Beds – Bedclothing – And means to facilitate changing thereof
Patent
1991-07-15
1992-06-16
Grosz, Alexander
Beds
Bedclothing
And means to facilitate changing thereof
5455, 5903, 5469, A61G 7057, A47C 2710
Patent
active
051215128
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an auxiliary device serving as mattress, primarily for physically handicapped persons, the active part of the device, i.e. the part which in use forms the surface on which the patient is lying, consisting of a number of individually and freely selectably fillable and evacuable, flexible cell bodies principally extending in the longitudinal direction of the mattress and fixed to a mattress bottom, said cell bodies being adapted, by their upper side, to support the patient and permit varying the position of the patient lying on the mattress by changing the state of expansion of adjacent cell bodies.
An auxiliary device of this type is described in Applicant's Swedish Patent Specification No. 7704380-0 (409,653).
The primary object of the invention is to provide a device of the type stated above which provides an extremely high lateral mobility of the inflatable and deflatable cells which, additionally, are highly self-adaptable to each other when the patient lying on the mattress initiates a change of the filling degree of the different cells in order to bring about a change of his resting position This device should be especially useful for persons having a considerable physical handicap so as to enable them to themselves change their resting position without the assistance of other people.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of an auxiliary device which is essentially characterised in that the cell bodies are laterally connected to each other by means of flexible cloth material bridging the gap between the cell bodies, and further connected to said mattress bottom by means of likewise flexible cloth material, whereby the cell bodies are laterally movable in relation to their place of fixation in the mattress bottom and a maximum distance between juxtaposed cell bodies is ensured as well as a certain mutual adaptability of adjacent cell bodies during lateral movement.
Preferably, the cloth connecting the cell bodies to the mattress bottom is fixed to the underside of the cell bodies adjacent the center thereof. In this manner, the cell bodies can be given maximum height in relation to their width and maximum lateral mobility in relation to the mattress bottom.
Suitably, the mattress may have an uneven number, preferably three juxtaposed cell bodies, at least the central cell of the device having at least two pieces of cloth spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction of the cell and connecting it to the mattress bottom. This provides for increased stability against lateral movement of the central cell body, which means that irrespective of the degree of expansion of the other cell bodies, it will be maintained relatively firmly in its central position while being capable of tilting towards the adjacent cell which is least expanded.
Between the outer sides of the cells, the cloth interconnecting the cells and the mattress bottom, there are formed air-receiving spaces, the cloth connecting the cells to each other suitably being air-permeable to permit passage of air to and from parts of the body of the patient lying on the mattress. This provides for efficient ventilation of these body parts, as well as cooling and/or drying thereof.
Suitably, the air cells are surrounded by cloth material passing into the portions connecting the cells to each other and to the mattress bottom. The mattress bottom to which the cells are fixed is suitably formed of cloth material foldable about a mattress-like support structure.
Further, the separate cells suitably are connected through suction/pressure lines to an operating unit performing a suction/blowing action via valves which are operable by means of a control device and the opening/closing states of which determine the degree of filling/evacuation of the respective cells depending on the actuation of the control device.
The operating unit suitably comprises a pressure and a suction chamber communicating with each other via a passage in which there is provided a motor-driven fan, each separate air cell
REFERENCES:
patent: 3775781 (1973-12-01), Bruno et al.
patent: 4653130 (1987-03-01), Senoue et al.
patent: 4953247 (1990-09-01), Hasty
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