JP2024051342A - Air mattress - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an air mattress that allows the user to feel comfortable even when the position changing function is activated. [Solution] An air mattress 1 includes a main mattress 15 and a pair of left and right position changing air cells 4a, 4b arranged below the main mattress 15, and is configured so that air can be independently supplied and exhausted to each of the position changing air cells 4a, 4b, and the position changing air cells 4a, 4b have a shape in which an outer longitudinal cell portion 17 extending in the longitudinal direction of the main mattress 15 is joined to an inner lateral cell portion 18 extending from the outer lateral side of the main mattress 15 toward the inside, the inner lateral cell portion 18 being arranged closer to the thighs than the buttocks of the user, and the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 being arranged so as to extend toward the head side of the user at the outer lateral position of the mattress. [Selected Figure] Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to an air mattress with a position changing function. The present invention is a technology that can be suitably used for air mattresses and the like used by users who are unable to change their position by themselves, such as by turning over in bed.

Various mattress configurations with a position-changing function have been proposed in the past. For example, the present applicant also proposed a position-changing mattress that is less likely to cause bedsores in Patent Document 1. A mattress with the configuration described in Patent Document 1 has a structure in which the user's buttocks and lower back are spaced apart between the left and right shoulder air cells and the left and right knee air cells, so it has the advantage of being less likely to put pressure on the buttocks (including the sacrum), which are prone to developing bedsores.

JP 2014-046042 A

In this type of air mattress equipped with a position change function, for example, when the position change function is activated, the user's body tilts to the left or right, causing a sense of uneasiness or discomfort, and preventing the user from feeling comfortable.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT An object of the present invention is to provide an air mattress that allows a user to feel comfortable even when the position changing function is activated.

The air mattress according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises:
An air mattress comprising a main mattress and a pair of left and right position-changing air cells arranged below the main mattress, the air mattress being configured to be able to independently supply and exhaust air to and from each of the position-changing air cells,
The position changing air cell is
an outer longitudinal cell portion extending in a longitudinal direction of the primary mattress;
The main mattress has a shape in which a lateral inner cell portion extending from the lateral outer side to the inner side is joined,
The lateral inner cell portion is disposed closer to the thigh than the buttocks of the user,
The outer longitudinal cell portion is disposed at a lateral outer position of the main mattress so as to extend toward the head side of the user.

A second aspect of the present invention is the air mattress according to the first aspect, characterized in that the shape of the position-changing air cell is L-shaped or J-shaped.
A third aspect of the present invention is an air mattress as described in the first or second aspect, characterized in that the outer longitudinal cell portion is formed in a tapered shape such that the width narrows as it moves from the thigh side, where the lateral inner cell portion is located, to the head side.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is an air mattress as described in the first or second aspect, characterized in that the outer longitudinal cell portion is formed so that its vertical height decreases as it moves from the thigh side, where the lateral inner cell portion is located, to the head side.
A fifth aspect of the present invention is an air mattress according to the first or second aspect, characterized in that the outer longitudinal cell portion is arranged facing the lateral outer positions of the user's waist, abdomen, and chest.
A sixth aspect of the present invention is the air mattress described in the first aspect, characterized in that the main mattress includes an air mattress and has a connecting portion connecting the pair of left and right position-changing air cells.

The present invention provides an air mattress that allows the user to feel comfortable even when the position change function is activated.

1 is a perspective view of the air mattress of this embodiment, covered with an outer cover, viewed from an upper side position. FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper mattress of the air mattress according to this embodiment, viewed from above and to the side, with the outer cover and upper layer partly turned up. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the air mattress of this embodiment, showing the lower mattress from an upper side position with the upper mattress removed. In the air mattress of this embodiment, this is an oblique view of the position-changing air cell arranged under the lower mattress, viewed from an upper side position, with the lower mattress removed. 1 is a diagram showing the positions of the left and right body position-changing air cells in the air mattress according to the present embodiment. FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view illustrating the configuration of the left position-changing air cell in the air mattress according to the present embodiment. 5A and 5B are plan views showing an example of the configuration of each postural change air cell. FIG. 1A is a plan view taking into account the skeletal level of a user lying on the mattress, FIG. 1B is a side view of the same, and FIG. 1C is a side view showing one of the position-changing air cells inflated.

