIG. 1. The other cross member receiving apertures in rim portion 21 are drilled in like manner with the drill bit advancing along lines parallel and corresponding to line 30. The cross member receiving apertures in rim portion 22, are preferably drilled in like manner, but with the drill bit advancing along lines parallel to line 39, but corresponding to line 32 which is parallel to, spaced from, and not in co-linear relation to line 30.

Cross members

23, 24, 25, and 26 are inserted into co-operating relation to

rim portions

21 and 22 when those parts are in relative positions such that

lines

30, 31 and 32 coincide. Thereafter, rim portion 21 is shifted toward the left, relative to portion 22 as viewed in FIG. 1, into the relative relation in which the

rim portions

21, 22 are shown in'FIG. l and secured by plugs 27 and

pins

28, 29. The apertures in

rim portions

21, 22 may, as explained above, be made by drilling or in any other manner in which apertures of such nature may be provided.

A pair of side rail guides 40 are provided in co-operating relation to

respective cross-members

23, 25 and are adapted to cooperate with frame to mount safety side in operative relation to the device for supporting a human. Each side rail guide 40, as shown in FIG. 2, has a rigid, tubular frame 41, secured in integral relation to radially projecting mounting stud 4 2, as by weld metal 43. Stud 42 is adapted to extend through spacer 37, clearance aperture 38 in frame 15, and into threaded cooperation with nut 39. That is, threads 44 on stud 42 co-operate with the threads of nut 39. Spacer 37 is thus clamped between adjacent portions of frame 15 and guide frame 41. Frame 41 is an elongated tubular member in which inwardly facing annular grooves 45, 46 are provided. Grooves 45, 46 are respectively located adjacent the mouths or ends 47, 48 of frame 41 and are adapted to receive bearing rings 49, 50. Bearing rings 49, 59 are supported in grooves 45, 46 in aligned relation for closely conforming to the surface of the cross member, such as 25, co-operating therewith. The

bearing rings

49, 58 are preferably made of a bearing material which requires little or no lubrication, is resistant to substances to which it may be exposed when in use, and which tends to deaden or reduce noises produced by sliding or shifting of the cross member, such as 25, therein. I have found that hearing rings of synthetic resin type bearing materials such as nylon, tetrafiuoroethylene polymers known as Teflon and similar materials are quite satisfactory. As shown in FIG. 2, bearing ring 49, 50 may be of splitring form which eases installation in the grooves 45, 46 of frame 41 and minimizes the chance of damage to the bearing rings during installation. The bearing rings 49, 50 project radially inwardly from grooves 45, 46 and thus co-operate with and support a cross member such as in spaced relation to frame 41 through which the cross member extends.

Resilient bumper rings

51, 52 of rubber-like material, are secured respectively to the end faces 47, 43 of frame 41 by a suitable adhesive cement.

The side rail guides are preferably placed in co-operative relation to the

respective cross members

23 and 25 between

rim portions

21 and 22 incident to assembly of the safety side 20. a

The side rail guides 40 and safety side 20, when so assembled, form a unit readily securable to a support.

A pair of appropriately spaced clearance holes 38 are provided in frame 15 for stud portions 4-2. A spacer 37 is provided annularly of stud 42 between frame 15 and side rail guide frame 41 as shown in FIG. 2. Nut 39 cooperates With frame 15 and the threads 44 of stud 42 so that each of the side rail guides 40 is firmly secured to frame 15.

When the side rail guides 49 are in cooperative relation to frame 15 and

cross members

23, 25 of safety side 20 (as shown in FIG. 1), they support the safety side 20 for movement between limits of a range of travel indicated by arrow T in FIG. 1 and in a direction

parallelto cross members

23 and 25. The limit lowered or retracted position is shown in full lines in FIG. 1, and in that position upper rim portion 21 is in co-operative abutment with bumper rings 52. The opposite limit of movement of safety side 20 corresponds to the raised or operative position of that safety side with reference to the human support and is indicated in FIG. 1 by dot-dot-dash lines. In the raised operative position, lower rim portion 22 of safety side 20 is in abutment with resilient bumper rings 51 of the side rail guides 40. A latch 53 is provided for securing safety side 20 in the raised operative position.

