Automated systems, devices, and methods for transporting and supporting patients

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9233039-B2
Application number	US-201414525480-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2014
Priority date	Sep 28, 2012
Publication date	Jan 12, 2016
Grant date	Jan 12, 2016

Abstract

Systems, devices, and methods are described for moving a patient to and from various locations, care units, etc., within a care facility. For example a transport and support vehicle includes a body structure including a plurality of rotatable members operable to frictionally interface the vehicle to a travel path and to move the vehicle along the travel path, and a surface structured and dimensioned to support an individual subject. A transport and support vehicle can include, for example, an imager operably coupled to one or more of a power source, a steering assembly, one or more of the plurality of rotatable members, etc., and having one or more modules operable to control the power source, steering assembly, one or more of the plurality of rotatable members, etc., so as to maintain an authorized operator in the image zone.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A self-guided patient-support and transport system, comprising:
one or more self-propelled patient-support and transport vehicles, each self-propelled patient-support and transport vehicle including
a self-guided-vehicle navigation controller configured to
determine a position, velocity, acceleration, bearing, direction, or a rate-of-change of bearing, or rate-of-change of direction of the self-guided patient-support and transport vehicle and generate self-guided patient-support and transport vehicle status information;
generate route-to-destination information based on one or more target location inputs and the self-guided patient-support and transport vehicle status information; and
generate one or more control commands for automatically navigating the self-guided patient-support and transport vehicle to a second position along a travel route based on the route-to-destination information.

2. An article of manufacture, comprising:
a non-transitory signal-bearing medium bearing:
one or more instructions for determining a position, velocity, acceleration, bearing, direction, rate-of-change of bearing, or rate-of-change of direction of a self-guided hospital bed;
one or more instructions for generating self-guided hospital bed status information; and
one or more instructions for generating route-to-destination information based on one or more target location inputs and the self-guided hospital bed status information.

3. The article of manufacture, of claim 2 , further including:
a non-transitory signal-bearing medium bearing:
one or more instructions for generating one or more control commands for navigating the self-guided hospital bed to a second position along a travel route based on the route-to-destination information.

4. The article of manufacture, of claim 2 , further including:
a non-transitory signal-bearing medium bearing:
one or more instructions for enabling at least one of remote control, manual control, and automatic control of at least one of a propulsion system, braking system, and steering system of the self-guided hospital bed based on the position, velocity, acceleration, bearing, direction, rate-of-change of bearing, or rate-of-change of direction of the self-guided hospital bed.

5. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: one or more sensors configured to detect one or more travel path markings along a travel path and to generate travel path markings information.

6. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: at least one navigation controller.

7. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 6 , wherein the navigation controller is configured to generate route-to-destination information based on one or more target location inputs and travel path markings information.

8. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one navigation controller includes one or more object sensors and is configured to maintain the bedframe structure at a target separation from an object proximate the travel path.

9. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 8 , wherein the object proximate the travel path includes a wall.

10. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: at least one operator-authorization device.

11. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 10 , wherein the operator-authorization device is operably coupled to a navigation controller.

12. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 10 , wherein the operator-authorization device is configured to generate one or more control commands for controlling one or more of propulsion, braking, or steering responsive to one or more sensors.

13. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: a virtual object generator operably coupled to the operator-guide vehicle navigation controller and configured to generate a virtual representation of the one or more navigation control commands on a virtual display.

14. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: one or more optical sensors configured to detect radiation reflected from one or more retro-reflector elements along a travel path.

15. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including a route-to-destination control module.

16. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 15 , wherein the route-to-destination control module includes a patient-in-route circuit configured to acquire travel-route status information, the travel-route status information to be acquired including one or more of travel-route traffic information, travel-route obstacle location information, travel-route map information, or travel-route geographical location information; and to generate updated route-to-destination information responsive to the travel-route status information.

17. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 15 , wherein the wherein the route-to-destination control module includes a patient-in-route circuit configured to report a self-guided patient-support and transport vehicle location information along target travel-route locations.

18. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 15 , wherein the route-to-destination control module includes a patient-in-route circuit configured to report self-guided patient-support and transport location arrival information.

19. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is configured for omni-directional travel.

20. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: a travel-route status acquisition circuit operable to acquire real-time travel-route status information, and
an alternate route-to-destination generation circuit operable to generate route-to-destination information responsive to the travel-route status information indicative of an adverse condition present along the travel route.

21. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: one or more memory structures having travel route information or object along travel route information stored thereon.

22. The self-guided patient-support and transport system of claim 1 , further including: a communication interface configured to request real-time path traffic status information and to update the route-to-destination information based on the response to the request.

Assignees

• Elwha Llc

Inventors

• Hyde Roderick A
• Malaska Stephen L

Classifications

• Y10S901/01

  Mobile robot · CPC title

• A61G1/0281

  having a steering device · CPC title

• A61G7/0528

  Steering or braking devices for castor wheels · CPC title

• A61G7/05

  Parts, details or accessories of beds (devices for prevention against falling out A47C21/08, A47D7/00 {; mattresses A47C27/00}) · CPC title

• A61G7/0527

  Weighing devices · CPC title