Patent ID: 8434177

Claim:
An inflatable device comprising: an inflatable bladder adapted to support at least a part of a body of a user; and at least one flexible shape-defining member sized only to partially cover an outer surface of the inflatable bladder and configured to adjust a shape of the inflatable bladder to a configuration desired by the user by constraining the inflatable bladder to a volume to which the inflatable bladder can be inflated, the volume defined by at least a portion of the at least one flexible shape defining member, wherein the configuration and the volume are selected from a plurality of available configurations and a plurality of available volumes, respectively, in which the inflatable device may be employed to provide support, wherein the plurality of available configurations and the plurality of available volumes are independent of whether the inflatable device is supporting the at least the part of the body of the user at a time of configuration, and wherein the at least one flexible shape-defining member is configured such that adjustments to the at least one flexible shape-defining member adjust the shape and the configuration of the inflatable bladder to provide adjustments to the volume to which the inflatable bladder can be inflated at each of the plurality of available configurations relative to others of the plurality of configurations.