WO2011048372A1

WO2011048372A1 - Bed with in - built toilet facility

Info

Publication number: WO2011048372A1
Application number: PCT/GB2010/001948
Authority: WO
Inventors: Enda Thomas
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-10-20
Filing date: 2010-10-20
Publication date: 2011-04-28
Anticipated expiration: 2012-04-20
Also published as: GB2474772A; GB201017730D0; GB2474772B

Abstract

A bed has a frame and a mattress mounted on the frame, and is provided with an in-built toilet facility. The toilet facility is mounted in a unit movable along rails associated with the frame from a stowed condition beneath the frame to an operative position alongside the bed. The unit includes a housing. A toilet seat is mounted on the top of the housing. A mount allows a removable receptacle to be disposed beneath the toilet seat within the housing for collection of human waste products. The bed is adapted for controlled raising and lowering of the frame and of the mattress located thereon at least between a first mattress height in which the toilet facility is in its stowed position and a second mattress height at which a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the mattress on to the toilet seat when the unit is in its operative position for use of the toilet facility.

Description

BED WITH IN - BUILT TOILET FACILITY

Background

This disclosure relates to beds. More particularly it relates to beds suitable for use by the elderly or infirm, for example, but not necessarily, in a hospital or care-home environment.

One of the greatest problems encountered by the elderly or infirm in a care-home or by anyone temporarily institutionalised in hospital is the lack of privacy associated with the need to perform the basic human functions of passing biological waste products. Those who are able to walk may need to call for assistance to guide them to a lavatory, and - in some cases - on to a toilet seat and then back on to their feet, before being guided back to bed. Those who cannot walk even with assistance must call for a bed-pan or bottle that they can use in bed, and, in the case of a bed-pan, be lifted on to and off the pan. Delay in assistance arriving may result in accidental soiling of the bed. The whole process, which must be repeated several times a day, is both distasteful for all concerned and lacking in dignity for the user of the bed. In a hospital or care-home, a disproportionate amount of staff time is devoted to the management of these basic human functions for inmates.

The present disclosure seeks to address these problems.

Summary

In accordance with a first aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a bed having a frame and a mattress mounted on the frame, and being provided with an in-built toilet facility; the toilet facility being mounted in a unit movable along rails associated with the frame from a stowed condition beneath the frame to an operative position alongside the bed; the unit including a housing, a toilet seat mounted on the top of the housing, and a mount within the housing for a removable receptacle arranged to be disposed beneath the toilet seat for collection of human waste products; the bed being adapted for controlled raising and lowering of the frame and of the mattress located thereon at least between a first mattress height in which the toilet facility is in its stowed position and a second mattress height at which a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the mattress on to the toilet seat when the unit is in its operative position for use of the toilet facility.

Preferred embodiments of bed have one or more of the following features: The housing of the unit is provided with wheels to aid movement from its stowed condition to its operative position, and there are a plurality of first mattress heights with the unit in its stowed condition, the lowest of which comprises the minimum operative mattress height in use of the bed, the wheels reaching the floor at the minimum operative mattress height. The housing has side walls defining a plurality of vertical slots with fixings extending through said slots and being slidable therein, the fixings being coupled to respective struts alongside each side wall, the struts being slidable telescopically along rails fixedly mounted to the underside of the frame as the unit moves between its stowed condition and its operative position, and the fixings occupying positions at the vertical tops of the slots at the minimum operative mattress height. The bed has mattress heights which are lower than the said minimum operative mattress height, including the said second mattress height which is slightly above the height of the toilet seat in the operative position of the unit, and a third mattress height lower than the second at which, after use of the toilet facility, a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the toilet seat on to the mattress at a slightly lower level than the height of the toilet seat in the operative position of the unit. Raising and lowering of the frame and movement of the unit between its stowed condition and its operative condition is by means of electrically operated actuators provided with a control system including a handset manually controllable by a user of the bed, and the toilet seat is provided with a pivotable toilet lid, the unit including a proximity switch coupled to the control system, the proximity switch being disabled when the toilet lid is open, whereby movement of the unit is prevented when the toilet lid is open. The unit includes electronically controlled bidet facilities, the unit mounting a water supply and being provided with a water nozzle below the toilet seat adapted to provide a stream of water from the water supply when required. The removable receptacle comprises a sealable waste disposal bag, and wherein the unit includes a mechanism for closing and sealing a said bag after use.

