Apparatus and method for preventing sudden infant death syndrome

An apparatus for preventing sudden infant death syndrome comprising:

• a mattress having a top surface, said mattress comprising a lower portion having spaced, raised portions disposed on an upper surface thereof, said top surface of said mattress being formed of a covering material that rests on said raised portions;
• a plurality of air passageways generally evenly distributed over substantially all of said top surface of said mattress;
• a source of air;
• and
• a distribution apparatus disposed between the air passageways and the source of air for generally evenly distributing air from said source of air to each of said air passageways wherein said distribution apparatus comprises a plenum chamber disposed in the interior of the mattress in direct gaseous communication with each of said plurality of air passageways.

A method for preventing sudden infant death syndrome while an infant is disposed on a mattress, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of air passages over substantially all of an upper surface of the mattress;
• directing air from a source of air to each of the air passageways;
• regulating the flow of air to said air passageways so that air flows to each of said passageways;
• providing a mattress pad covering the top surface of the mattress, the mattress pad having a plurality of holes;
• and
• aligning the mattress pad on the top surface of the mattress such that each hold in the mattress pad is aligned substantially with an air passageway in the top surface of the mattress.

Apparatus for providing a uniformly distributed flow of air to the top surface of a mattress, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of air passageways generally evenly distributed over substantially all of the top surface of the mattress;
• a source of air;
• a distribution apparatus disposed between the air passageways and the source of air for generally evenly distributing the air from the source of air to each of said air passageways;
• a mattress pad having a plurality of openings disposed uniformly across the surface of the mattress pad;
• and
• an element for aligning each of said holes in said mattress pad with an air passageway in said top surface of said mattress.

An apparatus for preventing sudden infant death syndrome comprising:

• a mattress formed of a molded unitary construction and having a top surface;
• a plurality of air passageways generally evenly distributed over substantially all of said top surface of said mattress;
• a source of air;
• a distribution apparatus disposed between the air passageways and the source of air for generally evenly distributing air from said source of air to each of said air passageways, wherein said distribution apparatus comprises a chamber molded into an interior of the mattress, the chamber being in direct gaseous communication with each of said plurality of air passageways.

A method for forming a mattress having a top surface and an interior air-distribution chamber, comprising the steps of:

• molding an upper portion of the mattress comprising the top surface and having a lower surface opposed to the top surface, the upper portion of the mattress further having an upper chamber extending generally upward from the lower surface,
• molding a lower portion of the mattress having an upper surface and a lower chamber extending generally downward from the upper surface,
• mating the lower surface of the upper portion of the mattress to the upper surface of the lower portion of the mattress so that the upper and lower chambers are substantially aligned to form the interior air-distribution chamber,
• providing air passageways generally evenly distributed over substantially all of the top surface of the mattress, each of the passageways being in direct gaseous communication with the interior air-distribution chamber, and
• providing a port from the interior air-distribution chamber for gaseous connection external to the mattress.