HEADWALL HAVING MOVABLE COVER

• US 20080276551A1
• Filed: 05/02/2008
• Published: 11/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wittrock Enterprise, LLC
• Original Assignee: Hill-Rom Services Incorporated (Baxter International Inc.)
• Inventors: Suding, Dallas J., Walker, Gilbert R., Westerfeld, Steven R., Thomas, Jody A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,006,440 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 52/173.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 12/005 mounted on the wall
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 13/107 Supply appliances supply appliances for dental machines A61C1/0007

Abstract

An apparatus is provided for coupling to a wall in a healthcare facility, such as a hospital. The apparatus comprises a housing configured to support at least one service outlet, a cover and a linkage for mounting the cover to the housing for pivoting movement between a closed position in which the cover blocks access to the at least one service outlet and an open position in which the cover allows access to the at least one service outlet. The cover remains substantially parallel to the wall as it travels between the closed and open positions. The cover may comprise a wall accessory, such as a picture frame.

Claims

1. An apparatus for coupling to a wall in a healthcare facility, the apparatus comprising:

a housing configured to support at least one service outlet,

a cover, and

a linkage for mounting the cover to the housing for pivoting movement between a first closed position in which the cover blocks access to the at least one service outlet and a second open position in which the cover allows access to the at least one service outlet, the cover remaining substantially vertical as it travels between the closed and open positions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the linkage comprises at least one parallelogram linkage, the at least one parallelogram linkage includes a frame bracket coupled to the housing, a cover bracket coupled to the cover, and upper and lower support arms, and each support arm has a first end coupled to the frame bracket for pivoting movement about a first laterally-extending axis and a second end coupled to the cover bracket for pivoting movement about a second laterally-extending axis.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one parallelogram linkage comprises a pair of laterally-spaced parallelogram linkages.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein each parallelogram linkage further comprises a gas spring including a cylinder and a piston rod that extends out of and retracts into the cylinder, the cylinder is coupled to the upper support arm of the associated parallelogram linkage and the piston rod is coupled to a lower portion of the frame bracket of the associated parallelogram linkage.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each gas spring comprises Stabilus®

Lift-O-Mat®

gas spring.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each gas spring has a rating of about 150N force.

7. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the housing has an upper and a lower portion, the upper portion supports the frame brackets, and the lower portion defines a compartment in which the at least one service outlet is located.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the upper portion defines a compartment through which a service line is routed to the at least one service outlet located in the compartment in the lower portion.

9. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein each frame bracket includes upper and lower flanges that extend forwardly toward the cover, each cover bracket includes upper and lower flanges that extend rearwardly toward the housing, the first end of each upper support arm is pivotably coupled to the upper flange of the associated frame bracket and the second end of each upper support arm is pivotably coupled to the upper flange of the associated cover bracket, and the first end of each lower support arm is pivotably coupled to the lower flange of the associated frame bracket and the second end of each lower support arm is pivotably coupled to the lower flange of the associated cover bracket.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover defines a footprint when projected toward the wall, and the housing lies inside the footprint of the cover when the cover is the closed position blocking access to the at least one service outlet.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cover comprises a picture frame or other wall accessory.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the closed position is higher than the open position.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a detent for retaining the cover in the higher closed position.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the open position is higher than the closed position.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a detent for retaining the cover in the higher open position.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the linkage includes a pair of laterally-spaced parallelogram linkages, each parallelogram linkage comprises upper and lower support arms, and each support arm has a first end coupled to the housing for pivoting movement about a first longitudinally-extending axis and a second end coupled to the cover for pivoting movement about a second longitudinally-extending axis.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first end of each support arm has a collar that extends rearwardly toward the housing and that includes a bore for receiving a post that extends forwardly from the housing so that the support arm is rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the associated post.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein each collar is longitudinally slidable relative to the associated post, a rearwardly-facing annular surface of each collar has a pair of notches that correspond to the respective closed and open positions of the cover, and the notches are configured to receive a pin that extends radially outwardly from the associated post to retain the cover in the closed and open positions.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a compression spring forwardly biasing each collar toward the associated post.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a screw that extends through a washer, through an interior region of the compression spring, through a slightly-oversized opening in the support arm and then threaded into a threaded opening in the associated post, wherein each spring is situated in a state of compression between the associated washer and the support arm.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the second end of each support arm has a collar that extends forwardly toward the cover and that includes a bore for receiving a post that extends rearwardly from the cover so that the support arm is rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the associated post.

22. A apparatus forming part of a wall in a hospital or healthcare facility, the apparatus comprising:

a housing configured to support at least one service outlet, and

a cover coupled to the housing and movable along a non-linear path between a closed position in which the cover blocks access to the at least one service outlet and a open position in which the cover allows access to the at least one service outlet.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cover is movable along a curved path away from and toward a plane defined by the housing.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cover is movable along a curved path in a plane parallel to a plane defined by the housing.