US2570676A - Reciprocating bed - Google Patents

Description

1951 J. v. HENDERSON 2,570,676

RECIPROCATING BED Filed Dec. 14, 1950 i 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Oct. 9, 1951 J. v. HENDERSON RECIPROCATING BED 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1950 INVENTOR JE/fZ/Q W Jierz d'eruon ATTORNEY Patented Get. 9, 1951 PATENT: OEFLCE 2,570,676: RECIPROCATING BED John V."Henderson;BirminghamyrAla Application Deoemlieril l, 1950-; SerialNo; 200i74 4 claims (Cl. 12833) This invention: relates to reci rocatinghedi' andit' comprises a therapeutic bedadapte'dto' reciprocate transversely ata predeterminedrate and through an adjustable distance, said bed comprisinga base frame-withmeans 'for coupling itLto the. headandf'foot boards of a conventional. bfedstieadQa pair ofti ansverse end'rail'sfcrming; part'of said frame andimounted'between' said coupling means,' tracks mounted on the upper faces of saidend"rai1's,,a pair of longitudinal side rails mounted at a .levellbelo w that ofsaidend a ll pr ghtsat"th'e'corners of said frame see ouringgthe end railsjtoithe'f side rails, a shelf mounted" on. said side rails and bridging the spacebetween. said side. rails';.meansfor produc-ling' ireoiprocatingi motion. mounted on said, shelf; a reciprocating; upper frame adapted to be mountedlon saidibas'e frame comprising side rails and endrailsfasten'edtogether at. their ends, spaced'eapart. flanged wheels; rotatably mounted beneath the end rails of the. upper frame andf adapted to engage and to' rollon said tracksas the solesupp'ort ofsaidupper frame, a transverse bar'attach'ed .to and mounted centrally bee neath said upper frame; and adjustablemeans connected between said transverse bar 'and" said' reciprocating {means for transverselyjreciprocaV- ingthe upper" frame offsaid' bed with" anlaidjuste able stroke; all as'more'fiilly hereinafter. set forth; andas claimedf While'manyf devicesfhavebeen developedifor.

rocking and" reciprocatingfcradles and childrenfs bedsfor'thepurpose'ofputting the children to sleep," it has only' recentlyf been discovered that therapeutic benefit can be' obtained .in'. the case of adnlts makingusewf'this general type of bed; notfcr a soothing efiectgbut rather for obtain-v ing bcdily'exercise. I" have" discovered a' rather simple construction for a reciprocating bed wherein maximum benefits are *obtainedby trans-'- vers'ereoiprocation in a horizontal plane rather than 'a' rocking, swinging, up and d'own or end-- to-end motion of the bed.- Withtransverse. re-i ciprocation the body; tends to roll from" side. toi side" and, of course; it requires considerable muscularenergy to" oppose this motion; this;

The efieots ob'tained 'are'much like those obtained from massage and it is" beneficial in all cases where manipulation and/or massage" ofthe had? or of the joints'is 'indicated. Different types of,

exercisecan beobtaine'd by lying indifferent-pro;

sitions on the bed. The body 'canhe trainedit'o relax bytesting to see'how littleopposition" can be offered to the motiori o f thehed. v

My new reciprocatingflbed"comprises a lower or base frame adapted to'becoupled b'etween'the head and foot'boards of a conventional bedstead; taking the place ofthefcon'ventional side. rails; This base framecomprisesside rails and end rails andit supports amotor; reduction gearing; and a oonnection 'for reciprocating an upper. frame. It is also providedwithtransverse tracks which are mountedonthe upper facesof it'sgend rails: Ahupperrectangular reciprocating frame is provided which' has-'fiangedwheels or rollers mounted underneath at its ends, these. rollers beingadapted'to' engage the tracks on the base framean'd toconstitute -the sole supportl'for'the' upper reciprocating frame; Ihe reciprocating; frame also has atransverse hair centrally mountfed; this being connected" to the reciprocating means mountd on the base-frame. The reciproie eating frame is adapted' to' receivethe conven tionalb'edspringsand'amattress rests on the". springs; Theconn'ectitin between the reciproe eating means and thereciprocating frame is: made adjustablesothat the' length offthe stroke; can be varied. Andthe speed reducing means is; also made-adjustable so'that the rate of reciprocation can hevaried. A'flvery simple andinexpensive construction is thus provided whieh; however, provides maximum effectiveness for; the purposes in question.

It is" evident that the construction: described makes use of the conventional head and'ifoot.

coupling mybase framehetween the head'fandi foot boardsytlaying the reciprocating frame over" the base frame 'withit's wheelsengaging the'rail's of" the base frame, connecting; the'driving" link: of ithe'motor drive w the"transverseT bar of f the reciprocating frame; then replacing the springs. and mattress; After'conversion the, bed can, ofi course, be used as an ordinaryhed since 0011?.

version makes little if any difference in the height of the bed. Even its outward appearance is the same since the base frame, motor, etc., are well concealed. It is preferableto remove the casters from the bed to prevent it from rolling with the reciprocating motion of the upper frame and when these are removed the mattress is substantially at the same height as before conversion.

My invention can be described in greater detail by reference to the accompanying drawing which shows, more or less diagrammatically, a preferred embodiment of my reciprocating bed. In this showing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my bed with the reciprocating frame resting on the base of supporting frame,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the two frames,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the base board or shelf showing the motor and reciprocating mechanism mounted thereon taken approximately along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

. Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing a detail of the corner structure of the bed, taken along the line 4 -4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is another vertical section showing a detail of the corner construction and taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, while Fig. 6 is a perspective partial view of one corner of the base frame showing how the track and bed coupling are mounted thereon.

