The present invention relates to overhead medical appliance support apparatus, and, more particularly, to an improved ceiling-mounted surgical equipment management system. The invention is particularly applicable for use in operating rooms during surgical procedures or the like and will be described with reference thereto. However, it is to be understood that the present invention is useful in a variety of situations, environments, and applications wherever overhead support for electrical, pneumatic, or other equipment is needed including non-medical uses and environments such as industrial and commercial applications.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,026,017 and 5,108,064 to Kreuzer teach a medical appliance support apparatus particularly adapted for use in intensive care stations of hospitals. The appliance support apparatus device taught there includes a generally rectangular support column suspended from overhead by a ceiling-mounted support arm. The support column is constructed from two mutually parallel profiled wall members, each being formed integrally and each having at least one longitudinally extending groove formed therein. A pair of thin wall members extend transversely to the profiled members for interconnecting the profiled members such that together, the wall members and the profiled members define an inner supply channel. One or more slidable support members are disposed in the longitudinal grooves provided in the profiled members for suspending medical or surgical equipment therefrom.
Although medical appliance support equipment such as taught by the above Kreuzer patents are useful to a limited degree, they are somewhat constrained in versatility and are oftentimes inconvenient to use. As an example, the Kreuzer appliance support apparatus does not provide multiple gas outlet connections. In addition, in order to maneuver the Kreuzer appliance support into a usable position, the circulating nurses or other medical staff most often position their bodies between the support system and the surgical field in order to pull the support system towards the surgical field. This practice, as those skilled in the art would appreciate, is prone to compromise the surgical field.
In addition to the above problems associated with the prior appliance support apparatus of the type taught in the Kreuzer patents, the inability to mechanically expand or upgrade the system to include additional support members, such as by extending the support column vertically to accommodate additional shelves or support brackets or the like, has proved to be costly and somewhat limiting.
Further, the construction taught in the Kreuzer patents does not lend itself for ready expansion of the inner supply channel because the two mutually parallel profiled wall members are each formed integrally. In that regard, the pair of profiled members extend uninterrupted from the front face of the support column to the rear face precluding the use of intervening removable wall portions. Therefore, only the width of the Kreuzer appliance support column can be modified. The depth of the column cannot be changed.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a surgical equipment management system of the type which includes operator controls with a manual handle and electric motor and/or brake controls, or the like, provided near the rear face of the support column opposite from the medical equipment adjacent the surgical field. With the controls conveniently located on the back side of the column, circulating nurses or other interventionists need not worry about contaminating the surgical field through accidental missteps or mishandling while maneuvering the surgical management system into place.
It would further be desirable to provide a surgical equipment management system including a plurality of gas connection outlets on the back side of the vertical main body column for ease of access. The multiple gas connections would preferably include redundant gas connections which may from time to time prove useful as backup gas supplies during certain emergency situations.
Still further, it would be desirable to provide a surgical equipment management system of the type which is readily expandable in main column cross-section to accommodate a larger quantity of electrical and/or gas lines, connections or the like. The surgical equipment management system would preferably also be vertically extendable to include additional lower shelf portions for supporting additional or secondary medical equipment thereon. Preferably, the vertical extension would simply require the attachment of additional extension members to the bottom of the main body column. For width and depth expansion of the main body column, the improved surgical equipment management system would preferably include a set of four vertical elongate support members disposed in the four corners of the main body column with a corresponding set of four face panels disposed therebetween. In that way, both width and depth adjustment of the main body column is enabled by simply substituting opposed face panels with second opposed face panels of different size.