In a second and alternative aspect of this disclosure, a method for use of a toilet facility built into a bed of the kind useable in a hospital or care-home and having a frame provided with an electrically controlled raising and lowering mechanism comprises the steps, in order, of: lowering the frame, if not already there, to its minimum operative mattress height in use of the bed; moving the toilet facility contained in a unit stowed beneath the frame to an operative position alongside the bed, the unit having a housing with a toilet seat on the top of the housing and a mount within the housing for a removable receptacle arranged to be disposed beneath the toilet seat for collection of human waste products; lowering the frame to a second position at which a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the mattress on to the toilet seat for use of the toilet facility; returning the frame to said minimum operative mattress height after use of the toilet facilities and return of the user to the bed; moving the unit back to its stowed condition; and optionally raising the bed to a selected position above said minimum operative mattress height.

Preferably, the height of the mattress in said second position is slightly higher than the height of the toilet seat, and the method includes the additional step, before return of the frame to said minimum operative mattress height, of lowering the frame to a third mattress height slightly lower than the height of the toilet seat to facilitate sliding of a user of the bed across from the toilet seat and back on to the mattress.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Reference may now be made to the description of preferred embodiments by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a generally schematic perspective view of a care-bed provided with an in-built toilet facility in stowed condition and in a normal raised condition of the bed;

Fig. 2 shows a similar view of the bed of Fig. 1 with its frame lowered to its minimum operative mattress height in use of the bed;

Fig. 3 shows a similar view of the bed of Fig. 1 with its toilet facility moved from the position shown in Fig. 2 to an operative position alongside the bed;

Fig. 4 shows a similar view to Fig. 3 with the bed frame lowered to a second height below the minimum operative mattress height;

Fig. 5 shows a similar view to Fig. 4 with the bed lowered to a third height below the second;

Fig. 6 shows a view similar to Fig. 3 for an alternative embodiment; Fig. 7 shows a view similar to Fig. 6 with a cleansing nozzle protruding into its operative position;

Fig. 8 shows a scrap view of a portion of the top of the housing of a toilet facility unit with a toilet seat and toilet lid in open position;

Fig. 9 shows a flow diagram for use of the toilet facility of an embodiment of bed; and

Fig. 10 shows a plan view of a suitable handset for controlling operation of the bed.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

Referring first to Fig. 1, a bed 1 of the kind employed in care-homes and hospitals is illustrated schematically, and comprises a bed frame 2 that may be raised or lowered relative to a wheeled chassis, here comprising two separate wheeled units 3 each comprising an upright 4 and a crossbar 5 mounting a wheel 6 at each end. A mattress 7 is supported by the frame. It will be understood that the basic structure of the bed may take many various forms and that the form illustrated is for ease of illustration. Thus while the bed frame 2 is shown solid, for ease of illustration, it will usually be formed in open tubular form. The frame 2 may be formed in a form commonly used for hospital and care-home beds with a first basic framework including the head and foot of the bed and a movable subsidiary frame mounted on the basic framework and movable by electrical actuators under control of a handset to provide Back-Rest up/Down and Knee-Break Up/Down facilities. The wheels 6, again shown schematically, will usually take the form of castors. Such beds typically have a range of working heights for the sleeping platform of between a minimum operative mattress height for use of the bed of 450mm and a maximum of 700mm.

The bed 1 is provided with an in-built toilet facility in the form of a unit 8 mounted on rails 9 beneath the frame 2. At the minimum operative mattress height (Fig. 2), unit 8, the housing 10, of which, is mounted on wheels 1 1, rests on the floor. At raised positions, such as shown in Fig. 1 , the wheels 1 1 will be off the ground.

Housing 10 has a top 12 in which is mounted a toilet seat schematically shown at 13. Beneath the toilet seat 13 is a mount (not shown in the drawings) within the housing 10 for a removable receptacle arranged to be disposed beneath the toilet seat for collection of human waste products. The receptacle may be a disposable pan or washable bucket or basin of a commode-type toilet. Most preferably, the receptacle is a waste disposal bag, and the mount comprises a mounting cradle for the bag. Reference may be made to my British Patent Application No: 1017012.4 (Publication No: ), the disclosure of which is to be regarded as incorporated herein, which describes and claims embodiments of sanitary apparatus that may be employed as a unit 8, and to my British Patent Application No: 1017007.4 (Publication No: ), the disclosure of which is also to be regarded as incorporated herein, which describes and claims preferred embodiments of bag that may be used in the said sanitary apparatus.

Housing 10 also has side walls 14 in which there are a plurality of vertical through slots 15. Fixings extend through theses slots and are slidable therein, the fixings being coupled to respective struts 16 alongside each side wall 14, and the struts being slidable telescopically along rails 17 fixedly mounted to the underside of the frame 2 as the unit 8 moves between its stowed condition and its operative position. It will be appreciate that in raised positions of the bed frame, the unit 8 is suspended by the struts and rails from the underside of the frame.

