Inflation body structure for an air mattress

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to an inflection mattress, and particularly to an inflation body structure for an air mattress.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] A conventional air mattress usually comprises a plurality of inflation bodies mounted in a bedspread, of which one side is furnished with two intake tubes; each inflation body is furnished with an air duct at one side thereof; a plurality of inflation bodies arranged in odd number is connected with one intake tube, while the other intake tube is connected with a plurality of inflation bodies arranged in even number; the two intake tubes are connected with two inlets of an air pump respectively; through a control means, the air pump will provide a pressure air, via the intake tubes, to the odd number or the even number of the inflation bodies alternately; in that case, the odd number or the even number inflation bodies will cause the inflation bodies to provide an alternate inflation motion so as to reduce the weight pressure to a person's skin intermittently, and also to reduce the contact pressure between a person's skin and the air mattress in order to prevent a person's skin from suffering a decubitus.

[0005] In a conventional air mattress, a plurality of air bag sets is arranged in regular permutation and combination; an air bag set includes a first air bag which contains a second air bag, and the first air bag and the second air bag are connected together; the first air bag is then partitioned into an A-air chamber and a B-air chamber, which are in communication with each other. The first air bag is furnished with an air duct for filling air to the first air bag; the second air bag is also furnished with an air duct which has a leak-proof member used as a check valve so as to have the second air bag maintained in a saturation condition; in that case, the second air bag can still provide a support force upon a power outage of mechanical trouble to cause the first air bag to exhaust the air therein in order to prevent the patient from feeling un-conformable upon the patient's skin in contact with the hard parts.

[0006] In another conventional air mattress, the structure thereof comprises inflation bodies, connectors and air bags; the inflation bodies are divided into two sets arranged separately; during inflating, the two sets of inflation bodies will have a motion effect alternately so as to provide the patient with a massage effect and a ventilation effect. The connector is substantially a flat piece mounted under the bottom of the inflation body, which is used as a top surface of the air bag. The air bags are divided into three or four separate sections in accordance with the adjustment function of a sick bed. By means of the connectors fastened together each other, the air-bag pads can prevent the inflation bodies from being folded up upon the inflation bodies not being filled with pressure air; furthermore, when the sick bed is adjusted to a sloping position for a patient to sit, the air bags will also be set in a sloping position without being folded or shrunk together.

[0007] In a conventional alternate inflation air mattress, the inflation bodies are arranged in odd number and even number to provide alternate inflation and deflation conditions; every inflation body has the same pressure. In order to let a person's heavier breast and buttocks not contact with the hard bed surface, the air pressure of the inflation body must be set at a higher pressure; in that case, the inflation body being inflated would have a higher pressure to contact with a person's body, and the person would have a un-comfortable feeling; on the contrary, when the inflation body is under a deflated condition, a person's body would have a suspended feel.

[0008] The prime object of the present invention is to provide an inflation body structure for an air mattress, in which two separate cloths (an upper cloth and a lower cloth) are glued together by means of a melting-connection method to form into two separate air chambers. A plurality of lower cylindrical bodies is arranged in parallel to support the whole air mattress; the upper cylindrical bodies are formed into a cylinder which has different softness sections so as to support a person's weight in different parts. By means of a suitable material and softness and an alternate pressure, a patient can lie on a sick bed under an even pressure support so as to have the muscle relaxed completely; such a structure can prevent a person from suffering decubitus, and also can improve a patient's comforts and sleep quality.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide an inflation body structure for an air mattress, in which a plurality of inflation bodies is arranged in parallel, and every inflation body is made of two cloth pieces having different softness in accordance with the support requirements of different parts of a person; the two cloth pieces are glued together by means of a melting-connection method to form into an inflation body including two separate air chambers. By means of different softness of the cloth and different pressure to be alternated, a person's weight can be supported on an air mattress evenly so as to have a comfortable lying and to reduce the contact pressure between the skin and the air mattress.

