GB2247167A - Examination couch - Google Patents

Abstract

An adjustable examination couch for use in a doctor's surgery comprises a base 10 and two pairs of pivotable legs 11, 12 which connect a support 18 to the base 10. Cushions 23, 24 are fitted to the support 18, and a handle 22 is provided which adjusts a lever assembly 21 which pivots the legs 11, 12 to the support 18, thereby adjusting the height of the support 18 above the base 10. <IMAGE>

Description

Examination Couch This invention relates to an examination couch and more particularly to an adjustable examination couch for use in a doctors' surgery or the like.

Known couches can be lowered towards the ground to allow the patient to get onto the couch before it is-raised.

To raise the couch to a suitable level, the doctor pumps a foot pedal connected to a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder jack. To lower the patient back to the ground, a second pedal is pressed which releases the pressure in the cylinder and the couch moves towards the ground under the force of gravity. These couches are very reliable and robust, but are expensive to purchase. In the event of a fault with the lifting mechanism, the resulting repair can be very expensive.

I have now devised an examination couch with a mechanical lifting mechanism, which is cheap to manufacture and repair.

In accordance with this invention there is provided a couch comprising a base, a support mounted to the base by a lever assembly, a shaft coupled to the lever assembly, and a means for turning the shaft to actuate the lever assembly for raising or lowering the support relative to the base.

A crank handle may be provided for turning the shaft by hand. Alternatively an electric motor may be provided to turn the shaft.

Preferably the lever assembly comprises two pairs of legs pivotally mounted at one end to the base, and at their other end to the support.

Preferably a linkage interconnects the two pairs of legs.

Preferably the shaft is connected to a pair of opposite corners of a parallelogram assembly, and is externally screw threaded. An internally screw threaded collar is provided at one corner of the parallelogram assembly and the other corner is preferably rotatably fixed to the shaft.

Preferably the other pair of opposite corners of the parallelogram are pivotally fixed to the support and legs respectively.

Preferably the distance between opposite corners of the parallelogram changes when the shaft is rotated thereby pivoting the legs with respect to the support and the base.

Preferably the support comprises a large flat cushion and a smaller cushion hinged to it at one end. A movable stay is preferably provided on the underside of the support to keep the smaller cushion at an angle to the larger cushion.

In a further embodiment the linkage between the two pairs of legs may be separable to allow the raising or lowering of one end of the bed only.

An embodiment of this invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a simplified perspective view of an examination couch in accordance with this invention, shown in the raised position; FIGURE 2 is a simplifed perspective view of the couch of Figure 1, shown in the lowered position; and FIGURE 3 is a side view to show the couch of Figure 1 in more detail.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings there is shown an embodiment of examination couch comprising a rectangular base 10 having a foot at each corner. Two pairs of pivotable legs 11, 12 are mounted at opposite ends of the base 10. Each pair of legs 12 or 11 comprises two uprights interconnected by a cross bar 14 or 15.

A perpendicular bar 17 extends outwardly from the mid-way point of the cross bar 15 of the pair of legs 11. A similar perpendicular bar 16 extends both outwardly and inwardly from the crossbar 14 of the other pair of legs 12.

An elongate interconnecting bar 13 is pivoted at each of its ends to the free ends of the perpendicular bars 16, 17.

The couch further comprises a support which has a frame 18 which is pivotally attached at each of its corners to respective ones of the pivotable legs. An adjustable parallelogram assembly 21 has a pair of opposite corners, one of which is pivotally attached to the outwardly projecting perpendicular arm 16, at its end 26, the other being pivotally attached to the underside of the frame 18 of the support at a position between the pair of legs 12. An externally threaded shaft 25 interconnects the other two corners 19, 20 of the parallelogram 21. Each side of the parallelogram assembly 21 is hinged to its adjacent sides at each end. The shaft 25 is rotatably fixed at the corner 19, whilst the opposite corner 20 comprises an internally threaded collar disposed on the shaft 25. A crank handle 22 is shown fitted to the shaft 25.

The support comprises a rectangular elongate cushion 23 horizontally mounted to its base 18. A smaller square cushion 24 is hinged to an end of the rectangular cushion 23 and has an adjustable stay 28 mounted to its underside.

In use the couch can be lowered from its raised position of Figure 1 to its lowered position of Figure 2 by rotating the shaft 25 using the crank handle 22, alternatively an electric motor (not shown) may be directly fixed or geared to the shaft 25. When raised the pivotable legs 11, 12 are held in the vertical position by the parallelogram assembly 21 forming a fixed link between the support frame 18 and the end 26 of the perpendicular bar 16. In this position the parallelogram assembly 21 has its opposite corners 19, 20 drawn together and its other corners spaced apart to rigidly support the couch.

To lower the couch, the handle 22 is turned, and the collar fixed at a corner 20 of the parallelogram assembly moves outwardly causing the assembly 21 to fold along its horizontal axis. This action causes the end 26 of the perpendicular bar 16 and the frame 18 to move towards each other, thereby pivoting both pairs of legs 11, 12. The interconnecting bar 13 ensures that the support remains parallel to the ground.

Once the bar 16 is almost vertical the legs 11, 12 hit stops (not shown) to prevent the couch from being lowered too far.

The square cushion 24 is pivotally attached to an end of the larger cushion 23, and can be raised to form a backrest. A toothed stay 28 is used to hold the cushion 24 at the desired angle.

Figure 3 is a side view of the actual bed, and like parts are given like reference numerals. The parallelogram assembly 21 is housed in a casing 30. An aperture 31 is cut in the casing at each side (one side only shown) and the shaft 25 extends through the aperture 31. Markings 32 may be provided to show the direction in which the shaft 25 has to be rotated to raise or lower the couch. The handle may be removed and fitted to the other end of the shaft 25 on the other side of the couch if desired.

In use in the example shown, the couch may be lowered in direction L by rotating the shaft 25 anticlockwise.

Claims (12)

Claims

1) A couch comprising a base, a support mounted to the base by a lever assembly, a shaft coupled to the lever assembly, and means for turning the shaft to actuate the lever assembly for raising or lowering the support relative to the base.

2) A couch as claimed in claim 1 comprising a crank handle for turning the shaft by hand.

3) A couch as claimed in claim 1 or 2 comprising an electric motor for turning the shaft.

4) A couch as claimed in any preceding claim in which the lever assembly comprises two pairs of legs pivotally mounted at one end to the base, and at the other end to the support.

5) A couch as claimed in claim 4 in which a linkage interconnects the two pairs of legs.

6) A couch as claimed in claim 5 in which the linkage is separable to allow the raising or lowering of one end of the bed only.

7) A couch as claimed in any preceding claim in which the shaft is connected to a pair of opposite corners of parallelogram assembly and is externally screw threaded.

8) A couch as claimed in claim 6 in which an internally screw threaded collar is provided at one corner of the parallelogram assembly and the opposite corner is preferably rotatably fixed to the shaft.

9) A couch as claimed in claim 6 in which the distance between said opposite corners of the parallelogram changes when the shaft is rotated thereby pivoting the legs with respect to the support base.

10) A couch as claimed in any preceding claim in which the support comprises a large flat cushion and a smaller cushion hinged to it at one end.

11) A couch as claimed in claim 9 in which a moveable stay is provided on the underside of the support to keep the smaller cushion at an angle to the larger cushion.

12) A couch as substantially described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.