DESCRIPTION

Field of application of the invention

The present invention can be generally applied to the sector of furnishings for health care structures, hospitals, hotels, elderly care homes or community structures, and in particular it concerns a new fitted and integrated furnishing structure, otherwise called wardrobe column, for a hospital room of the type described in the preamble of claim 1.

State of the art

There are several known examples of embodiment of beds and pieces of furniture for hotel rooms or hospital rooms.

In general, a hospital room includes for each patient a bed, a bedside table positioned in proximity to the bed headboard, a wardrobe suited to contain clothes and other personal belongings, one or more lamps fixed to the wall or the bed frame, one or more structures fixed to the wall, above the bed headboard, suited to support instruments and video terminals, systems for the supply of oxygen or other medical gases, communication systems and/or emergency call systems and similar systems. There are also one or more tables and chairs.

The beds for hospital structures of the known type comprise a frame resting on four wheels, an articulated structure suited to support the mattress and constrained to the frame and mechanical means suited to selectively lift or lower one or more portions of the articulated structure that supports the mattress.

A drawback of hospital rooms furnished as described above lies in that all the pieces of furniture, meaning bed, bedside table, wardrobe, table and chairs rest on the floor, making it difficult to clean the room in proximity to their legs.

Furthermore, said structures fixed above the bed headboard in turn comprise a shelf on which systems and accessories in general are installed. Said shelf is subject to the accumulation of dust and dirt and furthermore is not immediately accessible for cleaning operations, which therefore are very difficult to be carried out.

A further drawback lies in that during the furnishing of the room each element is independent of the others and therefore a certain amount of time is required to position it correctly, install and fix it, with a consequent increase in the overall furnishing times and costs.

A further drawback lies in that each furnishing and/or functional element of the room has not been designed and planned with the purpose of integrating it with the other pieces of furniture or elements present in the hospital room. Therefore, the integration of the various pieces of furniture and systems may not be optimal from the functional and/or aesthetic point of view.

Another obvious drawback lies in that the non optimal integration among the various furnishing and functional elements of the room may cause a waste of space, since said elements tend to occupy more space than that actually necessary for performing their intended functions, which affects the level of comfort offered to the patients. Description of the invention

A primary object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks mentioned above by providing a fitted and integrated furnishing structure for hospital room and rooms in general that makes it possible to optimize the use of the space available for the guests, the patients and their visitors.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a piece of furniture that allows the room to be cleaned easily and comfortably.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a piece of furniture that is compact and at the same time places at the disposal of the guest/patient and/or of the operators or health care and medical personnel of the hospital all the necessary and/or useful pieces of equipment and services. It is another specific object of the invention to provide a piece of furniture that can be installed with relatively low costs and/or in a relatively short time.

It is another object of the invention to provide a modular structure that therefore can be installed in any situation, since it can be adapted to the dimensions of the available spaces in terms of width, height and depth.

These objects, as well as others that will be illustrated below, are achieved, in accordance with claim 1, by a furnishing structure for a hotel/hospital room, comprising an upright or vertical element with a bearing column having a lower end suited to be constrained to the floor (P) and an upper end suited to be constrained to the ceiling.

Said upright or element with a bearing column is preferably telescopic, so that it can be installed to size.

The structure comprises also a container cabinet that in turn comprises a front panel and integrated accessories as described and claimed below, including: at least one bedside table/chest of drawers mounted on said front panel; one or more multicompartment cabinets or boxes positioned behind said front panel, said cabinets being recessed and suited to be extracted from a closed position, in which they are behind said panel, to an open position, in which they are extracted laterally from said panel through a sliding movement in a direction parallel to said panel.

Brief description of the drawings

The characteristics of the new fitted and integrated furnishing structure for hotel/hospital rooms will be highlighted in greater detail in the following description, with reference to the attached drawings that are enclosed by way of non-limiting examples.

