MULTIPLE AIR PASSAGES APPLIED TO AIR MATTRESS
A multiple air passages applied to air mattress includes a plurality of transverse bladders, in particular, the bladders are longitudinally compressed to define air passages, and cavities are formed between the air passages and some specific bladders for communicating the air passages with an interior of the aforementioned bladders. The air passages of the present invention can apply to an alternating air mattress or to one with multiple zones. By means of the air passages conducive to an air-crossing transmission and a designated distribution, the present invention preferably omits a complex distribution and attains a neat appearance, lower costs, and a mass production.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of an air transmission for used in air mattresses, in particular to one achieved via a manner without external-connected pipes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patients who have difficulty in freely ambulating as a result of illness are generally laid on the bed for a long-term time. Whereas, the part where the patient's body, like muscle and skin, keeps in touch with the bed is readily subjected to a poor circulation due to a long-term compression by the weight, with the result that the patient would gently contract a bedsore. The frequency of such symptom occurred to those who have to lie in bed for long time is a nature. In connection with patient having the bedsore, he or she inevitably becomes uncomfortable in view of the fester and sore impinging on the skin and even suffers from the possibility of septicemia and amputation. Accordingly, a precaution against the bedsore is a sorely significant issue for the long-term patient in bed. To prevent the bedsore, it is efficient to lay and prostrate the patients on an alternating air mattress. Such air mattress can be specialized in having bladders capable of mutually inflating and deflating so as to bring the patient an alternate pressure relief without temporary contacts with the bed and decrease the occurrence of bedsore.
Until now, various mattresses have been commonly developed to respectively use odd bladders in communication and redundant even bladders in communication for the purpose of alternately inflating and deflating. Generally, for ensuring the mutual connection of bladders in the same group, the present manufactures tend to connect a side of the bladder with an exposed inlet pipe, whereby the even bladders share one inlet pipe and the odd ones share the other inlet pipe. The aforementioned air mattress in such pipe-distributed manner may however have shortcomings as described below:
- 1. The pipe externally mounted at the side of the air mattress would result of a complex pipe distribution while in production, consume lots of working time and labors, and increase manufacturing costs.
- 2. The exposure of the pipes to the air mattress substantially gets a bad appearance and may drop the joint of the pipes off when users incautiously stumble on the pipes, which adversely affects the operation of the air mattress.
Thus, the applicant of the present invention dedicates himself to the improvement of the typical air mattresses and designs one with a newly invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA primary object of the present invention is to provide a multiple air passages applied to air mattress which applies a series of unique air passages in the air mattress. The subject air passages are particularly embedded in the mattress during the producing process. Accordingly, the present invention keeps the subject air mattress from a complicate pipe distribution and adapts to a mass production for economically reducing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the air mattress without the exposure of the inlet pipes would facilitate a neat appearance and prevent the pipes from dropping off.
To obtain afore objects, a multiple air passages applied to air mattress in accordance with the present invention comprises a plurality of parallel and transverse bladders. Especially, the bladders are longitudinally compressed to define air passages and form cavities between the air passages and some specific bladders so as to communicate the air passages with an interior of the specific bladders for feeding air. When applying the arrangement of the above air passages to either an alternating or a multi-zone air mattress, the air passages could respectively proceed an effect of air-crossing transmission and a designated distribution. For example, the present invention preferably disposes two air passages and defines cavities between odd bladders of the air mattress and a first air passage, so that the first air passage supplies air to the odd bladders without pumping the even ones air. Similarly, the present invention also defines cavities between even bladders and a second air passage, so that the second air passage merely supplies air to the even bladders but omits inflating the odd ones.
From above, the present invention conduces to a manufacture without pipe distribution, a neat appearance, lower costs, and a mass production.
Preferably, the air mattress includes a first body superimposed on a second body by compressing borders thereof, and the first and second bodies are formed into a plurality of lateral bladders by dividing or supplementing a joint unit. The air passage as mentioned above is defined by the bladders longitudinally compressing the passage body, namely the passage body is squashed at an interior border of the second body so as to form the air passage therebetween.
Preferably, a quantity of the air passages could be varied in pursuant to the module or function of the air mattress. For example, should the air mattress has an arrangement of alternate odd and even bladders or of two changeable sets of bladders, two air passages are accordingly set. Similarly, in case of three changeable sets of bladders, three air passages are accordingly arranged. In addition, if the air mattress is performed in a manner that the bladders are formed into multiple action zones, the quantity of the air passages preferably equals to the quantity of the action zones.
Preferably, the compression of the borders of the first and the second bodies mainly adopts a high-frequency compression welding. Other sections of the air mattress required to be squashed can also be furnished by the high-frequency compression welding.
Preferably, the bladders are longitudinally proceeded by the high-frequency compression welding to dispose the passage body, and the air passage is further defined via disposing a release paper between the bladders and the passage body in advance. The release paper has a smaller surface area and a narrower width than the passage body. Therefore, a perimeter of the passage bodies is subjected to a squash unlike an interior thereof subjected to a non-squash condition for promoting a circulation of the air passage after proceeding the compression.
Preferably, either the air passages or any one of the bladders disposes an inlet and an inlet pipe connected thereto. The inlet pipe joints to an air pump. Each air passage should at least communicate with the inlet.
