Patent ID: 8683630

Claim:
A patient head support system for securing the head of a patient relative to a medical table, comprising: a head support for holding the patient's head; a base unit mountable to the table, the base unit including a base unit handle having a main body that defines a bore and also having a lever connected thereto, the lever being operable to move relative to the main body between open and closed positions, so as to expand and to contract the bore, respectively; an intervening member operatively connecting the base unit and the head suppolt, the intervening member including a post adapted to be received and held within the bore; and a sleeve residing within the bore and rotatable with respect thereto when the lever is in the open position, the sleeve adapted to receive the post of the intervening member and to rigidly hold the post in a fixed position when the lever is in the closed position, the sleeve being sized and/or shaped so as to provide some resistance to contraction of the bore during movement of the lever to the closed position, thereby to protect the bore if the lever is inadvertently moved to the closed position when the intervening member is not operatively connected to the base unit.