SUPPORT DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING A BODY, IN PARTICULAR A HUMAN BODY

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for supporting a body or part of a body, in particular a human body, said device comprising a support element (2) including a seat (3) and a peripheral sidewall (4), such as to define a housing (5) having a bottom (6) and a peripheral side face (7), and a pneumatic element (9) comprising a base (10) and inflatable cells (11) fitted inside the housing (5) and extending between the bottom (6) of the housing and the base (10) of the pneumatic element (9). According to the invention, the peripheral sidewall (4) comprises at least one inner retaining bead (8) at a distance from the bottom (6) of the housing (5), and, when inflated, at least some of the inflatable cells (11a) adjacent to the retaining bead (8a) can be engaged laterally between the retaining bead (8) and the bottom (6) of the housing (5).

Description

The present invention relates to the field of support devices for supporting a body or part of a body, in particular of a human body, which are designed to form, at least in part, cushions or mattresses, and to be used in particular in the field of medicine for the comfort of patients in the lying-down or seated positions, in particular in order to prevent pressure ulcers.

Patent EP 0 925 008 describes a cushion element delimiting a parallelepipedal recess for receiving a pneumatic element comprising adjacent inflatable cells.

Patent WO 03/024380 describes a cushion element delimiting a recess into which are inserted a number of cylindrical inflatable elements which are arranged in parallel next to one another, and are free and independent with respect to one another. The ends of the cylindrical inflatable elements are beveled and press against opposite inclined flanks of the recess, whereas the two other opposite flanks of the recess are straight.

The present invention has, in particular, the object of proposing a support device in which the risk of the constituent elements deforming and coming apart are reduced.

One embodiment proposes a support device for supporting a body or part of a body, in particular a human body, which comprises a support element made of a deformable material and comprising a seat and a peripheral side wall projecting from one side of this seat top surface so as to delimit a recess having a roof and a peripheral side face, and a pneumatic element comprising a base and a plurality of inflatable cells projecting from one side of the base and located next to one another in a grid pattern of lines and columns, the inflatable cells engaging in the recess and extending between the roof of said recess and the base of the pneumatic element.

The peripheral side wall of the support element comprises at least one inward-projecting retaining bead located at a distance from the roof of the recess such that the peripheral side face of the recess has at least one setback portion, at least some of the inflatable cells that are adjacent to said retaining bead being able, when inflated, to engage laterally between this retaining bead and the roof of the recess and to hold the pneumatic element along the periphery or the perimeter of this recess.

Said retaining bead may comprise local portions respectively extending over part of the length of the peripheral side face of said recess.

Said retaining bead may extend over the entire length of the peripheral side face of said recess.

The base of the pneumatic element may have an edge extending over an end face of the peripheral side wall of the support element.

The pneumatic element may comprise at least one conduit connected to at least one inflatable cell and passing through the peripheral side wall of the support element.

A lower support plate made of a deformable material, may be provided in order to cover the base of the pneumatic element and the end face of the peripheral wall of the support element.

The device may also comprise an outer cover.

There follows a non-limiting exemplary description of a support device, illustrated by means of the appended drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of a support device comprising a pneumatic element in a deflated state;

FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the support device from FIG. 1, the pneumatic element being in an inflated state; and

FIG. 3 shows a local, enlarged cross section of the pneumatic element.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a generally parallelepipedal support device 1, which may for example constitute a cushion for sitting on, comprises a support element 2 made of a deformable material, for example a molded synthetic foam such as a polyurethane foam, which comprises a horizontal seat 3 in the form of a top surface, and a peripheral wall 4 projecting downward from the periphery of the seat 3, such that this support element 2 delimits a hollow recess 5 that is open below. This recess 5 has a roof 6 consisting of a lower face of the seat 3 and a peripheral or side face 7 consisting of the internal flank of the peripheral wall 4.

The upper face of the seat 3 of the support element 2 may be flat or not and have a desired topography. The roof 6 of the recess 5 may be flat. The peripheral outer face of the peripheral wall 4 may extend perpendicular to the upper face of the seat 3.

The peripheral wall 4 comprises a peripheral retaining bead 8 projecting inward into the recess 5 and located at a distance from the roof 6, such that the peripheral or side face 7 of the recess 5 has a setback peripheral portion 7a which extends between the peripheral retaining bead 8 and the roof 6 of the recess 5 and has a larger section than the internal section of the peripheral bead 8.

The support device 1 further comprises a pneumatic element 9 that comprises an essentially flat and relatively rigid base 10 which is placed parallel to the roof of the recess 5 and whose peripheral edge 10a presses against a lower end face 4a of the peripheral wall 4, parallel to the roof 6 of the recess 5, and a plurality of inflatable cells 11 that project upward from one side of the base 10 and are located next to one another such that these inflatable cells 11 are engaged in the recess 5 and extend between the base 10 and the roof 6 of the recess 5.

The inflatable cells 11 are connected to one another by small cross section connecting channels 12 integrated into the base 10, while one of the peripheral inflatable cells 11a is connected to a conduit 13 which passes through the peripheral wall 4 of the support element 2 and is provided, for example, with an outer end valve 14 to which can be connected an inflating/deflating device (not shown).

