Patient support apparatus with hydraulic oscillation dampening

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12090104-B2
Application number	US-202318215544-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2023
Priority date	Dec 30, 2019
Publication date	Sep 17, 2024
Grant date	Sep 17, 2024

Abstract

A patient transport apparatus with a base, a litter comprising a support surface, and a lift mechanism to facilitate arranging the litter at different heights relative to the base between a plurality of lift configurations including a fully-retracted configuration and a fully-extended configuration. The lift mechanism includes an actuator including a cylinder, fluid reservoir, and a pump driven by a motor to direct hydraulic fluid from the fluid reservoir to the cylinder. A sensor outputs a signal indicative of a magnitude of pressure in the cylinder. A user interface with an input control is provided. A controller determines a target parameter for the motor and, in response to user engagement with the input control, drives the motor at the target parameter to effect movement of the litter relative to the base at a predetermined rate irrespective of a weight of a patient supported on the litter.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A patient transport apparatus for supporting patients of different weights, the patient transport apparatus comprising:
a base;
a litter comprising a patient support surface to support patients of different weights;
a lift mechanism to facilitate arranging the litter at different heights relative to the base between a plurality of lift configurations including a fully-retracted configuration and a fully-extended configuration, the lift mechanism including an actuator disposed in fluid communication with a pump driven by a motor;
a sensor configured to output a signal indicative of a magnitude of pressure in the actuator;
a user interface comprising an input control arranged for user engagement to operate the lift mechanism; and
a controller disposed in communication with the motor, the sensor, and the user interface, the controller being configured to, in response to user engagement with the input control, drive the motor to effect movement of the litter relative to the base at a predetermined rate, the predetermined rate being substantially the same for patients of different weights supported on the litter, and to adjust operation of the motor while driving the motor based on changes occurring in the signal generated by the sensor to dampen hydraulic oscillation acting on the actuator and maintain the predetermined rate.

2. The patient transport apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the actuator defines a cylinder supporting a piston coupled to a rod and arranged for movement along the cylinder; and
wherein the lift mechanism includes:
a first hydraulic conduit and a second hydraulic conduit to enable the flow of hydraulic fluid between the cylinder and the pump by way of a first fluid path; and
a third hydraulic conduit configured to selectively enable at least a portion of the hydraulic fluid output from a first end of the cylinder to bypass the pump and be redirected to a second end of the cylinder by way of a second fluid path.

3. The patient transport apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the third hydraulic conduit includes a valve; and
wherein the controller is configured to operate the valve based on signal generated by the sensor.

4. The patient transport apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the controller, in response to user engagement with the input control, operates the valve to effect movement of the litter relative to the base at the predetermined rate irrespective of the weight of the patient supported on the litter.

5. The patient transport apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the valve is a proportional control valve.

6. The patient transport apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a second sensor configured to output a signal representative of a load on the motor.

7. The patient transport apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the second sensor is a current sensor and the signal is representative of current drawn by the motor.

8. The patient transport apparatus of claim 7 , wherein in response to current drawn by the motor exceeding a prescribed value, the controller is configured to close the valve to prevent the flow of hydraulic fluid between the first end of the cylinder and the second end of the cylinder via the third hydraulic conduit.

9. The patient transport apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the valve is further defined as a first valve;
wherein at least one of the first hydraulic conduit and the second hydraulic conduit includes a second valve; and
wherein the controller is configured to close the second valve when the first valve is opened such that the hydraulic fluid bypasses the pump.

10. The patient transport apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the actuator defines a cylinder supporting a piston coupled to a rod and arranged for movement along the cylinder; and
wherein the sensor is defined as a first sensor being connected to a first end of the cylinder and being configured to output a signal indicative of a magnitude of pressure in the cylinder at the first end.

11. The patient transport apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising a second sensor being connected to a second end of the cylinder, the second sensor being configured to output a signal indicative of a magnitude of pressure in the cylinder at the second end.

12. A patient transport apparatus comprising:
a base;
a litter comprising a patient support surface to support patients of different weights;
a lift mechanism to facilitate arranging the litter at different heights relative to the base between a plurality of lift configurations including a fully-retracted configuration and a fully-extended configuration, the lift mechanism comprising:
an actuator defining a cylinder supporting a piston coupled to a rod and arranged for movement along the cylinder between a first end and a second end,
a pump driven by a motor between a first pump mode to direct hydraulic fluid across a first fluid path to the first end of the cylinder, and a second pump mode to direct hydraulic fluid across a second fluid path to the second end of the cylinder, and
a piloted check valve interposed in fluid communication along the first fluid path between the first end of the cylinder and the pump, the piloted check valve having a pilot line disposed in fluid communication with the second fluid path;

a sensor configured to output a signal indicative of a magnitude of pressure in the cylinder;
a user interface comprising an input control arranged for user engagement to operate the lift mechanism; and
a controller disposed in communication with the motor, the sensor, and the user interface, the controller being configured to:
drive the motor to operate the pump in the second pump mode so as to move the litter at a predetermined rate towards the fully-retracted configuration in response to user engagement with the input control, the predetermined rate being substantially the same for patients of different weights supported on the litter, and
adjust operation of the motor while driving the motor to dampen hydraulic oscillation acting on the actuator and maintain the predetermined rate as the litter moves towards the fully-retracted configuration based on the signal generated by the sensor to compensate for changes in load occurring across the pump as pressurized hydraulic fluid flows to the pump from the first end of the cylinder across the piloted check valve.

13. The patient transport apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further configured to limit the motor speed to a predetermined operating speed.

14. The patient transport apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate a rate of change in the motor speed of the motor over an interval of time and, in response to the rate of change exceeding the predetermined rate, the controller is configured to limit the rate of change in speed of the motor by the predetermined rate.

15. The patient transport apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to adjust operation of the motor based on a rate of change of the signal indicative of the magnitude of pressure in the cylinder.

16. The patient transport apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the sensor is defined as a first sensor being connected to the first end of the cylinder and being configured to output a signal indicative of a magnitude of pressure in the cylinder at the first end; and
further comprising a second sensor being connected to the second end of the cylinder, the second sensor being configured to output a signal indicative of a magnitude of pressure in the cylinder at the second end.

17. The patient transport apparatus of claim 16 , herein the contr

Assignees

• Stryker Corp

Inventors

• Mansfield Joshua Alan
• Lear Craig
• Lucas Ross Timothy

Classifications

• A61G7/08

  Apparatus for transporting beds · CPC title

• A61G2203/34

  for pressure · CPC title

• A61G1/0262

  having loading wheels situated in the front during loading · CPC title

• A61G7/1073

  Parts, details or accessories · CPC title

• A61G7/012

  raising or lowering of the whole mattress frame (A61G7/005, A61G7/008 take precedence) · CPC title