GB2313777A

GB2313777A - A bed mattress

Info

Publication number: GB2313777A
Application number: GB9608673A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Angus Patrick Douglas Hannagan; Roger George Ronald Napper
Original assignee: Pegasus Airwave Ltd
Current assignee: Pegasus Ltd
Priority date: 1996-04-26
Filing date: 1996-04-26
Publication date: 1997-12-10
Also published as: GB9608673D0

Abstract

A mattress for use in clinical care, e.g. to prevent bedsores, has a rectangular foam frame surrounding a relatively softer double-sided foam insert. The insert is the size of a body supporting region of the mattress 1, and has a depth the same as that of the frame. The frame and insert are preferably each made from several pieces. The pieces forming the insert each have a shelf portion which overlap when the pieces are assembled to form the insert. The insert may also have a grooved pattern on its upper and lower surfaces, to reduce pressure on the body. The mattress 1 may have at least one chamfered edge on one or both ends. A waterproof cover 8 is also provided to prevent soiling of the foam. The cover 8 has overlapping flaps which extend outwardly from the sides and ends of the cover to cover any zips or seams in the cover.

Description

A BED MATTRESS The present invention relates to a foam bed mattress, in particular to a bed mattress for use in clinical care where the patient requires some protection against the risk of bed sores, for example in hospital beds, in nursing homes and even at the patients home Many foam mattresses for use in hospitals etc.

are designed having insert pads of different resilience within the mattress. In this manner, the mattress can offer varying degrees of support to the body, and further, the degree of support at different regions may be changed in accordance with a patients needs. It is known also for the inserts to be grooved, in order to spread the passive load between the patient and the mattress, and reduce the risk of bed sores. This is shown in EP 0114762.

Known mattresses of this type have replaceable inserts on one face of the mattress only, as in GB1559851 (as is now required by hospital regimes).

Thus, the mattress cannot be reversed. Where inserts are provided along the full length of both faces of the mattress, as in GB 2263398, they have an "H" shaped hard foam core with a single sided insert provided within each recess. However, the H shaped core is not simple to manufacture, and the use of three separable parts increases the cost and frequency of replacement. GB 2121275 provides a double sided insert, but this extends along a quarter of the length of the mattress only. Thus, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a mattress which can be used reversibly, has a simple construction and is easily manufactured.

It is a feature of standard hospital beds to have a "slide and pivot" type backrest at the head of the bed, which in its resting position is substantially vertical, and which can be swung upward and about its upper end outward from the head of the bed toward the foot and then slid downwardly, such that in its active position, the backrest extends diagonally upward from the mattress at an angle comfortable to the patient.

When conventional four inch (10cm) deep mattresses are used, the movement of the backrest does not interfere with the mattress. However, if a deeper mattress is used, the upper edge of the mattress at the head of the bed must be squashed in to allow the back rest to be swung outward. This results in wear and possible damage to the upper edge of the mattress.

Further, hospital mattresses require frequent turning. If handles are sewn directly onto the mattress or mattress cover, there may be small stitching holes into which liquid may enter which is unsound for reasons of infection control.

The present invention aims to overcome and ameliorate some or all of the above mentioned problems by providing a mattress which has a double sided, full length insert, which extends almost the full length of the mattress and eliminating the need for an "H" shaped core, within a more rigid foam frame, thus allowing the mattress to be used reversibly. The mattress may also feature chamfered end edges to prevent damage to the mattress during use of the back rest, and further may have a waterproof, impermeable cover with integral handles, thus reducing risk of seepage of liquid into the foam of the mattress.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a double sided mattress having a rectangular foam frame surrounding a double-sided foam insert, wherein the insert is of softer foam than the frame and has substantially the same depth as the foam frame. The insert is substantially the size of the body supporting region of the mattress, where the body supporting region is in the range of 50* to 85%, and preferably 65% of the size of the mattress. The substantial width of the insert is in the range of 60* to 85%, and preferably 70%, of the width of the foam frame, such that the insert fits snugly within the central aperture or void of the foam frame.

Preferably, the insert is slightly larger than the void, so that a friction fit may be obtained. The foam frame may be of any dimensions, to suit the type of bed used.

In this aspect of the invention, the frame and insert are separable from one another to allow replacement of either part.

The insert may also feature a grooved pattern on its upper and lower surfaces, preferably the grooves are V shaped and extend orthogonally across the two largest faces of the insert, resulting in a grid pattern.

