Pressure relieving mattress

Abstract

This invention relates to a pressure relieving mattress including an elongate support 11 having a base 12, a pressure relieving overlay 15 and an inflatable inlay 16. The inlay 16 has a plurality of laterally extending inflatable cells 23. At least some of the cells, in at least their un-inflated state, have an inflatable volume which is wider adjacent its ends than its mid portion. This reduces the likelihood of gaps appearing between the pressure overlay and the walls of the tray.

Claims

1. A pressure relieving mattress comprising: an elongate support having a base and a pair of spaced longitudinal side walls, the base providing a base surface extending between the side walls; a pressure relieving overlay overlaying the base surface; and an inflatable inlay which extends between the base surface and the overlay, and which comprises a plurality of laterally extending inflatable cells that define an inflatable volume with a first end, a mid portion, and a second end, each cell comprising a grommet disposed at the first and second end thereof, one of the grommets being open to define a passage into the cell and the other grommet being closed, wherein adjacent cells comprise open and closed grommets at alternate ends thereof, and wherein at least one of the inflatable volumes is wider adjacent its ends than in its mid portion in an un-inflated state, the pressure relieving mattress further comprising a first supply extending longitudinally along the mattress within a first recess, below the base surface, and a second supply extending longitudinally along the mattress within a second recess, below the base surface, and which is separate from the first recess, the first and second supply supplying alternate cells of the plurality of laterally extending inflatable cells.

2. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mid portion of at least one cell is narrower than the first end and the second end in an un-inflated state, and wherein when inflated, the cells define a substantially horizontal support platform.

3. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inflatable volume of at least one cell is in the shape of a bow tie when in the un-inflated state.

4. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the first supply lies on an opposite side of the overlay than the second supply.

5. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first recess and the second recess are on opposite sides of the base.

6. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1 wherein each laterally extending inflatable cell has one or more anchor flaps for encircling a supply to secure the laterally extending inflatable cell.

7. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 6 wherein at least some anchor flaps have an associated passage for allowing air to pass from the supply to the laterally extending inflatable cell or to allow air to pass from the laterally extending inflatable cell to the supply.

8. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a supply in fluid communication with at least one laterally extending inflatable cell, and a plurality of ties for securing the supply to the elongate support.

9. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a supply made up of modular elements and in fluid communication with at least one laterally extending inflatable cell.

10. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 9, wherein the modular elements include T portions and connectors.

11. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 10 wherein an arm of at least some of the T portion engages a corresponding one of the laterally extending inflatable cells.

12. A pressure relieving mattress as claimed in claim 1 wherein the inflatable volumes are substantially the same width as the pressure relieving overlay.

Description

(1) Although the invention has been defined above it is to be understood it includes any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description. The invention may be performed in various ways and specific embodiments will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a hybrid pressure relieving mattress;

(3) FIG. 2 is a vie from above of an inflatable inlay;

(4) FIG. 3 is a view from below of the inlay of FIG. 2;

(5) FIG. 4 is a side view taken on the arrow I;

(6) FIG. 5 is an end view taken along the arrow II in FIG. 3;

(7) FIG. 6 is an exploded view taken from one end and the opposite side of FIG. 2;

(8) FIG. 7 is an enlarged detail of the portion of FIG. 2 circled A;

(9) FIG. 8 is an enlarged detail of the portion circled B on FIG. 3;

(10) FIG. 9 is a view from below of an un-inflated element of the overlay;

(11) FIG. 10 is a side view of the element of FIG. 9;

(12) FIG. 11 is an end view of the element of FIG. 9; and

(13) FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the element of FIG. 9 from one end and one side.

(14) Referring to FIG. 1, a hybrid pressure relieving mattress, generally indicated at 10, includes a tray 11, having a base 12 with a base surface 13 and side walls 14; a pressure relieving overlay 15 and an inflatable inlay 16. As will be explained in more detail in due course the inflatable inlay 16 has supply pipes, 18, 19 and 20. The base is formed with a first recess 21 and a second recess 22. The recesses 21, 22 run along the length of the base 13 and are dimensioned to receive the pipes 18 and 19 (in the case of recess 21) and 20 (in the case of recess 22), so that the pipes 18, 19 and 20 all lie below the base surface 13.

(15) Aspects of the inlay will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 12. The inlay 16 comprises a series of lateral cells 23 which are engaged, at their respective ends, around the supply pipe 20 and the supply pipes 18 and 19. As can best be seen in FIGS. 9 and 12, each element, in its un-inflated state, has ends 24 which are, wider laterally (in respect of the cell) than the intermediate middle portion 25.

(16) Adjacent its respective ends, each cell 23 has a grommet sealed in its under surface. For reasons which will become clear below each cell has one grommet 26a which has an open recess at its centre defining a passage into the cell 23 and another grommet 26b which is sealed. Adjacent each grommet 26 is an anchor flap 27 which can form in a circle back to the adjacent grommet 26 so that the centre of the grommet 26 is aligned with an opening 28 in the anchor flap.

(17) As can best be seen in FIG. 6 the supply pipes 18, 19 and 20 are made up of modular portions which can be interconnected by T or elbow connectors generally indicated at 29. The respective cells are engaged onto pipes 18 and 19 at one end and pipe 20 at the other end by encircling respective flaps 27 around the pipe or pipes and pushing the grommet down onto the adjacent connector 29. The cells 23 are arranged so that their grommets 26a and 26b alternate down a respective side of the inlay 16. Thus for example in the arrangement shown in FIG. 6 the left hand grommet of cell one is open (26a) whereas the left hand grommet (26b) of cell 2 is closed and so on alternately length of the inlay 16. The blanked off grommets of cells 1 and 10 are not illustrated in the exploded drawing.

(18) In use, a pump (not shown) is connected to pipes 18 and 19 via a CPR release plug 30, which enables the whole mattress to be deflated extremely quickly in the event that resuscitation needs to take place on the mattress.

(19) The pump (not shown) is a two phased pump so that, for example, air can initially be supplied to line 19 pass up elbow connector 29a through grommet along the cell 1 down through grommet 26a through elbow connector 29b into pipe 20. The air will then pass beneath closed grommet 26b in cell 2 to open grommet 26a in cell 3, which will be inflated and the air then passes back into line 18, bypasses cell 4, to inflate cell 5 and so on until cell 7 and 9 are inflated. The arrangement is set so that the inflation period is approximately five minutes. The pump (not shown) then switches into its second phase where the odd number cells are opened to atmosphere by the reverse path through which they were inflated and the even cells are inflated using line 18 and a similar path through the even cells. After another five minutes the cycle is begun again. In fact the cells do not fully deflate when open to atmosphere but they cease to be the main support for the patient. Thus the pressure applied to the patient's body is constantly changing.

(20) In previous designs, there had been issues with the inlay “caterpillaring” up the mattress as a result of the alternate inflation and deflation of cells. To overcome this, ties 31 are provided, which attach to the anchor flaps 27, by means of a respective closed grommet 26b and the associated connector, and pass through openings (not shown) in the base 12 to be secured against the underside of the base by respective foot plates 32. The effect also serves to retain the pipes 18 to 20 in their respective recesses 21.