VEHICLE SAID WAGON MEANT FOR MOVING AND FASTENING A STRETCHER BELONGING TO SAID TRANSPORTING VEHICLE

Invention relates to an arrangement for fastening a wagon to a transporting vehicle, such as to an ambulance car said wagon meant for moving and fastening a stretcher belonging to said transporting device which arrangement comprises a movable wagon that can be pulled at least partly out of the vehicle so that the stretcher can be loaded to it and correspondingly can be removed from it and comprises rails or alike that are located to the vehicle which rails control and limit the movement meant for the mentioned wagon.

Previously an attachment arrangement according to the above mentioned preamble is generally known solved in such a way that the rails are straight rails attached to the floor of the vehicle. However, these solutions have the disadvantage that only the horizontal movement that can be arranged to the wagon does not serve very well when the stretcher is taken out of the wagon or when the stretcher is brought to the wagon. It is also not easy to tilt the patient head downwards in the vehicle because the wagon does not offer a possibility to it. The tilt must thus be possibly performed by tilting the stretcher which is difficult because on the other hand the stretcher must be attached to the vehicle according to the regulations.

Further a movable wagon belonging to an ambulance is known from the patent specification US 1996056 A which wagon functions as a stretcher base and can be at least partly pulled out of the ambulance. Curved rails that have the size of the wagon function as the body of the wagon. Rolls that are adjusted to both rails are attached to the body of the ambulance in such a way that each rail is supported by two rolls located at a distance from each other and the rails and thus the whole wagon can move onwards and backwards while resting on the rolls. When the rails are curved, the wagon tilts due to this correspondingly when it is moving while resting on the solid rolls. The rolls must be installed to the body of the ambulance fairly close one after the other in the direction of the rail so that the wagon can be moved enough outwards and on the other hand so that the wagon would also tilt enough then. Great forces are directed to the rolls and to their attachment body when the wagon is out in an extreme position and is being loaded. When the stretcher base wagon and the rails underneath it serve as the movable parts, the movable mass increases due to this. Also the structure will gain more space because the wagon moves loosely while resting on the rails and the rails further move loosely while resting on the rolls.

When one wants to ease the bringing of the stretcher to the stretcher wagon and their removal with the patient, it is not possible to improve the handling of the stretcher easily by using the existing structures. With the attachment arrangement of the wagon meant for the stretcher according to the invention unexpected improvements can be achieved to the existing prior art and it is characteristic of the invention that each rail belonging to the vehicle is installed fixed to the vehicle and is adjusted to form a solid, curved route located at a vertical plane in the direction of motion of the wagon in such a way that each end of the rail is located lower than the center part of the rail.

The advantage of the invention is the fact that with the help of curved attachment rails meant for moving and fastening the wagon a horizontal position can be achieved for the wagon and in a limited way any tilting position in which case advantageous tilts can be achieved both for taking care of the patient and for taking and bringing the stretcher on top of the wagon. The manufacturing of the curved rails and their fastening to the vehicle is not significantly any harder than the manufacturing and fastening of the straight rails. When the rails are fixed at their place, then only the wagon is being moved. The wagon is attached to the body of the ambulance by means of only one loose connection with gaps which fact makes the installation stable.

In the following the invention is described more detailed by referring to the

accompanying drawings in which

Figure 1 shows an attachment of the stretcher base according to the invention as a side view.

Figure 2 shows a stretcher base when it is being moved outwards while resting on the rails.

Figure 3 shows the removal of the stretcher from the top of the stretcher base.

Figure 4 shows the last stage of the removal of the stretcher. In the figure 1 there is a wagon 1 attached to the floor 4 inside the vehicle with the help of the rails 3 according to the invention. The rails 3 are first attached to the floor 4 and the wagon 1 is adjusted to move along the rails 3. The rails 3 are curved with a standard radius and they are attached to the floor 4 from their ends. In order to improve the steadiness of the structure the rails 3 must be attached and supported also regarding their center part. These supports are not shown because the structure has been simplified for this illuminating example. The wagon 1 is adjusted to be movable while resting on the rails 3. Support arms 5 and 6 are attached underneath the wagon 1 which support arms comprise rolling elements 7 that are adjusted to move in the profile of the rails 3 in such a way that they must be resting on the rail 3 and cannot get out in any direction but they can move in the direction of the rail 3. When the wagon 1 is being moved it is force- controlled with the help of the rails 3 to move and tilt only in the way controlled by the curvature of the rails 3. In the figure 1 also the stretcher 2 on top of the wagon 1 is shown.

Support arms 5, 6 have most advantageously different lengths in which case the wagon rests asymmetrically on top of the rails 3. With this structure a larger angle of tilt can be gained for the wagon 1 when it is pushed out than inside the ambulance to be a angle of tilt onwards.

In the figure 2 the wagon 1 is shown when it has been moved to the outermost position in which the stretcher 2 is easy to remove from the top of the wagon 1 and easy to bring on top of the wagon 1 when the patient is lying on the stretcher. The tilt of the wagon precisely in the right direction eases the bringing of the stretcher 2 out of the vehicle and eases the fact that the stretcher 2 can be taken to be carried or to be pushed while resting on its wheels. There are control units on top of the wagon 1, such as U-formed profiles for the wheels underneath the stretcher 2 so that the movement of the stretcher occurs along them in the direction of the wagon.

Figure 3 shows how the foremost wheels of the stretcher are let down at this stage in which case they come up nearly to the ground and start to support the front of the stretcher when the stretcher is further being pulled out. In the figure 4 the stretcher 2 is brought out of the vehicle and it is possible that the backmost feet have also been turned downwards in which case the stretcher 2 is easy to take fully away from the top of the wagon 1.

When the patient is lying on the stretcher 2, the stretcher 2 is taken to the vehicle in a reverse order according to the figure 4 by lifting the rear wheels 8 of the stretcher 2 on top of the the wagon 1 and by pushing the stretcher after that on top of the the wagon and by bending at the same time the feet of the stretcher up as the stretcher 2 moves on top of the wagon 1, as the figures 3 and 2 show. The stretcher 2 can be pushed obliquely upwards on top of the wagon 1 with the patient but alternatively also an electrical pulling device can belong to the wagon 1 which pulling device pulls the stretcher 2 on top of the wagon 1.

When the stretcher and the patient are in a horizontal position on top of the base 1 according to the figure 1, the wagon 1 is locked to this position by locking the wagon to the rails 3 mechanically in some known way. The rail 3 can have for example holes at a certain distance or can have other forms at certain distances to which the wagon 1 is locked to be immobile.

If needed, the curvature of the rails 3 allows also the moving of the wagon 1 from the horizontal direction more onwards to a tilted position in such a way that with the stretcher 2 the head of the patient can be set lower. The curvature of the rails 3 and the structure of the wagon 1 are made to such that at least tilts that are at least ± 5° are achieved, most advantageously however tilts that are over ± 10°.