Beds – Having safety device – Side guard
Patent
1986-06-13
1988-11-29
Grosz, Alexander
Beds
Having safety device
Side guard
5439, 5447, 297460, A47C 742, A47C 746, A47C 2720
Patent
active
047871067
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to body support devices of the kind comprising a case containing a filling, such as a cushion or pillow. Such a device will hereinafter be referred to as a `portable cushion`.
The invention is concerned with providing correct support to the body of a user.
Proposals have been made involving the use of springs across the whole plan area of the inside of cushions. These are expensive to produce and can give no proper support to a localised area of the body, for example the lumbar regions of the spine. Those cushions without springs tend to provide poor general overall support, no localised support, or are too hard and firm over the whole area.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a simple and cheap form of resilient support structure for incorporation into a portable cushion, the support structure providing increased localised support to the body.
According to the invention a portable cushion comprises a support structure mounted at least substantially within the interior of the case, the support structure comprising a substantially rigid frame, and a local support pad mounted within the interior of the frame by resilient connection means between the support pad and the frame.
The resilient connection means might possibly be a single sheet of resilient material, but preferably the resilient connection means comprises a plurality of spaced resilient connections.
The support pad may simply be a convex rigid plate, but it could be formed of a semi-rigid material, as a bulbous plastics member for example. Alternatively the pad may be of a composite construction, such as a rigid flat plate provided on one side, the outer side in use, with suitable conventional padding material of appropriate thickness, shape and type. The padding material for the plate may itself be moulded.
It will be appreciated that the form of the support pad, its shape, rigidity, resilience and size may readily be chosen or adapted in manufacture to suit the needs of the particular user.
The resilient connections preferably lie substantially within the plane of the frame.
The resilient connections each preferably comprises a coiled tension spring of which one end is attached to the support pad, and the other end is attached to the frame, but the resilient connections may be in the form of elasticated belts or cords.
The elasticity and pre-tension of the resilient connnections may be chosen to suit the user.
The frame is preferably in the form of a closed hoop which may be of any convenient shape, but an open-ended frame, such as a U-shaped frame, might be employed.
The frame preferably comprises a single member which surrounds the support pad, such as a tube or flat strip of metal with its ends rigidly secured together. Alternatively, the frame may be produced from plastics or some other rigid material.
The frame will help to prevent the cushion or pillow etc. from collapsing in use, and the support pad will provide local, resilient support for a part of the user's body.
The support structure is preferably embedded to a greater or lesser degree within the filling of the body support device. It is preferred in particular that the frame when viewed in plan is surrounded by filling material, so that the frame does not provide a hard edge to the body support device. However, if in a particular circumstance it is desired to have the frame extend to the edge of the portable cushion, then this would be possible.
The filling material may be of any of the usual types employed in cushions etc. When a foamed resilient filling is employed then the support structure may be mounted in a shallow recess cut into a slab of the foam, the recess then being covered by a sheet of the foam, which may be in the form of an integral flap on the foam block.
Alternatively, it might be possible to mould the foam block in situ around the support structure, so that the structure is more or less encased by the foam material.
The case of the portable cushion, may be a stitched case, or it may be provided with a releasable fastening, such as
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patent: 3459611 (1969-08-01), Joseph
patent: 3974827 (1976-08-01), Bodeen
patent: 4601514 (1986-07-01), Meiller
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