Electrical medical rail system

• US 4,720,768 A
• Filed: 12/05/1986
• Issued: 01/19/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Medaes, Inc. (Atlas Copco AB)
• Original Assignee: Fairfield Medical Products Corporation
• Inventors: Schindele, Ernst
• Primary Examiner(s): TOLIN, GERALD P
• Application Number:
  US06/938,561
• Time in Patent Office: 410 Days
• Field of Search: 174/48, 174/49, 174/97, 174/101, 361/331, 361/332, 361/334, 361/346, 361/347, 361/348, 361/350, 361/355, 361/358-360, 361/378, 361/428, 339/21 R, 339/22 R, 339/23, 200/296
• US Class Current: 361/622
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 3/0431 Wall trunking

Abstract

An electrical medical rail system having a hollow rail which may be subdivided in two or more longitudinal conduits for housing the leads of an electrical supply provides a flexible, high and/or low voltage electrical service for medical applications. The hollow rail has aligned outer grooves extending longitudinally along the top and bottom edges for detachably mounting medical equipment and lighting on the rail. A two component longitudinal housing in which one of the components is a snap-in panel and the other an integrated part of the rail provides a high voltage housing which provide electrical outlets, lighting switches and other high voltage equipment. The electrical components may be detachably mounted on the panel and the rail arrangement quickly altered by changing panels on the high voltage housing. A low voltage housing in the form of a two component system with one of the components being a snap-in panel may include low voltage apparatus such as intercom systems, warning lights and other low voltage apparatus which housing is mounted in abutting contiguous fashion on the power rail. The system has great flexibility in location and provides multiple, random access to high and low voltage supplies while rending new construction and renovation of critical care and patient areas, simple, easy to solve and considerably less expensive than other forms of electrical wiring.

Claims

1. An electrical medical rail system for providing flexible, high and/or low voltage electrical service for medical applications comprising:

a hollow rail having means subdividing said rail into two or more longitudinal conduits which house the leads of an electrical supply, each of said longitudinal conduits housing the leads of a separate electrical supply,

aligned outer grooves extending longitudinally along the top and bottom edges of said hollow rail for detachably mounting medical equipment and lighting in said outer grooves on said rail,

at least one two component longitudinal housing having a first component in the form of a snap-in panel and a second component,

said second component comprising an integral extrusion extending downwardly from said rail, said two component housing forming a high voltage housing having a high voltage supply positioned therein and fed from a cable positioned in said hollow rail, and

high voltage electrical components are mounted on said snap-in panel and are adapted to be connected to said high voltage supply in said housing, said snap-in panel closing said two component housing.

2. The electrical medical rail system as claimed in claim 1 having a two piece low voltage housing comprising a housing element having a base and a snap-in panel frictionally engaging and closing said low voltage housing, said base of said low voltage housing resting on said rail and mounted contiguous to said rail.

3. The electrical medical apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein high voltage electrical components are fixedly mounted on said snap-in panel and detachably connectable to said high voltage supply in said housing whereby snap-in panels without electrical components and containing different components may be interchangeably mounted on said high voltage housing thereby providing flexibility in the configuration of said high voltage housing.

4. The electrical medical rail system claimed in claim 2 wherein said snap-in panel of said low voltage housing has low voltage electrical components mounted therein adapted to be detachably connected to a low voltage supply in said low voltage housing whereby low voltage snap-in panels containing different low voltage components may be interchangeably mounted on said low voltage housing.

5. An electrical medical rail system providing a flexible electrical service for medical applications comprising:

a hollow longitudinal rail having an integral downwardly and outwardly extending housing element and a spaced downwardly extending longitudinal ridge,

said housing element and said downwardly extending ridge forming a housing member, a high voltage electrical cable housed in said hollow rail, electrical terminal block means mounted in said housing member and being connected to said high voltage electrical cable in said rail,

aligned outer grooves extending longitudinally along the top and bottom edges of said hollow rail adapted to detachably mount medical equipment in said outer grooves,

a snap-in panel in frictional engagement on said outwardly extending housing element and said downwardly extending longitudinal ridge on said hollow rail and closing said housing member.

6. The electrical medical rail system as claimed in claim 5 having a two piece low voltage housing comprising a low voltage housing component having a base and a snap-in panel engaging and closing said low voltage housing component, said base of said low voltage housing component resting on said hollow rail and mounted contiguous to said rail.