The inflatable cells 11 are arranged according to a grid of lines and columns, which are for example perpendicular. The inflatable cells 11 may be arranged in an offset pattern.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base 10 of the pneumatic element 9 may comprise a first flat sheet 15 and a sheet 16 having regions stuck to the sheet 15 and, in these regions, projecting deformations delimiting the inflatable cells 11 and the connecting channels 12.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, when the pneumatic element 9 is deflated, the inflatable cells 11 take up less space. In this deflated state, the inflatable cells 11 may be circular or polygonal in cross section, for example hexagonal, with their feet adjacent to the base 10 being distant from one another.

In the deflated state, the pneumatic element 9 is easy to install in the recess 5 of the support element 2 by passing the inflatable cells 11 through the internal section of the bead 8 without difficulty.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the pneumatic element 9 is inflated, the inflatable cells 11 inflate and bear laterally against one another along generatrices perpendicular to the base 10, and against the roof 6 of the recess 5.

Furthermore, the peripheral inflatable cells 11a of the pneumatic element 9, which are adjacent to the retaining bead 8, engage laterally in the peripheral setback arranged between the internal retaining bead 8 and the roof 6 of the recess 5, and may press against the setback portion 7a of the peripheral side wall 7 of the recess 5. Thus, the periphery of the pneumatic element 9 is retained along the periphery of the recess 5.

The pneumatic element 9, when inflated, occupies all or a large portion of the volume of the recess 5 of the support element 2, depending on the pressure of the introduced gas, and forms a coherent pneumatic support by virtue of the inflated cells pressing against one another and the peripheral inflated cells pressing against the setback portion 7a.

In contrast to straight flanks, the peripheral internal retaining bead 8 presents, along the periphery of the recess 5, an obstacle to extraction of the peripheral inflatable cells 11a of the pneumatic element 9 in the inflated state, and therefore of the entire pneumatic element 9.

Thus, the existence of the peripheral internal retaining bead 8 prevents the inflated pneumatic element 9 being extracted from the recess 5 of the support element 2.

Optionally, the support device 1 may comprise a lower support plate 17 made of a deformable material, for example a synthetic foam such as a polyurethane foam, which covers the base 10 of the pneumatic element 9 and the lower face 4a of the peripheral wall 4 of the support element 2, sandwiching the peripheral edge 10a of the base 10. According to one variant embodiment, the peripheral edge 10a of the base 10 and/or the lower plate 17 may be adhesively bonded to the lower face 4a of the peripheral wall 4 of the support element 2.

The support device 1 may further comprise an outer cover 18 which is in two parts that are joined by a peripheral rapid closure 19, and through which the conduit 13 also passes. This cover may be a fabric, which may be waterproof.

The result of the above is that the support device 1 constitutes a compact and coherent unit whose elements are conveniently assembled.

According to one variant embodiment, the inflatable cells 11 of the pneumatic element 9 might be grouped into multiple independent groups that are respectively connected to different inflation conduits 13 so as to define regions that can be inflated to different pressures.

According to one variant embodiment, the peripheral retaining bead 8 may extend around the entire perimeter of the recess 5 of the support element 2.

According to another variant embodiment, the peripheral retaining bead 8 might comprise local portions extending over portions of the four sides forming the perimeter of the recess 5 of the support element 2.

According to another variant embodiment, peripheral retaining beads 8 might be arranged at different distances from the roof 6 of the recess 5 of the support element 2.

According to one variant embodiment, the support device 1 might comprise multiple equivalent recesses 5 for receiving equivalent pneumatic elements 9.

The structure of the above-described support device might be adapted in order to constitute for example a mattress, a back support or a means for positioning or wedging a body.

Claims

1. A support device for supporting a body or part of a body, in particular a human body, comprising a support element (2) made of a deformable material and comprising a seat (3) and a peripheral side wall (4) projecting from one side of this seat top surface so as to delimit a recess (5) having a roof (6) and a peripheral side face (7), and a pneumatic element (9) comprising a base (10) and a plurality of inflatable cells (11) projecting from one side of the base and located next to one another in a grid pattern of lines and columns, the inflatable cells (11) engaging in the recess (5) and extending between the roof (6) of said recess and the base (10) of the pneumatic element (9);

in which the peripheral side wall (4) of the support element (2) comprises at least one inward-projecting retaining bead (8) located at a distance from the roof (6) of the recess (5) such that the peripheral side face (7) of the recess (5) has at least one setback portion (7a), at least some of the inflatable cells (11a) that are adjacent to said retaining bead (8) being able, when inflated, to engage laterally between this retaining bead (8) and the roof (6) of the recess (5) and to hold the pneumatic element (9) along the periphery or the perimeter of this recess.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which said retaining bead (8) comprises local portions respectively extending over part of the length of the peripheral side face (7) of said recess (5).

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which said retaining bead (8) extends over the entire length of the peripheral side face (7) of said recess (5).

4. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which the base (10) of the pneumatic element (9) has an edge (10a) extending over an end face (4a) of the peripheral side wall (4) of the support element (2).

5. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which the pneumatic element (9) comprises at least one conduit (13) connected to at least one inflatable cell and passing through the peripheral side wall (4) of the support element (2).

6. The device as claimed in claim 1, comprising a lower support plate (17) made of a deformable material, which covers the base (10) of the pneumatic element (9) and the end face (4a) of the peripheral wall (4) of the support element (2).

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, comprising an outer cover (18).