Patent ID: 8533879

Claim:
An adaptive cushion apparatus for reducing the magnitude of reaction force concentrations exerted on parts of a human body in response to contact with a supporting object, said apparatus comprising: a. a cushion for placement between a supporting object and a human body, said cushion having at least first and second hermetically sealable air bladder cells each made of a flexible, air impervious material, said first and second cells being hermetically isolated from each other, b. at least first and second force sensitive sensors associated with said first and second air bladder cells, respectively, each of said sensors having an electrical characteristic which varies in a predetermined way with a force exerted on a said air bladder cell by a said body, c. a pressurization device for pressurizing a hollow interior space of each of said air bladder cells to an individually controllable pressure, d. at least one pressure transducer operatively coupleable to each of said air bladder cells to thereby measure gas pressure within said hollow interior spaces of said air bladder cells, and e. a control apparatus having a force sensor interface port for receiving signals from said force sensors, a pressure transducer port for receiving signals from said pressure transducer, and an output port for providing control signals to said pressurization device to thereby pressurize air within said air bladder cells to individually controllable values, said control apparatus adapted to pressurize air within said first air bladder cell based upon sums of readings from said first and second force sensitive sensors.