초록 ▼

A thin flexible film bag, oriented horizontally or integral therewith and preferably bearing an absorbent material chuck on its upper wall, forms a plenum chamber. A lower wall underlying the chuck and including small diameter perforations to create an air bearing for supporting the patient mover. T

A thin flexible film bag, oriented horizontally or integral therewith and preferably bearing an absorbent material chuck on its upper wall, forms a plenum chamber. A lower wall underlying the chuck and including small diameter perforations to create an air bearing for supporting the patient mover. The patient borne thereby lies on the chuck, some distance from an underlying fixed planar support surface. This permits the patient to be readily moved in a frictionless manner when air under pressure fills the plenum chamber and escapes through the perforations. Air enters the plenum chamber through an outer tube of thin, flexible material. Paired, opposed, flat and less flexible tongues define a short inner tube, being positioned within the outer tube, to permit airflow entry to the plenum chamber with the tongues being deflected away from each other. The tongues are pressed against each other and one side of the outer tube wall, due to elastic memory, to prevent air escape from the chamber at that point. The patient mover includes features of controlled pillowing, use of a generally rigid backing member underlying the load, and air dispersion throughout the chamber to insure jacking of the patient during pressurization of the plenum chamber.

대표청구항 ▼

A low-cost, disposable patient mover of the air-bearing type for minimal friction movement of a medical patient supported by a generally rigid planar backing member over an underlying generally planar fixed support surface, said patient mover including top and bottom walls at least partially definin

A low-cost, disposable patient mover of the air-bearing type for minimal friction movement of a medical patient supported by a generally rigid planar backing member over an underlying generally planar fixed support surface, said patient mover including top and bottom walls at least partially defining a plenum chamber, at least said bottom wall being formed of thin flexible material, said bottom wall including a portion bearing small diameter perforations with the perforations opening into the plenum chamber, air dispersion means carried by the patient mover for insuring airflow thorughout the chamber when the patient mover is under load at the time of air pressurization of the plenum chamber, means for controlling pillowing of the flexible material to permit jacking of the backing member and the medical patient sufficient to permit the patient mover to accommodate surface irregularities for both the load support surface and the backing member while preventing ballooning of the flexible material, air inlet means provided to the chamber for permitting air pressurization of the chamber for jacking the load and for subsequent discharge through said perforations to create an air film between the bottom wall and the fixed support surface, said air inlet means comprising at least one outer tube formed of thin flexible material and an inner tube mounted coaxially within the outer tube and comprised of opposed, flexible tongues having a flexibility less than that of the thin flexible material forming said outer tube and being sealed on the outer surface of opposed inner tube portions to said outer tube at the ends remote from the plenum chamber and with the ends proximate to the plenum chamber being free of each other and from said outer tube, and wherein said tongues have an elastic memory such that during air entry into the plenum chamber through the inner and outer tubes, the tongues take the curved configuration of the outer tube and are separated from each other and in contact with said outer tube end, subsequently, after pressurization of the plenum chamber, air tending to escape through said inlet means causes the tongues to move into sealing contact with each other, away from one side of the outer tube and to press against the other side of the outer tube to thereby close off said inlet means.