Beds – Mattress – Having confined gas
Patent
1997-04-21
1998-03-24
Grosz, Alexander
Beds
Mattress
Having confined gas
5714, A47C 2710, A47D 7057
Patent
active
057298530
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to beds and to apparatus for controlling the supply of air under pressure to one of a selected range of air-loss mattresses supported thereby. The beds may be hospital or therapeutic beds.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Control devices for controlling the pressure and/or volume of air supplied to air-loss mattresses of hospital and therapeutic beds (hereinafter referred to simply as "therapeutic beds") are known. Such apparatus typically enables changes to be made to the pressure of the mattress depending on a patient's needs. The selected air pressure is conventionally displayed in one form or another on or adjacent to the control apparatus. A disadvantage with many such controllers is that the pressure displayed is a measure of the air passing through the controller and not a measure of the pressure of air actually within the mattress. In certain circumstances these pressures may not be the same.
It is also the case that in some air-loss mattresses there is no provision for being able to measure the pressure within the mattress in different areas so as to provide the benefit of variable pressures within the mattress.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide control apparatus of the type discussed which responds to remove differences between a desired air pressure set by the controller and the actual air pressure within the mattress.
Hitherto a range of beds has been produced to meet the needs of patients at risk to, for example, the formation of pressure ulcers. Thus, patients are generally categorised as being at low risk, medium risk and high risk. For each such category a different specie of bed and mattress is required to provide the necessary level of patient care to assist the prevention of capillary closure and the onset of skin maceration with the consequent formation of pressure ulcers. To provide a full range of therapeutic beds is both labour intensive and costly.
In one aspect, the present invention provides control apparatus for supplying controlled quantities of air under pressure from a source to an air-loss mattress, the control apparatus including means for setting a required pressure of air flow to the mattress, an open-ended tube connected at one end to pressure recording means with its free end positioned within the flow of air supplied to the mattress to provide a direct measure of the pressure of such supplied air, and means for automatically varying the rate at which air is supplied to the mattress from the source in dependence upon differences existing between the pressure recorded by the pressure recording means and the set pressure to minimise such differences. The free end of the pressure tube may, in use, be positioned within the interior of the mattress.
The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bed in accordance with the invention on which is supported an air-loss mattress;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the air-loss mattress illustrated in FIG. 1 with its containment envelope partially removed;
FIG. 3 is a plan view from above partly in section of the mattress illustrated in FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is a sectional view to an enlarged scale of a releasable connection between a side chamber and an air sack of the mattress shown in FIG. 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The bed illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings is a conventional electrically operated therapeutic or hospital bed by which patients can automatically be repositioned irrespective of how immobile, heavy, seriously ill or severely injured they may be. Supported on the bed is a low air-loss mattress 1 which is detachably connected to a source of air under pressure through a micro-processor driven controller 2 which operates selectively to vary the pressure of air within the mattress and to maintain this air pressure at a selected value. In the bed illustrated in the drawing, the controller and a display pane
REFERENCES:
patent: 4797962 (1989-01-01), Goode
patent: 4995124 (1991-02-01), Wridge
patent: 5020176 (1991-06-01), Dotson
Egerton Hospital Equipment Limited
Grosz Alexander
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