FR2514254A1 - DEVICE FORMING AIR MATTRESS - Google Patents

Abstract

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A DEVICE FORMING AIR MATTRESS. ACCORDING TO THE INVENTION, IT INCLUDES A BODY 1, A SOURCE OF AIR FOR SUPPLYING THE BODY OF THE MATTRESS AND A CHANGE VALVE 2 CONNECTED BETWEEN THE SOURCE OF AIR AND THE BODY OF THE MATTRESS, THE BODY BEING SUBDIVIDED INTO A NUMBER OF AIR-TIGHT CHAMBERS 3 IN GRID-SHAPED ARRANGEMENT, EACH CHAMBER BEING CONNECTED BY AN AIR TUBE 6 TO CHANGE VALVE 2, VALVE 2 CONSISTING OF A BODY 12 AND A DRIVE MOTOR 13 OF THIS BODY, THE BODY INCLUDING A CHANGE ELEMENT DRIVEN BY THE MOTOR AND A CYLINDRICAL HOUSING IN WHICH IS INSERTED THE CHANGE ELEMENT IN AN AIR-TIGHT MANNER, IN ORDER TO TURN THERE. THE INVENTION MAKES PARTICULARLY ALLOWED TO PROMOTE THE CIRCULATION OF BLOOD TO THE SURFACE OF THE BODY, PREVENT PRESSURES OR ALLOWS MASSAGE OF THE WAIST, BACK, HANDS OR LEGS OR THE LIKE.

Description

The present invention relates to an air mattress device

  which is mainly placed on a bed or on a chair or wrapped around a hand or leg to promote blood circulation to the body surface, to prevent pressure ulcers or to massage the waist, back, hand, leg or the like, and it relates more particularly to an air mattress device where the pressure applied to the surface

  body can be easily changed.

  An air mattress o compressed air is introduced

  in an airtight bag has already been put into practical use.

  However, an air mattress whose entire surface is always pushed by the pressure of the air impairs the circulation of blood on the surface of the human body, when it is used. It is not limited to such a mattress. However, patients who can not move on the bed, for example those who are seriously ill or affected by muscle atrophy, have the same problem. bedsores and suffer from a weakening of

  internal organs, particularly organs of the digestive tract.

  Like the intestines To prevent this, a new bed has been developed The bed has two tilting plates on each side, and by alternately rocking each of the tilting plates, the patient on the bed is moved aside at a given time interval But such a bed is expensive because the structure for shifting the upper surface of the bed is complicated, and as such

  structure can not easily be mounted on a conventional bed.

  In addition, it is disadvantageous that such a bed can cause mechanical noise when it is tilted. Moreover, in such a bed provided with tilting plates, it is difficult, from the point of view of structure view, to partially change the pressure force applied to the body surface -by the bed, and so all patients can not use the bed in the best conditions and its use is remarkably

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  limited In a device to promote the circulation of blood by pressing on parts of the surface of the human body, it is preferable that the pressure applied to the surface of the body is adjustable according to the intended use, the choice of the user, the How it is used and the like Inflation and deflation of the parts of an air mattress can be adjusted by connecting the airtight divided chambers of the mattress by separate electromagnetic valves to a source of air and controlling each solenoid valve, for example by means of timers According to this system, however, such an air mattress is very expensive because it requires a number of expensive electromagnetic valves In addition, loud noises are produced when the valves open and close, and such an air mattress is not suitable for

practical use.

  The present invention is developed to eliminate all the above disadvantages of a conventional air mattress.

  an air mattress where the whole body and the valves of change-

  They are of simple construction and inexpensive, where there is little noise that occurs when the change valves operate; o the pressure applied to the human body by the mattress is adjustable by simple operations: a number of airtight chambers can be controlled by a single change valve, this air mattress being durable, not presenting breakdown and being

easy to maintain and treat.

