Dampened Belt Retractor
A patient positioning apparatus including at least one dampened belt retractor, a base, a support column, at least one positioning arm on the support column capable of being positioned over a bed and having a buckle and strap capable of securing to a patient support connected to bed linens or other flexible member so that a patient can be partially or totally suspended when an adjustable bed is lowered or when the patient support is raised.
1 . A device, comprising:
a housing;
a belt coupled to the housing such that when retracted, the belt is wound up;
a spring configured to provide biasing for the belt in a refracted position;
a dampener coupled to the belt such that the dampener slows the motion of the belt when being refracted.
2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the dampener is a rotational dampener.
3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein a first portion of the dampener is held in a fixed position relative to the housing, and wherein a second portion of the dampener rotates when the belt is being retracted.
4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the housing is coupled to a patient position device.
5 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the belt is configured to be releasably affixed to a fabric gripper.
6 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the patient positioning device is configured to at least partially suspend a patient above a bed, the patient being at least partially supported by the belt.
7 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the device is one of a plurality of similar devices coupled to the patient position device.
8 . An apparatus, comprising:
a frame;
at least one support arm coupled to the frame;
at least one dampened belt retractor coupled to the at least one support arm, the at least one dampened belt retractor including a belt; and
a fabric gripper releasably coupled to the belt, wherein the fabric gripper is configured such that when the fabric gripper is attached to a bedsheet located on a patient bed and the patient bed is lowered away from the bedsheet, the patient is at least partially suspended and supported by the belt.
9 . The device of claim 8 , wherein at least one dampened belt retractor includes a rotational dampener.
10 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the rotational dampener is configured to provide resistance to the action of the belt retracting into the dampened belt retractor.
11 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the belt is releasably coupled to the fabric gripper with a buckle and latch assembly.
12 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one support arm extends above the patient bed.
13 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the apparatus includes no electric motor for raising or lowering any portion of the device.
14 . The device of claim 8 , wherein the dampened belt retractor includes a locking mechanism allowing the belt to be held at a desired extended length from the at least one support arm.
15 . The device of claim 8 , further comprising a base coupled to the frame, wherein the base extends below the at least one support arm.
16 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the base includes locking wheels.