Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20090300846A1/en
Timestamp: 2018-04-24 16:47:21
Document Index: 165620661

Matched Legal Cases: ['§120', '§ 119', '§ 120', 'Application No. 60', '§ 120', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60']

US20090300846A1 - Inflatable device forming mattresses and cushions - Google Patents
US20090300846A1
US20090300846A1 US12349301 US34930109A US2009300846A1 US 20090300846 A1 US20090300846 A1 US 20090300846A1 US 12349301 US12349301 US 12349301 US 34930109 A US34930109 A US 34930109A US 2009300846 A1 US2009300846 A1 US 2009300846A1
US8225444B2 (en )
This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/71740, entitled “INFLATABLE DEVICE FORMING MATTRESSES AND CUSHIONS,” filed on Nov. 18, 2003. This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/427,151, entitled “ADJUSTABLE POSTURE SUPPORT SYSTEM,” filed on Nov. 18, 2002, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/427,307, entitled “PRIMARY BEDDING MATTRESS,” filed on Nov. 18, 2002. This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/430,040, entitled “A VALVE WITH ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE FOR ACTUATING THE VALVE,” filed on May 5, 2003, which claims priority from U.S. Patent Application No. 60/377,798, entitled “VALVE WITH ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE FOR INFLATABLE DEVICE,” filed May 3, 2002. This application also claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/192,757, entitled “CONFIGURABLE INFLATABLE SUPPORT DEVICES,” filed on Jul. 10, 2002, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/304,274 entitled “COMBINATION STRUCTURES FOR AN INFLATABLE BLADDER,” filed Jul. 10, 2001 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/374,403 entitled “A RECONFIGURABLE INFLATABLE SUPPORT DEVICE,” filed Apr. 22, 2002. All of the above-mentioned, related applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety
Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to an inflatable air mattress, comprising: an inflatable bladder; and a heater adjacent to the inflatable bladder. In some embodiment, t he heater is comprised of at least one resistive strip having an adhesive strip disposed on the bladder. In some embodiments, the bladder has a length, and the at least one resistive strip runs along substantially the entire length of the bladder. The heater may be uniformly disposed along a dimension of the mattress. In some embodiments, the heater is disposed along only a portion of the mattress.
FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate another embodiment of an assembly of an electromechanical device in combination with a self-sealing valve of the invention. This embodiment comprises a self-sealing valve assembly 80, such as, as has been described infra. The self-sealing valve assembly comprises a flexible diaphragm 40 and a diaphragm support 42 that positions the diaphragm within an opening through which fluid can be supplied to or exhausted from an inside 16 of fluid impermeable bladder 14. The self-sealing valve assembly also includes a projecting arm 82 from the diaphragm support 42, that is configured to interact with a portion 86 of an actuator arm 84. The assembly also comprises a cover 81 having a surface 83 that also interacts with the portion 86 of the actuator arm 84. The actuator arm 84 and portion 86 are configured to bias the cover 81 upward so as to open the cover, and are also configured to bias the projecting arm 82 so as to push the diaphragm support 42 and diaphragm 40 at least partially away from valve seat 28, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, when a deflate lever 88 is depressed, for example, by a finger 90 of a user. The assembly also comprises an inflate lo lever 92, which can also be depressed by the finger 90 of the user so as to move the actuator arm into contact with the surface 83 of the cover 81 so as to open the cover, as illustrated in FIG. 4C. While the lever 92 is illustrated as being moved by a finger, an electromechanical device may be used to move the actuator arm. The inflate lever is also configured, when depressed, to contact and bias a power switch 94 to energize a fluid moving device to supply fluid from the fluid moving device to the self-sealing valve 80, as is also illustrated in FIG. 4C.
In one example, the bladder 1080 may be formed from a material that is flexible, and lo possibly somewhat elastic, while being substantially impermeable to fluids such as water or air. This flexibility of the bladder material, combined with the fact that the degree of inflation of the bladder (amount of fluid injected into the bladder) may be varied, may result in the bladder being highly malleable and configurable. Furthermore, the bladder may also be used in combination with the configurable, attachable membrane/covering layer 1082, which allows the shape of the inflatable structure to be further controlled. For example, the configurable, attachable membrane may restrict inflation of certain parts of the inflatable bladder, thereby altering the shape of the bladder when inflated. In some embodiments, folding or otherwise manipulating or controlling shape is used in addition to controlling the degree of inflation within the bladder so as to accommodate different support requirements. In such embodiments, folding may or may not be accompanied with the use of a membrane. In one example, the membrane/covering layer 1082 may be provided with fasteners 1084 that may be used to fasten the membrane around the inflatable bladder 1080, as illustrated. The fasteners may be hook and loop fasteners, such as, for example, Velcro® hook and loop fasteners, or larger hook and loop fasteners as illustrated, or may be another type of fastener, for example, buttons, snaps, adjustable straps, or the button latch fastener discussed above. In one example, illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10C, the membrane/covering layer 1082 may be provided with a plurality of holes 1086 and a row of hook fasteners 1084, such that a diameter of the structure may be controlled by hooking the fasteners 1084 into an appropriate row of holes 1086. Alternatively, in some embodiments, two or more fasteners 1084 may be connected to the inflatable bladder 1080 thus allowing a portion of the bladder to attach to another portion of the bladder, thus controlling a shape of the bladder, with or without attachment of the membrane/covering layer, as illustrated in FIG. 10B. In some embodiment, inflatable bladder 1080 may be provided with a rigid or flexible rib, in addition to or instead of other members used for configurability, to add configurability or otherwise constrain the volume of the bladder. The rib may be internal or external to the bladder. Such ribs may be used with any of inflatable bladders as discussed herein.
Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. For example, it is to be appreciated that for any of the above described embodiments, the fluid moving device can be provided remotely from, for example, the self-sealing valves, and also that the controls to bias on and off the fluid moving device and any of the electromechanical devices can be located remotely from the fluid moving device and the electromechanical devices. In addition, it is to be appreciated that lo there may be some embodiments or applications where the electromechanical device may also be used to open the self-sealing valve of any of the embodiments described infra for the purpose of aiding the inflating of the inflatable device such as, for example, where the self-sealing valve is not opened appreciably by the fluid moving device upon inflation. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.
a compartment located within a profile of the inflatable mattress, the compartment housing a plurality of valves each fluidly coupled to an associated one of the plurality of inflatable bladders, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of valves is configured to control a flow of fluid into and out of a respective bladder with which it is associated;
67. The inflatable mattress of claim 66, further comprising a hose configured to fluidly couple the fluid moving device to the compartment, wherein the fluid moving device is remotely located from the compartment.
US20090300846A1 true true US20090300846A1 (en) 2009-12-10
US8225444B2 US8225444B2 (en) 2012-07-24
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US8225444B2 (en) 2012-07-24 grant