Patent ID: 11944577
Assignee: STRYKER CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A patient transport apparatus comprising:
a support structure including a base supporting a plurality of wheels arranged for movement along a floor surface;
a drive member coupled to the support structure and being configured to influence motion of the patient transport apparatus along the floor surface;
a drive system coupled to the drive member to drive the drive member relative to the support structure;
an actuator coupled to the support structure and to the drive member, with the actuator operable to move the drive member between a plurality of positions including a deployed position engaging the floor surface and a retracted position spaced from the floor surface;
a throttle assembly including a handle body coupled to the support structure and configured to be gripped by a user, and a throttle rotatable relative to the handle body between a neutral throttle position and one or more operating throttle positions to influence motion of the patient transport apparatus over the floor surface;
a user interface sensor coupled to the handle body of the throttle assembly and configured to generate one or more signals responsive to user engagement with the handle body of the throttle assembly; and
a controller coupled to the actuator and the user interface sensor, with the controller configured to:
operate the actuator to move the drive member to the deployed position in response to the one or more signals generated by the user interface sensor indicating user engagement with the handle body of the throttle assembly, and
operate the drive system to drive the drive member based on rotation of the throttle from the neutral throttle position to one of the one or more operating throttle positions to drive the patient transport apparatus over the floor surface.