[0010] Still another object of the present invention is to provide an inflation body structure for an air mattress, in which the inflation bodies arranged in parallel each includes a lower cylindrical body made of a thick material; such lower cylindrical body can provide a support upon having a mechanical trouble and upon the upper cylindrical body under pressure alternating operation so as to prevent a patient from directly contacting with the lower hard surface of the air mattress to cause an uncomfortable feel.

[0011] A further object of the present invention is to provide an inflation body structure for an air mattress, in which the inflation bodies arranged in parallel each is made of two layers of cloth having different softness, thickness and size to be glued together by means of a melting-connection method; both sides of the upper and lower cylindrical bodies are furnished with melting-connections lines respectively; both sides of the melting-connection lines each are furnished with a strip of cloth having a suitable width, and such strip of cloth is used for mounting a metal fastening member or an plastic fastening member so as to have two adjacent inflation bodies connected together.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a plan view of the present invention, showing the relation between the inflation body and one set of intake manifolds.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the present invention, showing the pressure allotment condition-1 of the inflation bodies of the air mattress.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the present invention, showing the pressure allotment condition-2 of the inflation bodies of the air mattress.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the present invention, showing the structure of a single inflation body.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the present invention, showing the melting-connection procedures of the inflation body.

[0017] FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure between two adjacent inflation bodies.

[0018] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the present invention, showing the structure of a single inflation body.

[0019] This invention relates to an inflation body structure of an air mattress; as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the air mattress includes a plurality of inflation bodies 14 arranged and mounted in one bedspread 12; every inflation body 14 includes two separate bodies 35 and 36; every lower cylindrical body 36 of every inflation body 14 is furnished with an air duct 19, an intake manifold 21, and an intake tube 20 connected with an air pump 34; the lower body is filled with a normal pressure so as to be used as a bottom pad of the air mattress 11; every upper cylindrical body 35 mounted on the inflation body 14 is also furnished with an air duct 18, an intake manifold 17 and an intake tube 16 connected with an air pump 34. Every inflation body 14 of the air mattress 11 is supplied with a pressure air intermittently by means of the air pump 34 via the intake tube 16, the intake manifold 17, a throttle valve 31 of the intake manifold 17 and an exhausting valve 32 so as to have the pressure air flowed into the head air-cushion section 25 and the leg air-cushion section 26; the throttle valve 31 and the exhausting valve 32 are used to control the flow speed of the pressure air. By means of the throttle valve 31 and the exhausting valve 32 of the intake manifold 17, the saturation state of the air chamber 29 on the inflation body 14 can be regulated with a given interval for the different sections of the air mattress 11 so as to provide a suitable pressure between a person's body and the air mattress upon the person lying on the air mattress.

[0020] Every inflation body 14 under the bedspread 12, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, includes an upper cloth 27 and a lower cloth 28 made of PU material (or the like) having different softness and thickness respectively; the upper cloth 27 is to be in contact with a patient body, and it includes different sections ( such as a central air-cushion section 24, a head air-cushion section 25, and a leg air-cushion section 26) with different weight so as to provide different comfortable softness; the softness and the thickness of the upper cloth 27 may be adjusted suitably. The width of the upper cloth 27 may be adjusted upon being connected with a lower cloth 28 having the same width. The width of the upper cloth 27 may be adjusted so as to have the upper air chamber 29 provided with a suitable softness and pressure upon the pressure of the air chamber 34 being changed in order to provide an even support for a patient lying on a bed for a long time; in other words, the muscle of a patient can have a complete relax; in that case, the patient can obtain a comfortable sleeping quality in addition to preventing from having a skin disease, such as decubitus.

