JPH031964B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a bed, and particularly to a structure for receiving a body load.

[Background Art] Beds are usually provided with an elastic body such as a coil spring, a leaf spring, or a foamed urethane, so that the bed can receive the body load. The same applies to the method shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 46-30578. By the way, when a certain value of load is applied to an elastic body, it supports the load by displacing until it exerts a reaction force of the same value as this load, but in conventional elastic bodies, each part has the same spring constant. The amount that an elastic body displaces under the load of each part of the body, that is, the amount that it sinks, is a value that is proportional to the load.The part that receives the heavier weight sinks more, and the part that receives the lighter weight sinks. In addition, the amount of sinking is small, and the elastic body of the part that receives the heavy part affects the elastic body of the part that receives the nearby part of the light weight, which would normally be a small reaction force equal to the load. An elastic body may generate a larger reaction force to counter a larger load influenced by its surroundings, and a body supported by an elastic body must exert more force than the body itself, especially the spine. This results in a state that does not match the physiological curvature of the spinal cord, which places an unreasonable load on each intervertebral disc, leading to symptoms such as lower back pain, inability to relieve fatigue, and difficulty falling asleep.

[Objective of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to support the user's body without imposing an unreasonable burden on the body and to provide the user with excellent health effects. We provide beds that can give you a good night's sleep.

[Disclosure of the Invention] A plurality of air bags are provided on a bed base to independently support different parts of the body in a sleeping state, a pump that supplies air to each air bag, and each air bag. Each bag is equipped with a pressure adjustment valve that is set to have a different pressure adjustment value depending on the load of the supported body part, and the pressure adjustment valve is configured so that the internal pressure inside the air bag is equal to or higher than the set pressure adjustment value. When the air bag becomes dry, it is released and the air inside the air bag is discharged to the outside to maintain the internal pressure of the air bag at a pressure adjustment value that is set independently for each air bag. It is characterized by being balanced at any vertical position so that the product of the pressure adjustment value of the air bladder that supports each part and the area of its support surface is approximately equal to the load of the supported body part. Each air bag is designed to exert a pushing force that is approximately equal to the body load applied to it and that is balanced against this load at any vertical position, and a counter force as a reaction force. The pushing force is balanced against the load while maintaining the physiological curvature of the body. In other words, Figure 1 is a model of the configuration that supports the body, but the load Wi on a certain part of the body
is supported by the pushing up force Fi due to the air pressure inside the air bag as a counterbalance to this, but the pushing up force Fi due to the air pressure in each air bag at a predetermined position taking into account the physiological curvature of the body is each load
It is designed to balance Wi and force Ki acting on muscles, intervertebral discs, etc. that connect various parts of the body to almost zero.

The present invention will be described in detail below based on the illustrated embodiment. FIGS. 2 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which numeral 5 surrounds the four peripheries and has a bottom plate 6. A large number of air bags 1 are arranged in order along the longitudinal direction of the frame 5 on the open upper surface of the frame 5. Note that a gap is provided between each air bag 1. These air bags 1, which are connected to the air pipe 7 led out from the pump 2 via branch pipes 8, are all of the same shape and have a substantially flat upper surface. As shown in FIG. 4, it is formed by covering the outer surface of a bag 11 made of an elastic body such as rubber with a cover 10 made of cloth or the like, and the cover 10 and the bag 1 are provided at least on the top and bottom surfaces.
A flat frame 12 made of synthetic resin or the like is disposed between the frame 1 and the frame 1 to make the upper and lower surfaces flat. Fig. 4a shows an example in which the flat frame 12 is provided on the upper and lower surfaces, Fig. 4b shows an example in which the flat frame 12 is provided only on the upper surface, and Fig. 4c shows an example in which the flat frame 12 is provided on the upper and lower surfaces, and the flat frame 12 is provided on the upper surface. flat frame 12
An example is shown in which a cushion 13 is disposed between the cover 10 and the cover 10.

Each air bag 1 is provided with a relief valve 3 as a pressure regulating valve. This relief valve 3 is arranged in a fifth position such that one end with the valve hole 16 is located inside the bag 11 and the other end with the exhaust port 17 is located outside the bag 11.
As shown in the figure, it is composed of a tube 15 attached to the bag 11, a ball 18 placed inside the tube 15, and a spring 19 placed inside the tube 15 to bias the ball 18 toward the valve hole 16. If the air pressure inside the air bag 1 exceeds the release pressure expressed by the product of the opening area of the valve hole 16, Ai, and the pressing force fi of the ball 18 by the spring 19, the ball 18 As the valve moves backward against the spring 18, air is discharged from the air bag 1, and when the air pressure drops below the release pressure, the valve hole 1
6 is closed by a ball 18 to stop the air from being discharged.

However, in this embodiment, the area of the upper surface of each air bag 1 that receives the body is the same, and the release pressure of the relief valve 3 provided in each air bag 1 is equal to the pressure of the relief valve 3 provided in each air bag 1. By setting the area Ai of the hole 16 and the pressing force fi of the spring 19, the load Wi applied to each air bag 1 corresponds to t. In other words, the pushing force that opposes the load Wi applied to this air bag 1
Fi is approximately equal to the product of the air pressure Pi in the air bag 1 and the area of the top surface of the air bag 1, and the air pressure Pi
Since compressed air is constantly supplied from the pump 2 and the pressure is controlled by the relief valve 3 so that the value is always approximately constant, the amount of displacement of the air bag 1 when receiving the load Wi, that is, the vertical position is constant regardless of Therefore, when a load Wi equal to the push-up force Fi is applied, both are balanced at any vertical position.

