Beds – Mattress – Nonplanar top surface
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-12
2002-06-25
Browne, Lynne H (Department: 3628)
Beds
Mattress
Nonplanar top surface
C005S631000, C005S690000, C005S930000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06408470
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a maternity mattress. More particularly, it relates to an improved maternity mattress having an adjustable cavity.
STATEMENT OF THE PRIOR ART
Maternity mattresses of various configurations are known in the art. While the prior art mattresses are generally satisfactory for performing their intended purposes, they tend to suffer from drawbacks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,872 issued to Powell discloses a maternity mattress having a cavity for accommodating the abdomen of a pregnant woman as she lies upon the mattress in a prone position. A plurality of resilient disklike members are included and which jointly conform in size and shape with the cavity to normally fill the cavity but which may be removed one at a time as the pregnancy progresses to gradually increase the size of the cavity. Only the cavity depth is altered by adding or removing the disklike members. By contrast, the present invention contemplates a maternity mattress having a cavity for accommodating the abdomen of a woman which takes into account the fact that the abdomen size increases in all directions. To that end, a plurality of stackable concentric foam pads are selectively removable from the cavity, and the diameter of the cavity opening may be adjusted as needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,452 issued to Lickert discloses a maternity mattress having a plurality of fluid filled cushions upon which a pregnant woman may rest her abdomen. By contrast, the present invention accommodates a woman's abdomen by providing and adjustable cavity which closely conforms to the abdomens as it progresses during the pregnancy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,953 issued to Singer- Layton discloses a cushion for use by pregnant women. The cushion is composed of a soft, foam-like material having a central recess or cavity defined in a surrounding continuous ridge to provide an integral unitary construction. The ridge includes sidewalls joined at a front end by a neck and chin transverse end wall and joined as a rear end by a leg and knee support. Sloping wall sections join the sidewalls with the leg and knee support whereby a flat planar surface of the leg and knee support resides below the top surface of the sidewalls. Internal sloping walls connect the front and rear ends with the bottom of the recess or cavity. A cushioned insert is carried within the recess that is reversible and having opposite textured or contoured sides. By contrast, the present invention concerns a mattress for pregnant women having a cavity formed therein, where the cavity is contoured to conform to the shape of a pregnant woman's abdomen. A plurality of nestable foam pads have a progressive increasing diameter to correspond to the increasing diameter of the woman's abdomen during the advancing stages of pregnancy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention contemplates an improved maternity mattress having a recess formed therein which accommodates a woman's expanding abdomen as a pregnancy progresses. The recess may be filled in by a plurality of stackable pads with each pad having approximately the same thickness. A sliding cover sized to allow for selectively covering and uncovering the hole is preferably controlled by an electrically powered mechanism, and may also be used to vary the diameter of the opening to the cavity. A control panel having switches for operating the sliding cover is preferably made of an expandable, flexible electrically insulating material such as rubber. A locking mechanism is provided to insure that the sliding cover remains closed.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved adjustable mattress apparatus.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved adjustable mattress apparatus having a cavity formed therein for accommodating a pregnant woman's abdomen.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved adjustable mattress apparatus wherein the diameter of the cavity opening may be manually or automatically adjustable.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved adjustable mattress apparatus which uses a plurality of stackable pads in combination with a sliding cover mechanism to allow for varying both the diameter and the depth of the cavity within which a pregnant woman's abdomen may be placed.
Finally, it is a general object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is fully effective in accomplishing its intended purpose.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3988793 (1976-11-01), Abitbol
patent: 4021872 (1977-05-01), Powell
patent: 4973034 (1990-11-01), Michele
patent: 5400449 (1995-03-01), Satto
patent: 5647076 (1997-07-01), Gearhart
patent: 5679040 (1997-10-01), Bianchi-Holm
patent: 2687294 (1992-02-01), None
Browne Lynne H
Hewitt James M.
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