Locking safety mechanism for suspended transport apparatus
OwnerKarl Imhoffinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A suspended patient-carrier/transport apparatus of the type including an overhead rail forming a horizontal track terminating at a track-end, and a carrier device supported by a carriage having a plurality of aligned rollers rideable along the track. The inventive suspended transport apparatus has a locking safety mechanism including the carriage having a main carriage portion and a forward carriage portion. A track-end detector is at the forward carriage portion and movably secured with respect thereto such that the track-end detector moves downwardly when it runs beyond the track-end. A locking device is operatively connected with respect to the track-end detector such that downward movement thereof causes the locking device to engage the rail thereby stopping the carriage on the track.
Claims20
In suspended carrier/transport apparatus including an overhead rail forming a horizontal track terminating at a track-end, and a carrier device supported by a carriage having a plurality of aligned rollers rideable along the track, the improvement comprising
- a locking safety mechanism including:
- the carriage having a main carriage portion and a forward carriage portion;
- a track-end detector at the forward carriage portion and movably secured with respect thereto such that the track-end detector moves when it runs beyond the track-end;
- and
- a locking device stopping the carriage before the track-end when the track-end detector runs beyond the track-end, the locking device being operatively connected with respect to the track-end detector such that movement thereof causes the locking device to engage the rail thereby stopping the carriage on the track.
In suspended carrier/transport apparatus including an overhead rail forming a horizontal track terminating at a track-end, and a carrier device supported by a carriage having a plurality of aligned rollers rideable along the track, the improvement comprising
- a locking safety mechanism including:
- the carriage having a main carriage portion and a forward carriage portion;
- a track-end detector at the forward carriage portion and movably secured with respect thereto such that the track-end detector moves downwardly when it runs beyond the track-end;
- and
- a locking device operatively connected with respect to the track-end detector such that downward movement thereof causes the locking device to engage the rail thereby stopping the carriage on the track, the locking device pressing against the rail with increasing force as the main carriage portion moves forward with the track-end detector beyond the track-end.
In suspended carrier/transport apparatus including an overhead rail forming a horizontal track terminating at a track-end, and a carrier device supported by a carriage having a plurality of aligned rollers rideable along the track, the improvement comprising
- a locking safety mechanism including:
- a track-end detector operatively connected with respect to the carrier device and configured for sensing an absence of the track beyond the track-end of to stop the carrier device from falling off the track;
- and
- a locking device secured with respect to the carrier device and operatively connected with respect to the track-end detector, the locking device stopping the carrier device before the track-end upon sensing of the absence of the track by the track-end detector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.