Stretcher with mechanical power assist

A patient support apparatus comprising:

• a frame,
• a patient support deck carried by the frame,
• a drive wheel coupled to the frame, and
• a lever-actuated mechanism configured to drive the drive wheel to move the patient support apparatus,
• the lever-actuated mechanism including
• a wheel bracket movably coupled to the frame,
• a foot pedal movably coupled to the frame and a cable coupled between the foot pedal and the drive wheel, and
• a return cable coupled between the wheel bracket and the frame to return the drive wheel, wheel bracket and the foot pedal to their respective inoperative positions when the foot pedal is released
• wherein the drive wheel is rotatably coupled to the bracket, and wherein operation of the lever-actuated mechanism moves the wheel bracket from a first position in which the drive wheel is spaced apart from a floor on which the patient support apparatus rests to a second position in which the drive wheel engages the floor,
• the drive wheel including a hub upon which the cable is at least partially wound, wherein the lever-actuated mechanism includes a pedal arm coupled to the foot pedal, wherein the cable has a first end coupled to the pedal arm and a second end coupled to the hub after the cable is partially wound around the hub, and wherein operation of the foot pedal pulls the cable off of the hub to cause the drive wheel to rotate and the patient support apparatus to move.

A stretcher comprising:

• a patient support,
• a plurality of casters for supporting the patient support for movement along a floor, and
• a power-assist mechanism comprising:
• a floor-engaging drive wheel coupled to the patient support for rotation about a pivot axis, and
• an actuator coupled to the floor-engaging drive wheel, the actuator configured, when manually operated, to mechanically drive the floor-engaging drive wheel rotatably about the pivot axis to move the stretcher along the floor.

A stretcher upon which a patient rests comprising:

• a patient support,
• a plurality of casters for supporting the patient support for movement along a floor in a desired direction by a caregiver pushing or pulling in said direction,
• a floor-engaging drive wheel coupled to the patient support for rotation about a pivot axis, and
• a manually operated power-assist mechanism configured to mechanically drive the floor-engaging drive wheel rotatably about the pivot axis to initiate motion of the patient support in said direction.

A patient support apparatus comprising:

• a frame,
• a plurality of casters coupled to the frame for supporting the patient support apparatus on a floor,
• a patient support deck carried by the frame,
• a drive wheel coupled to the frame and having a hub, and
• a lever-actuated mechanism including:
• a wheel bracket movably coupled to the frame, the drive wheel being coupled to the wheel bracket for rotation about a pivot axis,
• a foot pedal movably coupled to the frame,
• a cable having a first end coupled to the foot pedal and a second end coupled to the hub after the cable is at least partially wound around the hub, and
• a return spring coupled between the wheel bracket and the frame,
• operation of the foot pedal moving the wheel bracket from a first position in which the drive wheel is spaced apart from the floor to a second position in which the drive wheel engages the floor, and in addition pulling the cable off of the hub to mechanically drive the floor-engaging drive wheel rotatably about the pivot axis to move the patient support apparatus along the floor, and the return spring returning the drive wheel, the wheel bracket and the foot pedal to their respective inoperative positions when the foot pedal is released.