Medical support apparatus

1. A medical chair comprising:

a back section;

a base supporting the back section; and

an arm rest supported by the base independent of said back section for movement between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the base and being independent of the back section, the lowered position of the arm providing support for a patient's arm when seated in the chair and the raised position of the arm rest being upward and forward of the lowered position to provide support to a patient when exiting the chair from a seated position to a standing position.

2. The medical chair according to claim 1 , wherein the arm rest is configured to move between the raised position and the lowered position along a linear path.

3. The medical chair according to claim 1 wherein the arm rest has an arm rest cushion, the arm rest cushion having an orientation, the orientation of the arm rest cushion remaining generally constant when the arm rest is moved between the lowered and raised positions to thereby provide for continuing support to a patient when exiting the chair.

4. The medical chair according to claim 1 , further comprising a locking mechanism for the arm rest wherein the arm rest is lockable in at least one position.

5. The medical chair according to claim 4 , wherein the arm rest is lockable in a plurality of positions between the lowered and raised positions, including in the raised position.

6. The medical chair according to claim 4 , further comprising a manual release to release the locking mechanism.

7. The medical chair according to claim 4 , wherein the arm rest comprises a safety release, the safety release being configured to release the locking mechanism when the arm rest is lowered and encounters an object of sufficient stiffness to trigger the safety release.

8. The medical chair according to claim 7 , wherein the safety release comprises a mechanical mechanism supported at a lower end of the arm rest.

9. The medical chair according to claim 1 , wherein the arm rest includes a spring assist to lower the apparent weight of the arm rest to facilitate movement.

10. The medical chair according to claim 9 , wherein the spring comprises a constant force spring.

11. The medical chair according to claim 1 further including:

a lift supported at the base;

a chassis supported by the lift, wherein the lift is operable to raise and lower the chassis with respect to the base; and

the chassis supporting the arm rest, the back section, and a seat section.

12. The medical chair according to claim 1 wherein the base includes a base frame.

13. A medical chair comprising:

a base;

a back section supported by the base;

an arm rest supported by the base independent of the back section for movement between a raised position and a lowered position relative to the base and being independent of the back section;

a locking mechanism operable to lock the arm rest in at least one of the raised and lowered positions; and

a safety release mechanism to prevent the locking mechanism from locking when the arm rest encounters an object while it is being lowered.

14. The medical chair according to claim 13 , wherein the safety release mechanism comprises a rod at a lower end of the arm rest.

15. The medical chair according to claim 14 , wherein the rod extends along the lower end of the arm rest.

16. The medical chair according to claim 13 , wherein the locking mechanism selectively locks the arm rest in a plurality of positions between the lowered and raised positions.

17. The medical chair according to claim 16 , further comprising a manual release to release the locking mechanism.

18. The medical chair according to claim 17 , wherein the safety release mechanism is coupled to the manual release mechanism and actuates the manual release mechanism to release the locking mechanism.

19. A medical chair comprising:

a seat frame, the seat frame having a back edge and a forward edge; and

a backrest pivotally coupled to the seat frame such that the backrest is operable to pivot with respect to the seat frame about a first pivot axis closer to the back edge than the forward edge during reclining movement of the backrest between an upright position and an intermediate reclining position, and the backrest is operable to pivot with respect to the seat frame about a second pivot axis adjacent the back edge spaced from the first pivot axis during reclining movement of the backrest between the intermediate reclining position and a lowered reclining position.

20. The medical chair of claim 19 further including:

a user interface; and

an actuator coupled to the backrest and adapted to automatically pivot the backrest between the upright position and the lowered reclining position based on input from the user interface.

21. The medical chair of claim 19 wherein the first pivot axis is positioned at a location along the seat frame where a patient's buttocks typically are positioned when a patient is seated on the medical chair.

22. The medical chair of claim 19 wherein the backrest is configured to pivot exclusively about the first pivot axis during reclining movement between the upright position and the intermediate reclining position, and the backrest is configured to pivot exclusively about the second pivot axis during reclining movement between the intermediate reclining position and the lowered reclining position.

23. The medical chair of claim 19 wherein the first pivot axis is positioned forward of a front end of the backrest, and the second pivot axis is positioned at a higher height than the first pivot axis and rearwardly of the first pivot axis.

24. The medical chair of claim 19 further including:

a seat actuator adapted to pivot the seat frame; and

a controller adapted to electrically control both the actuator and the seat actuator, the controller further adapted to pivot a rear end of the seat frame initially downwardly and then subsequently upwardly as the backrest pivots downwardly from the upright position to the lowered position.

25. The medical chair of claim 19 further including:

a base;

a lift supported on the base;

a chassis supported by the lift, wherein the chassis is adapted to be raised and lowered by the lift with respect to the base; and

a seat actuator adapted to pivot the seat frame with respect to the chassis about a third pivot axis.