Patent ID: 7412735

Claim:
A patient support apparatus, comprising: a base; a litter frame; an elevation mechanism interconnecting said base and said litter frame and being configured to effect changes in elevation of said litter frame relative to said base, said elevation mechanism including a pair of longitudinally spaced and independently operable extendable and retractable actuators; and a telescoping shroud covering at least one of said actuators, the telescoping shroud including a plurality of shroud segments, the shroud segments being graduated in size for nesting, an uppermost shroud segment including a plurality of biased catches for engaging an upper mount plate attached to the litter frame, a lowermost shroud segment including a plurality of attachment elements for engaging the base, and intermediate shroud segments including an inwardly directed lip at one of an upper and a lower end and an outwardly directed lip at the other of the upper and lower end for engaging the inwardly directed lip of an adjacent shroud segment, the uppermost and lowermost shroud segments including one of the inwardly and outwardly directed lips for engaging an adjacent shroud segment.