The following describes an embodiment of an air mattress according to the present invention, with reference to the drawings. The present invention is a technology that can be widely adopted for air mattresses (including units that make up an air mattress) that can supply and exhaust air independently to each of the position-changing air cells described below.

In this specification, the longitudinal direction of the mattress, i.e., the direction from the head to the feet, is referred to as the longitudinal direction (shown as the X direction in FIG. 1), the short direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is referred to as the lateral direction or left-right direction (shown as the Y direction in FIG. 1), and the direction perpendicular to both the front-back direction and the lateral direction is referred to as the up-down direction (shown as the Z direction in FIG. 1).
The direction from each of the sides of the mattress or bed toward the center is called the inside (inner side). Note that the left and right directions are described as the direction seen from the foot side of the bed.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the mattress covered with an outer cover in a usable state, Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the outer cover and the upper layer part being partially peeled back to expose the upper mattress, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the upper mattress being removed to expose the lower mattress, Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the lower mattress being removed to expose a pair of left and right position-changing air cells, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the position of a pair of left and right position-changing air cells in the entire mattress, Figure 6 is a plan view to explain the configuration of one position-changing air cell, Figures 7(a) and (b) are plan views showing modified examples of the position-changing air cell configuration, and Figure 8 is a diagram to explain the advantages of this embodiment at the user's skeletal level.

In this embodiment, a mattress 1 having a position-changing air cell 4 is placed on the mattress support surface 3 of a nursing bed 2. The nursing bed 2 shown in Figures 1 to 4 is a bed with back-raising and leg-raising functions, and is divided into four sections: a back-raising section 5, a buttocks-corresponding section 6, a knee-raising section 7, and a leg-raising section 8.

As shown in FIG. 4, the position-changing air cell 4 is usually provided at the lower part of the mattress unit. However, in the present invention, if necessary, a position-changing air cell 4 provided separately from the mattress on the mattress support surface 3 can be provided. Even if the position-changing air cell 4 is provided at the lower part of the mattress unit, the position-changing air cell 4 can be stored in a bag, or the position-changing air cell 4 can be formed on a sheet-like material the size of the mattress and the sheet-like material can be attached to the lower part of the mattress unit. However, in a general form of use, the components 4, 10, 11, 12, etc. described later are stored in a bag-like storage member that covers the mattress, and are configured so that they can be carried as a whole, including the air supply and exhaust structure. In other words, the mattress 1 in the present invention can be implemented in the various forms described above.

In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 1 to 4, an example is shown in which a mattress unit is constructed by stacking the position-changing air cell 4, the lower mattress 10, the upper mattress 11, the upper layer 12, and the outer cover 13 in this order from bottom to top as viewed from the mattress support surface 3 of the nursing bed 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower mattress 10 is made of an elastic body made of a synthetic resin foam such as urethane foam. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower mattress 10 has a pair of support parts 31 located at both left and right ends and extending in the longitudinal direction, a rectangular mat surface part 32 extending in the longitudinal direction that is inserted and fixed between the support parts 31, and a lower support part 33 that supports the support parts 31 and the mat surface part 32 from below. The upper surface of the mat surface part 32 has a groove part 34 and a flat part 35 extending laterally. A groove part 37 extending laterally is formed at a predetermined location on the lower surface of the lower support part 33.

The configuration shown in Figure 3 includes a first planar portion 35a at the head end of the lower mattress 10, a second planar portion 35b provided near the boundary between the back-raising portion 5 and the buttocks-corresponding portion 6 of the nursing bed 2, a third planar portion 35c provided corresponding to the foot-raising portion 8, and a fourth planar portion 35d provided at the foot end of the mattress. These planar portions 35a, 35b, 35c, and 35d are provided according to various patterns of the driving surfaces for the back-raising and foot-raising movements of the nursing bed 2. In addition, the grooves 34 provided in the mat surface portion 32 are provided between the planar portions 35.

With this configuration, the flat portions 35 can be configured to be less prone to deformation at the locations where the flat portions 35 are provided, in contrast to the flexible, deformable configuration at the locations where the groove portions 34 are provided, and a sharp, desired deformation movement can be achieved.
With such a lower mattress 10, the mattress can be deformed well when performing back-raising and leg-raising operations, and even when performing an automatic position change operation to prevent bedsores, the mattress can be flexibly deformed so that areas that are not desired to change do not change and areas that are desired to change do, thereby alleviating localized discomfort in the mattress, such as pressure, tension, and protrusion felt by the user during the automatic position change operation.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the upper mattress 11 is configured as an air mattress. It is preferable to use an air mattress configured with a plurality of unit air cells 14 extending approximately parallel to the lateral direction of the mattress, arranged in the longitudinal direction. By controlling the supply and exhaust of air to each unit air cell 14, the sleeping comfort of the user can be improved. A known configuration can be used for the supply and exhaust control of the unit air cells 14, so a description thereof will be omitted.

