US 12,005,009 B2
Patient transport apparatus having caster assembly biasing mechanisms
Trey Thomas Pfeiffer, Portage, MI (US); Nathan W. Matheny, Portage, MI (US); Patrick Grossman, Grand Haven, MI (US); and Adam Kammers, University Place, WA (US)
Assigned to Stryker Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI (US)
Appl. No. 17/926,702
Filed by Stryker Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI (US)
PCT Filed May 27, 2021, PCT No. PCT/US2021/034412
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 21, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/242954, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 2, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/030,510, filed on May 27, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0201053 A1, Jun. 29, 2023
Int. Cl. A61G 5/08 (2006.01)
CPC A61G 5/0808 (2016.11) [A61G 5/0883 (2016.11)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A patient transport apparatus comprising: a support structure movable between a chair configuration for traversing floor surfaces and a stowed configuration for storage; a seat section for supporting the patient, the seat section being pivotably coupled to the support structure; and a caster assembly comprising: a pin coupled to the support structure for concurrent movement between the chair configuration and the stowed configuration, the pin defining a swivel axis; a caster frame arranged to pivot about the swivel axis between a plurality of caster orientations including a stowed caster orientation, a wheel coupled to the caster frame, supported for rotation about a wheel axis, and arranged for engagement with the floor surfaces when the support structure is in the chair configuration, and a biasing mechanism interposed between the caster frame and the pin to urge the caster frame toward the stowed caster orientation in response to disengagement between the wheel and the floor surfaces occurring as the support structure moves from the chair configuration to the stowed configuration.