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A wheeled chair for transporting patients includes a frame, a seat, a plurality of wheels, and a plurality of armrests. The armrests are pivotable about a common pivot axis that is oriented generally horizontally and that is positioned underneath the seat and forward of a back support. Each armrest

A wheeled chair for transporting patients includes a frame, a seat, a plurality of wheels, and a plurality of armrests. The armrests are pivotable about a common pivot axis that is oriented generally horizontally and that is positioned underneath the seat and forward of a back support. Each armrest may include a locking mechanism for holding the armrests in a use position. When locked in the use position, a user may apply an upward force on the armrests to lift the chair upwardly that does not cause pivoting of the armrests. The chair is designed to allow nesting with other chairs of similar design. The front wheels may be positioned laterally apart a greater distance than the rear wheels to allow a first chair to nestingly receive a rear portion of a second chair. Foley hooks may also be included on the chair for hanging a Foley catheter bag.

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1. A chair for transporting a patient, said chair comprising: a frame;a seat supported on said frame;a back rest supported by said frame and positioned adjacent a rear edge of said seat, said back rest providing support for a back of a patient seated in said chair;a plurality of wheels coupled to sa

1. A chair for transporting a patient, said chair comprising: a frame;a seat supported on said frame;a back rest supported by said frame and positioned adjacent a rear edge of said seat, said back rest providing support for a back of a patient seated in said chair;a plurality of wheels coupled to said frame to allow said chair to roll, said plurality of wheels including a pair of rear wheels having a first diameter and a pair of front wheels having a second diameter, said first diameter being greater than said second diameter; andan armrest coupled to said frame and pivotable about a generally horizontal pivot axis between a use position and a stowed position, said armrest including an arm bar and a support bar, the arm bar being supported on the support bar and having a front end and a rear end, said pivot axis being located at a location forward of said back rest such that said arm bar is positioned completely rearward of said pivot axis when the armrest is in the stowed position, said pivot axis further being positioned both forwardly of a generally horizontal rotational axis of said rear wheels and forwardly of said rear end of said arm bar when the armrest is in the use position. 2. The chair of claim 1 wherein said pivot axis is further positioned at a height that is less than the seat. 3. The chair of claim 1 further including a locking mechanism for the armrest, said locking mechanism having a locked condition and an unlocked condition wherein said locking mechanism prevents pivoting of the armrest out of the use position while in the locked condition and allows pivoting of the armrest out of the use position while in the unlocked condition. 4. The chair of claim 3 wherein said locking mechanism includes a pin that is selectively insertable into an aperture defined on the frame, said locking mechanism being in the locked condition when the pin is inserted into the aperture, and said locking mechanism being in the unlocked condition when the pin is removed from the aperture. 5. The chair of claim 4 further including a spring adapted to bias the pin towards insertion into the aperture. 6. The chair of claim 4 wherein, when said locking mechanism is in the locked condition, said armrest may be lifted upwardly without the armrest pivoting so that the entire chair may be lifted upwardly by applying an upward force to the armrest. 7. The chair of claim 1 further comprising: a first footrest coupled to said frame;a second footrest coupled to said frame, said first and second footrests each adapted to swing about generally vertical axes between a use position in front of said seat and a stowed position along a side of said seat;wherein said front wheels are spaced laterally apart a first distance; said rear wheels are spaced laterally apart a second distance that is less than said first distance; andwherein said first distance is sufficiently large to receive between said front wheels at least a portion of the rear wheels of a second chair when the chair and second chair are nested together, said second chair being constructed in the same manner as said chair. 8. The chair of claim 1 wherein the front end of the arm bar extends further forward than a front end of said seat when said armrest is in the use position. 9. The chair of claim 8 wherein the front end of said arm bar is positioned at a height higher than the rear end of the arm bar. 10. A chair for transporting a patient, said chair comprising: a frame;a seat support coupled to the frame, the seat support including a front end and rear end;a seat supported on said seat support, said seat including a front, a right side, and a left side;a plurality of wheels coupled to said frame to allow said chair to roll, said plurality of wheels including a pair of rear wheels and a pair of front wheels, said rear wheels having a larger diameter than said front wheels;a right and left armrest coupled to said frame and positioned adjacent the right and left sides, respectively, of the seat, said right and left armrests both pivotable about a generally horizontal pivot axis between a use position and a stowed position, said generally horizontal pivot axis positioned underneath said seat and forwardly of both the rear end of said seat support and a generally horizontal rotational axis of the rear wheels, said right and left armrests each including an arm bar supported on a support bar, and said right and left armrests configured such that, when in the stowed position, a patient is able to slide off of the right or left side of the seat without being obstructed by the armrests; anda right and left lock coupled to said support bars of said right and left armrests, respectively, said right and left locks adapted to releasably lock said right and left armrests in the use position such that an upward force may be exerted on both said arm bars and said support bars of said right and left armrests without pivoting said right and left armrests upwardly when said right and left locks are locked, said right and left locks being configured to automatically lock said right and left armrests, respectively, in the use position when said right and left armrests are moved from the stowed position to the use position. 11. The chair of claim 10 wherein said right and left locks each include a locking pin which may be pulled in a direction radially away from said generally horizontal pivot axis in order to unlock said right and left locks. 