Automated home health patient care system

An automated home health patient care system comprising:

• a wheeled transfer accessory having a patient support surface;
• an elongate bed assembly having head and foot ends and a front side, said bed assembly including a transfer frame motor, a mattress and a C-shaped bed frame supporting the mattress and defining first and second channels at said head and foot ends respectively, said C-shaped bed frame having
• a first foot rail at said head end,
• a second foot rail at said foot end generally parallel to said first foot rail,
• a first horizontal lead screw assembly in said first foot rail, and
• a second horizontal lead screw assembly in said second foot rail, wherein said transfer frame motor selectively drives said first and second horizontal lead screw assemblies;
• an elongate transfer device having a rectangular transfer frame and a lifting web system, said transfer frame including
• a first vertical corner post,
• a second vertical corner post,
• a third vertical corner post,
• a fourth vertical corner post,
• a plurality of upper crossbars attached to said vertical corner posts at their upper ends,
• a first roller base slide attached to a bottom end of said first vertical corner post and to a bottom end of said second vertical corner post at a head end of said transfer frame, said first roller base slide having one or more wheels and being sized and positioned to slidably engage said first foot rail of said C-shaped bed frame during sideways movement of said transfer frame,
• a second roller base slide attached to a bottom end of said third vertical corner post and to a bottom end of said fourth vertical corner post at a foot end of said transfer frame, said second roller base slide having one or more wheels and being sized and positioned to slidably engage said second foot rail of said C-shaped bed frame during sideways movement of said transfer frame, wherein said first and second roller base slides have lead screw nuts which engage said first and second horizontal lead screw assemblies respectively, and
• said lifting web system including
• an enclosed strap storage unit located at said head end of said transfer frame, mounted on and vertically movable along said first and second vertical corner posts, said strap storage unit being positioned within said first channel of said C-shaped bed frame when said transfer frame is in a stowed state in alignment with said bed frame, wherein said strap storage unit houses a first pull strap and a second pull strap each having proximate and distal ends, said proximate ends of said first and second pull straps being wound on one or more strap spools driven by a strap spool motor, said distal end of said first pull strap extending out of a first slot of said strap storage unit along a first side of said transfer frame and said distal end of said second pull strap extending out of a second slot of said strap storage unit along a second side of said transfer frame,
• an enclosed web storage unit located at said foot end of said transfer frame, mounted on and vertically movable along said third and fourth vertical corner posts, said web storage unit being positioned within said second channel of said C-shaped bed frame when said transfer frame is in said stowed state, wherein said web storage unit houses an upper web and a lower web each having first and second ends, said first end of said upper web being wound on an upper web spool driven by a web spool motor and said second end of said upper web being anchored inside said web storage unit, said first end of said lower web being wound on a lower web spool driven by said web spool motor and said second end of said lower web being anchored inside said web storage unit, a portion of each upper and lower web extending out of a slot of said web storage unit forming a roller nose assembly having an upper roller nose and a lower roller nose, said upper web being wrapped around a forward edge of said upper roller nose, said lower web being wrapped around a forward edge of said lower roller nose, said distal ends of said first and second pull straps being secured to said roller nose assembly, and
• at least one lifting system motor which drives vertical movement of said strap and web storage units;
• and
• an electronic control system for selectively activating said strap spool motor, said web spool motor, said transfer frame motor and said lifting system motor, said electronic control system having an operator console which allows an operator to program at least five different height levels of said lifting web system including a stowed level near a bottom of said transfer frame, a clearance level near a top of said transfer frame, an acquisition level at a height of said mattress, a transfer level which is lower than the clearance level but higher than the acquisition level, and a delivery level at a height of said patient support surface of said wheeled transfer accessory.