  The invention will be better understood and other purposes,

  characteristics, details and advantages of it appear

  more clearly in the explanatory description

  which will follow with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings given solely by way of example illustrating several embodiments of the invention and in which: Figure 1 is a schematic and plan view of an example of the device forming a mattress; air according to the invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view showing the connection between the airtight bags and the air tube;

  FIG. 3 is a side view showing the device

  air mattress in the state of use; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the air mattress device in another state of use. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the mattress body wrapped around an arm or leg; Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a substantial portion of the body of the mattress; Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the valve body; FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the recesses

inlet and outlet air; -

  Figures 9, 10 show side sectional views of

  the valve body showing examples of the connection between the valve body and the mattress body; Figures 11 and 12 are perspective views of other examples of the change elements; Figure 13 is a sectional view of the change element inserted in the housing; and

  Figures 14 and 15 are sectional views of.

  connectors connected along the air tube.

  An air mattress device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a body 1 of the mattress, a source of air for supplying the body 1 of the drair mattress under pressure and a change valve 2 which is connected.

  between the body 1 of the mattress and the air source.

  The body 1 of the mattress consists of a number of tubular bags and airtight, each defining an airtight chamber, and a lid 4 in which are contained the watertight bags to the The airtight bags 3 are formed of an elastic material resembling natural or synthetic rubber or a flexible resin sheet so that they can be inflated and deflated. The lid 4 is formed. by sewing in form a non-elastic or substantially inelastic sheet material such as fabric so that air-filled and airtight bag sizes are limited to constant values even if the air pressure introduced changes somewhat The preferred dimensions of the airtight bag 3 are decided to give optimal values according to the desired purpose, but usually the outer diameter of the inflated airtight bag is chosen from 2 to 10 cm in diameter. while its length is -30 to 150 cm At one end of the airtight bag 3, a short and rigid tube 5 is fixed in an airtight manner as shown in FIG. air tube 6 is fixed on the tube 5 in order to be connected to it. When the air mattress device is placed on a bed as shown in FIG. 3, the dimensions of the airtight bags 3 are preferably chosen so that the length of the airtight bags 3 corresponding to the body human being is much larger than the width of the shoulders of the user and that the diameter of airtight bags corresponding to the size is somewhat larger while that corresponding to the shoulder blades

be somewhat smaller.

  When a body 1 of the mattress is to be wound on an arm as shown in FIG. 4 or on a leg (which is not shown), the airtight bags are in a grid-like arrangement as shown in FIG. the figure, so each airtight bag is wound on the arm or the leg ie the airtight bags are in the lateral direction with respect to the length of the

arm or leg.

  FIG. 6 shows the sectional view of the lid 4.

  The lid 4 comprises two sheets of fabric which are connected by sewing them to define container sections for the airtight bags arranged in the manner of a grid. The entire shape of the body 1 of the mattress must not change. the airtight bags are inflated or deflated. In order to achieve this, in the lid 4, the bottom sheet is placed flat and the top sheet in laminated form is connected, by sewing, to the bottom sheet. therefore, when the airtight bags are inflated, only the top sheet of the lid expands. The distance between two adjacent airtight bags is chosen to be shorter than half of the

  sum of the diameters of the two adjacent airtight bags.

  This is shown in Fig. 6 In Fig. 6, the distance W between the center of the airtight bag 3 and the center of the adjacent airtight bag 3 is, for example, a few millimeters shorter than half of the sum of the diameters d1, d2 of the airtight central bag 3 and

  adjacent bag 3 airtight respectively.

  With this form, when a number of airtight bags are inflated, an airtight bag 3 is pushed by the side pressure of the adjacent bags 3, and the side surface is hollowed out. This recess produces a pushing force. towards the top of the airtight bag 3 As a result, the bag 31 at its middle part is found more

  top and all of the airtight bags form a bow.

  Thus, the surface of the human body is effectively pushed and at the same time the obvious ones defined between the bags

  Airtight 3 which are inflated are reduced.