Both the frame and the insert may be made from a single piece, but for manufacturing purposes are preferably made from two or more pieces. The frame may be assembled from four substantially rectangular elongate pieces, bonded together to form a frame. The insert may be made from two or more single or double sided pieces bonded together to form a rectangular double sided insert. When two or more double sided pieces are used to form the insert, it is preferable that each piece comprises an overlap area, e.g. of substantially half the depth of the mattress, and the inner surfaces of the overlap areas are bonded together in a shelving arrangement to form a single full length insert.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a mattress having at least one edge of one end of the mattress chamfered along its full length, to allow easy manouvering of the backrest without damage to the mattress. At least two, or preferably all four of the end edges, are chamfered, allowing the mattress to be used reversibly, four ways. Where two edges of the same short end are chamfered, the cross section of the chamfered portion becomes substantially "c" shaped.

It is further preferable that the degree of chamfering at each edge is such that it allows for free movement of a back rest, but does not unduly shorten the available length of the mattress. Preferably, the chamfered edge having a gradient in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 is desired and preferably the triangular space removed by the chamfer has a maximum height in the range of 0.2h to 0.4h where h is the normal mattress height.

In a third aspect, the present invention provides a mattress having a waterproof fabric cover to prevent soiling and damage to the foam, the cover having overlapping flaps extending outwards from at least one of side and edge faces of the mattress, preferably at a joint, e.g. zip of the cover and at least one, preferably a plurality, of locations around the mattress, the overlapping flaps are arranged to form a handle integral with the cover.

Preferably, the handle is formed by sealing at least the outer edge of the flaps together and providing an aperture through the flaps, such that the handles are an integral part of the flaps and require no stitching. It is preferred also that at the handle there is an increase in the width of the flaps over the length of the handle. Thus, the mattress cover has integral handles, with no increase of risk that any liquid may enter through seams, zips or handle attachment points.

In a preferred aspect, the present invention provides a mattress having a combination of two or more of the above described features.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is perspective view of unassembled components of the whole mattress, Figure 2 is perspective view of frame alone, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the two insert parts of the mattress, Figure 4 is a cross-section view on B-B of Fig.

6 of the mattress at a non-handle position, Figure 5 is a cross-section view on A-A of Fig.

6 of the mattress at a position having a handle, and Figure 6 is a plan view of the mattress.

Referring to the figures, Fig 1 shows a mattress of the present invention suitable for use on a single hospital bed. The foam mattress 1 comprises a relatively rigid foam frame 4, a double-sided full length replaceable insert 6 of foam softer than that of frame 4 and a waterproof, impermeable cover 8 having integral handles 10. The mattress as shown in these figures has the overall approximate dimensions 1960 x 890 x 160mm.

The rigid foam frame 4 is made of four rectangular pieces 12, 14, 16 and 18 which are bonded together at their extreme ends to form a complete frame 4, shown in fig 2. The frame has a central aperture or void 3 into which the insert 6 is inserted. The dimensions of the void 3 are such that the frame 4 tightly surrounds the insert 6. In this embodiment, the width of the rectangular frame pieces 12, 14, 16 and 18 is approximately 115mm, providing a void 3 of approximately 1370mm x 660mm.

The rigid foam frame 4 is bevelled on the upper and lower outer edges of the rectangular end pieces 14, 18, forming chamfered edges 5, 7. In this embodiment, the gradient of the chamfered edges 5, 7 is approximately 0.4 and the vertical extent of the chamfer is about one third the full mattress height.

The insert 6 shown in Fig 3 is made of two rectangular pieces 9, 11 each comprising an overlapping region 13 which has a depth of approximately half that of the mattress. The abutting surfaces of the overlapping regions 13 are bonded together, such that the two pieces 9, 11 form a full length double-sided insert 6. The outer, largest faces 15 of the insert 6 have grooves 17 in a grid like manner across their entire surface. In this embodiment the grooves 17 are V shaped, having a depth of 30mm, forming squares 19 of approximately 100 x lOOmm.

The insert 6 is placed within the frame 4, and is held tightly therein by the walls of the void 3. It is preferable that the insert 6 is slightly larger than the void 3 of the frame 4, such that a friction fit is formed when the insert 6 is placed in the void 3. In this embodiment the insert 6 is bonded to the inner walls of the frame 4.

