Actively and selectively cooled cushioning surface
AssigneeUniversity of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education
InventorsDavid M. Brienza, Patricia E. Karg, Andrew J. Malkiewicz
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Abstract
A cushioning surface for cooling tissue that reaches a predefined level of immersion into the cushioning surface, comprising: a segmented fluid cushion comprising a plurality of cells interconnected to allow fluid to flow from each cell to at least one of the other plurality of cells; and wherein one or more of the plurality of cells contains a heat exchange material. The cushioning surface may further comprise a cooling element associated with and for removing heat from the one or more cells containing a heat exchange material.
Claims20
A cushioning surface for cooling tissue that reaches a predefined level of immersion into the cushioning surface, comprising:
- a segmented fluid cushion comprising a plurality of cells interconnected to allow fluid to flow from each cell to at least one of the other plurality of cells;
- and
- wherein one or more of the plurality of cells contains a heat exchange material.
A cushioning surface for cooling tissue that reaches a predefined level of immersion into the cushioning surface, comprising:
- a segmented fluid cushion comprising a plurality of cells interconnected to allow fluid to flow from each cell to at least one other of the plurality of cells;
- wherein a plurality of the plurality of cells contains a heat exchange material;
- a separate cooling element associated with each of the cells containing heat exchange material for removing heat therefrom;
- and
- wherein the cushioning surface comprises top and bottom surfaces and the heat exchange material is disposed between the top surface and the separate cooling element in each of the cells containing heat exchange material.
A cushioning surface for cooling tissue that reaches a deep level of immersion into the cushioning surface, comprising:
- a segmented air cushion comprising a plurality of cells interconnected to allow air to flow from each cell to at least one other of the plurality of cells;
- wherein at least one of the plurality of cells contains a heat exchange material;
- a separate cooling element associated with the at least one cell containing heat exchange material for removing heat therefrom;
- wherein the cushioning surface comprises top and bottom surfaces and the heat exchange material is disposed between the top surface and the separate cooling element in each of the at least one cell containing heat exchange material;
- and
- wherein the at least one cell containing heat exchange material and having a separate cooling element associated therewith corresponds to an area where deep immersion of tissue into the cushioning surface is expected to occur.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.