When a user wishes to make use of the toilet facilities, the frame 2 is lowered until the wheels 1 1 reach the floor (Fig. 2). Electric actuators move the struts 16 along rails 17 until the unit 8 reaches its operative position (Fig. 3). The bed frame 2 is then lowered to a second position (Fig. 4) below the minimum operative mattress height at which a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the mattress on to the toilet seat for use of the toilet facility. If this second position has the mattress height level with the height of the toilet seat, the user may be able to slide back on to the mattress after using the toilet facility. However, since it easier to slide downhill from one to the other, especially if the user is weak, the second position has a mattress height which is slightly above the height of the toilet seat. To enable the user to slide back on to the mattress after use of the toilet facility, the bed must then be lowered to a third position (Fig. 5) below the second position, in which the mattress height is slightly below the height of the toilet facility. Even when a user is weak, they can readily slide from one to the other downhill in this way, especially if they can use a raised headrest of the frame for support. After use of the toilet facility and return to the bed, a disposable bag, if used may be automatically sealed, the bed raised to the minimum operative mattress height, and the unit moved back under the frame, which may then optionally be raised again to any desired height.

Thus, by use of electric actuators controlled by a handset, the user can raise and lower the bed frame at will, cause the toilet facility unit to move to its operative position and be stowed again after use, adjust the height of the mattress relative to the toilet seat to facilitate sliding on to the toilet sea and return to the bed, and seal their waste and used toilet paper in a disposable bag for removal and disposal at a later time; and, moreover, they can achieve all of this in the privacy of their room without any need to call for urgent assistance of a nurse or carer, thereby preserving their dignity.

As there is no provision for the user to wash their hands, a bidet facility may be incorporated into the unit 8, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, making it unnecessary for the user to employ toilet paper and so reducing or eliminating the need to wash their hands after using the toilet facility. Self contained electronically controlled bidet units 18 incorporated into a toilet seat 19, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, are readily available on the market and can simply be fitted in place of an ordinary toilet seat, requiring only a source of power and a water supply. A supply of water may be provided within housing 10 and pumped to the bidet unit 18 when required. Typical such bidet units are available under the Tradename Elite EB-800™ from Elite Bidet of Algonquin, Illinois 60102, USA or under the Tradename CoCo 6235™ from Bio Life Technologies of Enid, Oklahoma 73701, USA. A press-button control 20 mounted alongside the toilet seat 19 can select either posterior or feminine wash jets from a nozzle 21 moved into position when required. These units also provided heated drying air.

Although not shown in Figs. 1 to 7 for ease of illustration, the toilet seat will usually be provided with a pivotable toilet lid. The scrap view of Fig. 8 shows both the toilet lid 22 and seat 23 raised. Both are pivotally mounted for rotation about the axis of a tubular rail 24 fixed by end fittings 25 (only one shown) to the top 12 of housing 10. Boss 26 of the lid 22 carries a small magnet 27 which, when the seat is lowered and the lid is closed, comes into proximity with a reed switch 28. Reed switch 28 is connected in the control circuitry for the electric actuators that control movement of unit 8. When the toilet lid is open, reed switch 28 is opened to disable the control circuit for unit 8, whereby movement of the unit 8 is prevented when the toilet lid is open. Operation of the bed raising/lowering mechanism for raising of the bed frame remains disabled until unit 8 has returned to its stowed position.

Turning now to Figs. 9 and 10, operation of the toilet facility can readily be integrated into a handset providing conventional controls for operation of the bed. Thus, handset 29 has conventional buttons 30, 31 and 32 for controlling the conventional raising and lowering of the bed frame, for conventional raising and lowering of a backrest, and for conventional raising and lowering of a knee break.

In order for the occupant of the bed to use the toilet facility, the bed frame is lowered by pressing the lower side 33 of button 30 in step 34 (Fig. 9). Lowering will stop when the bed reaches its minimum operative mattress height in use of the bed, namely when the wheels of unit 8 reach the floor. Pressing the "Toilet Out" side 35 of toilet button 36 on the handset will energise its actuator to cause unit 8 to move to its operative position alongside the bed in step 37. Pressing lower side 33 of button 30 again in step 38 will lower the bed further to a position where it stops automatically at a position in which the user may readily slide across from the mattress to the toilet seat, after raising the toilet lid manually. The user passes biological waste products in step 39. Following such use of the toilet facility, the user slides back to the mattress if the embodiment is one in which the position reached after step 38 has mattress and toilet seat level. Alternatively, if the height of the mattress in this position is slightly higher than the height of the toilet seat, so that the user is travelling downhill when sliding on to the toilet seat, the lower side 33 of button 30 is pressed again before the user slides back to the mattress to lower the mattress height again until it stops automatically at a position slightly lower than the height of the toilet seat, so that the user is again travelling downhill when sliding back from the toilet seat to the mattress. After return to the mattress, the user presses button 40 in step 41 to operate the internal mechanism in the housing to seal a waste disposal bag in which the user's biological waste products were collected. Provided that the toilet lid has been closed, the "Toilet In" side 42 of toilet button 36 may be pressed to return the unit 8 to its stowed position under the bed. Thereafter, raising side 43 of button 30 may be pressed to raise the bed frame to a desired height. The handset also has an emergency stop button 44, which could be coupled to an emergency call system of the hospital or care-home for calling upon assistance. Front surface 45 (Fig. 1) of housing 10 may have a signal light 46 indicating to a nurse or carer that the toilet facility has been used and that a waste disposal bag must be removed and a fresh bag inserted in its place for the next time the user needs to make use of the facility.

