X-RAY CASSETTE HOLDER

The present invention relates to an X-ray cassette holder for placing between a mattress and a bed frame in a bed, and more specifically an X-ray cassette holder as disclosed in the preamble of claim 1.

In hospitals large numbers of X-rays are taken every day, and many of the patients are bed-ridden and very ill. For these patients to have an image taken of, for example, their lungs, it is necessary to lift them up from the bed and place an X-ray plate under them, This involves heavy lifts for the staff and there is a great danger that the patient may be hurt during the procedure.

As examples of the prior art, mention may be made of US 6,095,683 and US 6,652,140. The first-mentioned document describes various embodiments of X-ray cassette holders. In some of the embodiments, the X-ray cassette holder is mounted on or under the bed frame at the head end of a bed with an adjustable head end (Figs. 8, 10 and 13). The X-ray cassette becomes accessible in that the head base is raised, but in that case it is essential to have special beds with an X-ray transparent base. The last-mentioned document describes a method for changing an X-ray cassette from the side of the bed by inserting it into a kind of pocket that is mounted on top of the mattress.

In addition, a mobile lifting apparatus of the make Huntley is known for lifting the patient's back, but without any possibility for X-rays.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, an X-ray cassette holder is presented that can be placed between the frame and the mattress of any kind of bed before a patient is put in the bed. The X-ray cassette holder can advantageously be opened using a motor, so that an X-ray cassette can either be put in or taken out without any need to lift the patient.

According to the invention, the position of the cassette inside the holder can be adjusted using suitable means. One advantage over the prior art is that it is not essential to have beds with an X-ray transparent base, and that the X-ray cassette is accessible from the side.

The X-ray cassette holder according to the invention is characterised by the features disclosed in the characterising clause of claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.

A non-limiting advantageous embodiment of the X-ray cassette holder according to the invention is described in more detail below, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of the cassette loading part of an X-ray cassette holder according to the invention, with swung-out positioning handles;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view like that in Fig. 1, but with swung-in positioning handles;

Fig. 3 is a bottom perspective view of the cassette loading part in Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the cassette loading part in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a top perspective view of the cassette insertion and positioning part of an X-ray cassette holder according to the invention;

Fig. 6 is a side perspective view of the insertion and positioning part of the X-ray cassette holder in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a bottom perspective view of the insertion and positioning part of the X-ray cassette holder in Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a top view of the insertion and positioning part in Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 a is a sectional view of the insertion and positioning part in Fig. 8 taken along the line A-A, and in a first lifting position:

Fig. 8b is a sectional view like that in Fig. 8a, but in a second lifting position;

Fig. 8c is a sectional view like that in Fig. 8a, but in a third lifting position;

Fig. 8d is a sectional view like that in Fig. 8a, but in a fourth lifting position;

Fig. 9 is an "X-ray illustration" in side perspective view of an X-ray cassette holder according to the invention consisting of the cassette loading part shown in Figures 1 to 4 and the insertion and positioning part shown in Figs. 5 to 8; and

Fig. 10 is an "X-ray illustration" like that in Fig. 9, but in top perspective view and with swung-in positioning handles.

hi the figures like parts are designated by like reference numerals. Furthermore, with reference to Figures 9 and 10, the expression "X-ray illustration" here means that normally invisible parts of the X-ray cassette holder are shown visible in the figures.

The figures show an advantageous embodiment of an X-ray cassette holder 1 according to the invention, comprising an X-ray cassette loading part 2 and an insertion and positioning part 3. Thus, by the term "X-ray cassette holder" here is meant an assembly consisting of the X-ray cassette loading part 2 and the insertion and positioning part 3.

The X-ray cassette holder 1 is adapted for placing between the mattress and the bed base of any bed, in particular a hospital bed, and is advantageously provided with one or more lifting motors 4, so that the upper part of the body of a patient lying in the bed can be raised to a position in which an insertion opening 5 on the side of the insertion and positioning part 3 is made accessible, thereby enabling a (non-illustrated) X-ray cassette placed in the cassette loading part 2 to be inserted through the opening 5 and manipulated into the right position in the insertion and positioning part 3 when X-raying is to be carried out, or alternatively to be taken out therefrom when the X-raying has been completed. The cassette loading part 2 may advantageously be arranged in the insertion and positioning part 3 also when the X-ray cassette holder 1 is not in use, optionally with an X-ray cassette ready for use, so that the two parts 1, 2 are always in the same place.

