Beds – Bedsteads – Having bottom
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-19
2001-10-09
Grosz, Alexander (Department: 3628)
Beds
Bedsteads
Having bottom
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298505
ABSTRACT:
More generally the present invention relates to an orthopaedic bed and the like, of the type comprising a frame essentially consisting of a headboard and a footboard which are joined together and made rigid by a pair of longitudinal members, an orthopaedic bedspring comprising a plurality of bars which are rigid or have a predefined elasticity—commonly called slats—and which extend transversely with respect to said longitudinal members and have opposite ends resting on a cushioned support system associated with the longitudinal members themselves, so as to allow said bars to assume an arrangement according to the profile of the person resting on the orthopaedic bedspring and profile.
More particularly, the invention relates to a cushioned support system of the abovementioned type.
With regard to the construction of orthopaedic beds with a bedspring consisting of slats, for some time various cushioned support systems for the plurality of slats which form said bedspring have been proposed, all of said systems being essentially based on the use of tubular reservoirs which are sealed at their opposite ends and filled or partially filled with a fluid of suitable density, for example and preferably, water or aqueous solutions containing thickening substances with a viscosity which can be adjusted. Said tubular reservoirs, which are generally made with flexible materials, extend along the whole length of the longitudinal members of the orthopaedic bed and are positioned inside respective box-shaped seats which also extend along the whole length of said longitudinal members to which they are fixed using conventional means. Said box-shaped seats are open at the top so that the tubular reservoirs
2
are accessible at the respective opposite ends of each of the slats which form the orthopaedic bedspring and which must be fixed thereon. Under the weight of a person lying on said bedspring, the tubular reservoirs are subject to a greater compression in the region of those slats which are under the most pressure and to a much smaller compression or no compression or even a “swelling” effect in the region of the slats which are under no pressure.
Consequently this results in the arrangement of the slats at different heights compared to the initial flat arrangement, with the orthopaedic bedspring adapting to the shape and profile of the user's body and with a substantially equal pressure over all the slats.
Although advantageous in certain respects, the cushioned support systems for the slats of an orthopaedic bedspring, proposed by the known art, suffer from various drawbacks—hitherto unresolved—the main one of which consists in the usually too rapid “response” to the stresses produced by a body which is resting on the bedspring or to relatively sudden movements of a body resting on said bedspring, which “response” may result in too sudden displacements of the slats and, therefore, sensations of considerable discomfort for the user. Moreover, these sensations may be prolonged over time on account of the so-called “oscillation” phenomenon basically due to the displacements, in either direction and by a decreasing amount, of the liquid inside the respective tubular reservoirs. In order to reduce the effects of the abovementioned phenomenon, certain measures have been adopted such as that of adding water containing substances which are designed to increase the viscosity thereof or that of designing the individual tubular reservoirs in the form of a plurality of successive segments communicating with each other via very narrow channels or constrictions able to slow down the movements of the liquid inside them. But even when adopted in combination, measures of the abovementioned type have been unable to eliminate the drawbacks, while they have generally resulted in greater structural and functional complexity of the cushioned support system, making it unreliable during use and uneconomical from the production point of view.
Another drawback of a more specifically structural nature arises from the method generally used in cushioned support systems of the known art in order to guide the slats during their vertical displacements in accordance with the deformations of the tubular reservoirs. In fact, according to the teachings of the known art, for this purpose an end section of each slat is (of smaller width) is slidably engaged in vertical guide slots formed in the walls of the box-shaped seat which receives the tubular reservoir. In this way, when the slats are subject to considerable stress (as occurs, for example, in the case of the slats underneath the heaviest parts of the user's body or following a concentration of weight in a small space when the user sits on the orthopaedic bed), resulting in a corresponding significant compression of the tubular reservoir, the ends of the slats sink inside the box-shaped structure, so that the top edges of the latter suddenly come into contact with the mattress and are felt by the user, resulting in discomfort.
The problem underlying the present invention is that of providing a cushioned support system for the slats of an orthopaedic bedspring, which has structural and functional characteristics such as to overcome definitively the drawbacks mentioned with reference to the known art.
This problem is solved according to the present invention by a cushioned support system for the slats of an orthopaedic bedspring which has the structural characteristics indicated in claim
1
below.
The invention also relates to an orthopaedic bedspring associated with a cushioned support system of the abovementioned type, as well as an orthopaedic bed which has a bedspring consisting of slats supported by a cushioned support system according to the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3810265 (1974-05-01), McGrew
patent: 5038429 (1991-08-01), Elmalek et al.
patent: 0038155 (1981-10-01), None
patent: 0697184 (1996-02-01), None
Bucknam and Archer
Grosz Alexander
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