Patent ID: 7540044

Claim:
A patient lift and transfer device comprising: a base; a plurality of wheels attached to a bottom of said base; and a transfer table slidably supported by said base to move between a home position generally centered over said base and a acquisition position at a side of said base, wherein said transfer table has upper and lower table portions surrounded by respective upper and lower belts which counter-rotate as the transfer table moves between a patient and a support surface, left and right sides of said upper table portion have respective left and right sets of edge rollers which engage said upper belt and translate between an extended position wherein said upper belt is taut and a retracted position wherein said upper belt has slack, said lower table portion has a first set of pinch rollers affixed thereto, and said upper table portion has a second set of pinch rollers which are movable between an extended position wherein said upper and lower belts are forcibly engaged between said first and second sets of pinch rollers when said edge rollers are in their extended position and a retracted position wherein said upper and lower belts are disengaged without relative movement of said upper and lower table portions when said edge rollers are in their retracted position, wherein, said left set of edge rollers are rotatably supported by a plurality of left-side retraction arms, at least one of said left-side retraction arms being actuated by a first inflatable tube; said right set of edge rollers are rotatably supported by a plurality of right-side retraction arms, at least one of said right-side retraction arms being actuated by a second inflatable tube; and said second set of pinch rollers are actuated by a plurality of inflatable air bladders.