Reinforced and adjustable contoured seat cushion and method of reinforcing and adjusting the contoured seat cushion
First Claim
1. A flexible seat cushion for supporting a person in a seated position thereon, having generally transversely spaced and longitudinally extending longitudinal sides and generally longitudinally spaced and transversely extending front and rear transverse sides, the longitudinal sides intersecting the rear side at rear corners and the longitudinal sides intersecting the front side at front corners, and an upper surface extending between the sides and defining a support contour for contacting and supporting a person in a sitting position, comprising;
- a support contour, including relief areas at locations adjacent to skin covering at least one bony prominence of a pelvic area of the person seated on the cushion, and support areas adjacent to skin covering tissue masses adjacent to the one bony prominence, the relief areas and support areas positioned to establish relatively less pressure on the skin in the relief areas and relatively more pressure on the skin in the support areas, the relief areas including a center cavity generally transversely centered between the longitudinal sides and longitudinally spaced more toward the rear side than the front side;
a support member attached to a rear corner of the flexible seat cushion, the support member having relatively less flexibility than the seat cushion to resist deformation of the support contour from contact with the pelvic area of the person when seated on the seat cushion.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible seat cushion, such as a wheelchair cushion, has an upper surface with a support contour for establishing relatively less pressure on skin adjacent to the bony prominences of the person'"'"'s pelvic area and relatively more pressure on skin covering adjacent tissue masses. A support member is attached to the rear corner of the cushion. The support member has relatively less flexibility than the seat cushion. The support member is retained to a longitudinal and/or transverse side of the cushion to cause the support member to resist deformation of the support contour from contact with the pelvic area of the person when seated on the seat cushion. Connector member may be connected to the support member to extend along longitudinal and/or transverse sides of the cushion to deform and thereby adjust the support contour for better support of the pelvic area.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A flexible seat cushion for supporting a person in a seated position thereon, having generally transversely spaced and longitudinally extending longitudinal sides and generally longitudinally spaced and transversely extending front and rear transverse sides, the longitudinal sides intersecting the rear side at rear corners and the longitudinal sides intersecting the front side at front corners, and an upper surface extending between the sides and defining a support contour for contacting and supporting a person in a sitting position, comprising;
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a support contour, including relief areas at locations adjacent to skin covering at least one bony prominence of a pelvic area of the person seated on the cushion, and support areas adjacent to skin covering tissue masses adjacent to the one bony prominence, the relief areas and support areas positioned to establish relatively less pressure on the skin in the relief areas and relatively more pressure on the skin in the support areas, the relief areas including a center cavity generally transversely centered between the longitudinal sides and longitudinally spaced more toward the rear side than the front side;
a support member attached to a rear corner of the flexible seat cushion, the support member having relatively less flexibility than the seat cushion to resist deformation of the support contour from contact with the pelvic area of the person when seated on the seat cushion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A seat cushion comprising a resilient seat support structure having longitudinally-extending and transversely-extending sides intersecting at corners and defining an upward facing support contour extending between the sides to contact and support a person in a sitting position, comprising:
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relief areas defined by the support contour and positioned adjacent to skin covering the ischial tuberosities, the greater trochanters and the coccyx and sacrum of a pelvic area of the person sitting on the support contour;
support areas defined by the support contour and positioned adjacent to skin covering tissue masses on opposite lateral sides of the posterior buttocks and beneath the proximal thighs of the person;
a support member positioned at a corner where a longitudinally-extending and a rear transversely-extending sidewall of the seat support structure intersect, the support member being relatively less flexible than the seat support structure to resist deformation of the support contour when contacted by the person seated on the seat cushion;
a longitudinal connector member that connects the support member to a longitudinally extending side of the seat support structure at a position longitudinally spaced from the corner where the support member is located, the longitudinal connector member restraining the support member to resist longitudinal deformation of the support contour at the corner where the support member is located;
a transverse connector member that connects the support member to a rear transverse extending side of the seat support structure at a position transversely spaced from the corner where the support member is located, the transverse connector member restraining the support member to resist transverse deformation of the support contour at the corner where the support member is located; and
wherein;
the relief areas and support areas are spaced relatively more away from and relatively more toward the pelvic area of the person, respectively, to establish relatively less pressure on the skin in the relief areas and relatively more pressure on the skin in the support areas and the support member supports the corner of the seat support structure to assist in maintaining the support contour of the seat support structure at the corner. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method of supporting a person in a seated position on a resilient seat cushion, the person having a pelvic area with bony prominences;
- the method comprising;
positioning the person on a support contour defined by a seat support structure of the seat cushion, the seat support structure formed of resilient flexible material, the seat support structure comprising generally transversely spaced and longitudinally extending longitudinal sides and generally longitudinally spaced and transversely extending transverse sides, the sides intersecting one another at corners, and an upper surface extending between the sides and defining the support contour, the support contour including a cavity portion to receive the pelvic area of the person in the seated position, the cavity portion of the support contour including relief areas at locations adjacent to skin covering the bony prominences of the pelvic area of the person positioned on the seat support structure and also including support areas adjacent to skin covering tissue masses spaced from the bony prominences, the relief areas and support areas spaced relatively more toward and relatively more away from the bony prominences, respectively;
the seat support structure also including a support member located at a corner adjacent to the cavity, the support member having relatively less resilience than the seat cushion;
positioning the seat support structure with the support areas at locations adjacent to the tissue masses;
positioning the seat support structure with the relief areas at locations adjacent to the bony prominences; and
restraining the resilient seat support structure and the support areas of the support contour against outward deformation away from the pelvic area by retaining the support member to at least one of the longitudinal or transverse sides of the seat support structure at a position spaced from the intersection of the sides at the corner where the support member is located. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
- the method comprising;
Specification