Handsets for controlling bed operation are well known, so that a person of ordinary skills in this field may routinely add the additional control circuitry for the additional buttons in handset 29 to conventional such control circuitry without further teaching being required.

Claims

1. A bed having a frame and a mattress mounted on the frame, and being provided with an in-built toilet facility; the toilet facility being mounted in a unit movable along rails associated with the frame from a stowed condition beneath the frame to an operative position alongside the bed; the unit including a housing, a toilet seat mounted on the top of the housing, and a mount within the housing for a removable receptacle arranged to be disposed beneath the toilet seat for collection of human waste products; the bed being adapted for controlled raising and lowering of the frame and of the mattress located thereon at least between a first mattress height in which the toilet facility is in its stowed position and a second mattress height at which a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the mattress on to the toilet seat when the unit is in its operative position for use of the toilet facility.

2. A bed according to Claim 1, wherein the housing of the unit is provided with wheels to aid movement from its stowed condition to its operative position, and wherein there are a plurality of first mattress heights with the unit in its stowed condition, the lowest of which comprises the minimum operative mattress height in use of the bed, the wheels reaching the floor at the minimum operative mattress height.

3. A bed according to Claim 2, wherein the housing has side walls defining a plurality of vertical slots with fixings extending through said slots and being slidable therein, the fixings being coupled to respective struts alongside each side wall, the struts being slidable telescopically along rails fixedly mounted to the underside of the frame as the unit moves between its stowed condition and its operative position, and the fixings occupying positions at the vertical tops of the slots at the minimum operative mattress height.

4. A bed according to Claim 2, wherein the bed has mattress heights which are lower than the said minimum operative mattress height, including the said second mattress height which is slightly above the height of the toilet seat in the operative position of the unit, and a third mattress height lower than the second at which, after use of the toilet facility, a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the toilet seat on to the mattress at a slightly lower level than the height of the toilet seat in the operative position of the unit.

5. A bed according to Claim 1, wherein raising and lowering of the frame and movement of the unit between its stowed condition and its operative condition is by means of electrically operated actuators provided with a control system including a handset manually controllable by a user of the bed, and wherein the toilet seat is provided with a pivotable toilet lid, the unit including a proximity switch coupled to the control system, the proximity switch being disabled when the toilet lid is open, whereby movement of the unit is prevented when the toilet lid is open.

6. A bed according to Claim 1 , wherein the unit includes electronically controlled bidet facilities, the unit mounting a water supply and being provided with a water nozzle below the toilet seat adapted to provide a stream of water from the water supply when required.

7. A bed according to Claim 1, wherein the removable receptacle comprises a sealable waste disposal bag, and wherein the unit includes a mechanism for closing and sealing a said bag after use.

8. A method for use of a toilet facility built into a bed of the kind useable in a hospital or care-home and having a frame provided with an electrically controlled raising and lowering mechanism, the method comprising the steps, in order, of: lowering the frame, if not already there, to its minimum operative mattress height in use of the bed; moving the toilet facility contained in a unit stowed beneath the frame to an operative position alongside the bed, the unit having a housing with a toilet seat on the top of the housing and a mount within the housing for a removable receptacle arranged to be disposed beneath the toilet seat for collection of human waste products; lowering the frame to a second position at which a user of the bed can slide themselves across from the mattress on to the toilet seat for use of the toilet facility; returning the frame to said minimum operative mattress height after use of the toilet facilities and return of the user to the bed; moving the unit back to its stowed condition; and optionally raising the bed to a selected position above said minimum operative mattress height.

9. A method according to Claim 8, wherein the height of the mattress in said second position is slightly higher than the height of the toilet seat, and wherein the method includes the additional step, before return of the frame to said minimum operative mattress height, of lowering the frame to a third mattress height slightly lower than the height of the toilet seat to facilitate sliding of a user of the bed across from the toilet seat and back on to the mattress.