[0021] Both sides of the upper cloth 27 are furnished with suitable wide cloth margin 44 to be glued with a plastic fastening member 45, or furnished with a salient curved cloth margin 44 before the upper cloth being glued together with the lower cloth 28. A plurality of inflation bodies 14 can be assembled together by means of the opposite plastic fastening members 45 between two adjacent inflation bodies 14; in that case, the inflation bodies 14 in the bedspread 12 of an air mattress 11 can be removed or replaced easily.

[0022] Before the upper cloth 27 and the lower cloth 28 are glued together by means of a melting-connection method, the air duct 18 and the air duct 19 for the upper and lower cloths 27 and 28 must be glued in place properly.

[0023] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, before the upper and lower cloths 27 and 28 are connected together by means of the melting-connection method, the softness, thickness and width of the upper and lower cloths 27 and 28 should be set first; the lower cloth 28 is first put on the flat plane of a melting-connection machine, while one side of the upper cloth 27 is put on a given position (as shown in FIG. 5-1); by means of the melting-connection machine, a melting-connection line 37 between the upper cloth 27 and the lower cloth 28 will be formed on one side thereof, while the other side for the upper cloth 27 is put on a given position (as shown in FIG. 5-2); through the melting-connection procedures with the melting-connection machine, two melting-connection lines 37 and 38 will be formed between the upper cloth 27 and the lower cloth 28; then, a cloth piece 42 between the two melting connection lines 37 and 38 is substantially a part of the lower cloth 28. The two edges of the lower cloth 28 are folded together oppositely, and then put them on the flat plane of the melting-connection machine (as shown in FIG. 5-3) so as to melt them into a melting-connection line 39; leave the melting-connection line 39 of the lower cloth 28 at one side, and then pull it into a flat position so as to have the cloth piece 42 between the two melting-connection lines 37 and 38 clamped into the two edges of the upper cloth 27 (as shown in FIG. 5-3); then, put the folded ends of the cloth pieces on the flat plane of the melting-connection machine (as shown in FIG. 5-4), and glue the folded ends together to form into a melting-connection line 40; then, glue the end corner thereof into a vertical line 41 (as shown in FIG. 5-5); the end corner of the other end thereof is also glued so as to form into a separate inflation body 14.

[0024] The inflation body 14 includes an upper cylindrical body 35 and a lower cylindrical body 36, which are made of two separate cloth pieces 27 and 28 to be glued into two separate air chambers 29 and 30; both sides of the upper cloth 27 are glued with the lower cloth 28 to form into two parallel melting-connection lines 37 and 38; the two parallel melting-connection lines 37 and 38 are substantially two side melting-connection lines of the upper and lower bodies. The cloth piece 42 between the two melting-connection lines 37 and 38 is used for dividing the cloth piece of the upper cylindrical body 35 and the lower cylindrical body 36 so as to have the inflation body 14 partitioned into two separate air chambers 29 and 30, i.e., an upper air chamber and a lower chamber.

[0025] Each inflation body 14 in the bedspread 12 of the air mattress 11 is designed and made in accordance with the requirements of the central air-cushion section 24, the head air-cushion section 25 and the leg air-cushion section 26 respectively; in other words, each inflation body 14 is set with different softness, thickness and width. When an inflation body 14 is mounted in place, two adjacent inflation bodies can be connected together by means of plastic members 45 on the cloth margins 44 of the melting-connection lines 37 and 38 on both sides of the inflation bodies 14 so as to prevent the inflation bodies from shifting. By means of the melting-connection lines 37 and 38 between the upper cloth 27 and the lower cloth 28, and the cloth piece 42, every inflation body 14 is partitioned into two separate cylindrical bodies 35 and 36. After a plurality of inflation bodies 14 is mounted in the bedspread 12 of the air mattress 11, the air ducts 18 and 19 of the two cylindrical bodies 35 and 36 are connected with the intake manifolds 17 and 21, and the intake tubes 16 and 20 respectively, and finally connected with the air pump 34; the air pump 34 will control the pressure air to enter the two air chambers 29 and 30 of the upper and lower cylindrical bodies 35 and 36 of the inflation body 14.

