Patient-handling apparatus

A patient-handling apparatus comprising

• an upright post,
• a support arm,
• means for coupling the support arm to the post to permit movement of the support arm relative to the post about a pivot point between a cantilevered position at an angle to the post and a stored position alongside the post and to permit movement of the support arm relative to the pivot point during movement of the support arm between the cantilevered and stored positions,
• means for suspending a patient in the air from the support arm following movement of the support arm to its cantilevered position so that a patient can be moved from one place to another along the support arm, and
• a wheel chair including a chair frame and a seat, the post being appended to the chair frame to move therewith and the support arm being arranged to lie above the seat following movement of the support arm to its cantilevered position.

A patient-handling apparatus comprising

• an upright post,
• a support arm,
• means for coupling the support arm to the post to permit movement of the support arm relative to the post about a pivot point between a cantilevered position at an angle to the post and a stored position alongside the post and to permit movement of the support arm relative to the pivot point during movement of the support arm between the cantilevered and stored positions, and
• means for suspending a patient in the air from the support arm following movement of the support arm to its cantilevered position so that a patient can be moved from one place to another, the suspending means including means for holding a patient during movement of the patient relative to the post and means for moving the holding means along a path on the support arm toward and away from the post while the support arm is fixed in its cantilevered position.

A patient-handling apparatus comprising

• an upright post,
• a support arm,
• means for coupling the support arm to the post to permit movement of the support arm relative to the post between a cantilevered position at an angle to the post and a stored position alongside the post,
• means for suspending a patient in the air from the support arm following movement of the support arm to its cantilevered position so that a patient can be moved from one place to another, and the coupling means including a cradle, guide means in the cradle for guiding the support arm to permit reciprocating movement of the support arm in the cradle between an extended position and a retracted position, and means for pivotably connecting the cradle to the post to permit movement of the cradle between a horizontal position oriented to maintain the support arm in its cantilevered position at an angle to the post and a vertical position oriented to allow movement of the support arm to its stored position alongside the post.

A patient-handling apparatus comprising

• an upright post,
• a support arm,
• means for coupling the support arm to the post to permit movement of the support arm relative to the post about a pivot point between a cantilevered position at an angle to the post and a stored position alongside the post and to permit movement of the support arm relative to the pivot point during movement of the support arm between the cantilevered and stored positions, and
• means for suspending a patient in the air from the support arm following movement of the support arm to its cantilevered position so that a patient can be moved from one place to another, the coupling means including means for pivoting the support arm relative to the post about the pivot point between its cantilevered position and its stored position and control means for operating the pivoting means by remote control.

A patient-handling apparatus comprising

• an upright telescoping post assembly including a foundation, a lower base column mounted on the foundation, and an extensible upper lift column,
• means for raising and lowering the upper lift column relative to the lower base column,
• a support arm,
• means for coupling the support arm to the upper lift column to permit movement of the support arm about a pivot point between a cantilevered position at an angle to the upper lift column and a stored position alongside the lower base column and the upper lift column and to permit movement of the support arm relative to the pivot point during movement of the support arm between the cantilevered and stored positions, and
• means for suspending a patient in the air from the support arm following movement of the support arm to its cantilevered position, the suspending means including a trolley, track means for guiding the trolley along its path on the support arm, a housing arranged to underlie the trolley and connected to the trolley for movement with the trolley, means for moving the trolley back and forth along the cantilevered support arm so that the housing is moved toward and away from the upper lift column, a turning plate, means for mounting the turning plate in the housing for rotation about a vertical axis, means for fastening a patient-carrying sling to the turning plate to carry a patient under the turning plate, and means for rotating the turning plate about its vertical axis so that a patient held in the patient-carrying sling rotates about the vertical axis with the turning plate.