Medical device capable of properly measuring a center of gravity and capable of preventing overturning of a surgical operation table is provided without performing a significant design change. Medical device S, which includes a plurality of leg portions 20 that lift up a main body 2 from a floor surface and support the main body 2, includes load detection devices 55 that are provided between the main body 2 and the respective leg portions 20, and detect loads in a vertical direction received by the leg portions 20 from the floor surface.

Systems and methods for facilitating movement of a patient transport apparatus. The patient transport apparatus has a support structure and a patient support surface. Caster assemblies are coupled to the support structure to roll about a roll axis and swivel about a swivel axis. A control system is configured to control brake mechanisms, steer-lock mechanisms, and pre-swivel mechanisms of the caster assemblies based on one or more inputs.

A castor suspension system for suspending a first castor at a patient support device is provided. The castor suspension system comprises a pivoting suspension link pivotably attachable to the patient support device, and a springy element comprising a leaf spring made of a band deformed such that the band makes at least one U-turn so that the band has a first leg and at least one second leg. One of the first leg and the at least one second leg is provided with a first support portion supported on the pivoting suspension link, and the other of the first leg and the at least one second leg is provided with a second support portion for supporting the springy element with respect to the patient support device such that the springy element is configured to provide a pre-stress force to the pivoting suspension link.

A chassis of a transportable device including a base structure, four casters arranged thereon, four lowerable and raiseable support feet also mounted on the base structure, and a hydraulic support foot actuating device. The hydraulic support foot actuating device has a reservoir (1), a pump (2) manually operable by hand or foot, four support foot linear actuators (3) and a purely hydro-mechanical pipe and valve arrangement (4) which connects the reservoir (1), the pump (2) and the linear actuators (3) to one another. Therein, by means of hydraulic fluid delivered by the pump (2) from the reservoir (1) the two support feet assigned to two primary linear actuators (3a) can be fully extended until a mechanical stop is reached while raising the base structure by first applying pressure to the two primary linear actuators (3a) before applying pressure to the two other, secondary linear actuators (3b).

Several solutions are described for making it easier to move a surgical robotics patient table, either from rest or to turn it. The table has a base, a support, and a table top on which the patient is supported. A number of casters are mounted to a body of the base. In one case, controllable jacks lift the body to release the casters thereby allowing them to swivel to a desired orientation. In another case, a drive assembly is rotatably coupled to the body of the base and includes an electric drive motor and a drive wheel to drive the table across the floor. Other aspects are also described and claimed.

A caster assembly comprises a caster wheel having an outer surface. A wheel support is coupled to the wheel to support the wheel for rotation about a rotational axis and for swiveling about a swivel axis. A brake assembly comprises a brake having a cammed wheel engaging surface shaped to engage the outer surface of the wheel and a brake actuator to move the brake relative to the wheel from an unbraked position to a braked position in which the brake limits rotation of the wheel about the rotational axis. The cammed wheel engaging surface is arranged to articulate relative to the wheel support. The cammed wheel engaging surface articulates relative to the wheel support in response to the wheel rotating about the rotational axis after the brake is initially placed in the braked position such that the cammed wheel engaging surface more deeply engages the wheel with rotation of the wheel about the rotational axis.

A smart wheel is provided, including a main body, at least one wheel body and a GPS module. The main body includes a pin and a wheel seat, and the wheel seat is connected with the pin. The at least one wheel body is pivoted to the wheel seat along an axial direction. The GPS module is arranged on the main body and includes a GPS chip.

A castor structure includes a wheel support unit, an operation unit, a locking member, a directional member, a directional brake member, a bent elastic bar, and two resting members. The operation unit includes a drive shank formed with an annular groove which has an upper tapered face and a lower tapered face. The locking member includes a plurality of locking teeth. The directional brake member includes a plurality of directional toothed grooves. The elastic bar extends through the directional member and the annular groove. Thus, the elastic bar is stretched outward by the annular groove of the drive shank when the drive shank is moved downward, to provide a micro-adjustment effect, such that the directional toothed grooves of the directional brake member align with and exactly engage the locking teeth of the locking member.

A patient transport apparatus comprises a support structure comprising a base and a patient support surface for supporting a patient and a caster assembly coupled to the base. The caster assembly comprises a wheel assembly. The wheel assembly includes a first edge, a second edge, and a center disposed between the first edge and the second edge. Each of the edges have a lower coefficient of friction than the center. The caster assembly further includes a tilt assembly coupled to the wheel assembly. The tilt assembly is configured to allow the wheel assembly to tilt relative to a floor surface such that at least one of the first and second edges contact the floor surface.

A wheel mechanism (10) is disclosed as including an outer wheel (12), two inner wheels (36) received in the outer wheel, and two rubber dampers (24) each separating a respective outer wheel and inner wheel, the rubber dampers being deformable between a first configuration in which the entire outer periphery (37) of the inner wheel is in contact with an inner wall (29) of a recess (28) of the rubber damper and a second configuration in which a part of the outer periphery of the inner wheel is out of contact with the inner wall of the recess of the rubber damper.