In the various views like parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Referring first to Fi s. 1 and 2 my bed comprises the conventional head board I and foot board 2, which, of course. may be parts of conventional metal or wooden bedsteads provided with conventional female couplings indicated generally at 3 for securing thereto the conventional side rails. In my bed the side rails are re laced by a base frame shown generally at 4 which at its four corners is provided with standard male cou lings 5'which when secured to the conventional female couplings on the head and foot boards of the bed support the base frame. The base frame is formed of two lower side rails 6 and'two upper end rails 1. these being rigidly connected by corner upri hts 8. cross braces 9 and a bottom shelf ID. The rails and cross braces of the base frame are welded or otherwise securely fastened together. These elements may be angle irons. The shelf ma also be welded or riveted to the lower side rails or it may be secured thereto by means of screws. not shown. The end r i s of the base frame are approximately at or slightly below the level of the conventional side rails and they are provided with tracks ll mounted securely on their u er faces at each end as shown best in Fig. 6. These tracks provide means for supporting and guiding the motion of the u per or moveable frame shown generally at l2. This upper frame is merely a rectangular framework of side rails I3 and end rails M which are preferably angle irons welded at the corners. A cross bar I5 is' also provided for a purpose which will appear later. This may also be an angle iron and is secured approximately centrally of the upper frame. Beneath the end rails at each corner of the upper frame bearing brackets [6 are mounted, these forming bearings for the flanged wheels I! journaled in ball bearings which roll along the tracks H as shown best in Figs. 4 and 5. The upper frame provides support for the conventional springs 18 and mattress I9 as shown in Fig. 1.

Means for reciprocating the bed transversely are mounted on the bottom shelf 10, shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This reciprocating means comprises a motor 20 mounted on the shelf, which through a drive pulley 30 and V-belt 2| drives a pulley 22 mounted at one end of jack shaft 23, the latter being journaled in bearing block 24. At the other end of the jack shaft another smaller pulley 25 is mounted which through V- belt 26 drives another larger pulley 21 mounted at the end of jack shaft 28 which is journaled in bearing block 29. A connecting rod 3| is attached eccentrically at one end to pulley 21 by means of a wrist pin 32 while the other end of the connecting rod is pivotally connected at 35 with drive link 33. The latter is pivoted at its lower end to an angle bracket 34 while at its upper end 31 it is connected by a sliding pivot connection 36 to cross bar l5 of the moveable frame. Connections 35 and 36 are adjustable as shown'in Fig. 3 so that the distance through which the movable frame reciprocates can be varied to suit the condition of the patient and the treatment desired.

The pulleys and belts described serve as a convenient means of obtaining speed reduction. By changing the pulleys for others of different size the speed reduction can be varied as desired. The bed is advantageously provided with a change of pulleys of different size in order to produce a range of different operating speeds. The motor is advantageously of relatively low speed and I have found that a A; horse power motor provides adequate power. The stroke of the bed can be varied rather widely but I have obtained best results with reciprocating motions varying in length from about to 18 inches. With a slow period of reciprocation and a short stroke a soothing or sleep producing effect can be produced whereas for maximum stimulation a long stroke coupled with a short period is used.

While I have described what I consider to be the most advantageous embodiments of my reciprocating bed it is evident, of course, that various modifications can be made in the specific structures which have been described without departing from the purview of this invention. Thus, the constructions of both the base frame and the reciprocating frame can be varied substantially from those shown in the drawing. My bed can be made of either single or double width. It is only necessary to have a base frame constructed so it will support the tracks and the reciprocating drive while the upper frame supports the bed springs on rollers operating on said tracks. In place of the pulley and belt reduction gearing shown in the drawing it is possible, of course, to employ any other conventional speed reducing unit. I have found it advantageous to reciprocate my bed at such a rate as to produce from about 24 to 800 strokes per minute. and, of course, the speed reduction unit should be selected to produce reciprocation within this range. The bed requires no overhead suspension and it does not need to be anchored to the floor. Other modifications of my invention which fall within the scope of the following claims will be immediately evident to those skilled V in this art.

What I claim is:

1. A reciprocating bed comprising a generally rectangular base frame having two lower side rails and two upper end rails with corner uprights joining the ends of said rails, tracks mounted on the upper faces of said end rails and means for producing reciprocating motion mounted between said side rails, an upper rectangular frame comprising side rails and end rails joined at their ends, at least two flanged wheels mounted beneath said end rails and adapted to engage the tracks on the base frame to support the upper frame, adjustable means for connecting the upper frame with said means for producing reciprocating motion transversely to reciprocate said upper frame, and coupling means mounted at the corners of said base frame adapting said base frame to be coupled between the head and foot boards of the conventional bedstead, the upper reciprocating frame being adapted to support the conventional bed springs.

2. The reciprocating bed of claim 1 wherein the means for producing reciprocating motion comprises a motor drive including pulleys and belts to produce speed reduction, a connecting rod attached eccentrically to one of said pulleys,

a link pivotally connected both to said base frame and said reciprocating frame and means for adjustably attaching said connecting rod to said link to reciprocate the same.

3. The reciprocating bed of claim 2 wherein said motor drive is mounted on a shelf mounted on and bridging the space between the side rails of said base frame, and cross braces are provided running from the upper ends of said uprights to the side rails to provide support for the shelf and motor drive.

4. The reciprocating bed of claim 1 wherein the reciprocating means operates at a speed within the range of from about 24 to 800 strokes per minute, the strokes having a length varying from about A; to 18 inches.

JOHN V. HENDERSON.

No references cited.

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