Patient Transport Apparatus With Auxiliary Wheel Assembly

A patient transport apparatus for transporting a patient over a surface, said patient transport apparatus comprising:

• a support structure comprising a base and a patient support surface;
• support wheels coupled to said base and swivelable about swivel axes;
• an auxiliary wheel assembly coupled to said support structure and comprising an auxiliary wheel movable relative to said base from a stowed position to a first deployed position and further to a second deployed position, said stowed position being spaced from the surface and said second deployed position being in contact with the surface, wherein two of said support wheels are arranged to be raised off the surface when said auxiliary wheel is moved from said first deployed position to said second deployed position;
• and
• an actuator system operatively coupled to said auxiliary wheel and configured to move said auxiliary wheel relative to said base from said stowed position to said first deployed position and further to said second deployed position, said actuator system comprising:
• a first actuation device operable to move said auxiliary wheel from said stowed position to said first deployed position;
• a second actuation device to move said auxiliary wheel from said first deployed position to said second deployed position, wherein one of said first and second actuation devices is operable separately from the other of said first and second actuation devices to move said auxiliary wheel;
• and
• an input device operatively coupled to said first and second actuation devices to receive input from a user.