Self-locking swivel castor wheels for roll-in cot

1. A roll-in cot having a patient support attached to a wheeled transporter wherein the wheeled transporter comprises leading and trailing collapsible legs having respective proximal ends pivotally connected to a frame and distal ends including wheels, wherein at least at the leading end of the cot the wheels are swivel castor wheels which are lockable and operable in either a swivel mode or a fixed mode, wherein the swivel mode allows each of the swivel castor wheels to swivel 360 degrees around their respective leading collapsible leg, and the fixed mode is self actuating and fixes the swivel castor wheels of the leading collapsible legs in line with a longitudinal direction of the cot so that the cot may be pushed in a straight line, and a castor release assembly for selecting the swivel mode of the swivel castor wheels, wherein the castor release assembly only operates to place the swivel castor wheels in the swivel mode when the cot is in a fully elevated position.

2. The roll-in cot of claim 1 , further includes a level for selecting the swivel mode.

3. The roll-in cot of claim 2 , wherein the castor release assembly is adapted to maintain the swivel castor wheels in the swivel mode so long as the lever is operated.

4. The roll-in cot of claim 2 , wherein releasing the lever from an actuated position automatically places the cot in the fixed mode.

5. The roll-in cot of claim 2 , wherein the level is accessible from the leading end of the cot.

6. The roll-in cot of claim 1 , wherein when in the fixed mode, any forward motion of the cot will cause the swivel castor wheels of the leading legs to rotate about their respective legs and once longitudinally aligned, the castor release assembly will automatically and positively lock each of the swivel castor wheels in line with the longitudinal direction of the cot.

7. The roll-in cot of claim 1 , wherein the castor release assembly includes pins which each engage a rest plate of a respective one of the swivel castor wheels when the cot is in the fixed mode, wherein when the cot is in the swivel mode, an interference between the pins and each rest plate is cleared.

8. The roll-in cot of claim 1 , wherein the wheels of the trailing collapsible legs are swivel castor wheels.

9. A roll-in cot having a patient support attached to a wheeled transporter comprising:

a longitudinally extending frame;

leading and trailing collapsible legs having respective proximal ends pivotally connected to the frame;

wheels provided to distal ends of the trailing collapsible legs;

swivel castor wheels provided to distal ends of the leading collapsible legs which are lockable and operable in either a swivel mode or a fixed mode, wherein the swivel mode allows each of the swivel castor wheels to swivel 360 degrees around their respective leading collapsible leg, and the fixed mode is self actuating and fixes the swivel castor wheels of the leading collapsible legs in line with the longitudinally extending frame so that the cot may be pushed in a straight line; and

a castor release assembly having a lever, an actuator connected to the lever, a strike plate, a release bar connected to the strike plate, and pins connected to the release bar, wherein the pins each engage a rest plate of a respective one of the swivel castor wheels when the cot is in the fixed mode, and wherein the castor release assembly is configured such that operating the lever only when the cot is in a fully elevated position selects the swivel mode via the actuator transiting into the strike plate which rotates the release bars and clears an interference between the pins and each rest plate.