The latch 53 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, has a bracket or base 54 adapted to be secured by screws 55 to a portion of the-frame 15 of the human supporting device. Clamp shoe 56 is pivotally secured to bracket 54 by pin 57 and to clamp handle 58 by pin 59. A link 60 is pivotally secured to bracket 54 by pin 61 and to clamp handle 58 by pin 62. When clamp handle 58 is swung in counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, clamp shoe 56 is retracted as it swings counter-clockwise about pin 57 and link 60 swings clockwise about pin 61. When the latch 53 is in the advanced or safety side securing position shown in FIG. 3, clamp handle 53 and clamp link 66 co-operate as a locked toggle linkage bracing clamp shoe 56 so its face 63 engages rim portion 22 and urges the same upwardly and outwardly to stress safety side 20 into firm, non-rattling co-operation with resilient bumper ring 51 and the bearing rings 49, 50 of associated side rail guides 40 co-operating with said safety side 20 and frame 15.

Having'thus described what presently appears to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains, that various modifications and changes may be made in the illustrative embodiment, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

Therefore, what is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of making a safety side including the steps of providing two complementary rim-forming portions, providing a plurality of cross-members, providing for each cross-member a pair of cross-member receiving apertures, one aperture of each pair of cross-member receiving apertures being provided in each of said rim-forming portions, each pair of said apertures being for receiving portions of a respective cross-member and being nonaligned when said rim forming portions are in rim forming relation, inserting respective end'portions of said crossmembers in respective cross-member receiving apertures provided in said rim-forming portions while said rim forming portions are in non-rim forming relation with said pairs of cross member receiving apertures in aligning relation to stress said rim-forming and cross members,

and securing said rim-forming members in rim-forming relation, whereby a safety side having parallel cross-members in non-perpendicular relation to said rim-forming members may be made.

2. The method of making a safety side, which consists in providing a pair of parallel apertures of predetermined cross-section and extending transversely and outwardly into generally opposite portions of a rim, inserting respective end portions of a cross-member of like predetermined cross-section in said apertures while they are in alignment, shifting the rim portions into rim forming relation while pivoting said cross-member relative to said rim portions and coupling said rim portions in rim forming relation in which the apertures are in a non-aligned relation in which the cross-member and rim portions are mutually stressed in nonpermanently distorted rattle-free relation.

3. The method of making a safety side, which consists in providing a plurality of pairs of parallel apertures of predetermined cross-section and extending transversely and outwardly into generally opposite portions of a rim, inserting respective end portions of a respective crossmember of like predetermined cross-section in each respective pair of said apertures while they are in alignment, shifting the rim portions into rim forming relation while pivoting said cross-members relative to said rim portions and coupling said rim portions in rim forming relation in which each of said pairs of apertures are in a non-aligned relation in which the cross-member therein and rim portions are mutually stressed in nonpermanently distorted rattle-free relation.

4. The method ofmaking a safety side, which consists in providing a plurality of rim portions having a pair of parallel apertures of predetermined cross-section and extending transversely and outwardly into generally opposite portions thereof, inserting respective end portions of a cross-member of like predetermined cross-section in 8 said apertures While they are in alignment, shifting the rim portions into rim forming relation while pivoting said cross-member relative to said rim portions and coupling said rim portions in rim forming relation in which the apertures are in a non-aligned relation in which the crossmember and rim portions are mutually stressed in nonpermanently distorted rattle-free relation.

