Support device of the mattress type comprising a heterogeneous inflatable structure

• US 7,849,544 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2008
• Issued: 12/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hill - Rom Industries SA
• Original Assignee: Hill - Rom Industries SA
• Inventors: Camus, Gilles, Flocard, Thierry
• Primary Examiner(s): Santos; Robert G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wilson; Brittany M
• Application Number:
  US12/137,769
• Publication Number:
  US 20080307582A1
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 571/0, 571/3, 571/4, 572/2
• US Class Current: 5/710
• 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 individually inflatable by a pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device and at least one bottom layer supporting the top layer. The bottom layer has 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. 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.

Claims

1. A mattress 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 via a pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device;

at least one bottom layer supporting said top layer and provided with a recess; and

a penetration and/or pressure sensor received in the recess and 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 an individual bearing against the inflatable top layer and to regulate the inflation pressures of said elements of said top layer correspondingly;

wherein, in a substantially central support zone designed to support the sacrum zone of the individual'"'"'s body, said top layer is made up of a plurality of inflatable elements that are individualized in unitary manner, and that are each of a width smaller than their height for better preservation of the skin tissue, the width of said individualized inflatable elements of said central support zone being smaller than a width of each of the inflatable elements of opposite end zones situated adjacent to opposite ends of said central support zone;

wherein said sensor, said recess, and said central support zone are of substantially equivalent length along a long dimension of the mattress device.

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

3. The mattress device according to claim 1, wherein said individualized elements in said central support zone are constituted by cells extending transversely relative to the longitudinal direction of the mattress device and disposed side-by-side in the longitudinal direction of the mattress device, 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 mattress 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 line being situated substantially in the middle relative to the height of the cell.

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

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

7. The mattress device according to claim 1, wherein each of said inflatable elements of the top layer, regardless of whether it is in said central support 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 mattress 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 mattress 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 mattress device according to claim 1, further comprising an intermediate layer disposed between said top layer and said bottom layer.

11. The mattress 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 said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

12. The mattress 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 perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the mattress device, and said inflatable elements of said intermediate layer extending lengthwise parallel to said longitudinal direction of the mattress device.

13. The mattress device according to claim 1, further comprising an inflatable cushion situated between said individualized elements of said central support zone and said sensor, the inflatable cushion being connected to said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

14. The mattress device according to claim 13, wherein said inflatable cushion is made of a thermoplastic polyurethane.

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

16. The mattress device according to claim 1, wherein each of said individualized elements in said central support 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 support 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 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 mattress 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 device and are received and held in said recess in the bottom layer above said sensor.

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

19. The mattress device according to claim 18, wherein the inflatable elements in said heel support portion of the top layer are 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 said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

20. The mattress device according to claim 18, wherein each of said inflatable elements in said heel support zone comprises at least two superposed and secured-together inflation chambers that are of substantially identical volume and of substantially 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 said pneumatic inflation and pressure regulation device.

21. The mattress device according to claim 18, wherein said inflatable elements in said heel support zone 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 mattress device according to claim 18, wherein said inflatable elements in said heel support zone are made of a thermoplastic polyurethane.