Mattress or Pillow Construction

The present invention relates to a product, preferably a mattress, pillow or the like, of elastic plastic material having predominantly open cells. The plastic may be a polyether or a cold-foamed polyether known as cold foam. A plastic according to the present invention is described in the following material specification, for instance. The product primarily concerned here is a pillow or mattress. Such a product is manufactured in parallel-epipedic form. When such a pillow or mattress is to be used in nursing care it is advisable for it to be provided with a casing which entirely or partially covers the product. The casing is generally permanently fixed to the mattress or pillow, preferably by means of heat-lamination. The casing generally consists of a plastic having the nature of a foil or film. The plastic shall be of a type enabling the pillow or mattress provided therewith to be easily disinfected and cleaned from dirt particles without it being necessary to change the casing is. The casing suitably formed from a polyurethane. A casing suitable for the present invention is described in the following material specification. When a pillow or mattress of the type described above is to be provided with a casing by means of heat-lamination, it has been found that the plastic in the product itself requires approximately 24 hours for curing and this is far too long a time to permit economical factory manufacture of pillows and mattresses with protective casings.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate said long manufacturing time, reducing the time so that the product can continue to another stage of manufacture immediately. This is achieved by arranging a layer of elastic plastic having predominantly open cells between the casing and the product, said plastic being of a type requiring a considerably shorter curing time than the plastic in the product itself. The plastic preferably consists of a polyester. A plastic in accordance with the present invention, which is suitable for the layer, is described in the following material specification. A suitable layer thickness is 1.42-4 mm.

The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing showing a perspective view of a mattress according to the present invention.

1 is a parallel-epipedic body which is intended to constitute the core of a mattress. The body is manufactured from polyether and is provided with open cells. The physical properties of the care body are mentioned in the two examples, Tables I and II. A layer 2 of an elastic plastic having predominantly open cells is arranged around the body. The physical properties of this plastic are revealed in Table V. The inside of the layer is heated prior to application. After application, the outer surface of the layer is also heated, after which a plastic film or foil 3 is applied on the layer 2. The finished mattress requires a curing time of about 2 hours before the heated surfaces have solidified. The outer layer or foil 3 has physical properties which are described in Tables III and IV. The use of an intermediate layer of elastic plastic with open cells enables the manufacturing time to be reduced to less than one tenth and satisfactory adhesion is obtained between the various layers despite the intermediate layer consisting of an elastic plastic with open cells.