The upper layer 12 is also made of an elastic material such as a synthetic resin foam such as urethane foam. Although omitted in Fig. 2 for simplicity, it is preferable that the upper layer 12 has a number of grooves extending parallel to the lateral direction of the mattress in order to improve deformation and conformability.
The outer cover 13 is made of a normal sheet in a bag shape, etc. Reference numeral 25 in Fig. 1 denotes a controller for the air mattress, and reference numeral 26 in Fig. 3 denotes a control device for lifting the back, lifting the legs, changing the body position, etc.

In this specification, the term "main mattress" refers to a mattress that plays a major role in the mattress structure. The main mattress 15 that can be applied in the present invention can have various mattress configurations.
For example, the main mattress 15 may be composed of only an air mattress such as the upper mattress 11, may be composed of only a mattress made of an elastic material such as synthetic resin such as the lower mattress 10, or may be composed of a combination of an air mattress and an elastic mattress as in this embodiment.

<Air supply and exhaust configuration>
The plurality of unit air cells 14 expand or contract when air is supplied to or exhausted from an air pump (not shown) of an air supply and exhaust mechanism via air tubes 16 .
On the other hand, during a position change, the right air cell 4a or the left air cell 4b of the position-changing air cell 4 is inflated or deflated by air being supplied or exhausted from an air pump (not shown) via air tubes 27a, 27b due to the passage switching operation of a passage switching mechanism (not shown) in the control unit 26.

<Posture change air cell>
As shown in Figures 4 to 8, the left and right postural change air cells 4a, 4b each have a shape in which an outer longitudinal cell section 17 extending in the longitudinal direction of the mattress is joined to an inner lateral cell section 18 extending inward from the outer lateral side of the mattress. The joining refers to a configuration in which two cell regions are connected, and the outer longitudinal cell section 17 and the inner lateral cell section 18 are connected like a single bag in the air passage.
The outer longitudinal cell portion 17 is configured to have a tapered shape such that the width gradually decreases from the thigh side toward the head side.
In this embodiment, the configuration in which the "width decreases" is not limited to a configuration in which the width is gradually decreased along an inclined straight line. For example, a configuration in which the width decreases in a stepped manner is not excluded.

As shown in Fig. 5, the postural change air cells 4a, 4b are disposed substantially symmetrically with respect to the center line that halves the width of the mattress. In other words, the inner ends of the lateral inner cells 18 are disposed facing each other.
The inner end of each of the lateral inner cell parts 18 of the left and right body position changing air cells 4a, 4b is provided with a connecting part 19 such as a connecting belt or a connecting string, so that the left and right body position changing air cells 4a, 4b can be easily positioned when they are carried as a unit and stored in a mattress. In this case, the left and right body position changing air cells 4a, 4b are connected to each other.

As shown in FIG. 5, a buttocks sensor 29 is provided at a position corresponding to the buttocks of the user.
The buttocks sensor 29 can be used to determine whether the patient is on or off the bed, and to determine the load on the buttocks, and feed the results back to the control unit 26. For determining whether the patient is on or off the bed, the control unit 26 is provided with a control means (control program) for controlling the internal pressure in the air cell in response to the load on the buttocks that does not trigger a position change mode for safety reasons.
As shown in Fig. 5, a body movement sensor 28 can be provided as needed. The body movement sensor 28 detects the pressure contact state of a necessary part of the user to grasp the user's body position, location, and condition. Fig. 5 shows a configuration in which the body movement sensor 28 is provided from the buttocks to the lower body side, but the body movement sensor 28 can also be provided from the buttocks to the upper body side as needed.

