Patient treating mattress
AssigneeAmerican Hospital Supply Corporation
InventorsClifford E. Gammons, Francis C. Moore, Kenneth L. Pagel, Barry N. Jackson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A disposable or resuable "crawl resistant" flexible mattress formed of panels sealed together to define alternately inflatable passages between the panels for sequentially altering supporting structure for a long term bed patient to reduce decubitus ulcers, bed sores, etc. The mattress has vent holes in its top for ventilating the patient with inflation gas and a crawl resistant layer bonded to a bottom of the mattress to prevent the mattress from "crawling" relative to the bed and patient during use. In one form of the mattress, crawling is reduced by a separation between the inflation passages so individual sections of the mattress can more readily conform to a patient's body contour.
Claims25
A "crawl resistant" flexible mattress comprising:
- a bottom panel;
- a top panel sealed to the bottom panel to define at least two alternatingly inflatable structures on the mattress, and a continuous crawl resistant layer bonded to a substantial portion of the outer surface of at least one of the panels to follow the contour of the alternatingly inflatable structures on the mattress to reduce crawl of the mattress during use.
A "crawl resistant" flexible mattress with alternatingly inflatable structures on the mattress comprising:
- a bottom panel;
- a top panel sealed to the bottom panel to define at least two separate sets of passages with left and right bends in an area of the mattress that is to support the major weight of a patient;
- at least two flexible manifolds formed by the top and bottom panels, each manifold being spaced apart from each other with the manifolds being connected at different locations in the mattress to respective sets of passages for inflatingly forming a series of protruding backbone ridges in at least one of the panels, each backbone ridge having a sufficiently uniform height along its length to form an elongated supporting crest with left and right bends;
- a continuous crawl resistant layer bonded to a substantial portion of the outer surface of at least one of the panels so that the crawl resistant layer follows the contour of the elongated supporting crest;
- and vent openings extending to the top panel into the passages for ventilating a patient during inflation of the passages with a gas.
A "crawl resistant" flexible mattress with alternatingly inflatable structures on the mattress comprising:
- a bottom panel;
- a top panel sealed to the bottom panel to define at least two separate sets of passages in an area of the mattress that is to support the major weight of a patient;
- at least two flexible manifolds formed by the top and bottom panels, each manifold being spaced from the other and connected at a different location in the mattress to a set of passages for inflatingly forming protruding structures in at least one of the panels;
- a continuous crawl resistant layer bonded to a substantial portion of the outer surface of at least one of the panels so that the crawl resistant layer follows the contour of the protruding structure;
- and vent openings extending through the top panel to the passages for ventilating the patient during inflation of the passages with a gas.
A "crawl resistant" flexible mattress with alternatingly inflatable structures on the mattress comprising:
- a bottom panel;
- a top panel sealed to the bottom panel to define at least two separate sets of passages that are non-linear in an area of the mattress that is to support the major weight of the patient;
- at least two flexible manifolds formed by the top and bottom panels, each manifold being spaced apat from the other and connected at different locations in the mattress to a respective set of passages for inflatingly forming protruding backbone ridges along the non-linear passages, each backbone ridge having a parality of rib ridges laterally intersecting the backbone ridge;
- and each backbone ridge and its inner connecting rib ridges having a sufficiently uniform height to form an elongated supported crest along the backbone ridge as well as interconnecting supporting crest of the rib ridges;
- a continuous crawl resistant layer bonded to a substantial portion of the outer surface of at least one of the panels so that the crawl resistant layer follows the contour of such crests;
- and vent openings extending to the top panel into the passages for ventilating the patient during inflation of the passages with a gas.
A method of reducing the "crawling" of a flexible mattress relative to a bed and patient during use, said mattress having a top panel sealed to a bottom panel to define at least two alternatingly inflatable structures thereon, comprising:
- bonding a continuous crawl resistant layer to a substantial portion of the outer surface of said mattress to follow the contours of the alternatingly inflatable structures.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.