Valve assembly
AssigneeHill-Rom Services, Inc.
InventorsCraig D. Ellis, Kenith W. Chambers, Scott McCormick, Steven D. DeRidder, W. Layne Carruth, Stephen R. Schulte
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A valve assembly for a patient support having a mattress including a bladder comprises an interior housing formed to include a supply chamber, an exhaust chamber, a plenum, and an exterior housing surrounding the interior housing. A supply valve and an exhaust valve are located in the interior housing and connect the supply chamber and the exhaust chamber, respectively, to the plenum. A supply solenoid and an exhaust solenoid are coupled to the interior housing and covered by the exterior housing. The supply solenoid and the exhaust solenoid are coupled to the supply and exhaust valves respectively.
Claims19
A valve assembly for a patient support having a mattress including a bladder, the valve assembly comprising:
- an interior housing formed to include a supply chamber, an exhaust chamber, a plenum;
- an exterior housing surrounding the interior housing, the exterior housing being formed to include at least one supply port coupled to the bladder, an exhaust port, and an outlet port in communication with the supply chamber, exhaust chamber, and the plenum chamber, respectively, of the interior housing;
- a supply valve and an exhaust valve located in the interior housing to connect the supply chamber and the exhaust chamber, respectively, to the plenum;
- and
- a supply solenoid and an exhaust solenoid coupled to the interior housing and covered by the exterior housing, the supply solenoid and the exhaust solenoid being coupled to the supply and exhaust valves respectively.
A valve assembly for an air mattress having a first bladder and a second bladder, the first bladder being located in an interior region of the second bladder, the valve assembly comprising:
- a supply inlet;
- a first valve connected to the supply inlet and having at least one outlet to be connected to a first bladder for providing one of percussion and vibration air pressure pulses to the first bladder;
- and
- a second valve connected to the supply inlet and having at least one outlet to be connected to a second bladder for inflating and deflating the second bladder.
A patient support having a longitudinal axis, the patient support comprising:
- a mattress,
- a plurality of bladders coupled to the mattress,
- a first valve having a first valve inlet and a first valve outlet,
- a second valve having a second valve inlet and a second valve outlet,
- a chamber including a plurality of ports, each of the plurality of ports being coupled to one of the plurality of bladders, the chamber defining the first valve outlet and the second valve inlet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.