Combination hospital bed and surgical table

A combination hospital bed and surgical table comprised of:

• a frame having floor-engaging wheels;
• an elongated, substantially rectangular deck carried by the frame, suitable for holding a human patient in the supine position, the deck having an upper surface and a lower surface, a head end and a foot end, and being divided into a lengthwise center section which can be placed in a flat, horizontal position and two, opposite, lengthwise, side sections that border the center section and are substantially coplanar therewith when the center section is in its flat, horizontal position, said side sections being hingedly connected to the frame so that each side section can independently swing from a horizontal position, in which they abut the center section and form part of the deck, down to an underneath position, in which it is stored below the center section, thereby making the deck narrower to facilitate its use as a surgical table, said center section of the deck being comprised of four rectangular segments joined end-to-end, the axes of said joints being substantially perpendicular to the long dimension of the deck, the segment at the head end of the deck (hereinafter the "upper torso segment") being hingedly joined to the adjacent segment (hereinafter the "buttocks segment") so that the head end of the upper torso segment can be tilted upwards, the segment at the foot end of the deck (hereinafter the "lower leg segment") being hingedly joined to the adjacent segment (hereinafter the "upper leg segment") and the upper leg segment being hingedly joined to the buttocks segment, so that the upper and lower leg segments can be flexed upwards where they are joined together;
• means for holding the side sections in their horizontal position;
• means for tilting upwards the upper torso segment and holding it tilted at different angles;
• means for flexing upwards the upper and lower leg segments and holding them flexed at different heights;
• and
• means for raising and lowering the deck and holding it at different heights.