Beds – Mattress – Having confined gas
Patent
1999-01-27
2000-09-26
Melius, Terry Lee
Beds
Mattress
Having confined gas
5706, 5713, 56553, A47C 2710
Patent
active
061227862
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to inflatable mattresses for supporting patients.
Inflatable mattresses of this sort are disclosed in British Patent Specifications Nos 1595417 and 2241164. The invention aims to provide a novel configuration of inflatable mattress having longitudinal side tubes for providing support at the edges of the mattress.
According to the invention an inflatable mattress comprises two inflatable longitudinal tubes extending along the respective longitudinal edges of the mattress and a plurality of inflatable transverse tubes spanning the longitudinal tubes, each transverse tube having, at or adjacent each end and at an inter-mediate location between its upper and lower edges, an opening which extends through the transverse tube, each longitudinal tube passing through the openings at the corresponding ends of the transverse tubes.
Each opening may be a slot but is preferably an aperture extending through the corresponding transverse tube. Hence, each longitudinal tube passes through the corresponding end of each transverse tube, so as to locate the longitudinal and transverse tubes and retain them in their required positions.
The transverse tubes may comprise two series of tubes, namely a first series of transverse tubes, and a second series of tubes which are inflatable independently of the first series and of the longitudinal tubes. The first series may consist of any chosen number (preferably between two and five) of adjacent transverse tubes at one end of the mattress, these forming so-called head cells at the head end of the mattress. These head cells may be connected to the two longitudinal tubes to form a common volume therewith, so that the head cells and longitudinal tubes are inflatable or deflatable together. The second series of tubes may be connected so as to form a plurality of groups, the tubes of the groups being in an interdigitated array and with each group being independently inflatable with respect to remaining groups, the tubes of each group being inflated and deflated in a sequence to vary the positions at which supporting pressure is applied to a patient lying on the bed, so as to minimise or reduce the risk of bedsores.
When inflated, each transverse tube may be generally dumbbell shaped in transverse cross-section, having bulbous upper and lower regions between which is an intermediate web region having the apertures.
Each transverse tube is preferably fabricated from a single sheet of material, being sealed to form an inflatable tube and being sealed around the margins of the apertures.
The inflatable mattress may include inflatable means including a compressor, a pressure sensor for sensing the pressure to which the longitudinal tubes are inflated and control means which control the compressor in dependence upon the pressure sensed by the sensor.
A mattress according to the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mattress,
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the mattress,
FIG. 3 is a side elevation of one of the transverse tubes of the mattress,
FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views on the lines IV--IV and V--V respectively of FIG. 3, and
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a system for inflating the mattress.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the mattress comprises two longitudinal tubes 1, 2 extending along respective side edges of the mattress. The tubes 1, 2 constitute side formers and define the mattress edges. Spanning the two tubes are a plurality of inflatable transverse tubes arranged in two series. The first series of three transverse tubes form head cells 3 and extend across the mattress at the end thereof intended to be the head end of the mattress. The tubes 3 are connected to one another and to the two longitudinal tubes 1, 2, and thus the tubes 1, 2 and 3 are inflatable and deflatable together, by means of a supply tube 4. Alternatively, the head cells 3 may be inflatable or deflatable separately of the longitudinal tubes 1, 2 by the use of valves. For example, the head cel
REFERENCES:
patent: 1089652 (1914-03-01), Lisbae
patent: 5966761 (1999-10-01), Williams
Conley Fredrick
Melius Terry Lee
Rober Limited
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