Wheeled support apparatuses or platforms of a variety of sizes and shapes are known to be available for the transport of persons, equipment, goods, etc., from one location to another. In furtherance of eliminating, at least minimizing, the strain and pain of manually pushing or pulling such wheeled support platforms, a variety of lifting, moving and/or transport devices are known to be available. Especially challenging for moving about are wheeled support platforms characterized by at least one pair or set of casters, for example, hospital beds which are particularly cumbersome and difficult to move or generally transport within a healthcare facility or the like. As is well documented, work related musculoskeletal disorders, such tendinitis and low back pain, account for $20 billion in worker's compensation costs each year, and approximately one third of all workday injuries.
Heretofore known devices or apparatus for moving wheeled support platforms generally, and hospital beds more particularly, generally suffer from a variety of shortcomings. For example, the StatMover (www.statmover.com) utilizes two clamps to mimic a hand grasping technique in furtherance of manual bed moving and transport. In addition to a generally weak interface between the device and the bed (i.e., the bed is easily detachable from the clamps), bed maneuvering via the device is difficult due in part to minimal power and/or traction, and a general device configuration which results in a functionally restraining or limiting “length” for the device. Such device shortcomings, if not prohibitive, make bed transport up/down ramps commonly found in health care facilities difficult, and elevator loading and unloading burdensome.
In addition to a grasping or clamped engagement for known moving and transport devices, a variety of hitch mechanisms are also available, as for instance via those from Dane Industries, Inc., or Stamina Lifters Pty Ltd. Generally, such devices have ample power, however, the device, with bed in tow, drives like a car pulling a trailer, making it difficult to generally maneuver the combination, and more particularly, making it nearly impossible to back the unit up as is frequently required in the course of a transport operation. Furthermore, the bed and the device together are far too long in length to fit into elevators, as well as to maneuver some of the commonly encountered ramps which are configured in a switch-back arrangement.
In light of the shortcomings of heretofore known bed moving and transport apparatuses, it is desirable and advantageous to provide: a transport aid or device which substantially fits below or within the foot print of the item requiring transport, more particularly, a transporter which substantially underlays a wheeled support platform; a lifting mechanism in such device which removes at least one set of wheels from ground engagement so as to facilitate transport of a support platform equipped with same; a guide structure in such transporter for the unsupported portion of the wheeled support platform to improve maneuverability; a mechanism for such transporter which easily, repeatedly, and reliably secures the wheeled support platform to the device, i.e., receives and retains a portion of the wheeled support platform, e.g., by a frame element or wheel thereof; a transporter that is readily adapted or inherently adaptable to selectively alter components thereof to effectively create a minimal foot print to facilitate transport operations and/or device storage; and, a transporter which is characterized by a lifting modularity, that is to say, is adapted to interface with transport specific lifting tools.