Motor Driven Version of This Device

[fine-tune]

Please see the attached jpeg.

A relative wants to visit. You want them to visit. They use a hospital style motorized bed at home.

I thought it would be relatively easy to find a motor powered version of this Drive Medical backrest.
A simple wired up and down controller could be used to raise or lower the backrest. Similar to the
controllers used with lift chair recliners.

I get tired just thinking about the hours needed to convert this manual backrest to a powered version!

I'm not sure what I want from you guys. Finding a factory made powered backrest would be great,
but I don't think there is one to be found. Any advice would be helpful.

[dacflyer]

well 1st of all you would need a motorized jack screw similar to what is used in lift chairs or satellite dishes. as to how you would fit it into a portable version is beyond me. you do not want the motor right under them.
most of the hospital beds have the motors hidden under the bed parts.
but maybe (if its even made) you could find a version that has the screw part driven by a cable connected to the motor,
i have seen something like this in electric car seats that slide back-n-forth.

maybe one day the internet can show in pictures or video what we have in out heads. so you can see what we are talking about

[Externet]

Explore using an automobile seat positioning motor/mechanism, a window lift motor/mechanism. Cheap at a boneyard, with plenty of selections

[Janitor Tzap]

You know......

There have been a lot of hospital motorized beds that have ended up in the Surplus stores, Thrift stores, or Used Medical Supplies Stores.
Thus, you may find one for fairly cheap.
I did an online search, and found this.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... CGoQ8wIwAg


Signed: Janitor Tzap

[fine-tune]

Folks have always liked the stuff I've designed and built. Except for my business
partners, no one knows how slow I work! I simply don't have the time to build a
device that will work reliably. We all know what that means. You build something
that works fine 100 times. Attempt number 101 is a mess.

You can rent hospital beds from a medical equipment supplier. I live in a two story
house. Where would I put the darn thing, in the living room?

Many of the higher priced cars and SUVs use gas filled lifters and a motor to raise
and lower trunks, liftgates, hoods, etc. I don't know why, but I thought about
adapting a pair of lifters and a motor. My local auto mechanic could probably do
the job. Let's see, $75.00 an hour for 20 or 30 hours. No, I don't think so!

[reloadron]

Either buy used or rent from a medical supply store. Several years ago when I had neck surgery I went out and bought a large fully motorized recliner that was great. I slept in that thing about 5 weeks. It was like a bed for me.

Ron

[CeaSaR]

When Mom was ill, she somehow was able to "rent" an electric adjustable bed
from the nearby American Legion. Perhaps the AL, VFW or other similar organization
could help or point you in the right direction.

As for the homebrew possibility, try an automotive window motor with an extra "gear down"
on it. Mount it toward the rear of the incline frame and use a crank with pushbar to move
the "position bar" - the one that fits into the scallops - forward and back, on both sides to
equalize tension/pressure/torque. Encapsulate to make safe.

CeaSaR

[haklesup]

Its definately possible to rent such a bed but it might not be worth it for less than a month. If the visit were very short, then just having someone handy to manually adjust it is sufficient. I suspect you are somewhere in between.

The car seat motor idea is good but a car window opening mechanism might also be a suitable starting point. However I can't see this being dirt cheap or taking just a few evenings in any event.

When I had abdominal surgery a few years back, I was tempted to rent such a bed but instead settled on a good piece of lawn furnature that was easy to adjust while seated as it was well balanced and had a good cushion. It fit in the house a whole lot better too, making it possible to move between rooms since it also folded. I'll see if I can't find the brand and model later as an example. That chair was so well balanced that adding a motor would be easier.

http://www.infobarrel.com/Zero_Gravity_Lawn_Chair

To adjust, one only need to open two latches on the arm rests and either lean forward or push back with only moderate effort (its easier than actually sitting up) then reclamp the latches when the position is obtained. Lawn furnature should be popping up in all the better home stores within a month for the spring season but don't expect sales until summer.

[jwax]

I would try an air cylinder approach. A motor/airpump could be stashed under the bed, with only an UP/DOWN switch on the frame and an airhose going up to a cylinder.
Think the "Sleep Number" bed, but with an air cylinder doing the lifting instead of inflating an entire mattress.
Alternativly, a balloon could be used instead of an air cylinder.

[haklesup]

jwax, I think you have a winner there. Finding the right size and shape bladder (I wouldn't bother with a cylinder due to the extra mechanical design requirement and unnessary complexity) with an appropriately scaled air source should be a reasonable effort. The best part is the power source is well away from the person in bed and can be designed to be inherenty safe. An air source could be a compressor in the garage and a hose connection with a couple valves for fill and empty functions.

Just make sure not to seal it up too tight and use a reasonably low pressure setting on the compressor, you want it to fail if overpressured. Don't want it to turn into a bed ejecting baloon pop if the fill valve sticks.