US 11,723,818 B2
Patient transport apparatus with movable end handle system
Shaofei Wilson Xu, Kalamazoo, MI (US); Kaitlin Konopacz, Lake Zurich, IL (US); Gwynneth Cunningham, Kalamazoo, MI (US); Alexander Christopher McDavid, Atlanta, GA (US); Justin Thomas Mclouth, Portage, MI (US); Shawn Trimble, Portage, MI (US); Neil Feliksa, Kalamazoo, MI (US); Christopher Gentile, Sturgis, MI (US); Jennifer Ryan, Ann Arbor, MI (US); and Erik P. Eagleman, Madison, WI (US)
Assigned to Stryker Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI (US)
Filed by Stryker Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI (US)
Filed on Mar. 22, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/700,842.
Application 17/700,842 is a continuation of application No. 16/944,764, filed on Jul. 31, 2020, granted, now 11,304,861.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/882,089, filed on Aug. 2, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0211559 A1, Jul. 7, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61G 1/04 (2006.01); A61G 1/048 (2006.01); A61G 1/02 (2006.01); A61G 1/017 (2006.01)
CPC A61G 1/04 (2013.01) [A61G 1/02 (2013.01); A61G 1/048 (2013.01); A61G 1/017 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A patient transport apparatus comprising:
a patient litter to support a patient; and
a litter support apparatus for supporting the patient litter above a ground surface, the litter support apparatus including:
a base frame with at least one wheel supporting the base frame for movement about the ground surface;
a litter support frame to releasably secure the patient litter, the litter support frame defining a lateral loading gap for receiving the patient litter therethrough in a longitudinal direction;
a lift device operatively attached to the base frame and to the litter support frame to move the litter support frame relative to the base frame; and
a handle system coupled to the litter support frame, the handle system including a locking member disposed on a first lateral side of the lateral loading gap, and a handle assembly disposed on a second lateral side of the lateral loading gap and arranged to pivot relative to the litter support frame between a closed configuration and an open configuration, the handle assembly extending away from the base frame and positioned away from the lateral loading gap in the open configuration, and extending across the lateral loading gap into releasable engagement with the locking member in the closed configuration.