FOLDING PATIENT LIFT APPARATUS

摘要

A patient lift apparatus (5) is provided with a U-shaped base that folds to enable convenient reduced width storage of the unit when not in use. Accordingly, the U-shaped base of the unit has a hinge (H) with a vertical axis in each leg of the "U". These hinges (H) are located midway of each of the vertical legs. Typically, these hinges (H) provide for a pivotal movement of the casters (C) at the ends of each leg of the "U" from a caster extended position for patient lifting and transport to a caster folded position parallel to and spaced apart from the base of the "U". A releasable lock mechanism is provided to each leg for locking the hinge in either the caster extended position or the caster folded position. The lock includes an outer moving sleeve (47) with a spring biased inner key (42) connected to the spring biased sleeve (47). The key moves wit the sleeve and fits into and out of paired apertures (34, 36) in the hinge.