Foot egress chair bed

A bed having a generally planar bed position and convertible to a chair position and permitting patient egress from the foot end thereof comprising:

• a base;
• a frame mounted on said base;
• a patient support platform mounted on said frame and including at least head and foot panels;
• said head panel being mounted for pivotal movement relative to said frame to a raised position when converting said bed to the chair position;
• said foot panel including a pivoting portion and a collapsing portion, said collapsing portion extending from and retracting toward said pivoting portion as said pivoting portion pivots upwardly and downwardly, respectively;
• and
• said collapsing portion being normally resiliently biased outwardly relative to said pivoting portion to extend in the bed position.

A bed having a generally planar bed position and convertible to a chair position and permitting patient egress from the foot end thereof comprising:

• a base;
• a frame mounted on said base;
• a patient support mounted on said frame and including at least head and foot panels, said head panel being mounted for pivotal movement relative to said frame for pivoting to a raised position and said foot panel being mounted for pivotal movement relative to said frame for pivoting to a lowered position when converting said bed to the chair position;
• at least a portion of said foot panel being collapsible upon downward pivoting thereof so as to vacate said portion of said foot panel and prevent interference between said foot panel and a bed supporting floor when converting said bed to the chair position when said frame is lowered to a lowermost position thereby permitting said frame to be lowered to a lowermost position so that a patient's feet rest directly on the floor allowing the patient to egress from the foot end of said bed when in the chair position;
• a U-shaped section forming a part of said frame at a foot end of said bed, said U-shaped section having a pair of arms and an open end thereof directed toward said foot end of said bed;
• and
• a footboard pivotally mounted at an outer end of each said arm of said U-shaped section, wherein said footboards may be pivoted to be generally collinear with each other when said bed is in the bed position thereby cooperating as a foot guard to provide protection to the patient at said foot end of said bed, and wherein said footboards may be pivoted to be generally parallel with each other on respective lateral sides of said bed when said bed is in the chair position for use by the patient in moving between an upright sitting position and a standing position.

A bed having a generally planar bed position and convertible to an egress position permitting egress from a foot end of the bed comprising:

• a base;
• a frame mounted on said base;
• a patient support platform mounted said frame and including a foot panel having generally horizontal up positions and a generally vertically downwardly extending down position;
• a mattress overlying said platform and including a selectively deflatable foot portion which may be deflated without changing any other portion of said mattress;
• whereby said bed assumes the egress position upon said foot panel assuming said down position and deflation of said deflatable portion of said mattress.

A hospital bed comprising:

• a base;
• a frame mounted on said base;
• and
• a patient support platform mounted on said frame;
• said frame including a U-shaped section at a foot end of said bed, said U-shaped section having an open end thereof directed toward said foot end of said bed;
• said patient support platform including a foot panel having a central portion and lateral portions all said portions being pivotally mounted relative to said frame, said central portion pivoting downwardly through said U-shaped section and said lateral portions residing atop arms of said U-shaped section.

A bed comprising:

• a base;
• a frame mounted on said base, said frame including a U-shaped section at a foot end of said bed and said U-shaped section having an open end thereof directed toward said foot end of said bed;
• a patient support platform mounted on said frame, said patient support platform including a foot panel pivotally mounted relative to said frame to pivot downwardly through said U-shaped section;
• and
• a footboard pivotally mounted to said U-shaped section at said foot end of said bed on either lateral side thereof, wherein said footboards may be pivoted to be generally collinear with each other thereby cooperating as a foot guard to provide protection to the patient at said foot end of said bed, and wherein said footboards may be pivoted to be generally parallel with each other on respective lateral sides of said bed for use by a patient in moving between an upright sitting position and a standing position.

A bed having a generally planar bed position and convertible to a chair position comprising:

• a base;
• a frame mounted on said base;
• a patient support platform mounted on said frame and including an upwardly pivoting head panel and a downwardly pivoting foot panel;
• and
• a mattress overlying said platform and including a selectively deflatable foot portion which may be deflated without changing any other portion of said mattress;
• whereby said bed assumes the chair position upon upward pivoting of said head panel, downward pivoting of said foot panel and deflation of said deflatable portion of said mattress.

A method of patient egress from a foot end of a bed converted to a chair comprising the steps of:

• providing a hospital bed with a base, a frame mounted for vertical movement relative to said base, a patient support platform mounted on said frame and including an upwardly pivoting head panel and a downwardly pivoting foot panel, and a guard mounted on either side of said frame near a foot end thereof;
• lowering said frame to a lowermost position;
• pivoting said head panel upwardly;
• pivoting said foot panel downwardly and collapsing said foot panel to vacate a portion of said foot panel and prevent interference between said foot panel and the floor;
• positioning the patient's feet directly on the floor;
• positioning the patient's hands so as to grasp said guards to assist the patient in beginning to rise from a seated position;
• and
• raising said bed frame upwardly to assist the patient in rising to a standing position and egressing from the bed.

A bed comprising:

• a base;
• a frame mounted on said base;
• a patient support platform mounted on said frame and including an upwardly pivoting head panel and a foot panel;
• said foot panel including a downwardly pivoting portion, lateral portions and a translating portion:
• said translating portion translating away from and toward said pivoting portion and in a plane generally parallel a plane defined by said pivoting portion as said pivoting portion pivots upwardly and downwardly, respectively;
• and
• said pivoting and translating portions being lowerable below said frame and said lateral portions being supported atop said frame.