An initial assessment of mechanisms for the development of new hospital beds

Abstract

Adjustments available in hospital beds are performed by different mechanisms. This paper presents an initial assessment of mechanisms for the development of new hospital beds focused on assistive technology. First it is presented a review on a mechanism design methodology, following by an evaluation of a commercial hospital bed. This reverse engineering is used to identify the project requirements. The commercial bed is divided into three mechanisms for further analysis. The design requirements are mapped to guarantee that the new mechanisms will perform the motions similarly to the existing one. Later, the potential development of new mechanisms are evaluated for each of the three sections of the hospital bed. Finally, a new concept and a mock-up of a novel hospital bed is provided.