Air mattress

• US 4,723,329 A
• Filed: 05/09/1986
• Issued: 02/09/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/1986
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NICK Vaccaro International
• Original Assignee: NICK Vaccaro International
• Inventors: Vaccaro, Nicola
• Primary Examiner(s): Grosz, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US06/861,450
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 5/455, 5/449, 5/435, 5/431, 5/441, 5/465, 441/128, 441/129, 441/135, 297/DIG. 3, D 6/604, D 6/361, D21/237
• US Class Current: 5/710
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 15/006 Floating seats floatable vessel furniture for life-saving B63C9/30
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 27/081 of pneumatic type
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 27/10 with two or more independently-fillable chambers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 5/922 with hook and loop type fastener

Abstract

A posturepedic buoyancy device for supporting a person lying on said device in water or on land in a manner to minimize postural strain comprises an inflatable mattress having attached thereto an inflatable lumbar elevation cushion on the top surface of the mattress. The cushion elevates a person'"'"'s lumbo-sacral region sufficiently to minimize hyper-extension in the lumbar region while lying prone on the mattress. To further facilitate prone positioning of the person in a comfortable correct posture, the head region of the mattress has an elongate recess to receive and support a person'"'"'s head when lying on top of the mattress. The recess is defined by opposing spaced-apart inflated mattress sections extending generally parallel to one another in the length direction of the mattress. The spacing between the mattress sections is such to support a person'"'"'s head by contacting the cheekbones while accommodating the mouth and nose area to permit free breathing while lying in the prone position.

Claims

1. A posturepedic buoyancy device for supporting a person lying on said device in water or on land in a manner to minimize postural strain, said buoyancy device comprising an inflatable mattress having top and bottom surfaces and in its length direction head and foot regions, said head region having an elongate recess of a depth approximating that of said mattress to receive and support a person'"'"'s head when lying on said top surface of said mattress in a prone positon, said recess being defined by opposing spaced-apart inflated mattress sections extending generally parallel to one another in said length dirction, said mattress sections being spaced apart a distance which supports a person'"'"'s head when a person is lying in a prone position by contacting a person'"'"'s cheekbones and accommodates a person'"'"'s mouth and nose to permit free breathing while lying in a prone position, means for bridging said mattress sections across their lower portions to define a bottom of said recess and means for closing said recess along said mattress outer edge, an inflatable lumbar elevation cushion attached to said top surface of said mattress intermediate said head and foot regions, said lumbar elevation cushion elevating a person'"'"'s lumbo-sacral region sufficiently to minimize hyper-extension in a person'"'"'s lumbo-scaral region while a person is lying prone on said mattress, said elongated recess accommodating variations in people'"'"'s trunk length.

2. A posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 1, wherein said lumbar cushion is detachably connected to said mattress by a connecting means, said connecting means providing for repositioning of said lumbar cushion along said length direction of said mattress.

3. A posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 1, wherein said opposing inflated mattress sections are spaced apart approximately two to three inches.

4. A posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 3, wherein said opposing inflated mattress sections are reinforced.

5. A posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 1, wherein said lumbar cushion has means for inflating it independently of means for inflating said mattress.

6. A posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 1, wherein said air mattress comprises a plurality of interconnected parallel inflatable tubes extending in said length direction, one of said tubes being positioned centrally of said plurality of tubes, said plurality of tubes being co-terminus at said foot region of said air mattress, said centrally positioned tube being shorter than remaining said plurality of tubes to define said recess, the tubes on each side of said centrally positioned tube providing said mattress sections along said recess.

7. In a posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 6, said centrally positioned tube being narrower than the other tubes to provide said distance between said mattress sections which support a person'"'"'s cheekbones.

8. In a posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 1, further comprising an inflatable head support cushion attached to said mattress underside surface and extending transversely of said length direction for the mattress and beneath said recess to provide additional buoyancy in said head region of said mattress.

9. A posturepedic buoyancy device for supporting a person lying on said device in water or on land in a manner to minimize postural strain, said buoyancy device comprising an inflatable mattress having top and bottom surfaces and in its length direction head and foot regions, said head region having an elongate recess of a depth approximating that of said mattress to receive and support a person'"'"'s head when lying on said top surface of said mattress in a prone position, said recess being defined by opposing spaced-apart inflated mattress sections extending generally parallel to one another in said length direction, said mattress sections being spaced apart a distance which supports a person'"'"'s head when a person is lying in a prone position by contacting a person'"'"'s cheekbones and accommodates a person'"'"'s mouth and nose to permit free breathing while lying in a prone position, an inflatable head support cushion being provided on said bottom surface of said mattress and extending transversely of said mattress length direction and beneath said recess to provide additional buoyancy in said head region of said mattress, wherein said head support cushion has means for inflating it independently of means for inflating said mattress, an inflatable lumbar elevation cushion attached to said top surface of said mattress intermediate said head and foot regions, wherein said lumbar cushion has means for inflating it independently of means for inflating said mattress, said lumbar elevation cushion elevating a person'"'"'s lumbo-sacral region sufficiently to minimize hyper-extension in a person'"'"'s lumbo-sacral region while a person is lying prone on said mattress, said elongate recess accommodating variations in people'"'"'s trunk length, said air mattress comprising a plurality of interconnected parallel inflatable tubes extending in said length direction, one of said tubes being positioned centrally of said plurality of tubes, said plurality of tubes being co-terminus at said foot region of said air mattress, said centrally positioned tube being shorter than remaining said plurality of tubes to define said recess, the tubes on each side of said centrally positioned tube providing said mattress sections along said recess, said lumbar elevation cushion being transversely arranged and of a length substantially equal to the width of said mattress.

10. A posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 9, wherein said head support cushion is detachably connected to said mattress by a connecting means.

11. A posturepedic buoyancy device of claim 9, wherein said head support cushion has means for inflating it independently of means for inflating said mattress.