Figure 1 shows a front view of the new furnishing structure in a completely closed configuration;

Figure 2a shows a plan view of the new furnishing structure; Figure 2b shows a plan view of a cross section of the new furnishing structure in a completely closed configuration;

Figure 3 shows a plan view of a cross section of the new furnishing structure with the containers 4, 11 extracted laterally;

Figure 4 shows a side view of the new furnishing structure;

Figure 5 shows a front view of the new furnishing structure with a container 11 extracted laterally;

Figure 6 shows a front view of the new furnishing structure with a container 4 extracted laterally;

Figure 7 shows a front view of the new furnishing structure made up so that it is specular with respect to the configuration shown in Figure 6, with a container 4 extracted laterally;

Figure 8 shows a front view of the new furnishing structure with both the containers 4, 11 extracted laterally.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

The invention is described with particular reference to the enclosed figures, the reference numbers used in the description and in the claims are used to improve the intelligibility of the invention and do not constitute a limitation to the claimed scope of protection.

The invention can be used in the rooms of hospitals, health care structures and elderly care homes.

The furnishing structure comprises a main bearing upright 1 suited to be arranged in a substantially vertical position, having a lower end suited to be constrained to the floor P and an upper end suited to be constrained to the ceiling S.

Said furnishing structure comprises at least one front panel 103 suited to be constrained to said vertical upright 1 and having a front surface 104 that is proximal with respect to the in-patient and a rear surface 105 that is distal with respect to the in-patient.

Said front panel 103 comprises a bed striking area 25, in a substantially intermediate position, against which the headboard of a normal hospital bed L, generically represented in the figures, can be rested. Said bed L is, for example, of the known type, and is provided with a frame with wheels and devices for lifting/lowering the plane on which the mattress rests, as well as with possible devices for varying the inclination of the entire mattress or part of the same.

Said new furnishing structure comprises at least one bedside table/chest of drawers 2 installed on said front panel 103, for example in proximity to a vertical edge 107 of the panel 103, said bedside table/chest of drawers 2 being preferably movable with respect to the panel 103, for example being suited to be rotated around a substantially vertical axis so that it can be rotated towards the bed L positioned against and in contact with the front panel 103.

Said bedside table/chest of drawers 2, being suited to be rotated, can be positioned also as shown in Figure 2b, that is, completely rotated towards the outside in such a way as to leave the space beside the patient's bed clear, thus allowing the operators to carry out any necessary manoeuvres.

According to the invention, said bedside table/chest of drawers 2 may comprise at least one drawer 3, for example provided with internal compartments properly marked for the correct dosage of drugs, for example with different colours.

Said new furnishing structure furthermore comprises at least one first multicompartment cabinet or box 4 positioned behind said front panel 103, said cabinet 4 being suited to be extracted from a closed position, shown in Figure 2a, in which it is completely recessed behind said panel 103, to an open position, shown in Figure 3, in which it can be extracted laterally from said panel 103 through a sliding movement in a direction parallel to said panel 103.

Said cabinet 4 in turn comprises a plurality of compartments with front access, meaning that they are oriented in the same direction as said front panel 103.

In particular, as shown in Figures 6, 7, 8, said cabinet 4 may comprise a portion 41 closed by at least one front element 10 and in which there are several containment compartments, such as one or more shelves 7, one or more compartments for clothes 6, one or more compartments for suitcases 5, and wherein said front element 10 may in turn comprise an interactive panel and/or a mirror and/or a blackboard or another writing surface etc.

Said cabinet 4 may also comprise a portion 42 that is not closed and has one or more further shelves, a container for shoes or other items 9, a safe 8.

According to the invention, said cabinet 4 may comprise a portion 42 with reduced depth, so that, when said cabinet 4 is in the closed position, as shown in Figure 2a, it is completely recessed and contained behind said front panel 103 and said upright 1. The new furnishing structure preferably comprises also at least one second extractable multi-function container or box 1 1 constrained to the back of said front panel 103 on the opposite side of said first cabinet 4.

Also said second container 11 can be suited to slide parallel to said front panel 103 from a closed position, in which it is completely hidden (Figure 2a), to an open position, in which it is extracted laterally (Figure 3).