With particular reference to Figures 1 to 4, the cassette loading part 2 is provided with pivotally arranged positioning handles 6 having a swung-out position (as shown in Figures 1 and 3) for positioning and manipulating the X-ray cassette, and a swung-in position (as shown in Figures 2 and 4) for, inter alia, not getting in the way of the bed when lowering the X-ray cassette holder 1 or getting in the way of health personnel when the right position for X-raying has been found. The positioning handles 6 are advantageously of an X-ray transparent material, and are pivotally attached to a frame 7, advantageously of aluminium, for receiving an X-ray cassette with the aid of suitable

respective pivot joints 8. A further function of the handle 6 in the swung-in position is to lock the X-ray cassette in the cassette loading part 2, the frame 7 advantageously being provided with retaining edges 9 and retaining lugs 10 for abutment with the sides of the X-ray cassette. A plate 11 is also attached to the frame 7, and this, too, is advantageously made of aluminium, and on the underside of the frame 7 along two outer edges thereof there is also arranged a high-friction coating 12, preferably a rubber coating. As is known to those of skill in the art, a raster, which is a thin film, is to be laid over the X-ray cassette, and this applies also when using the cassette loading part 2.

Referring in particular to Figures 5 to 8, the insertion and positioning part 3 is shown in different perspectives, and with special reference to Figures 8a to 8d, the insertion and positioning part 3 is shown in sectional views in different lifting posit :iico —ns.

The insertion and positioning part 3 comprises a first part, or base part 13, for contact with a bed base and a second part 14 for contact with a mattress. The second part 14 is advantageously hinged to the first part 13 at a first end 15 transverse to the bed base so that on actuation of the two motors 4, the second part 14 can advantageously lift a head end of the mattress and thus also the upper part of the body of a patient lying on the mattress.

The motors 4 are advantageously of the "screw motor" type where an electromotor is incorporated into a telescopic screw assembly and with a battery (not shown) attached to the cassette holder 1 as an integral part thereof for running the motor 4, but as an alternative to a screw motor, hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, for example, may be used, where a pneumatic cylinder, for example, is run by the common oxygen system to which the different hospital rooms are generally connected.

The second part 14 has an upper bottom 16 with a plate 21 of X-ray transparent material, preferably carbon, in a frame of metal, preferably aluminium, for contact with the mattress and, parallel to the upper bottom 16, a lower bottom 17, preferably of aluminium for contact with the strips 12 of high-friction material attached to an X-ray cassette loading part 2 inserted into the insertion and positioning part 3 through the insertion opening 5. The opening 5 is thus formed advantageously of the gap between the bottom 16 and the bottom 17, and the X-ray cassette loading part 2 can be placed in selectable positions on the lower bottom 17.

To the upper bottom 16 there is advantageously slidably attached a head end piece 18 with a head end plate 19 for contact with the head end of the mattress in that the head end piece 18 runs in two grooves 20 arranged in parallel in the frame of the upper bottom 16 and in a longitudinal direction for the mattress. By adjusting the position of the head end piece 18, the insertion and positioning part 3 can be adjusted to mattresses of different lengths. In order that the head end piece 18 should not obstruct the taking of X-rays when the piece is in an inserted position opposite to that shown in the figures, the head end piece 18 is advantageously made of an X-ray transparent material.

On each side of the first part, or base part 13, a flange 22 is arranged in which there is configured a longitudinally extending slot 23. A first end 24 of the screw motor 4 is attached to a side of the part 13 at the first end 15, and a second end 25 of the screw motor 4 runs in the slot 23 in that a first end of a lifting piece 26 is pivotally connected to the end 25 of the screw motor 4 through the slot 23 in the flange 22. A second end of the lifting piece 26 is pivotally and slidably connected to a second end 27 of the part 14 opposite the first end 15, as will be explained in more detail below with particular reference to Figures 8a to 8d.

As can be seen especially from Figures 8a to 8d, the second or mattress contacting part 14 will be lifted about the hinge point at the end 15 in relation to the first part, or base part 13, when the screw motor 4 is extended, and correspondingly will be lowered when the screw motor 4 is contracted. The lifting function for the wholly integrated solution described above where both motors 4 and battery are attached to the insertion and positioning part 3 can advantageously be controlled by a (non-illustrated) remote control.

