Person support apparatuses with drive controls

A person support apparatus comprising:

• a base;
• a plurality of wheels coupled to the base;
• a drive system coupled to at least one of the wheels to drive the person support apparatus in a forward direction;
• a support surface adapted to support thereon an occupant of the person support apparatus;
• a lift system adapted to adjust a height of the support surface with respect to the base;
• a controller in communication with the drive system and the lift system;
• and
• a control in communication with the controller, the control adapted to detect forward forces, upward forces, and downward forces applied to the control, wherein the controller compares a magnitude of the forward forces to magnitudes of the upward and downward forces and commands the drive system to drive the at least one of the wheels if the magnitude of the forward forces exceeds the magnitudes of the upward and downward forces.

A person support apparatus comprising:

• a base;
• a plurality of wheels coupled to the base;
• a drive system coupled to at least one of the wheels to drive the person support apparatus in a forward and reverse direction;
• a support surface adapted to support thereon an occupant of the person support apparatus;
• a control for controlling the drive system, the control including a handle, a handle support, and a force sensor adapted to detect a magnitude of forward or reverse user-supplied force applied to the handle, wherein the handle is biased with a preloaded force such that the handle does not move with respect to the force sensor when the user-supplied force is applied to the handle until the user-supplied force exceeds the preloaded force, and when the user-supplied force exceeds the preloaded force but is less than a maximum force, the user-supplied force shrinks a gap between the handle and the handle support, and when the user-supplied force exceeds the maximum force, the handle abuts against the handle support and any portion of the user-supplied force that exceeds the maximum force is offloaded from the force sensor to the handle support;
• and
• a controller in communication with the drive system, the controller adapted to control the drive system in response to the user-supplied force applied to the handle of the control, and to not control the drive system in response to any portion of the user-supplied force that exceeds the maximum force.