5. The method of making a safety side, which consists in providing a plurality of rim portions having a plurality of pairs of parallel apertures of predetermined crosssection and extending transversely and outwardly into generally opposite portions thereof, inserting respective end portions of a respective cross-member of like predetermined cross-section in such respective pair of said apertures while they are in alignment, shifting the rim portions into rim forming relation while pivoting said cross-members relative to said rim portions and coupling said rim portions in rim forming relation in which each of said pairs of apertures are in a non-aligned relation in which the cross-member therein and rim portions are mutually stressed in non-premanently distorted rattle-free relation.

6. The method of making a safety side which consists in providing a pair of complementary rim forming hollow members, providing a cross-member of predetermined cross-section, advancing an aperture forming member into each said rim forming member to provide an aperture at a predetermined location therein and of predetermined shape related to the cross-section of said crossmember, inserting respective end portions of said crossmember into said apertures while said apertures are aligned when said rim forming members are displaced from rim forming relation, shifting said rim forming members into rim forming relation and simultaneously pivoting said cross-member relative to said rim forming members and thereby mutually stressing said rim forming members and cross-member by distorting same within the elastic limits thereof and securing said rim members in rim-forming relation while said apertures are in a nonaligned relation in which the cross-member and rim members are mutually stressed in non-permanently distorted rattle-free relation to provide a rattlefree safety side. 7

7. The method of making a safety side which consists in providing a pair of complementary rim forming members, providing a cross-member of predetermined crosssection, advancing an aperture forming member into each said rim forming member to provide an aperture at a predetermined location therein and of predetermined shape related to the cross-section of said cross-member, inserting respective end portions of said cross-member into said apertures when said rim forming members are displaced from rim forming relation and said apertures are in alignment shifting said rim forming members into rim forming relation and simultaneously pivoting said cross-member relative to said rim forming members and thereby mutually stressing said rim forming members and cross-member by distorting same within the elastic limits thereof and securing said rim members in rim forming relation while said apertures are in a non-aligned relation in which the cross-member and rim members are mutually stressed in nonpermanently distorted rattlefree relation to provide a rattle-free safety side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

CHARLIE T. MOON, Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,197,852 August 3, 1965 Philip C. Johnson that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 5, line 14, for "such" read each Signed and sealed this 1st day of February 1966.

EAL)

NEST W. SWIDER Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. THE METHOD OF MAKING A SAFETY SIDE INCLUDING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING TWO COMPLEMENTARY RIM-FORMING PORTIONS, PROVIDING A PLURALITY OF CROSS-MEMBERS, PROVIDING FOR EACH CROSS-MEMBER A PAIR OF CROSS-MEMBER, PROVIDING APERTURES, ONE APERTURE OF EACH PAIR OF CROSS-MEMBER RECEIVING APERTURES BEING PROVIDED IN EACH OF SAID RIM-FORMING PORTIONS, EACH PAIR OF SAID APERTURES BEING FOR RECEIVING PORTIONS OF A RESPECTIVE CROSS-MEMBER AND BEING NONALIGNED WHEN SAID RIM FORMING PORTIONS ARE IN RIM FORMING RELATION, INSERTING RESPECTIVE END PORTIONS OF SAID CROSSMEMBERS IN RESPECTIVE CROSS-MEMBER RECEIVING APERTURES PROVIDED IN SAID RIM-FORMING PORTIONS WHILE SAID RIM FORMING PORTIONS ARE IN NON-RIM FORMING RELATION WITH SAID PAIRS OF CROSS MEMBER RECEIVING APERTURES IN ALIGNMENT, SHIFTING SAID RIM-FORMING PORTIONS INTO RIM-FORMING RELATION TO STRESS SAID RIM-FORMING AND CROSS MEMBERS, AND SECURING SAID RIM-FORMING MEMBERS IN RIM-FORMING RELATION, WHEREBY A SAFETY SIDE HAVING PARALLEL CROSS-MEMBERS IN NON-PERPENDICULAR RELATION TO SAID RIM-FORMING MEMBERS MAY BE MADE.