As described above, the shape of each joined position-changing air cell 4a, 4b is a shape formed by joining an outer longitudinal cell portion 17 extending in the longitudinal direction and an inner lateral cell portion 18 extending from the outer lateral side of the mattress toward the inside.
Examples of such shapes include a shape in which a longitudinal straight band portion 20 extending in the longitudinal direction is joined to a short straight band portion 21 extending in the short direction as shown in Fig. 7(a), and a shape in which a longitudinal straight band portion 20 extending in the longitudinal direction is joined to a curved band portion 22 extending inward as shown in Fig. 7(b). Examples of the curved band portion 22 include a part of a circle or an ellipse. For example, the configuration shown in Fig. 7(b) illustrates a configuration in which a curved band portion 22 having an approximately quarter circle shape is joined to a longitudinal straight band portion 20.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shape of the postural change air cell 4 of this embodiment is such that the lateral inner cell portion 18 is connected by a plurality of linear bands.
Specifically, the inner lateral cell portion 18 in this embodiment is composed of a first inclined belt portion 23 that extends toward the inside of the mattress, and a second inclined belt portion 24. The inclined belt portions 23, 24 are provided at a predetermined angle, and the inner lateral cell portion 18 is composed by connecting the first inclined belt portion 23 and the second inclined belt portion 24.
When such various belt shapes are adopted, it can be said that one postural change air cell has an overall shape similar to the letter L or J.

In this specification, the term "L-shape" refers to a configuration in which a straight portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the mattress is connected to a straight portion extending laterally from the outer side to the inner side.
In addition, in this specification, "J-shape" refers to a configuration in which a longitudinal portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the mattress is connected to a shorter portion such as an inclined belt portion or curved belt portion extending laterally from the outer side to the inner side.

The configuration of this embodiment shown in FIG. 6 can be said to be an example of a "J-shape", in which a plurality of inclined band portions are connected, and the lateral inner cell portions 18 are in the shape of curved folded bands.
Alternatively, the shape of the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 may be curved to conform to the lateral lines of the human body in the areas of the user's chest, abdomen, waist and buttocks.
In other words, the shape of the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 also includes a curved configuration extending in the longitudinal direction.

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of the postural change air cells 4a, 4b according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
Although it depends on the size of the bed, the longitudinal length X of the postural change air cells 4a, 4b is preferably in the range of 450 mm to 1500 mm. Also, the length Y of the inner lateral cell portion 18 (the length extending inward from the outer edge of the outer longitudinal cell portion 17) is preferably in the range of 250 mm to 900 mm.
The ratio (X/Y) of the length X of the position changing air cells 4 to the length Y of the inner lateral cell portion 18 being 1.0 is preferably in the range of 0.5 to 6.
Regarding the degree of tapering of the outer longitudinal cell portions 17, the ratio (E/D) of the width E at the position near the user's shoulders to the width D of the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 to which the lateral inner cell portion 18 is connected is preferably in the range of 0.2 to 0.8.

As a result of the above configuration, there is a difference between the height to which the lateral inner cell portion 18 is inflated when compressed air is supplied to it and the height to which each portion of the lateral inner cell portion 18 is inflated in the longitudinal direction. Specifically, the inflated height gradually decreases from the thigh side of the lateral inner cell portion 18 and the lateral inner cell portion 17 to the head side of the lateral inner cell portion 18.

In addition to the configuration in which the width of the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 is tapered, the shape of the air cell can also be directly set so that the vertical height decreases from the thigh side, where the lateral inner cell portion 18 is located, toward the head side.
When this configuration is adopted, the ratio (K/H) of the height K at the position near the shoulder to the height H of the lateral inner cell portion 18 side (thigh side) shown in Fig. 8(c) is preferably set in the range of 0.2 to 0.8. The height H is preferably set in the range of 50 mm to 200 mm.

Next, the positions of the left and right body position changing air cells 4a, 4b relative to the main mattress 15 will be described.
As shown in Figures 5 and 8, the lateral inner cell sections 18 are positioned relative to the main mattress 15 so that when the user lies down, they are located closer to the thighs than the buttocks of the user. In this position, when the left and right lateral inner cell sections 18 alternately inflate, the head side of the user becomes lower than the buttocks. By automatically supplying and exhausting air to and from the left and right position-changing air cells 4a, 4b alternately at predetermined time intervals without placing a burden on the user, bedsores can be suppressed.

In addition, in the case of this arrangement, the outer longitudinal cell portions 17 of the postural change air cells 4a, 4b are arranged facing the lateral outer positions of the user's body.
In this specification, "facing" includes two states: a state in which the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 is in contact with the user on the outer lateral side of the user's body, such as the waist, abdomen, and chest, and a state in which the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 is positioned slightly away from the user.

