Patent ID: 11957633
Assignee: STRYKER CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A patient transport apparatus comprising:
a support structure;
a drive wheel assembly comprising:
a drive wheel; and
a powered drive system coupled to said drive wheel;

a pair of handles each operatively attached to an opposing lateral side of said support structure and extending towards each other;
at least two user input devices, each of said at least two user input devices being selectable for operation by a user to cause said powered drive system to rotate said drive wheel, with two of said at least two user input devices comprising a pair of rotatable throttles each being coupled to a respective one of said pair of handles and being arranged for respective rotation in a first direction and in a second direction opposite to said first direction;
a pair of touch sensors each operatively attached to a respective one of said pair of handles adjacent to a respective one of said pair of rotatable throttles to sense user engagement;
a pair of visual indicators each coupled to a respective one of said pair of handles and associated with a respective one of said at least two user input devices; and
a controller coupled to said powered drive system, said pair of touch sensors, said pair of visual indicators, and said at least two user input devices, with said controller configured to:
determine which one of said at least two user input devices is selected by the user as an active user input device operable to cause said powered drive system to rotate said drive wheel based on initial user engagement being sensed by one of said pair of touch sensors,
maintain the other of said at least two user input devices as an inactive user input device,
activate said visual indicator associated with said active user input device coupled to one of said pair of handles to differentiate said active user input device from said inactive user input device coupled to the other of said pair of handles,
operate said powered drive system to rotate said drive wheel to propel said patient transport apparatus in a forward direction in response to rotation of said rotatable throttle of said active user input device in said first direction, and
operate said powered drive system to rotate said drive wheel to propel said patient transport apparatus in a backward direction in response to rotation of said rotatable throttle of said active user input device in said second direction.