The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 22, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 28, 2002
Christopher J. Hopper, Kalamazoo, MI (US);
Richard Jay Bartow, Battle Creek, MI (US);
Christopher Gentile, Sturgis, MI (US);
Randy Newsome, Portage, MI (US);
Michael Joseph Hayes, Kalamazoo, MI (US);
Patrick Beyer, Portage, MI (US);
Richard L. McDaniel, Constantine, MI (US);
Stryker Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI (US);
Abstract
A wheeled carriage for supporting a patient in a substantially horizontal position includes a patient support having head and foot ends and a wheeled base supported by castered wheels. Auxiliary wheels are suspendably mounted on a wheel support structure with the axis of the auxiliary wheels spaced from a midpoint of the wheeled base. A control apparatus controls the wheel support structure to move the auxiliary wheels between a first deployed position whereat castered wheels at one end of the carriage are elevated from a floor surface, and a second stored position with the auxiliary wheels out of engagement with the floor surface. The wheeled carriage includes a drive motor for powering the auxiliary wheels. A drive member applies force to a load cell on the wheeled carriage. The load cell outputs a drive signal to drive the auxiliary wheels. An auxiliary wheel drive and control system accelerates or decelerates the carriage by comparing the drive signal with a threshold value that changes dependent on the velocity of the carriage.