US 6,357,065 · Granted 2002-03-19
The Expandable Hospital Bed That Fits Through Any Doorway
Imagine a hospital bed that can expand from narrow to super-wide by sliding out hidden sections on both sides—like a transformer for furniture. The whole frame also comes apart into pieces so you can carry it through tight hallways, stairwells, or small apartment doors without getting stuck.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a bariatric bed frame made of detachable sections (front, rear, and middle) that can be separated for transport, combined with motorized lifting mechanisms that raise different zones of the mattress deck. What's specifically protected is the combination of pull-out extensions on the mattress support deck that slide outward in opposite directions to widen the sleeping surface, plus the foam or air-filled mattress extensions that attach to those sliding sections to create a wider finished bed.
Why it matters
This patent addresses a real logistical problem in healthcare: bariatric beds (designed for heavier patients) are wide and heavy, making them nearly impossible to move through standard doorways and hallways. By making the frame modular and the mattress surface expandable on demand, the inventor created a solution that hospitals and care facilities could actually install in existing buildings without major renovation. The motorized adjustability also lets patients change positions, which is medically important for comfort and pressure relief.
Real-world use
When a patient who needs bariatric care is admitted to a hospital in an older building, staff can assemble this bed piece by piece in the room, then expand it to full width once it's in place—avoiding the nightmare of getting a 48-inch bed through a 32-inch doorway.
Original USPTO abstract
A variable width bariatric bed including a frame having a modular configuration with front end, rear end and middle frame sections that are detachable from one another to facilitate storage, transport and relocation through narrow entrances. A series of electric motors carried by the frame apply pushing forces to raise a plurality of mattress support deck sections to adjust the contour of a mattress. Each of the mattress support deck sections has a pair of pull out extensions that are adapted to slide outwardly and in opposite directions from a retracted position to an extended position at which the mattress support deck sections have a relatively wide width to support a correspondingly wide (e.g. 48 inch) mattress. Such mattress includes a mattress body and a pair of (e.g. foam or air filled) mattress extensions that are releasably connected at opposite sides of the mattress body and seated upon the pair of pull out extensions of the mattress support deck sections.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,357,065
- Filing date
- 1999-11-15
- Grant date
- 2002-03-19
- Assignee
- Mellen Air Manufacturing, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- ADAMS CRAIG D.
- CPC class
- A61G7/00
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