[0026] After the pressure air of the air pump 34 enters the air chamber 30 of the lower cylindrical body 36 of each inflation body 14, each lower cylindrical 36 is inflated at a suitable pressure so as to have the lower part of the air mattress 11 had a flexible support, and to prevent the air pump 34 from having abnormal running or trouble, or to prevent the air mattress from losing flexibility in case of power outage to cause the upper cylindrical body 35 of the inflation body 14 to bleed air; in that case, the patient might feel uncomfortable. The air duct 19 of the lower cylindrical body 36 of each inflation body 14 inside the bedspread 12 is connected with the intake manifold 21, of which the outer end is furnished with a fast bleeding valve 22; when a patient is under an emergent condition, or necessary to move, the pressure air in the lower cylindrical body 36 can be exhausted quickly.

[0027] The upper cylindrical body 35 of each inflation body 14 has a cloth piece which has different softness and thickness, and the upper body is glued together with the cloth piece of the lower cylindrical body 36; then, the upper cylindrical body 35 is furnished with a separate air duct 18 to connect with an air pump 34 through an intake manifold 17 and an intake tube 16. The upper cylindrical body 35 is designed and mounted in place with three sections, i.e., a central air-cushion section 24, a head air-cushion section 25 and a leg air-cushion section 26 in accordance with the requirement of a patient; in other words, each inflation body 14 has its separate softness, thickness and width so as to let a patient's head, body part and legs lying on different specific sections to support the weight thereof; by means of the throttle valve 31 of the intake manifold 17 and the exhausting valve 32, the air pump 34 will provide an intermittent pressure air to flow through the intake tube 16 and the intake manifold 17; then, the throttle valve 31 of the intake manifold 17 and the exhausting valve 32 are used for controlling the pressure air to flow into the head air-cushion section 25 and the leg air-cushion section 26 so as to partition the air mattress into different sections; then, the upper cylindrical body 35 of the inflation body will have different saturation state to support a person's body evenly in order to reduce the contact pressure between the skin and the mattress.

[0028] A plurality of micro-holes 15 are furnished between the upper cylindrical body 35 of each inflation body 14 and the bedspread 12; by means of the micro-holes 15, the moisture of sweat in the bedspread 12 can be exhausted and dissipated so as to maintain the skin contacted with the air mattress under a dry condition.

[0029] On the whole, the inflation bodies 14 under the bedspread 12 are arranged in place by connecting every two adjacent inflation bodies 14 through the plastic fastening members 45 on the cloth margins 44 of the two melting-connection lines 37 and 38 so as to prevent the inflation bodies 14 from shifting or rolling. Before the upper and lower cloths 27 and 28 of each inflation body 14 are glued together, the thickness and softness of the upper cloth 27 have been designed in advance among the central air-cushion section 24, the head air-cushion section 25 and the leg air-cushion section 26 so as to have the lower layer of the air mattress 11 had a flexible support with normal pressure. The cloth is made of a comfortable material; further, by means of the throttle valve 31 and the exhausting valve 32 of the intake manifold 17 to reduce pressure, the hardness of the mattress will be adjusted properly with the weight of a person's body; through the mutual motion of the upper cylindrical bodies of the air mattress 14, the mattress can provide a person's skin with massage effect so as to have a circulation effect a person's blood; simultaneously, during the inflation body 14 being inflated and mutual motion, the micro-holes will release an air stream to dissipate the moisture of sweat out of two layers; in that case, the skin of a person on the mattress surface can maintain in a comfortable dry condition so as to prevent the skin from suffering a skin disease, such as decubitus.

[0030] According to the description of the aforesaid embodiments of the present invention, the features and structural relation thereof have been disclosed completely; the present invention has provided an apparent improvement of the kind, and it is never anticipated and accomplished by any person in the field; therefore, the structure of the present invention is deemed unique.