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Bed rail

Bed rails are typically utilized to protect children, elders, or injured persons from falling off a bed. It is a structure engaged to the side of a bed to prevent a person, especially a child, from rolling out of bed and falling to the floor. A bed rail includes a leg portion that is sandwiched between the mattress and box spring. A bed rail further includes a rail portion that extends from the leg portion and upwardly to and beyond the sleeping surface of the bed. The rail portion forms the rail that prevents the child from rolling out of bed. Bed rails have been used for many years in hospitals and health care facilities to restrain patients, and in particular, to prevent them from falling out of a bed or making other damaging movements. Many of these bed rails are structurally integrated with the bed, and generally include some adjustability feature, so they can be raised and lowered with respect to the bed mattress. The current technology of bed rails is quite basic in that most bed rails have either metal or plastic parts which protrude from the bed rail and are placed under the mattress and typically between the mattress and bedspring or between the mattress and other support. Removable bed rails may be attached to a bed for preventing children or others from falling to the floor and other hazards. Bed rails generally include a vertical surface or bar extending above and disposed immediately adjacent a side of the bed. To facilitate continued ingress and egress, bed rails may swing out of the way or be easily removable. These bed rails generally include a pair of spaced, substantially parallel horizontal foot members, dimensioned so that a major portion of each foot member may be inserted under a side edge of the mattress, and a side panel comprised of vertical members extending upwardly from the foot members and at least a pair of spaced horizontal rails extending between the vertical members. The side panel is positioned to provide a barrier to falling from the bed and often includes a cloth cover to assist in providing the barrier and/or to provide a soft surface for the occupant to contact. The typical bed rail mechanism uses vertical support members which are slidably attached to the bed frame such that the bed rail can be raised and lowered vertically. These sliding-type mechanisms typically lock the bed rail in the raised position by use of a pin engaging a hole in the vertical support member or by a clamping means.

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