AU724879B2 - Reclining bed assembly - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

C. C Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Details of Associated Provisional Application(s) No(s): NIAGARA THERAPY MANUFACTURING (AUST.) PTY LIMITED Lou Franciscus Triebels

INTELLPRO

Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Level D, 308 Edward Street BRISBANE, QLD, 4000 (GPO Box 1339, BRISBANE, 4001) "Reclining Bed Assembly" Australian Patent Application No. P04179 filed 11 December 1996.

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 2 FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a reclining bed assembly and in particular but not limited to a reclining bed assembly having reclining head and foot sections.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION At present reclining bed assemblies suffer from a number of disadvantages.

Firstly, present assemblies in the main are quite heavy and have drive systems that are prone to fail due to loading of the drive. Typically, drives involve the use of screw threaded shafts which carry the burden of much of the weight of a person laying on the bed. Other drive assemblies tend to be bulky resulting in an overly high bed.

It would be desirable to provide a more compact drive assembly whereby the drive does not take the bulk of weight and weight distribution is spread more evenly to the supporting frame and where the geometry and relationship of the drive to the frame maximises the moment applied by the drive to the frame but o• 15 reduces the load on the drive.

Another problem with present beds is that when the head section is raised oooeo through an arc up to an inclined position the person sitting on the bed moves away from adjacent structures including bed lamps, dressing tables and so forth.

It would be desirable to utilise a compact drive having the abovementioned benefits whereby the drive action is translated into movement of the bed where the head end of the bed moves vertically rather than rotate through an arc so that the head section of the bed does not move away from the wall.

3 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect therefore the present invention resides in a reclining bed assembly having a base frame, a bed frame, a drive means located generally centrally of and supported by the bed frame, and having a main linkage connected to an inclinable head section having a leading edge and supported above the bed frame, the bed frame being mounted for extension and retraction on the base frame, and a retraction/extension linkage comprising at least one linkage arm having a pivotal connection to a fixed point on the base frame and the arm extending to a pivotal connection at the inclinable head section, the head section is adapted to move between a generally horizontal position and an inclined position, the drive means being positioned and connected to the main drive linkage to, when actuated, o°° force the head section to move between the horizontal position and the inclined S:position, the retraction/extension linkage and the bed frame being arranged so that ooas the head section moves to the inclined position the bed frame is retracted relative to the base frame causing the leading edge of the head section to travel in a substantially vertical plane.

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OSo° **BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and be put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings .oo* 20 which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention and wherein:- Figure 1 is a side layout view illustrating a reclining bed assembly according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating a reclining bed assembly with a shorter bed frame, and showing how the leading edge of the head section tracks an adjacent wall.

Figure 3 is a part cut-away view illustrating the frames and linkages and the relative dimensions of the pivots to achieve the vertical movement of the leading edge of the head section.

Figure 4 is a section through the C-channel guide of the base frame; and Figure 5 is a cut-away section of the fixed pivotal connection to the base frame.

10 METHOD OF PERFORMANCE 0g There is illustrated a reclining bed assembly 10 having a head section 11, a middle section 12 and a foot section 13. The head section 11 includes a base 14 mounted on a pair of spaced frames one of which is shown at 15 it being realised O•that the frame is symmetrical with the same features present on opposite sides of the bed. Figure 2 is a typical view from the opposite side. The spaced frames are pivotally connected to a bed frame 16 at pivot connection 17. The bed frame is **00 @00• mounted on rollers 18 and 19 travelling in a C-channel section base frame 20. A 0000 linkage 21 is connected to a fixed point by pivotal connection at 22 and is pivotally 0505 connected to the frame 15 at 23. A main linkage 24 is also pivotally connected to 20 the frame 15 at 25. A pair of back-to-back mounted linear drive actuators 26 include a linear drive shaft 27 and cylinder 28 pivotally connected at 29 to the main drive linkage at 24.

