TOILET FACILITY

• US 3,729,749 A
• Filed: 11/23/1971
• Issued: 05/01/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Charles E. Rosecrans
• Original Assignee: Charles E. Rosecrans
• Inventors: Rosecrans, Charles E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Artis, Henry K.
• Application Number:
  US05/201,499
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• Field of Search: 4/113,112,142 5/34G,81,327
• US Class Current: 4/452
• CPC Class Codes: A47K 11/045 inflatable or with inflatable parts
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2200/32 lying
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/1009 Buttock lifting device for placing bed-pans under patients
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/1021 Inflatable cushions
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 9/003 Bed-pans

Abstract

This invention provides a bedpan substitute for bedridden persons. A thin rigid platform combined with an underlying collapsed but inflatable support is placed alongside the patient and the patient is then rolled or slid onto the support in a supine posture and the collapsed support is then inflated, either with oxygen, compressed air or (preferably) carbon dioxide, uniformly to raise the support by a substantial distance, say of several inches. The support is notched at its lower end and supports at that end a peripherally recessed, partly upturned, rigid ring, which extends well beyond the platform, to which an open-mouthed, water-tight, disposable bag may be secured, open side up, by suitable means such as a rubber band.

Claims

1. A toilet facility for bed-ridden patients comprising, in combination, a. a thin rigid platform having a substantial notch in the lower end thereof, b. a sleeve of non-stretchable material connected to the underside of said platform at least along the head-end and the sides thereof;

c. valved, inflatable platform supporting means within said valve and adapted to raise said platform substantially evenly and by a substantial amount as said platform supporting means is inflated, and d. a rigid loop skirting the notch and extending well beyond the lower end of the platform for the reception and support of a water-tight receptacle.

2. A toilet facility as set forth in claim 1 in which the rigid loop is peripherally grooved, the construction and arrangement being such that a water-tight receptacle in the form of a flexible bag may have its upper margin folded outward and secured to the loop by suitable flexible retaining means.

3. A toilet facility as set forth in claim 2 in which the rigid loop is angled upward at its opposite sides beyond the lower end of the platform, and retaining means are provided on the loop at the oppositely disposed angles of the loop for causing a flexible retaining member, to lie in the groove both in the portion of the loop which surrounds the platform notch and in the upturned portion of the loop that extends beyond the notch.

4. A toilet facility as set forth in claim 2 which further includes a water-tight, disposable, flexible bag set in the loop, and a rubber band surrounding an outturned upper portion of the bag and bearing continuously against the bag in the grooved portion of the loop for releasably retaining the bag in a definite position relative to the platform and the loop.

5. A toilet facility as set forth in claim 1 in which the valved inflatable platform supporting means includes valve means operable at the will of the operator for admitting and retaining aeroform fluid and thereby raising the patient-supporting platform, and operable at the will of the operator for discharging such fluid and thereby lowering the patient-supporting platform.

6. A toilet facility as set forth in claim 5 in which the valve means includes an adjustable valve settable for any desired pressure, and constructed and arranged automatically to close when the set pressure has been attained in the inflatable platform supporting means.

7. A toilet facility as set forth in claim 1 in which the inflatable platform supporting means takes the form of an expandable tube, and said sleeve means maintains the operative relationship of the platform and tube in the form of a substantially inextensible envelope surrounding the tube and affixed throughout a substantial width to the underside of the platform.

8. A toilet facility as set forth in claim 1 in which the platform is hollowed sufficientLy to give the patient a sense of stability and security when supported on the raised platform.