Furthermore, still with particular reference to Figures 8a to 8d, those of skill in the art will understand that the initial part of the lifting movement from fully lowered position (Fig. 8a) requires more power than the subsequent lifting movement (Fig. 8b to 8d), and an obvious alternative will then be to use a plurality of motors 4 with sufficient output also for the initial part of the lifting movement combined with a pure rotary connection also between the lifting piece 26 and the end 27 of the part 14. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, a second solution is chosen where the motor output can be reduced in that one end of the lifting piece 26 is both pivotally and slidably connected to the end 27 of the part 14 in that at the end 27 there is provided a slot 28, inclined relative to the part 14 and its upper and lower bottom 16, 17 and descending in the extension direction of the motor 4. During the initial part of the

lifting movement from folly lowered position (Fig. 8a) to a slightly raised position (Fig. 8b), the end of the lifting piece 26 will then be shifted in the slot 28 from a first to a second end of the slot 28, after which the end of the lifting piece 26 remains in the second end of the slot 28 during the further movement to a folly raised position (Figs. 8b to 8d). During the initial part of the movement, there is thus obtained a reduced gear ratio between the extension of the motor 4 and the lifting movement corresponding to the angle of inclination of the slot 28, which here in the illustrated and described exemplary embodiment is advantageously in the magnitude of 45°. With a need for a reduction in motor output, it is thus possible to have a more compact and lighter wholly integrated X-ray cassette holder 1 , as the plurality of motors 4 and the battery can have smaller dimensions and lower weight.

Many hospital beds have a separate motorised lifting arrangement for lifting the head end of the bed and the upper part of the body of a patient lying in the bed, and in a second advantageous (non illustrated) embodiment of the X-ray cassette holder according to the invention, the two screw motors 4 are advantageously replaced by pneumatic or hydraulic shock absorbers or alternatively by springs. This will give an X-ray cassette holder 1 of reduced complexity, and which is thus less expensive to manufacture, whilst the function is in essence the same as for the embodiment illustrated and described above as the insertion and positioning part 3 will at all times be sandwiched between the bed base and mattress, and adapted to the lifting position of the bed obtained by means of the bed's own motorised lifting arrangement.

hi both of the aforementioned embodiments an angle gauge is advantageously included on at least one side, and advantageously on both sides, of the insertion and positioning part 3 at the end 27. As the X-ray head of the X-ray apparatus has a similar means for reading off angles, it can thus be ensured that the X-ray head has the same angle as an X-ray cassette arranged in the X-ray cassette holder 1, so as to prevent refraction of the X-rays during X-raying and to ensure that the quality of the X-ray photograph is optimal.

hi a third advantageous (non-illustrated) embodiment of the X-ray cassette holder according to the invention, the insertion and positioning part 3 is basically flat and without any possibility of angular adjustment, as it essentially consists of an upper bottom 16 and a lower bottom 17 with an insertion opening 5 therebetween for insertion, positioning and withdrawal of an X-ray cassette loading part 2 with the aid of the handles 6.

In all the embodiments described, and with particular reference to Figure 1, position markers 30 in the form of a centimetre scale are advantageously arranged on the handles, where a first centre mark 30c indicates the centre position for the X-ray cassette loading part 2, and thus also the X-ray cassette, in a lateral direction of the X- ray cassette holder 1 (as shown in Fig. 10) for correct positioning of the X-ray cassette in relation to the patient when taking X-rays. The centre position for the X-ray cassette in a lateral direction is thus reached when the centre mark 30c is correctly aligned with a side edge of the insertion opening 5, and distance from the centre position in a direction is thus indicated by the other marks 30.

The point on the patient where the X-rays of the X-ray apparatus strike the patient is marked typically by a visible light cross. For correct positioning of the X-ray cassette during X-raying this light cross should be at the same level as, or correctly aligned with a second centre mark 30d on the positioning handle 6 when the last mentioned is in the swung-out position. Thus, correct positioning of the X-ray cassette is also obtained in a direction essentially normal to the direction indicated by the centre mark 30c.

To ensure correct positioning using the positioning marks 30, 30c and 30d, the positioning handle 6 pivot joints 8 are advantageously arranged so that the handles 6 snap perceptibly into place in the fully swung out position, and that a similar resistance must be overcome to bring the handles 6 out of the said position.

With particular reference to Figures 9 and 10, the insertion and positioning part 3 of the X-ray cassette holder 1 may advantageously be fastened to a (non-illustrated) bed base by means of suitable fasteners (bolts, screws etc.) passed through fastening openings 29 in the insertion and positioning part 3.