Preferably, a supporting portion is permissibly disposed in the air passage to keep the normality in the air circulation and prevent from unexpectedly blocking the cavities.
Preferably, the air mattress further includes a head bladder able to keep inflating for supporting the human head while lying in bed. Furthermore, the air mattress has a one-way valve disposed in the air passage. The one-way valve serves to avoid the countercurrent of the air after passing and has a supporting portion in appropriate length disposed inside the air passage. The supporting portion assists the air in entering by a single direction. The supporting portion is not arranged at the end of the one-way valve, so that the barometric pressure at the outer end thereof can be blocked by using a blocking unit to automatically shut the air passage off.
Preferably, a CPR deflation valve could be disposed at an edge of the head bladder. The operation of the emergent deflation valve would immediately deflate the interior of the air mattress so that medical personnel are allowed giving the patient a first aid and CPR.
At an interior side surface of the second body 2, a first passage body 51 is longitudinally compressed. The first passage body 51 includes one or above first cavity 511 correspondingly located with respect to each of the first bladders 41. By means of a release paper (not shown in the figures), merely the perimeter of the first passage body 51 is squashed when compressing the first passage body 51 to the second body 2, with the result that the interior of the first passage body 51 is not squashed. Accordingly, a first air passage 61 is preferably defined between the first passage body 51 and the second body 2. The first air passage 61 cooperates with every first cavity 511 so that the interior of every first bladder 41 substantially communicates with the first air passage 61. In addition, any one of the first bladders 41 defines a first inlet 412 that further equips with a first inlet pipe 91.
Similarly, on a position of the second body 2 without overlapping the first passage body 51, a second passage body 52 is longitudinally compressed. The second passage body 52 includes one or above second cavity 521 correspondingly located with respect to each of the second bladders 42. The method in connection with the compression of the second passage body 52 to the second body 2 is identical to the aforementioned. Accordingly, a second air passage 62 is preferably defined between the second passage body 52 and the second body 2. The second air passage 62 cooperates with every second cavity 521 so that the interior of every second bladder 42 substantially communicates with the second air passage 62. In addition, any one of the second bladders 42 defines a second inlet 422 that further equips with a second inlet pipe 92.
The above first inlet pipe 91 and the second inlet pipe 92 provide the front sides thereof attached to an air pump (not shown) for controlling the inflation and deflation.
Referring to
Referring to
Concerning
Should there is a need for separately deflating the first bladders 41 or the second bladders 42, the present invention can inversely furnish the air mattress with the deflation according to the aforementioned path of the air circulation.
From above, in addition to giving the deflation, the present invention also applies the embedded first air passage 61 and the second air passage 62 that cooperates with the first cavities 511 and the second cavities 521 to input the air to the required first bladders 41 or the second bladders 42. Such integral air passages adapted to the air mattress not only facilitates a designated transmission but also possesses an air-crossing property, which is not believed to be disclosed by the conventional inventions.
Referring to
Referring to
The air mattress in use requires keeping an inflation of the head bladder 44 for supporting the human head while lying in bed. As illustrated in
The air passages in the present invention can entirely dispose a supporting portion 542 in the interior thereof for satisfying users' demands, thereby expanding the air passages to maintain the normality in the air transmission and avoiding the specialized cavities to be unexpectedly closed.
As shown in
Claims
1. A multiple air passages applied to air mattress comprising a plurality of transverse bladders; said bladders being divided at intervals by a plurality of score lines; said bladders being longitudinally compressed to define air passages, and cavities being formed between said air passages and some of said specific bladders for communicating said air passages with an interior of said specific bladders.
2. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air mattress includes a first body superimposed on a second body by compressing borders thereof, and said first and second bodies are formed into a plurality of lateral bladders by dividing or supplementing a joint unit.
3. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 2, wherein said air passage is defined by longitudinally compressing either said first body or said second body with passage bodies; said concavities are defined on each of said passage bodies.
4. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 3, wherein said air passages are formed by disposing a release paper between said bladders and said passage bodies in a processing step; said release paper has a smaller surface area and a narrower width than said passage bodies; a perimeter of said passage bodies is subjected to a squash unlike an interior thereof subjected to a non-squash condition after compressing.
5. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in either claims 1, wherein said compression adopts a high-frequency compression welding.
6. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein a quantity of said air passages of said air mattress is identical to an amount of alternating groups of said bladders.
7. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bladders can be formed into a plurality of action zones, and a quantity of said air passages equals to a quantity of said action zones.
8. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein either said air passage or any one of said communicated bladders disposes an inlet and an inlet pipe connected thereto; said inlet pipe joints to an air pump.
9. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein said air mattress further includes a head bladder and a one-way valve disposed at a place where said head bladder meets said bladders within said air passage.
10. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 1, wherein said one-way valve includes a supporting portion and a blocking unit; said supporting portion is partially disposed among said air passage; a distal end of said supporting portion does not extend to said concavity of a head bladder; said blocking unit is disposed at an edge of said one-way valve.
11. The multiple air passages applied to air mattress as claimed in claim 9, wherein a CPR deflation valve is disposed at an edge of said head bladder.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 15, 2010
Publication Date: Oct 20, 2011
Inventor: Tsung Hsi LIU (Dongshan Shiang)
Application Number: 12/760,944
International Classification: A47C 27/08 (20060101);