The mattress 1 of the present invention also has a waterproof, impermeable cover 8, which is fitted closely to the entire outer surface of the assembly of frame 4 and insert 6. The cover is shaped to conform to the chamfers of the end edges of the frame 4. The cover 8 comprises overlapping flaps 20, 21 which extend over a zip or seam 23 to prevent fluid entering the mattress, as shown in Fig 4. The zip or seam 23, and thus flaps 20, 21 are placed centrally of the depth of the mattress 1, and extend along the two ends and one side of the mattress 1, each flap 20, 21 having an overlap region of about 15-20 mm. The cover has handles 10, shown in Fig 5 which are integral with the flaps 20, 21. In this embodiment, the handles 10 are formed by sealing the outermost edges of the flaps 20, 21 together, such that access to the zip or seam 23 is not wholly prevented at the handle region. The flaps 20, 21 are increased in width from 20mm to at least 30mm at each handle, and each handle 10 is overall approximately 300mm in length. Each handle 10 has a cut out slit or aperture 19 formed therein, which extends partially along the length of the handle 10. In this embodiment the slit 19 has dimensions 150mm x 15mm.

As shown in Fig. 6, there are four handles 10 on the mattress 1, one at each short end and two along the length of one long side. Preferably, the handles 10 are centrally spaced on the short sides, and are spaced at intervals of approximately 360mm on the long side, each handle 10 on the long side being 500mm from a short end.

The method of joining the fabric of the cover to form the handles may be any suitable one, but heat sealing or adhesive sealing is preferred.

Suitable foams for the frame 4 and the insert 6 are known in this field, as is the appropriate sealable, impermeable fabric for the cover 8.

Claims

1. A double-sided mattress having a rectangular foam frame surrounding a double-sided insert, wherein the insert is of softer foam than the frame and has substantially the same depth as the frame.

2. A mattress according to claim 1 wherein the insert is substantially the same size as a body supporting region of the mattress, said body supporting region having a length in the range of 50 to 85% of the length of the mattress.

3. A mattress according to claim 2 wherein the body supporting region has a width in the range of 60 to 85% of the width of the rectangular foam frame.

4. A mattress according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the insert and frame are separable from one another, to allow replacement of either the insert or the frame.

5. A mattress according to claim 6 wherein in an unassembled state the insert is slightly larger than the aperture of the frame, such that in an assembled state, the insert is held tightly within the frame.

6. A mattress according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the insert has a grooved pattern on at least a portion of one or both of its upper and lower faces.

7. A mattress according to claim 6 wherein the grooved pattern is orthogonal.

8. A mattress according to claim 6 or 7 wherein the grooves of the pattern are V-shaped.

9. A mattress according to any one of the preceding claims wherein one or both of the frame and insert are made as a single piece.

10. A mattress according to any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the frame is comprised of two or more pieces bonded together.

11. A mattress according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and claim 10 wherein the double-sided insert is comprised of two or more single or double sided pieces.

12. A mattress according to claim 11 wherein each piece comprises a shelf portion which, in an assembled state, overlaps with a shelf portion of an adjacent piece.

13. A mattress having at least one edge of one end chamfered along its length.

14. A mattress according to claim 13 wherein at least one chamfered edge has a gradient in the range of 0.2 to 0.4.

15. A mattress according to claim 13 and 14 wherein the height of a triangular section removed by the chamfer is in the range of 0.2h to 0.4h where h is the height of the mattress.

16. A mattress having a waterproof cover, wherein the cover has overlapping flaps extending outwardly over at least part of the length of a join on at least one of the side or end faces of the cover.

17. A mattress according to claim 16 wherein at one or more locations along their length the flaps are arranged to form handles which are integral with the cover.

18. A mattress according to claim 17 wherein the handles are formed by sealing together the outermost edge of the flaps, and providing an aperture through the flaps along at least part of the sealed portion.

19. A mattress according to claims 17 and 18 wherein the width of the flap between the side or end face and the outermost edge increases over at least part of the length of the handle.

20. A mattress cover as defined in any one of claims 16 to 19.

21. A mattress being a combination of two or more of i) the mattress of any one of claims 1 to 12 ii) the mattress of any one of claims 13 to 15 iii) the mattress of any one of claims 16 to 19.

22. A mattress substantially as disclosed herein with reference to and as shown in the drawings.

23. A cover substantially as described herein with refrence to and as shown in the drawings.