Anti-decubitus mattress pad

• US 5,255,404 A
• Filed: 01/13/1993
• Issued: 10/26/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: KCI Licensing Incorporated (3M Company), Alden B. Hanson, Alden Laboratories, Inc., Chris A. Hanson, Eric C. Jay, Flowfit Medical, LLC, JAY Medical, Ltd., Pressure Relief Technologies, Inc., Quickie Designs, Inc., Sunrise Medical Incorporated
• Original Assignee: JAY Medical, Ltd.
• Inventors: Runkles, Richard R., Denton, Grant C., Dinsmoor, John C. III, Jay, Eric C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Grosz, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US08/004,080
• Time in Patent Office: 286 Days
• Field of Search: 5/455, 5/451, 5/450, 5/481, 5/654, 5/903, 5/909, 5/911, 5/922, 5/926, 5/949, 297/DIG. 3
• US Class Current: 5/677
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 27/144 inside the mattress or cushion
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 27/148 of different resilience
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/05715 with modular blocks, or inserts, with layers of different material
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/05738 with fluid-like particles, e.g. sand, mud, seeds, gel, beads
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 5/909 Flowable viscous, e.g. gel material containing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 5/922 with hook and loop type fastener
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 5/926 Low friction, e.g. slippery material

Abstract

A mattress pad primarily intended for use with a standard hospital bed frame to reduce the development of decubitus ulcers or bed sores in patients using the pad. The pad is multi-layered and includes a cover or casing containing interior strata of a plastic film layer atop a fluid bladder layer supported on an underlying layer of foam. The pad is specially designed to reduce lateral and normal pressures and forces on the patient which can lead to the development of such ulcers. The reduction of the lateral shearing forces is accomplished in a number of ways including by oversizing the plastic film layer and fluid bladder layer on the underlying layer of foam and by positioning microbeads between the plastic film layer and fluid bladder layer to dramatically reduce the frictional drag or lateral shearing forces between the layers. Similarly, the normal pressures and forces are reduced and controlled in a number of manners including oversizing, modifying the configuration, filling, and size of the discrete fluid pouches of the fluid bladder layer, and varying the spring characteristics of the support columns in the underlying foam layer by hollowing them out to differing degrees, adjusting their spacing, and selectively tying adjacent columns together.

Claims

1. A multi-layered pad primarily intended for use to reduce the development of decubitus ulcers in a patient using the pad, said pad including means for providing upward supporting pressure on the patient sufficiently low to avoid occluding capillary blood flow to areas of the patient supported on the pad, said means including:

first and second layers,

said first layer including bladder means containing a fluid, said first layer including a boundary bounding a first area,

said second layer being positioned beneath said first layer and including resilient means made of non-rigid, soft foam, said second layer of resilient means made of non-rigid, soft foam having a boundary bounding a second area, said second area being substantially smaller than said first area of said first layer, and

means for securing said first and second layers to each other substantially about and adjacent said boundaries of said first and second layers wherein said first area of said first layer is oversized relative to said second area of said second layer.

2. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 wherein the first area of said first layer is about one and a half to about four times twice the size of the second area of said second layer.

3. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 wherein each of said first and second areas has a length and width dimension with the length dimension of said first area being substantially larger than the length dimension of said second area and with the width dimension of said first area being substantially larger than the width dimension of said second area wherein said first area is oversized relative to said second area along both the length and width thereof.

4. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 wherein said respective boundaries of said first and second layers are substantially perimeters thereof.

5. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 wherein the viscosity of said fluid is greater than the viscosity of water.

6. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 wherein said bladder means within said boundary of said first layer includes a plurality of discrete pouches containing said fluid.

7. The multi-layered pad of claim 6 wherein said second layer within the boundary of said second layer includes a plurality of upstanding foam columns with free standing, upper end portions with at least one of said discrete pouches of said first layers being attached to the upper portion of at least one of said upstanding foam columns.

8. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 wherein said means for providing upward supporting pressure on the patient provides less than about 30 millimeters of mercury to avoid occluding capillary blood flow to areas of the patient supported on the pad.

9. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 further including an anatomically shaped support and means for positioning said support between said first and second layers.

10. The multi-layered pad of claim 1 further including a discrete pouch filled with fluid and means for positioning said pouch between said first and second layers.

11. A multi-layered pad primarily intended for use to reduce the development of decubitus ulcers in a patient using the pad, said pad including:

first and second layers,

said first layer including bladder means containing a fluid, said first layer including a boundary bounding a first area,

said second layer being positioned beneath said first layer and including resilient means made of non-rigid foam, said second layer of resilient, non-rigid soft foam having a boundary bounding a second area, said second area being substantially smaller than said first area of said first layer,

means for securing said first and second layers to each other substantially about and adjacent said boundaries of said first and second layers wherein said first area of said first layer is oversized relative to said second area of said second layer, and

further including an automatically shaped support and means for positioning said support between said first and second layers.

12. A multi-layered pad primarily intended for use to reduce the development of decubitus ulcers in a patient using the pad, said pad including:

first and second layers,

said first layer including bladder means containing a fluid, said first layer including a boundary bounding a first area,

said second layer being positioned beneath said first layer and including resilient means made of non-rigid foam, said second layer of resilient, non-rigid foam having a boundary bounding a second area, said second area being substantially smaller than said first area of said first layer,

means for securing said first and second layers to each other substantially about and adjacent said boundaries of said first and second layers wherein said first area of said first layer is oversized relative to said second area of said second layer, and

further including a discrete pouch filled with fluid and means for positioning said pouch between said first and second layers.

13. A multi-layered pad primarily intended for use to reduce the development of decubitus ulcers in patients using the pad, said pad including:

first, second, and third layers, said first layer being positioned atop said second layer and said second layer being positioned atop said third layer, said second layer including bladder means containing fluid,

said first, second, and third layers having respective boundaries bounding respective areas wherein the areas bounded by the boundaries of said first and second layers are substantially larger in substantially all directions than the area bounded by the boundary of said third layer, and

means for securing said first, second, and third layers together substantially about and adjacent said boundaries thereof wherein said bounded areas of said first and second layers are oversized relative to the bounded area of said third layer, said bounded areas of said first and second layers being slidably movable relative to each other, said pad further including means for attaching said first and second layers to each other at at least one location within the secured boundaries of said first and second layers to limit the relative sliding movement between said first and second layers within said secured boundaries thereof.

14. The multi-layered pad of claim 13 wherein said attaching means includes a seam extending substantially between secured portions of the boundaries of said first and second layers.

15. The multi-layered pad of claim 14 wherein said seam extends substantially linearly between said secured portions of the boundaries of said first and second layers.

16. The multi-layered pad of claim 13 wherein said third layer is made of resilient foam.

17. The multi-layered pad of claim 13 wherein said first layer is a plastic film.

18. The multi-layered pad of claim 13 further including means to attach said oversized second layer to said third layer at a plurality of locations within the secured boundaries of said second and third layers wherein the movement of said second layer relative to said third layer is substantially more limited than the movement of said first layer relative to said second layer.

19. The multi-layered pad of claim 13 wherein the areas bounded by the boundaries of said first and second layers are substantially the same.

20. The multi-layered pad of claim 19 wherein each of the areas bounded by the boundaries of said first and second layers is about one and a half to about four times the size of the area bounded by the boundary of the third layer.