Dual position push handles for hospital stretcher

An apparatus comprising a movably supported vehicle, a handle provided at an end of said vehicle, and means for facilitating movement of said handle between first and second positions, said handle including an elongate cylindrical metal tube which is bent to an L-shape so as to have first and second legs which are approximately perpendicular with respect to one another, including an end plug which has a first portion inserted in an outer end of said second leg and a second portion projecting outwardly beyond said outer end of said second leg, said second portion having a semispherical exterior surface thereon, and including an extension part welded to an outer end of said first leg and projecting outwardly therefrom, said means including an elongate vertical opening provided in said vehicle and including said extension part being received within said opening for lengthwise sliding movement between a first position in which the extension is disposed substantially within said opening and a second position in which the extension is disposed substantially outside said opening, said means including said extension part having therethrough an elongate slot which extends lengthwise thereof, and including a pin which extends transversely across said opening at one end thereof and which is slidably received in said slot in said extension, said pin facilitating pivotal movement of said extension part with respect to said opening from said second position to a third position about said pin, said handle being in its first and second positions when said extension is respectively in its first and third positions.

An apparatus comprising a movably supported vehicle which is a stretcher for a medical patient and which has an upwardly facing support surface thereon, and handle means on said vehicle in the region of one end of said support surface for facilitating manual maneuvering of said vehicle, said handle means including first and second handles which are each approximately L-shaped and each have first and second legs which extend at approximately a right angle to each other, and including support means cooperable with an outer end of said first leg of each of said handles at respective first and second locations which are spaced from each other for supporting each of said handles on said vehicle for independent movement between first and second positions, wherein in said first position said first legs of said first and second handles are approximately colinear and extend approximately horizontally toward each other from said first and second locations at a first vertical level lower than said support surface on said vehicle and said second legs of said handles extend approximately downwardly from ends of said first legs which are adjacent, and wherein in said second position said first legs of said first and second handles extend approximately vertically upwardly from said first and second locations, respectively, and said second legs of said handles are approximately colinear and extend approximately horizontally toward each other from upper ends of said first legs at a second vertical level which is substantially vertically higher than said support surface on said vehicle.