Patent ID: 7532922

Claim:
A method of translating a medical imaging system patient table, said method comprising: rotating a drive train in a first direction to generate an insertion force; transmitting the insertion force through a clutch; moving a translatable portion of the patient table along a longiitudinal axis in an insertion extraction direction into a bore of a medical imaging system with the insertion force; rotating the drive train in a second direction to generate an extraction force; transmitting the extraction force through the clutch; moving the translatable portion of the patient table along the longitudinal axis in an extraction direction from the bore with the extraction force; wherein, when transmitting the extraction force, the clutch provides a first torque capability in a fully engaged state when rotating in a direction corresponding to the extraction direction and, when transmitting the insertion force, the clutch provides a second torque capability by slipping at a predetermined torque, wherein the second torque capability is less than the first torque capability.