US2911657A - Leg and foot rest - Google Patents

Description

1959 G. w. STREETER 111 2,911,657 7 LEG AND FOOT REST Filed Aug. 23, 1957 INVENTOR. l3 a m! E 1.1.1-5112217217111 A TTOENE Y5 United States Patent P LEG AND FOOT REST George W. Streeter 1H, Longmeadow, Mass.

Application August 23, 1957, Serial No. 679,962

2 Claims. (Cl. -327) This invention relates to an improved leg and foot rest, which is especially useful for bedridden invalids for supporting the legs and feet so that the backs and bottoms of the heels are kept out of contact with the bed clothes to avoid the formation of sores on the heels. The invention is also useful for supporting the feet so that the toes are kept free of the Weight of the bedclothes.

The invention has for an object the provision of a leg and foot rest, having a base wall, an upright back wall and cushions one on the upper face of the base wall and one on the inner face of the back wall for supporting the calves of the legs and the feet respectively, the arrangement being characterized in that the adjacent ends of the two cushions are spaced apart sutliciently to form a recess for receiving the entire back and the entire bottom of each heel.

The invention also has for an object the provision of a rest of the class described in which the calf, foot and heel of both legs may be supported with freedom for lateral movement.

The invention has for a further object the provision of means for ventilating the heel-receiving recess.

These and other objects will more particularly appear from the following description of the one illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a small-scale top plan View of a foot and leg rest embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1 and drawn to a larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a small-scale fragmentary perspective view illustrating how the article is used on a bed; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing one of the cushion fastening means.

Referring to these drawings; the combined foot'and leg rest includes a base Wall 1, a back wall 2 fixed to and upstanding from the base Wall and preferably side walls.

3 and 4, each fixed to the base and back walls. Desirably, all these walls are made in one piece by a stamping process and of suitable relatively non-flexible material.

The base and back Walls respectively carry on their upper and inner faces first and second cushions 5 and 6. These cushions are made of any suitable material such for example as foam rubber or foam vinyl plastic and they may have covers 5 and 6 respectively of any suitable material, such for one example as polyethylene. The cushions may be held in place in any suitable way, as for example frictionally or by snap fasteners 7, one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 4. These fasteners are applied one at each corner of a cushion as indicated in Fig. 1. The cushion 5 and 6 are respectively adapted to support the calf of the leg and the foot of a patient. They extend transversely across the base wall 1 and back wall 2 but their adjacent edges are so spaced as to form a recess 9 in which the heel is held out of contact with the cushions and walls. This recess extends laterally across the base and back walls from one side wall 3 to 2 the other side wall 4. This recess9 is formed by spacing the inner end 10 of cushion 5 a substantial distance forwardly of the inner face 11 of the back wall 2 and by spacing the lower edge 12 of cushion 6 a substantial distance above the upper face 13 of base Wall 1.

The cushion 5 preferably has a substantial portion 14' The leg and foot rest is reversible so that wall 2 may be used as a base and wall 1 as the back. The back wall has a height greater than the length of the patients foot in order to support the bedclothes above and out of contact with the toes of the patient.

The one leg and foot rest readily serves for bothfeet and legs of the patient and allows ample freedom for them to move laterally when desired.

Slots 17 and 18 may be respectively provided in the walls 1 and 2 at locations beyond the cushions 5 and 6 where they open into the recess 9. In Fig. 2, the slot 18 affords ventilation for recess 9. These slots enable the fingers to be inserted through them as a convenient means of lifting or carrying the rest. The slots also facilitate cleaning the recess.

The recess 9 may also receive a basin containing antiseptic solution when required.

In use, the leg and foot rest is placed on the lower sheet .5 of a bed B as shown in Fig. 3 and is adjusted to a longitudinal position to suit the patient. The calves c of his legs will rest on the cushion 5 and will sink into the cushion somewhat as shown in Fig. 2. The'feet f will press against the cushion 6 and sink into the same, somewhat as shown in Fig. 2. With the feet and calves positioned as described, the heels h will be located in the recess 9 with the entire back and the entire bottom of each held out of contact with the walls 1 and 2 and the cushions 5 and 6. The wall 2 is high enough to hold the upper sheet of the bed out of contact with the patients toes.

The invention thus provides an improved leg and foot rest, wherein both the entire bottom and the entire back of each heel of a patient may be supported out of contact with the bed while the foot is pressed against an upright cushion 6 and particularly while the lower part of the calf of the leg is comfortably supported on a horizontal cushion 5 and wherein the recess 9 for receiving the heel h is formed simply by spacing apart the inner, and adjacent ends of the two cushions, the recess preferably being wide enough to receive both heels of the patient and allow freedom for lateral movement of the feet.

What is claimed is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a combined foot and leg rest, comprising a flat and supporting base wall adapted to rest upon a patients bed, a flat back wall connected to and upstanding from the base wall, and first and second cushions respectively carried by the upper face of the base wall and the inner face of said upright wall and extending transversely across such walls, the

inner end of the first cushion being spaced forwardly 3 1 adapted to receive the entire back and the entire bottom of each heel of a patient when the calves of the legs are supported on the first cushion and the bottoms of the feet are pressed against the second cushion.

2. The article claimed in claim 1, wherein the greater portion of the upper face of the first cushion is'disposed in outwardly converging relation with the base wall.

D. 157,493 Hood et a1 Feb. 28, 1950 Sargent Mar. 20, 1883 Longfellow May 24, 1887 Mead June 29, 1937 Morrison Aug. 9, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia May 23, 1940 Austria Oct. 10, 1951 Germany Feb. 12, 1914

Images