WO2008117331A2

WO2008117331A2 - The 'animated' mattress for new-born babies and infants

Info

Publication number: WO2008117331A2
Application number: PCT/IT2008/000202
Authority: WO
Inventors: Attilio Romano
Original assignee: Attilio Romano
Priority date: 2007-03-28
Filing date: 2008-03-27
Publication date: 2008-10-02
Also published as: ITCE20070005U1; WO2008117331A3

Abstract

The 'animated' mattress for newborn and infants is intended to simulate the physiological rest condition that nature has provided for all offspring of mammals, in other words the close physical contact with the mother. Unfortunately for human beings this natural condition occurs only during feeding. In fact between each feed the baby is layed down in the crib, which he does not recognize as a natural environment. This causes a inconsolable recurrent crying which often lends itself to wrong interpretations; this special mattress which can be used in every sort of crib, by artificially reproducing noises, warmth, and the shape of a mother's chest and simulating the movement of respiration the sound of heartbeat the shape and the consistence of breasts, and the body temperature, will help the well-being and the tranquillity of the newborn baby, thus avoinding frequent crying, reducing the mother's stress and aiding breast feeding for the first months of life.

Description

Description THE "ANIMATED" MATTRESS FOR NEW-BORN BABIES AND INFANTS

The "animated" mattress for new-born babies and infants is a special mattress that can be used in all types of crib. It artificially reproduces the sounds, warmth and shapes of the mother's chest by simulating the movements of breathing, the sound of the heartbeat and of the respiratory act, the shape and the consistence of the breast and the body warmth. Thus, when lying on the mattress, the baby feels the same sensations as when he is lying on his mother's chest and this helps towards peaceful sleep. The characteristics reproduced by the matress are:

- the heartbeat

- the hiss of air produced by respiration

- the chest movements of respiration

- the anatomical aspects of the mother's body - i.e.the breast and abdomen

- body- temperature of 36-37°

Details of measurements:

- Length: 70 - 80cm

- Width: 40 -50cm - Depth: 10-40cm

The mattress is made with uninflammable and anallergic materials, structured in layers (see FIG. 1) as follows:

1. The outer cover is of sanitized cotton. The lozenge pattern is sewn with reinforced thread

2. The structure is soft expanded material with cell structure (latex foam 100%), with differentiated support

3. Padding on the upper surface

4. Cover

5. Stretch cotton cover

6. Zip opening on three sides Padded sides:

7. Reinforced cord handles

8. Side air vents Between the cotton cover and the padding of the upper surface there are two thin sheets of insulating material, between which there is a wire resistance of an alloy (nichel-chrome and/or constantan, which is fed by an electronic control circuit.

The function of the resistance is to warm the upper surface of the mattress and keep it at a constant temperature of 36.8°C. The control circuit uses two probe thermostats (PTC semiconductor probe) situated within the padding of the upper surface, so as to guarantee both constant temperature of the surface of the mattress and a high degree of safety, with subsequent energy saving in the heating of the structure.

The upper surface of the structure, in soft material has the female anatomical shape. See figure 2.

Internally there is a paralleliped cavity which measures 30 X 60 cm and a depth of 10 to 30 cm. The electromechanical structure of the device is situated in this cavity.

See the attached figures 3, 4 and 5 for the construction of the mattress.

The electromechanical structure of the device is contained in a plastic box which measures 30 X 60, with a depth of between 10 to 30 cm; it is acustically isolated from the sorrounding environment.

The box is the housing of the components which reproduce the bio-mechanical characteristics of the human body, as listed below:

THE ACUSTIC EFFECT OF THE HEARTBEAT AND OF RESPIRATION

The overall acustic effect of the heartbeats and of the hiss of respiration that the baby perceives when sleeping with with his head resting on his mother's chest is produced using a 2 W RMS electrodynamic conical broad band loudspeaker with the cone in polypropylene and foam suspension, connected to an audio source which is integrated in the electronical control circuit.