  The container section 7 of the lid 4 is open or can be opened at one end. The airtight bag

  3 is inserted into the container section and it can also

  The air tube 6 is removably connected to the tube 5 of the airtight bag 3. If an airtight bag poses problems during its use, it is removed from the lid container section 7. 4 and a new bag which is inserted into it, to which the air tube is reconnected. As a source of air, it is possible to use a pump

  air pressure 8 from 66 to 400 x 10 N / m of refueling pressure.

  or a combination of a reducing valve 9 and a tank 10 of air pressure When using the

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  -6 tank 10, air at high pressure in the tank is reduced to 66 to 400 x 10 N / m 2 by means of the valve

  reducer 9 then it is brought to the bags airtight.

  The airtight bags 3 can only be inflated by putting them in communication through the changeover valve 2 at the discharge or discharge side so that the air-tight bags are open to the outside air. However, it is preferable that the airtight bags are deflated obligatorily by venting the air out of the airtight bags by means of an exhaust air pump. exhaust air and the air source are connected to the

change valve 2.

  The change valve 2 comprises a body 12 and a drive motor 13 driving the body 12 The body 12 comprises a change element 14 adapted to be rotated by the drive motor 13 and a

  15 o housing is rotatably inserted the change valve.

  The change element 14 is provided with a membrane

  29 having a circular outer periphery The circumferential surface

  The external cavity of the membrane 29 is in airtight contact with the inner surface of the housing 15 and can slide in the housing 15. An air inlet recess 16 is provided on one side of the membrane 29.

  and an air outlet recess 17 is provided on the other side.

  The inlet recess 16 and the air outlet air recess 17 are provided adjacent to each other in the direction of rotation of the change member 14 so that by the rotation of this change element 14, an air outlet opening 18 formed in the housing 15 may alternatively be in communication with the recesses

  air intake or air outlet 16, 17.

  In the valve body 12 of FIGS. 7 to 10, the ratio between the inflation and deflation times of the airtight bags can be modified by displacing the housing 15 in the axial direction. In fact, the number of airtight bags can be modified. Air to inflate, in group, can be changed. FIG. 8 shows an exploded view of the air intake recess 16, the air outlet recess 17 and the diaphragm 29. In the figure, the air intake recess 16 is formed in order to shrink in the axial direction and has a tapered end The outlet recess 17

  of air is provided adjacent to the air intake recess 16

  and it is circumferentially spaced from the latter by

  the width S of the membrane 29 The width of the recess-

  17 air outlet changes in the axial direction.

  The air inlet and outlet recesses 16 and 17 communicate separately with inlet recesses 19, 20, respectively, so that the air inlet recess 16 always communicates with the air source and that the air outlet recess 17 always communicates with the air discharge pump 11 The inlet recesses 19, 20 are provided on each side of the air inlet and outlet recesses 16, 17 and around the circumference

  external element of change 14.

  As can be seen in FIG. 1, one end of the change element 14 is connected to the drive motor 13 by a coupling 21 so that the

  change time can be controlled by changing the-

  number of revolutions of the drive motor 13.

  The housing 15 has the shape of a cylinder having open ends, into which can be inserted

  Airtight and rotary way the element of change 14.

  In Fig. 7, the right-hand end of housing 15 is inserted by means of a key or groove 22 into a mounting post 23 so as not to rotate but to slide axially. The housing right 15 is provided with an external screw on the outer circumferential surface. Moreover, air openings 18 uniformly spaced in the circumferential direction of the housing 15, are provided and each opening passes through the housing 15 in a radial direction. air openings are provided an inlet opening 24

  of air and an air outlet opening.

  The air openings 18 are arranged to correspond to the place of displacement of the membrane interposed between the inlet and outlet recesses.

  16, 17 on the outer surface of the change element.

  The air inlet opening 24 is positioned to correspond to the introduction member 19 communicating with the air inlet recess 16, while the air outlet opening 25 is located. way to match

  at the insertion recess 20 communicating with the recess

air outlet 17.

  The outer screw of the housing 15 is in engagement

  screwed with the inner screw formed into a tongue 26.

  The tongue 26 adapts, by a set screw 27, to the mounting post 23 in order to be able to rotate but not to be able to move in the axial direction. Therefore, on the outer circumferential surface of the fixing post 23 is formed a groove ring 28 o slide the screw

Adjustment or adjustment 27.