In this way, the change in push-up force Fi with respect to displacement is almost zero, and each air bag 1 has a push-up force Fi that is approximately equal to the body load Wi shared by the air bag 1. In such a bed, when the entire weight of the user is applied to some of the air bags 1, the upward force of the air bags 1
Since the load Wi exceeds Fi, the air bag 1 will sink significantly. However, when the user rests his/her body on the upper surface of the bed, at this time, the load Wi of the value that each air bag 1 should bear is applied to the air bag 1, and the pushing force Fi of the air bag 1 and the load Wi are Balance is achieved at any height position of the air bag 1. In this case, although the pushing force Fi of each air bag 1 and the load Wi are balanced at any arbitrary position, if they are not balanced at a position that matches the physiological curvature of the user's body, the force will be applied to the other air bags 1. Load Wi
However, each air bag 1 conforms to the physiological curvature of the user's body as shown in Figures 3 and 13. They move up and down in a curved arrangement. The load Wi that each air bladder 1 receives is the same when the user is sleeping on his or her back or side, so when the user is sleeping on his or her side, it matches the physiological curvature of this posture. All the air bags 1 have this arrangement as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment. In this embodiment, although the release pressure of the relief valve 3 provided in each air bag 1 is set to be the same, each air bag 1 has an upper surface area corresponding to the load Wi that each air bag 1 receives. The size of the air bag 1 is set. In other words, the load Wi that each air bag 1 receives is the same. In this case as well, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

The third embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 to 10 is the exhaust port 17 of the relief valve 3 in the first embodiment.
The end of the body is bent so that the exhaust port 17 faces upward, so that the air discharged from the relief valve 3 is blown out toward the body lying on the bed. The air blown toward the body in this way keeps the body dry and relieves oxygen deficiency, thereby preventing so-called bedsores. Furthermore, since pressure sores do not occur in the head and foot parts of the body, the relief valve 3
The exhaust port 17 is connected to the relief valve 3 as shown in FIG.
It is made to point downward by rotating it half a turn.

In addition, FIG. 11 shows that the pump 2 is
An example is shown in which the power supply is connected to the
Under the control of a timer 4, the pump 2 is driven intermittently as shown in FIG.
While pump 2 is inactive, air bag 1 is closed due to turning over, etc.
The air pressure inside the air bag 1 generally decreases, but the next time the pump 2 is activated, the air pressure inside the air bag 1 returns to the set pressure. That is, even if the pump 2 is operated intermittently, the pressure will only drop temporarily, but if the pump 2 is operated overnight, there will be no problem as long as the pump 2 is operated at appropriate intervals.

[Effects of the Invention] As described below, in the present invention, each air bag is provided with a pressure adjustment valve set to have a different pressure adjustment value, and the air pressure is adjusted by the pressure adjustment valve to adjust the internal pressure for each air bag. It is maintained by independently set pressure regulating valves, and each air bag that supports each part of the body supports each part of the body while adjusting the pressure according to the load of each part of the body. Support means that each air bag supports each part of the body in a position that corresponds to the physiological curvature of the user, and the user's body is supported by each air bag in a position that corresponds to the physiological curvature. By being supported, the user's body is not subjected to undue stress, and the user can have a comfortable sleep.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a model diagram of body support, Figure 2
The figure is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the same as above, FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another embodiment, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of yet another embodiment, FIGS. 8 and 9 are sectional views of an air bag used in the above, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view of another embodiment. A sectional view of the same relief valve as above, FIG. 11 is a front view showing the case where the timer is connected to the pump, FIG. 12 is an on-off diagram of the same pump and a pressure diagram of the air bag,
13 and 14 are front views illustrating the operation of the present invention, in which 1 is an air bag, 2 is a pump, 3 is a relief valve as a pressure regulating valve, 4 is a timer, 1
7 indicates an exhaust port.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of air bags provided on a bed base to independently support different parts of the body in a sleeping state, a pump that supplies air to each air bag, and a plurality of air bags that supply air to each air bag. Each air bag is provided with a pressure adjustment valve that is set to have a different pressure adjustment value depending on the load of the supported body part, and the pressure adjustment valve has a pressure adjustment value that is set to the internal pressure within the air bag. When the pressure exceeds the limit, the air bag is released and the air inside the air bag is discharged to the outside to maintain the internal pressure of the air bag at a pressure adjustment value that is set independently for each air bag. The air bag is formed so that it is balanced at any vertical position so that the product of the pressure adjustment value of the air bladder that supports each part of the body and the area of its supporting surface is approximately equal to the load of the body part that it supports. The characteristic bed. 2. A patent characterized in that each air bladder is of the same size with a flat top surface, and each pressure regulating valve is set to a release pressure according to the load applied to the top surface of each part of the body. A bed according to claim 1. 3. Claim 1, characterized in that the exhaust port of the pressure regulating valve opens upward.
Beds listed in section. 4. The bed according to claim 1, wherein the pump is driven intermittently.