12. The chair of claim 11 further including a right and left stop pin positioned near the generally horizontal pivot axis, each of said right and left stop pins adapted to limit both the upward and downward extents of the pivoting of said right and left armrests, respectively. 13. The chair of claim 10 further including a cross bar positioned underneath said seat, said cross bar extending from said right side to said left side and defining said generally horizontal pivot axis. 14. The chair of claim 13 further including right and left end caps adapted to be coupled to said right and left armrests, respectively, at said generally horizontal pivot axis, said end caps including an interior surface adapted to rotatingly engage an exterior surface of said cross bar. 15. The chair of claim 14 wherein said right and left end caps cannot be removed from said right and left armrests, respectively, without damage after said right and left armrests have been coupled to said cross bar. 16. The chair of claim 10 wherein each of said armrests includes a forward end that extends further forward than the front end of said seat when said armrests are in the use position, and said forward ends of the armrests are positioned at a height higher than rear ends of the armrests. 17. The chair of claim 1 further including a back rest coupled to said frame wherein said generally horizontal pivot axis is located forwardly of said back rest. 18. The chair of claim 17 wherein said armrests pivot upwardly to the stowed position and downwardly to the use position. 19. The chair of claim 10 further including: a right footrest coupled to a right front leg, said right footrest pivotable about a first pivot axis between an up and a down position; anda left footrest coupled to a left front leg, said left footrest pivotable about a second pivot axis between an up and a down position. 20. The chair of claim 10 wherein said front wheels are spaced apart a greater distance than said rear wheels. 21. The chair of claim 10 wherein rear ends of the arm bars are positioned at a height adapted to support the patient's elbows while the patient is seated on the seat. 22. The chair of claim 21 wherein said rear wheels are non-caster wheels and said front wheels are caster wheels, each of said front caster wheels being supported on the frame for swiveling movement about a substantially vertical axis; and wherein forward ends of the arm bars extend further forward than the vertical axes of the front caster wheels when the armrests are in the use position. 23. A chair for transporting a patient, said chair comprising: a frame;a seat supported on said frame;a plurality of front and rear wheels coupled to said frame to allow said chair to roll, said front wheels including a first front wheel adapted to swivel about a first generally vertical pivot axis and a second front wheel adapted to swivel about a second generally vertical pivot axis, said rear wheels having a diameter greater than a diameter of said first and second front wheels, and said rear wheels being mounted to said frame in a manner that does not permit swiveling;a brake adapted to selectively lock and unlock at least one of the plurality of wheels;a pedal positioned between said rear wheels and rearward of said seat, said pedal adapted to activate said brake when pressed;a plurality of handles adapted for pushing the chair, said handles positioned rearwardly of the seat;a first footrest coupled to said frame, said first footrest adapted to move between a use position in front of the first generally vertical pivot axis and a stowed position behind the first generally vertical pivot axis;a second footrest coupled to said frame, the second footrest adapted to move between a use position in front of the second generally vertical pivot axis and a stowed position behind the second generally vertical pivot axis; andwherein said frame is configured such that said first and second footrests are spaced sufficiently far enough apart to receive therebetween at least a portion of each of the rear wheels of a second chair when the chair and said second chair are nested together, said second chair having substantially identical structure as said chair. 24. The chair of claim 23 further including a second pedal positioned between said rear wheels, said second pedal adapted to release said brake when pressed. 25. The chair of claim 23 wherein a height of a front edge of the seat is different from a height of a rear edge of the seat such that at least a portion of the seat may be positioned in a common vertical plane with at least a portion of the seat of the second chair when the chair and second chair are nested together. 26. The chair of claim 23 wherein said seat is pivotable between a use position and a stowed position. 27. The chair of claim 23 wherein said first and second footrests are pivotable between an up position and a down position, and said first and second footrests each include biasing mechanisms for biasing said footrests toward the up position. 28. The chair of claim 23 wherein said chair includes a pair of armrests spaced sufficiently far apart to receive therebetween at least a portion of the handles of the second chair when the chair and second chair are nested together. 29. The chair of claim 28 further including: a right hook positioned underneath a right side of said seat and adapted to support a catheter bag; anda left hook positioned underneath a left side of said seat and adapted to support a catheter bag. 30. The chair of claim 28 wherein each of said armrests, when in the stowed position, allows a patient to slide off a side edge of the seat without being obstructed by the armrests. 31. The chair of claim 30 further including a locking mechanism associated with each of the armrests, said locking mechanism having a locked condition and an unlocked condition wherein said locking mechanism prevents pivoting of the associated armrest while in the locked condition and allows pivoting of the associated armrest while in the unlocked condition. 32. The chair of claim 31 wherein, when said locking mechanism is in the locked condition, the associated armrest may be lifted upwardly without the associated armrest pivoting so that the entire chair may be lifted upwardly by applying an upward force to the associated armrest. 33. The chair of claim 23 further comprising: a hook fixed to said chair and positioned underneath said seat and adapted to support a catheter bag, said hook being positioned along a side of said seat at a location that is closer to a front end of said seat than to a rear end of said seat. 34. The chair of claim 33 further including a second hook positioned underneath a second side of said seat at a location that is closer to the front end of said seat than to the rear end of said seat. 35. The chair of claim 34 wherein said frame includes right and left front legs and right and left rear legs, said right front leg and said right rear leg criss-crossing each other, and said left front leg and said left rear leg criss-crossing each other.