  With the rotation of the tongue 26, the housing 15

  moves in the axial direction and the positions or opening

  air duct 18 passes through the air intake recess 16 and the air outlet recess 17 change, so the state

  communicating the air opening 18 with the recesses

  air intake and air outlet 16, 17 changes.

  In Fig. 7, when the housing 15 is moved to the right, the number of air openings 18 communicating with the inlet recess 16 decreases and the number of bags

  Airtightness that is inflated decreases.

  When the housing 15 is moved to the rightmost position, there is less than an air opening 18 which

  communicates with the recess 16 of air input.

  In the change valve shown in Fig. 7, with the displacement of the housing 15 in the axial direction, the housing 15 and the change valve are relatively axially displaced. However, if the change member is displaced in an axial direction relative to to housing, we can get the same movement In this case,

  although this is not represented, a driving force

  connected to the element of change is fixed to a

  base in order to be axially mobile, and the

  change is moved at the same time as the drive motor. The air opening 18 is connected by the air tube 6 to the airtight bags 3 and the inlet opening 24.

  of air is connected to the air source, while the opening

  outlet 25 is open to the outside air

  or is connected to the exhaust pump 11.

  Figures 11 to 13 show other elements.

  of change 14 having different structures.

  In the change element 14 of FIG. 11, two discs 31, 32 are attached to both ends of a shaft 30 so that the outer circumferences of the discs are in airtight contact with the inner surface of the housing two discs 31, 32, the membrane 29 whose outer periphery is in airtight contact with the inner surface of the housing, is fixed in an inclined manner The air inlet and outlet recesses 16, 17 are interposed between the membrane 29 and the disks 31, 32 respectively. In a cylinder in which the change member 14 is inserted, the inlet opening is shaped to communicate with the air inlet recess 16 and

  the air outlet opening is formed to communicate with

  with the air outlet recess 17 while the

  air gap is formed in the sliding surface of the

outer circumference of the membrane 29.

  In the change element shown in FIG. 12, two disks 31, 32 are attached to both ends of

  the thick shaft 30 and the membrane 29 is fixed so

  The discs 31, 32 and the diaphragm 29 have diameters respectively such that they can rotate with their outer circumferential surface in airtight contact with the inner surface of the disc.

  housing 15 as shown in FIG. 13.

  It is advantageous that the element of change 14

  Figures 12, 13 can be easily manufactured.

  In usual use, the air openings 18 are

  connected in succession to airtight bags 3 as -

  9. In order to slowly rotate the change member 14 and thereby increase the speed of movement of the inflated airtight bags 3, the air openings 18 close are connected to the airtight bags. air by being

  separated from some bags as shown in Figure 10.

  If airtight bags are more numerous than air openings, a number of

  Airtight bags are connected to an air opening.

  The air tube 6 is removably connected to the change element 14 so that the inflated or deflated states of the airtight bags can be changed to

  changing the connection of the air tube to the exchange element

  14 The air tube 6 is formed of a resin tube

flexible synthetic.

  As shown in FIGS. 14, 15, it is possible for a connection means 33 to be connected to the path of the air tube 6 and the connection of the air tube 6 to be changed.

by the connecting means 33.

  The connection means 33 comprises a body 33A at both ends of which is connected the air tube, and a slider 33 B fixed removably and airtight to the body 33 A. The body 33A has the shape of a cylinder in which is inserted the slider 33 B Opposite openings of air 34 are open in the hollow of the body 33 A slider 33 B is provided with communication orifices which can communicate with each other the opposite openings of air when the slider 33 B is inserted into the body 33 A The communication ports are provided parallel as shown in Figure 14 o they are provided to cross the cursor 33 B according to a given rule and without any communication with each other By changing the

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  slider 33 B, the connection between the change valve 2 and the body 1 of the mattress is changed and this allows to control the inflation and

deflation of the body 1 of the mattress.