It will be appreciated that as the linear actuator 26 extends the head section will lower and the bed frame will move on the rollers 18 and 19 away from the wall As the base frame 20 is fixed the linkage 21 will cause the bed frame to move along the channel of the base frame 20 and the leading edge 31 will move along the line 32 maintaining its parallel position relative to the wall 30. This is shown in phantom and in solid outline in Figure 2.

The specific dimensions of the relevant parts is shown in Figure 3 it being appreciated that the relativedimensions of the links 21, 24 and their position along the frame member 15 are critical to the overall geometry. The dimensions given are in millimetres and ensure that there is actually parallel movement of the head section relative to the wall rather than the head section either projecting too far :rearwardly or projecting too far forward.

It is preferable that the linkages 21 and 24 be utilised with the specific drive illustrated because it takes advantage of the compact nature and low positioning of .o.

the drive with the actuators almost parallel to the ground. The fact that these actuators are located almost parallel to the ground means that a fairly low frame can 0e@S be utilised. Also the frame employs ramps at 33 and 34 and this ensures that the bed is supported on the ramps at four spaced points rather than directly on the linear actuators so the present invention is preferably utilised in combination with 20 the form of drive shown with the linkages translating the ramp movement of the frames to the wall hugging action of the head section. A comparison between Figures 1 and 2 shows how the inclination of the actuators has an effect on the height of the assembly. The actuators in Figure 1 are directed slightly below the horizontal being inclined upwardly to the bed ends thus enabling the actuator body 26 to be positioned lower. In this case the bed is about 70mm lower. Also the actuators push on the linkage 24 at a slightly larger angle improving weight distribution to the nylon guides 34 and 35 and also increasing the moment of the actuator applied force.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention described in the accompanying claims.

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Claims (4)

1. A reclining bed assembly having a base frame, a bed frame, a drive means located generally centrally of and being supported by the bed frame, an inclinable head section having a leading edge and is supported above the bed frame, a main drive linkage connected to the inclinable head section, the bed frame being mounted for extension and retraction on the base frame, and a retraction/extension linkage comprising at least one link arm having a pivotal connection at a fixed point on the base frame and the arm extending to a pivotal connection at the inclinable head section, the head section is adapted to move between a generally horizontal position and an inclined position, the drive means being positioned and connected 64 to the main drive linkage to, when actuated, force the head section to move between the horizontal position and the inclined position, the retraction/extension S.linkage and the bed frame being arranged so that as the head section moves to the inclined position the bed frame is retracted relative to the base frame causing the leading edge of the head section to travel in a substantially vertical plane.

2. A reclining bed assembly according to claim 1 wherein the bed frame 00 includes spaced bed frame members, the head section includes a base mounted on 001)0 a pair of spaced frames, the spaced head section frames being pivotally connected 09*0 to the respective bed frame members at respective pivot connections, the bed frame 20 being mounted on rollers, the base frame having a guide, the rollers of the bed frame travelling in the guide, the retraction/extension linkage comprising a pair of opposed linkage arms, the opposed link arms being connected to and bridging between adjacent sides of the bed frame and head section respectively. 8

3. A reclining bed assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the drive means comprises a pair of back-to-back linear drive actuators including a linear drive shaft and cylinder pivotally connected to the main drive linkage, the linear drive shafts extending at a low inclination so that the height of the bed is minimised.

4. A reclining bed assembly according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the bed assembly includes an inclinable foot section opposite the head section and the head section operates in conjunction with the inclinable foot section, the bed frame employing spaced pairs of ramps at opposite ends of the bed frame so that the head and foot sections are supported by main linkage supports, the ramps at S•four spaced points for movement of said linkage supports along the respective :0 ramps, the main linkages translating the movement along the ramps of the frames S•to the head section, and there being provided foot section drive linkages translating the movement along the ramps to the foot section. DATED this 18th day of April 2000 Oe* NIAGARA THERAPY MANUFACTURING (AUST.) PTY LIMITED By their Patent Attorneys INTELLPRO 0o• 0000