Mobile Bedmheelchair Development '

The objective of this project is to develop a bed that has the physical dimensions, including width and features of a standard hospital bed, and that also has the additional feature of being capable of automatically folding itself into a configuration resembling a powered wheelchair, preferably no wider than a conventional wheelchair so as to enable maneuverability . Such a device would provide mobility within the confines of the hospital and its immediate area of level ground to a severely paralyzed patient without the necessity of transfer from bed to a conventional powered wheelchair . The most significant gain in rehabilitation which should accrue from the bed/wheelchair combination is the independent mobility available to such a patient without the necessity of waiting for one or more attendants and the nuisance of being transferred from bed to wheelchair by others . A secondary but important gain would be the very substantial savings in labor to the hospital's staff. If practical, such a bed/wheelchair device might also be very helpful to a homebound patient in a house designed with freedom from high door sills and steps, permitting mobility within the house and perhaps to an outdoor porch or patio. The original predicted time for completion of this project was one year. Significant progress was made, however, after only 2 1/2 months. The original production plan included two phases . Phase I was to fabricate quickly a first prototype that did not necessarily meet all of the specifications required of the final version but that was : 1 . Capable of being folded into a semblance of a sitting position comparable to the ususal hospital bed ; 2 . electrically powered and equipped with a joystick