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Overbed table

In hospitals or other health care facilities, many patients are often confined to bed over an extended period of time. Under these circumstances, an overbed table is usually provided that can be positioned over the patient's bed to allow the patient to accomplish functions such as eating and personal hygiene. Overbed tables are commonly used in hospitals, nursing homes and the like, to provide a convenient surface on which the patient may store personal items and medical personnel may set wash basins, assorted medicines and bandaging materials used in treatment. A number of different types of overbed tables are known. The traditional overbed table includes a base member which will extend under the bed, a column which extends up beside the bed, and a table top which extends over the base member. Thus, to locate the table over the bed, the base must be moved to a position under the bed. Such a traditional overbed table is provided for example by the PatientMate.RTM. overbed table available from Hill-Rom Company.  Overbed tables designed for such use generally consist essentially of a horizontal wheeled base support which is adapted to project beneath a bed frame, a vertical standard that rises from one end of the wheeled base, and a horizontal table portion that extends horizontally from the vertical standard and overlies the base portion so that when the base portion is projected beneath a bed frame, the horizontal table portion overlies the bed frame. The horizontal table portion of the overbed table is often adjustable to a height above the bed to accommodate a particular patient's circumstances. An overbed table typically has a wheeled base supporting a lower pedestal column to which an upper column is movably mounted. The upper column is typically connected at its upper end to the underside of the overbed table. The base is wheeled under the bed, with the table extending over a patient lying or sitting on the bed. The upper column is movable on the lower column for adjusting the vertical height of the table, and a latching mechanism including a manually operable lever is provided for maintaining the table at a desired elevation. As a safety feature, the latching mechanism is designed to allow upward movement of the table top without operation of the manually operable lever.

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