According to the invention, said second container 11 can be used exclusively by technical, health care or medical, and for example comprises: a fridge 12, a waste basket 13, a basin and/or a chemical sterilizer 14, one or more soap dispensers 15, disposable gloves or other items, at least one control and service panel 16, for example for connecting and supplying power to pieces of equipment, for feeding medical gases, for connecting a suction unit etc, at least one object-holding surface 17, at least one dispenser 18 for napkins or other items.

According to a possible solution not represented in the figures, said second container 11 may comprise a lower portion 111 oriented frontally, that is, on the same side as said front panel 103, with the container 11 completely extracted, and an upper portion 110 oriented laterally and aligned with the side edge 107 of the front panel 103.

In this way, it is possible to define a horizontal supporting plane between said upper portion 110 and said lower portion 11 1. Said supporting plane is conveniently arranged in a lower position with respect to said control and service panel 16 and can be used to place containers or other objects thereon.

Said hidden cabinets and boxes 4, 11 can be conveniently mounted on linear guides that are constrained, for example with screws, to the rear surface 105 of the front panel 103, and the linear guide can be properly positioned at a height that is sufficient to prevent any contact between said cabinets and boxes 4, 11 and the floor P.

As shown in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, said containers 4, 11 can be variously made up and installed, with no distinction, to the right or to the left of the front panel 103, adapting the configuration of the structure to the spaces available in the room to be furnished.

Said main upright 1 and said front panel 103 must be properly installed at a certain distance from a vertical wall V of the room, with the front panel 103 substantially parallel to the wall V itself, in such a way that the rear surface 105 faces said vertical wall V and is spaced from the latter of a distance that is sufficient to allow the insertion of said first and said second container 4, 11.

If there is no vertical wall V, said front panel 103 can be constrained to the floor P and if necessary even to the ceiling S, and a further rear panel (not shown in the drawings) can be added in order to close and hide said first and said second container 4, 11 even at the back.

Said front panel 103 has pre-established width and height. According to the invention, for higher rooms it is possible to use one or more upper filling panels 29 in order to fill the space up to the ceiling.

The new structure may conveniently comprise also: a multi-function video 19, for example for TV, data display, clinical record display, said video being, for example, in any case constrained to said front panel 103 through an articulated arm that makes it possible to orient the video 19.

The structure may also comprise a lamp 20, provided with an articulated arm constrained to the front panel 103, too, a service light 21 for health care personnel, a light 22 for lighting the room, for example mounted in a position behind the front panel 103 for diffuse illumination, a night light 23, for example located in proximity to the floor.

The structure may also comprise one or more decorative panels 30 having an ornamental function applied to said front panel 103, interchangeable and preferably backlit.

The light sources 20, 21, 22, 23 can be of various types and, for example, of the LED type.

The structure may also comprise a surveillance camera 24, positioned as desired, an extractable arm 27, for example in a position near the ceiling or in any case in a higher position with respect to the bed L that will be positioned before the front panel 103, said extractable arm 27 being suited to support handles 28 or other devices, like for example a winch suited to be used for applying traction to the patient's limbs or for rehabilitation purposes.

The connections with the systems and the wires or ducts are conveniently covered and maintained in position behind the front panel 103, for example by means of special raceways 26 arranged in proximity to the rear wall P.

In a possible alternative solution, not shown in the figures, said new furnishing structure comprises also a bed suited to be constrained to said bearing upright.

According to the invention, said bed may also comprise a rigid supporting structure whose shape is elongated along a substantially horizontal longitudinal axis, said supporting structure being suited to be suspended and to project from said upright. The above clearly shows that the furnishing structure according to the invention achieves the set objects, and in particular makes it possible to furnish a hotel room, a home room, a hospital or community room in an optimized manner, reducing the space occupied by the furniture to a minimum and rationalizing space.

Therefore, with reference to the above description and the attached drawings, the following claims are expressed.