<Actions and Advantages of the Embodiment>
The details of "uncomfortable posture" vary widely depending on the user's perception, but specific complaints from users reported to the applicant are as follows:
(1) "The tilt causes the body to move and causes poor posture."
(2) "I wake up when I'm sleeping"
(3) "The pressure on my chest makes it hard to breathe."

As shown in FIG. 8, the configuration of this embodiment has the following advantage (A) as a basic action to solve the above problem.
(A) A position-changing air cell can be constructed that allows the user to naturally assume a comfortable posture (slightly bending the hip and knee joints).
By making the posture changing air cell "L-shaped or J-shaped", it has not only outer longitudinal cell parts 17 but also inner lateral cell parts 18, and it is possible to stably tilt the buttocks and upper body while lifting the thighs upward. By supporting and lifting the thighs, the hip and knee joints of the user 41 are bent, and a sense of security can be obtained by maintaining a stable posture and naturally changing posture.

In addition, in a configuration for changing the inclination angle of the body and buttocks of the user 41, if a configuration is adopted in which the height of the position-changing air cells is gradually increased from the shoulder area to the thigh area, the following advantages are obtained.
(B) Because the buttocks can be tilted more than the upper body, it is possible to suppress unpleasant movements that users often complain about, such as "difficulty breathing due to pressure on the chest,""waking up when changing position while sleeping," and "uncomfortable feeling due to poor posture caused by large tilts to the left and right," while reliably tilting the buttocks to prevent bedsores, etc.

In addition, in this embodiment, the width of the inner lateral cell portion 18 is wide, and the width of the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 narrows toward the head side. Therefore, when the cell portion is gradually formed higher from the shoulder area to the thigh area, a reliable slope can be achieved in a simple and natural manner.
Since the outer longitudinal cell portion 17 is positioned on the outer side of the waist, abdomen, chest, etc., the user 41 can change his/her body position with less burden.

The outer longitudinal cell portions 17 do not have to be parallel to the longitudinal direction of the mattress, but may extend at a slight angle to the longitudinal direction as long as their functionality is not impaired.
The air mattress 1 according to this embodiment is often used in a nursing bed 2 (see FIG. 1) that is equipped with back-raising and leg-raising functions, etc. However, even in various types of beds that are not equipped with back-raising and leg-raising functions, it is possible to suppress bedsores by adopting the position changing structure according to this embodiment.

The position change system according to this embodiment can also be configured to automatically contract the position change air cells 4 when the user raises the back by 30 degrees or more. The purpose of this is to prevent the user from falling off the mattress due to excessive left or right tilt when raising the back.

The present invention has been described above by way of example embodiments, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the above embodiments. The technical scope of the present invention should be determined based on the claims, and it goes without saying that various modifications, additions to configurations, and improvements can be made within that scope.

1: Air mattress 4, 4a, 4b: Posture change air cell 10: Lower mattress (an example of a main mattress)
11: Upper mattress (example of the main mattress)
15: Main mattress 17: Outer longitudinal cell section 18: Inner horizontal cell section

Claims (6)

An air mattress comprising a main mattress and a pair of left and right position-changing air cells arranged below the main mattress, the air mattress being configured to be able to independently supply and exhaust air to and from each of the position-changing air cells,
The position changing air cell is
an outer longitudinal cell portion extending in a longitudinal direction of the primary mattress;
The main mattress has a shape in which a lateral inner cell portion extending from the lateral outer side to the inner side is joined,
The lateral inner cell portion is disposed closer to the thigh than the buttocks of the user,
An air mattress, characterized in that the outer longitudinal cell portion is arranged to extend toward the user's head side at a lateral outer position of the main mattress. The air mattress of claim 1, characterized in that the shape of the position-changing air cell is L-shaped or J-shaped. The air mattress according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the outer longitudinal cell portion is formed in a tapered shape in which the width narrows from the thigh side, where the lateral inner cell portion is located, toward the head side. The air mattress according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the outer longitudinal cell portion is formed so that its vertical height decreases from the thigh side, where the lateral inner cell portion is located, toward the head side. The air mattress according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the outer longitudinal cell portion is arranged facing the lateral outer positions of the user's waist, abdomen, and chest. The air mattress of claim 1, characterized in that the main mattress includes an air mattress and has a connection portion connecting the pair of left and right position-changing air cells.