US 6,486,792 · Granted 2002-11-26
The Hospital Bed Remote That Changed How Patients Control Everything
Imagine a hospital bed remote with buttons and lights that let you control not just the bed position, but also call the nurse, adjust lights, and more—all from one simple panel right at your fingertips. This patent locked down the design of that control system, making it intuitive to use even when you're stuck in bed.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a control unit mounted to a hospital bed that has a set of icons on its surface, each representing a different bed function or communication feature. What's protected here is the specific arrangement: a single select switch that scrolls you through different functions, adjustment switches to fine-tune each one, and indicator lights that show you which function is currently active. Someone copying this exact layout and control flow would be infringing.
Why it matters
Hospital beds are used by millions of patients annually, and giving them intuitive control over their environment—bed height, lighting, nurse calls, entertainment—directly improves patient comfort and independence. Hill-Rom is a major hospital furniture manufacturer, and this patent gave them a competitive edge in designing beds that are easier and safer for patients to operate without constant staff assistance, which also reduces caregiver workload.
Real-world use
Every time a patient in a hospital bed adjusts their mattress height or calls a nurse using the bedside control panel, they're interacting with the navigation logic and indicator system this patent describes.
Original USPTO abstract
A communication and control apparatus includes a control unit having a surface accessible to a person on a bed, the control unit being coupled to a portion of the bed, and a plurality of icons located on the surface of the control unit. Each icon represents a separate one of the plurality of controlled functions. The apparatus also includes an indicator associated with each icon, a single select switch located on the surface of the control unit, and at least one adjustment switch located on the control unit to control the function selected using the select switch. The select switch is actuatable to scroll sequentially through the plurality of different functions. The control unit is configured to actuate the indicator corresponding to a function selected as the select switch is actuated to scroll through the plurality of different controlled functions.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,486,792
- Filing date
- 1999-04-14
- Grant date
- 2002-11-26
- Assignee
- Hill-Rom Services, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- MOSTER JEFFREY A., ZERHUSEN ROBERT M., HAMILTON MICHAEL W., HORNBACH DAVID W., CORBIN SCOTT M., RIVALLANT STEPHANE
- CPC class
- A61G7/0507
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