Introduction
The Hospital Bed Rail Device is a device that is designed to prevent entrapment in all 7 danger zones in hospital beds. Entrapment is any case where a patient gets trapped within the bed rails of the bed frame in a hospital bed. The 7 danger zones include: within the rail, under the rail, between the rail and the mattress, between rails, at the end of the rail, between split bed rails, between the end of the rail and the side edge of the head or foot board, between the head and footboard and the mattress. During the developmental work of this project, 3 major concepts needed to be addressed thoroughly in order to complete this device successfully. They include: science concepts, math concepts, and technology concepts.
Science Concepts
Human Body
ERGONOMICS
Ergonomics, or human factors, is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects, systems and environment for human use. Ergonomics is commonly thought of as how companies design tasks and work areas to maximize the efficiency and quality of their employees’ work. However, ergonomics relates everything which involves people. Work systems, sports and leisure, health and safety should all embody ergonomic principles if well designed (“Ergonomics”).
For the hospital bed rail device, the ergonomics needed to be researched in order to build the device in a way that would be the most efficient for humans to use. This included researching zippers, velcro, foam shapes, and mesh. While drawing the isometric view, these things became clear. For example, the mesh material with the zippers need to be connected with a strap so that the user could unzip both zippers at the same time. This would be easier for a human to unzip quickly rather than having to search for each small zipper and unzipping each the length of the bed.
ANTHROPOMETRY
Anthropometry, or the measurement of humans, refers to the measurement of human individuals for the purposes of understanding human physical variation. Anthropometry plays an important role in the design of clothing, industrial design, ergonomics, and architecture, where statistical data about the distribution of body dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in life styles, nutrition and ethnic composition of populations lead to changes in the distribution of body dimensions and require regular updating of anthropometric data collections (“Anthropometry”).
Anthropometry plays a large part in the design of the bed rail device. The main problem in hospital beds is the fact that humans become tangled in their bed. Since humans are getting stuck, it was necessary to research the average size of the human head, neck, and chest (key body parts) in order to ensure that none of the spaces would be large enough to fit any key body part through a hole. These dimensions can be viewed in Table 1.
Technology Concepts
Materials
VINYL
Today vinyl is produced in a broad range of patterns and colors for residential, office, automotive, RV and marine upholstery uses. Marine and RV vinyl are the strongest and most durable. They are designed to be used over and over without showing signs of wear. They are able to withstand sun, are cleaned easily, withstand UV rays, and are waterproof.
MESH
A mesh is similar to fabric or a web in that it has many connected or weaved pieces. The one being used for this project is made from a PVC vinyl coated polyester yarn that is fade resistant. It comes in a wide selection of colors. This mesh is tough and most commonly used for outdoor furniture, umbrellas, and to cover foam on the shoulder and waist straps of backpacks.
FOAM
Solid foams form an important class of lightweight cellular engineering materials. These foams can be classified into two types based on their pore structure. The first type of foams are called open cell structured foams. These foams contain pores that are connected to each other and form an interconnected network. The second type of foams do not have interconnected pores and are called closed cell foams. Normally the closed cell foams have higher compressive strength due to their structures. (“Foam”)
Airtex High Density foam keeps its shape and provides sturdy support. Most popular uses for 4'' foam are camping/sleeping pads, window seats, RV seats, boat seats, general upholstery and general craft projects. Airtex foam should not be cut with a hot wire because it will emit toxic fumes. The foam can be sanded or cut with straight blades instead. The foam slabs come in a variety of thicknesses, from 1” thick to 5” thick. Airtex High Density foam is flame retardant.
Math Computations
Fabric
VINYL
In order to ensure that there would be enough of each type of fabric, it was necessary to create a sewing pattern for each vinyl cover piece. To create the covers, two 29”x28” pieces are needed along with two 78”x28” pieces as shown in figures 2 and 3. Vinyl material is sold 54” wide in increments of yards. Looking at the patterns it is clear that a total of 212” of material would be needed.
28” + 28” + 78” + 78” = 212”
Which means that a total of 6 yards would be needed to make the vinyl covers.
1 yd = 36”
212”/36” = 5.888 yards = 6 yards
POLYESTER MESH
In order to ensure that there would be enough mesh for each piece, it was necessary to create a sewing pattern for each polyester mesh insert. To create the inserts, two 6”x66” pieces are needed along with one 6”x29” pieces as shown in figures 4 and 5. Polyester mesh is sold 56” wide in increments of yards. Looking at the patterns it is clear that a total of 66” of material would be needed since all 3 pieces could be cut from one width of the material.
6.0” wide + 6.0” wide + 6.0” wide = 18” wide <>
This would mean that a total of 2 yards of mesh would be needed.
1 yard = 36”
66”/36” = 1.883 yards = 2 yards 
Foam Size
In order to ensure that there would be enough foam to create each piece, an isometric drawing was created to show how much foam was needed. To create each foam piece, two 2”x7”x78” pieces are needed along with two 2”x7”29” pieces, two 4”x5”x78” pieces and two 4”x5”x78” pieces as shown in figure 6. Airtex High Density foam slabs are sold in precut slabs measuring 4”x24”x90”. Looking at figure 6 it is clear that a total of 2 slabs would be needed.
5” wide + 5” wide 5” wide + 5” wide + 7” wide + 7” wide+ 7” wide + 7” wide = 48” wide
1 slab = 24” wide
48” wide/24” wide = 2 slabs
|
