The present invention relates to an infant warming apparatus and, more particularly, to an apparatus for providing the combined functions of an infant incubator and an infant warmer with a movable canopy that travels vertically as the apparatus alternates between each function and where the canopy has a protective safety system.
There are, of course, many devices or apparatus for the warming of an infant and which supply the necessary heat to maintain the infant at a predetermined temperature. Of the various apparatus, there are infant warmers that are basically planar surfaces on which the infant is positioned and which planar surfaces generally include side guards to keep the infant safely within the confines of the apparatus. Infant warmers normally have an overhead radiant heater that is located above the infant and which thus radiates energy in the infrared spectrum to impinge upon the infant to maintain the infant at a warm, predetermined temperature. Since the infant is otherwise totally exposed to the surroundings, there is almost unlimited access to the infant by the attending personnel to perform various procedures on that infant. At typical infant warmer is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,517 of Falk et al and in the various prior are cited against that patent.
There are also infant incubators and which are more confined enclosures that contain the infant within an enclosed, controlled atmosphere that provides heat to the infant and also may provide control of humidity in the enclosed environment. Such incubators maintain the infant for long periods of time and there are handholes to access the infant and/or a larger door is provided that can be opened to access the infant or to insert or remove the infant to and from the incubator. Such devices provide a good atmosphere to the infant and control that local environment within which the infant is located, however, it is sometime difficult to perform a wide variety of procedures on the infant due to the somewhat limited access to that infant. A typical infant incubator is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,824 of Koch et al.
At the present, there are also certain infant care apparatus that combine the functions of an infant warmer and an incubator. One such apparatus is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,077 of Donnelly et al and which has an overhead canopy including an infrared heater and the canopy and heater are raisable and lowerable with respect to an infant positioned in the apparatus. Therefore, the device can operate as an incubator when the canopy and heater are in the lowered position and can act as an infant warmer when the canopy and the heater are in the upper position.
One difficulty, however, is in the use of a powered lifting mechanism to lift and lower the heater along with the canopy. With a normal lifting mechanism, the canopy and heater is raised and lowered by a motor or other powering device, however, there are times that the travel of the canopy should be stopped in it""s movement due to some circumstance to avoid damage to the unit. As an example, if the canopy is being lowered by the user by means of the powered lifting mechanism, there is always the possibility that there may be some obstacle in the path of the travel of the canopy such as another device that may be in use affording care to the infant. In such case, if the canopy continues its powered downward travel, the canopy can strike the obstacle and either damage the canopy or its lifting mechanism or can damage the obstacle that may be an instrument or other device that can be relatively delicate.
According, it is important that some protection be afforded to the lifting mechanism for the canopy in the event such an obstacle is encountered either during the upward travel of the canopy or during its downward travel. Also, there is always the possibility that some part of the lifting mechanism, on its own, can fail and the lifting mechanism jam such that the further application of power trying to move the canopy can cause damage to the components of the lifting mechanism. In such case, it is important to have some safety system that disconnects the power to the lifting mechanism so that the damage is minimized or prevented altogether.
As a still further hazard, there may be times that the personnel put a heavy object atop of the canopy as a temporary measure and then an attempt is made to raise the canopy. In such case, the lifting mechanism can become overtaxed and be damaged be trying to raise a weight beyond its design capability. Again, it would be desirable to have a safety system that would recognize the potential hazard and take action to terminate the use of the lifting mechanism means immediately to prevent the likelihood of damage occurring.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an infant care apparatus that has a movable canopy atop the apparatus that can be raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism. In the preferred embodiment, the invention relates to an infant care apparatus that combines the functions of an infant care warmer and an incubator and has a powered lifting mechanism to move a canopy upwardly and downwardly to change the functions of the apparatus.
In the present invention, there is provided an infant apparatus comprising an infant platform having a planar surface on which the infant rests and includes sides that extend upwardly from that surface. A canopy is mounted for vertical movement above the infant surface and has an upper position where it is above the surface and the sides and a lower position where the canopy mates with the upper peripheral combined edges of the upwardly extending sides to form an infant compartment to enclose the infant.
As such, the movement of the canopy between its upper and its lower positions is by means of a powered lifting mechanism that is powered by an electric motor. Accordingly, the user can activate the motor to move the canopy between its extreme positions. In the preferred embodiment, the canopy also carries a radiant heater to provide heat to the infant when the canopy is in its upper position.
A safety system is provided that can deactivate the motor, and along with it, the lifting mechanism during certain conditions that would otherwise cause damage to the equipment, other objects or personnel using the apparatus. In particular, the torque of the motor is continually sensed and monitored to determine the level of the motor torque. If that motor torque exceeds a predetermined value, the safety system disconnects the power to the motor or otherwise immediately terminates any further movement of the canopy, whether the canopy is moving upwardly or downwardly. Thus, the user can assess the situation and determine the cause of the problem in safety and without the danger of aggravating the possible harm to the lifting mechanism, object, or person encountered.
Therefore, in the case where canopy is moving downwardly by the user and the canopy encounters an obstacle in its travel, the increased torque of the motor is sensed and the motor immediately rendered inoperable by disconnecting the power to the motor. Thus, when the present safety system determines that an obstacle has been encountered by the canopy, such as where some other equipment has been left beneath the canopy, or even when a person obstructs the downward travel, the present system immediately terminates the further downward travel of the canopy by disabling the motor. In any event, the safety system prevents further damage to the obstacle, including a person, as well as to the lifting mechanism itself.
As can be seen, the system is operable as a safety system with the canopy moving in the upwardly or downwardly directions as the increase in the motor torque will still be sensed in the event any obstacle is encountered by the moving canopy and, as the increased torque exceeds the predetermined value, will disable the motor and with it, the further movement of the canopy in either direction.
Further, by the sensing of the motor torque, the motor will be disabled in the event it tries to lift a weight in excess of its designed capability. Thus, in the event a user leaves a heavy object atop of the canopy and tries to move the canopy upwardly with the heavy object still on the canopy the motor torque will again increase to the point where the motor will be disabled along with, of course, the lifting mechanism.
As another parameter in assessing the potential of damage, the change in torque may also be used as a gauge or limiting parameter, that is, the system may measure the torque of the motor and see if that torque changes significantly over a short period of time such as where the torque increases rapidly or at a high rate of increase. In such case, the system can take the preventative action to protect the infant care apparatus components and systems to avoid potential damage to those aforedescribed components and systems.