Patent ID: 8085146

Claim:
A patient hoist comprising a lifting mechanism which raises and lowers a suspended patient, the lifting mechanism including at least one electrical actuator which moves the lifting mechanism, and a battery which energizes the said actuator; a controller which controls the lifting mechanism; a monitoring system which monitors a status and/or use of the actuator and/or one or more parts of the hoist, including monitoring power supplied to the said actuator and a duration of the supplied power; a clock which outputs a date and time of usage of the said actuator, including a cumulative period of use of the said actuator; an analyzer which compares data from the monitoring system with pre-stored data, and which outputs an alert and/or disables the hoist; a memory unit which records an input to the monitoring system, an output of the clock, and an output of the analyzer; and a retrieval module which retrieves data stored in the memory unit, the retrieval module including a display, wherein the memory unit records a cumulative workload of said actuator to determine cumulative strain over time, and a serial number of the actuator so as to avoid or limit a use of unsuitable parts.