  In the air mattress device having the aforementioned structure, the change valve connected between the mattress body and the air source comprises the driving motor and the valve body, the valve body comprising the a change member driven by the motor and the casing housing or the change member rotates airtightly, the change member being provided on its outer circumferential surface with the inlet recess and the air outlet recess proximate to each other but not in communication with each other, the limit of the air inlet and outlet recesses being inclined towards the circumference of the change element, thus the widths of the air inlet and outlet recesses-change towards the circumference of the changementidonc element while the air inlet element becomes wider, the recess of air outlet narrows, moreover, the logem wherein the change element is rotatably inserted is provided with a number of air openings corresponding to the air inlet and outlet recesses, and the housing is fixed so that it can not rotate but moving in the axial direction and therefore moving the housing in the axial direction and rotating the change element, the communication state of the air openings can be changed with the air inlet and outlet recesses. Accordingly, by moving the housing in the axial direction, the numbers of inflated and deflated bags which are airtight and which are connected to the air openings can be changed and the user can advantageously always employ the mattress device. air to the condition best suited to his wish, as well as to the way he

wish to use it.

  Moreover, in this device forming an air mattress, the body of the mattress is divided into a certain number of defined and airtight chambers, the air being introduced under pressure out of the tubes and being evacuated in order to inflating and deflating the airtight bags, and furthermore, the change valve comprises a housing in which is inserted and can rotate a change element provided with two recesses and therefore the structures of the entire device and the change valve are simplified and can be manufactured at a low price, the change valve unlike an electromagnetic valve never producing uncomfortable noise when it is operating ie the air mattress device can work quietly , the thrust force applied to the surface of the human body being easy to control only by moving the housing, a number of watertight chambers air being controlled by a single change valve, and in addition the air mattress device achieves many effects such as durability, quality without boredom and so on, superior to other devices forming

air mattress.

Claims (3)

R E V E N D I C A T IO N S   1 air mattress device characterized in that it comprises a mattress body (1), a source of air supplying the body of the air mattress and a change valve (2) connected between said air source and said body of the mattress, said body of the mattress having a number of defined air-tight defined chambers (3), each airtight chamber being connected by an air tube (6) to the change, said change valve comprising a valve body (12) and a drive motor (13) for driving said valve body, said valve body comprising a change member (14) driven by said motor and a cylindrical housing (15) wherein said change member is airtightly inserted for rotation therein, said change member being provided with a diaphragm (29) having a circular outer circumference, the outer circumferential surface of said membrane being a s sliding surface which is in sliding and airtight contact with the inner surface of said casing, an air inlet recess (16) being provided on one side of said membrane and also an air outlet recess (17) on the other side and furthermore, the sliding surface of said membrane is inclined relative to the periphery   circular, so with the rotation of the said exchange element   in said housing, said diaphragm defining the air inlet and air outlet recesses can be moved axially, said housing having a portion   hollow and cylindrical so that the circumferential surface   external membrane of said membrane of said exchange element.   It can be slidably and airtightly engaged with the inner surface of said housing, said housing being provided with air inlet and outlet openings always in communication with the inlet and outlet air recesses respectively. , said housing being further provided 2514 Z 54   a number of air entry openings (18)   corresponding to the location of rotation of the circumferential   outer casing of the membrane, which is obtained by rotation of the change element, said housing being connected to a fixing post (23) so as not to rotate, said housing and said element of change   being relatively mobile in the axial direction, the openings   said air chambers being connected by air tubes to said airtight chambers, the air inlet opening being connected by a tube of air to the air source, an air outlet opening opening to the external air or being connected to an exhaust air pump (11), with the rotation of said change element by the driving means, the connection of the opening of air to the air intake recess or the air outlet recess is changed, so the alternating inflation and deflation of each airtight chamber repeats itself, and moreover with the displacement of the housing in the axial direction, the ratio of times each air opening is connected to the air intake recess and the air outlet recess is changed and the inflation and deflation of   Airtight rooms can be controlled.   2 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforesaid drive motor is an engine with gear change.   3 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforementioned housing is mounted so-to-be mobile in the axial direction.