Patent ID: 7444698
Filing Date: 2008-11-04
Classification: A47G,A61G

Abstract:
1. A facial support cushion for supporting the face of a person remaining in a prone position for a prolonged period of time, comprising: flexible sheets of material secured together to define a generally rectangularly shaped inflatable body having a top edge, a bottom edge, opposite side edges, an open central portion, and a hollow interior, said body being shaped and sized to contact and support the forehead, cheeks, and chin of a person lying face down on the cushion, with the eyes, nose and mouth of the person received in the open central portion, said body being incapable of supporting the face of a person when the body is not inflated; a plurality of partitions extending across the interior of the body in a direction from said central portion thereof to an adjacent edge, dividing the body into a plurality of individual chambers spaced sequentially around the body, with two chambers at each of the top, bottom and side edges, and each chamber extending across the body from an outer edge to the open central portion thereof; and means connected with the chambers to sequentially inflate and deflate them in an alternating cyclic pattern so that some of the chambers are inflated to contact and support the face of the person while other chambers are deflated to relieve the pressure exerted against the face by said other chambers, each of said chambers being alternately inflated and deflated, whereby the formation of pressure sores and other deleterious effects are avoided by periodically and temporarily relieving pressure exerted by each of the chambers against respective different areas of the face, and at least one chamber at each of the top edge, bottom edge, and opposite side edges is inflated at all times to support to the head of a person using the cushion in a stable, immobile position.