Bedside control unit for a hospital bed

A bedside control unit for a hospital bed that is operable from positions both within and without said bed comprising:

• a) base member for attaching to a frame of said hospital bed and including rotatable member;
• b) a support structure secured at one end to said rotatable member and movable between a first position and a second position;
• c) a control module mounted to another end of said support structure and having one or more manually operable controls;
• and
• d) a limit switch for disabling specified functions of said control module when said support structure is rotated to said second position.

A bedside control unit for a hospital bed comprising:

• a) a base for supporting said bedside control unit on a frame of said hospital bed;
• b) an adjustable support extending from said base;
• c) a control module having one or more manually operable controls mounted on said adjustable support, which are accessible to a patient lying in the hospital bed;
• d) data storage means within said control module for storing patient data;
• e) input means for entering said patient data into said data storage means;
• and
• f) data retrieval means for retrieving said patient data from said data storage means.

A bedside control unit for a hospital bed comprising:

• a) a base for attaching to a frame of said hospital bed;
• b) an adjustable support extending from said base;
• c) a control module including a front side and a back side mounted on said adjustable support;
• d) one or more manually operable environmental controls mounted on the front side of said control module;
• e) a processor disposed within said control module;
• f) data storage means operatively connected to said processor for storing data;
• g) input means operatively connected with said processor and said data storage means, said input means being mounted on the back side of the control module;
• and
• h) a display operatively connected to said processor and mounted on the back side of the control module adjacent said input means.

A bedside control unit for a hospital bed, comprising:

• a) a control module mounted to a frame of the hospital bed and including
• i) one or more manually operated controls,
• ii) data storage means within said control module,
• iii) data input means for entering data into said data storage means,
• iv) a first microprocessor within said control module for performing specified data processing functions;
• b) an interface module segregated from said control module for providing an interface between said control module and existing control functions of the hospital bed, said interface module including a second microprocessor for performing specified functions different from those performed by the first microprocessor;
• and
• c) a two-wire communication buss connected between said control module and said interface module for coordinating functioning of the first and second microprocessors.