The audio source is made of a decoding circuit of an audio file stored in a nonvolatile electronic memory, connected to a monophonic power amplifier; the amplifier ouput drives directly the loudspeaker. In the electronic memory is stored an audio track which contains the sound of the heartbeat and the sound of air passing through the respiratory apparatus. VOLUMETRIC EFFECT

The effect of volumetric variation which simulates the expansion of the chest during respiration is obtained in different ways. A first modality is based on the use of an

Eccentric wheel, so as to guarantee with a rotation of 180°, an increase in height of the upper surface of the mattress of about 2 cm; the mechanism is made with an horizontal aluminiun profile with rectangular section which moves on runners.

The horizontal profile lies at its center on an eccentric wheel which is solidly connected with a metal axle and with a 3 gear mechanism for the transmission of the motion given by the direct current (DC) electric motor to the crown solidly connected to the axle of the eccentric wheel by which it is pushed upwards; two chrome steel cilindrical coils, coaxial to the vertical runners, bring the profile downwards. (See FIG. 6 and 7)

The mechanism, which generates an alternate movement at a frequence of 15 cycles/min, simulates the increase in volume of the chest as in respiration.

An alternate mode of simulating the respiratory movements can be realized by the use of a closed pneumatic circuit, that is a small chamber in plastic material connected to an alternative pump which by alternatively filling and emptying the chamber with a fluid which is in pressure makes the volume increase and diminish so as to simulate the phases of inspiration and expiration. (See FIG. 8)

In each of these two possible modes the mechanisms ara capable of making alternative periodic oscillations between a lower stop point, situated at the same height of the upper surface of the box, and an upper stop point, situated at a height of 20 mm relatively to the upper surface of the top face of the box, that is a Δh of circa 2 cm.

CONTROL OF THE SYSTEM

The control system is made by an electronic circuit containing a digital microchip, which controls all the control functions and the running of the whole system, including turning off the system after a period of time predetermined bythe user, control of the temperature of the upper surface of the mattress, speed of decrease and increase of the volume of the chest by using control of the speed which keeps the speed of rotation constant, thanks to a control signal generated by a tachymetric generator solidly connected with the wheel axle, the sound effects and the running of the power supply of the whole system. All is controlled and works in such a way as to allow the system to faithfully reproduce the characteristics of a mother's body.

POWER SUPPLY

The power supply of the whole system is provided by use of a rechargeable 12V or 24V battery pack with litium polymer cells. The mattress is not connected to an electrical network, and will therefore be a SELV system, that means powered with very low security voltage and completely isolated from the electrical network.

Recharging the battery pack is done by removing it from the mattress; the battery pack can be removed by opening the zips on the 3 sides of the mattress.

The battery pack is recharged by connecting it to an external battery charger connected to the electrical network. This way, the battery can be recharged without any permanent connection to the mattress, in order to guarantee the maximum safety while keeping all the caracteristics of the SELV circuit.

The structure of the apparatus is illustrated in the attached figure 6 and 7.

Claims

1. We claim the shape of the mattress which riproduces that of a woman's body, in particular the shape of the breast and of the abdomen (see fig.2).

2. We claim the sounds produced by the mechanisms within the mattress simulating those of the cardiac and respiratory activity.

3. We claim the movement of the top part of the mattress simulates that of the chest which expands during respiration.

4. We claim the surface temperature of the mattress similar to that of a human body (36°-37°C) (see fig.5).

5. We claim the different mecanisms which allow the upward movement of the surface of the mattress: A - mechanical, B - pneumatic or hydraulic (see fig. 3, 4, 6, 7).

6. We claim the ratio between heartbeat and upward movement of the surface of the mattress simulating respiration (4:1).

7. We claim the positioning of the loudspeaker in the upper third of the mattress (see fig.8).

8. We claim the entire system and the functional relationship between the different components.