Support Device of the Mattress Type Comprising A Heterogeneous Inflatable Structure

• US 20080307582A1
• Filed: 06/12/2008
• Published: 12/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hill - Rom Industries SA (Baxter International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hill - Rom Industries SA (Baxter International Inc.)
• Inventors: Camus, Gilles, Flocard, Thierry
• Granted Patent: US 7,849,544 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 5/712
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/34 for pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/05769 with inflatable chambers
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/05776 with at least two groups of alternately inflated chambers

Abstract

A mattress has at least one inflatable top layer made up of a plurality of adjacent elements that are secured together and that are individually inflatable by a pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device and at least one bottom layer supporting the top layer. The bottom layer is provided with a recess for receiving a sensor connected to the pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device, and making it possible to determine the pressure applied by the body of an individual bearing against the inflatable top layer and to regulate the inflation pressures of the elements of the top layer correspondingly, in order to facilitate desired penetration of the body on the device. In at least one support zone designed to support the sacrum of an individual, the top layer is made up of a plurality of inflatable elements that are of a width smaller than their height, the width of said individualized inflatable elements of this zone being smaller than the width of the inflatable elements of an end zone adjacent to the sacrum support zone.

Claims

1. A support device, in particular of the mattress type for supporting the body of an individual, said support device comprising, inside at least one outer casing:

at least one inflatable top layer made up of a plurality of adjacent elements that are secured together and that are individually inflatable with a fluid, in particular air, via a pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device; and

at least one bottom layer supporting said top layer and provided with a recess for receiving a penetration and/or pressure sensor connected to said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device, said sensor making it possible to determine the penetration and/or the pressure applied locally by the body of a said individual bearing against the inflatable top layer and to regulate the inflation pressures of said elements of said top layer correspondingly;

wherein, in at least one support zone, preferably a substantially central zone designed to support the sacrum zone of a said individual'"'"'s body, said top layer is made up of a plurality of inflatable elements that are individualized in unitary manner, and that are of width smaller than their height, the width of said individualized inflatable elements of said central support zone being smaller than the width of the inflatable elements of an end zone adjacent to said central support zone.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the width of said inflatable elements in said support zone that are individualized in unitary manner is substantially constant regardless of the level of inflation of said individualized inflatable elements.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein said individualized elements in said support zone are constituted by sausage-shaped cells extending transversely relative to the longitudinal direction of the mattress and disposed side-by-side in the longitudinal direction of the mattress, the opposite side faces of each cell being connected together by tie means giving them a width that is substantially constant regardless of their level of inflation.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein said tie means are constituted by a longitudinal weld line extending over a portion of the length of said cells, and not reaching their ends, said weld preferably being situated substantially in the middle relative to the height of the cell.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the width of said inflatable elements in said central zone of said top layer is at least 25% smaller, and preferably at least 50% smaller than their height.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein said inflatable elements of said top layer are made of a thermoplastic polymer material that is preferably a material based on polyurethane.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of said inflatable elements of the top layer, regardless of whether it is in said central zone or in one of said end zones, is provided with or co-operates with at least one pneumatic air feed and/or discharge means connected to and suitable for being fed by a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein said bottom layer is made up of a plurality of elements that are individually inflatable and that are suitable for being connected to a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein said bottom layer is made up of a plurality of individually inflatable elements made of a material of flexibility and of heat-sensitivity that are lower than those of the material of which the inflatable elements of the top layer are formed.

10. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an intermediate layer disposed between said top layer and said bottom layer.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein said intermediate layer is made up of a plurality of individually inflatable elements that are suitable for being connected to a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein said individually inflatable elements of said top layer, of said bottom layer, and of said intermediate layer are substantially in the shape of elongate sausages, and wherein said inflatable elements of said top layer and of said bottom layer extend lengthwise in a direction YY′

perpendicular to the longitudinal direction XX′

of the device, and said inflatable elements of said intermediate layer extending lengthwise parallel to said longitudinal direction XX′

of the device.

13. The device according to claim 1, said device, between said pressure sensor and said individualized elements of said central support zone of said top layer, further comprising an inflatable cushion suitable for being connected to a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein said cushion is made of the same thermoplastic material as said inflatable elements of said top layer, and is preferably made of a thermoplastic polyurethane.

15. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of said individualized elements in said central zone of the top layer comprises two independent and superposed inflation chambers.

16. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of said individualized elements in said central zone comprises a top chamber and a bottom chamber, said top chamber having a volume larger than the volume of said bottom chamber and a width and a length equal to those of said bottom chamber, the volume of said top chamber being at least in the range 150% to 250% of the volume of said bottom chamber, said top and bottom chambers of each of said individualized elements in said central zone of the top layer being separated by a weld line extending over their entire length and thus being suitable for being inflated independently from each other, and each of said top and bottom chambers being provided with or co-operating with at least one pneumatic air feed and/or discharge means connected to and suitable for being actuated by a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device, each of said top chambers having a said longitudinal weld line that does not reach its ends.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein said top chambers form the top layer of said central support zone and said bottom chambers are of length shorter than the length of the top chambers in the transverse direction of said mattress and are received and held in said recess in the bottom mattress above said sensor.

18. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of a support zone of said top layer that is distinct from the central zone, in particular the portion designed to support the heels of a said individual recumbent on the device, is made up of a plurality of inflatable elements of height and of width that are proportionally smaller than those of the inflatable elements in the other zones of said top layer, and wherein they are distributed into superposed layers whose total height is equal to the height of the other inflatable elements of said top layer.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the inflatable elements in said portion of the top layer that is designed to support the heels of an individual are suitable for being inflated independently from one another, and each of them is provided with or co-operates with at least one pneumatic air feed and/or discharge means connected to and suitable for being actuated by a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

20. The device according to claim 18, wherein each of said inflatable elements in said zone that is designed to support the heels of an individual recumbent on the device comprises at least two superposed and secured-together inflation chambers that are preferably of identical volume and of identical shape, and that are suitable for being inflated independently from each other and each provided with or co-operating with at least one pneumatic air feed and/or discharge means connected to and suitable for being actuated by a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

21. The device according to claim 18, wherein said inflatable elements in said zone that is designed to support the heels of an individual recumbent on the device are constituted by sausage-shaped tubes that are individually inflatable and that are secured together in such a manner as to form a cushion, said cushion being folded over on itself in such a manner as to form at least two layers of inflatable sausage-shaped tubes that are stacked one above the other.

22. The device according to claim 18, wherein said inflatable elements in said zone that is designed to support the heels of an individual recumbent on the device are made of the same material as the other inflatable elements of the top layer, and are preferably made of a thermoplastic polyurethane.

23. The device according to claim 1, said device, preferably in alignment with said bottom layer and under said top layer, further comprising a said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device connected by suitable means to said pressure sensor and by pipes to said pneumatic air feed and/or discharge means with which each of said inflatable elements of said top layer is provided or co-operates, and with which said bottom layer or the individually inflatable elements making up said bottom layer is/are provided and co-operate(s), and, optionally, with which said inflatable cushion situated between said pressure sensor and said top layer is provided or co-operates.