Feb. 14, 1967
`
`G. INGRAM
`
`3,303,518
`INFLATABLE MATTRESSES, PILLOWS AND CUSHIONS
`Filed Sept. 8, 1964
`
`Milt/Wok
`660E612 INGRAM
`
`Petitioner Tempur Sealy - Ex. 1014, p. 1
`
`

`

`United States Patent G?iee
`
`3,303,518
`Patented Feb. 14, 1967
`
`1
`
`3,303,518
`INFLATABLE MATTRESSES, PHLOWS
`AND CUSHIONS
`George Ingram, 803 Raleigh House, London, England
`Filed Sept. 8, 1964, Ser. No. 394,866
`1 Claim. (Cl. 5—349)
`This invention has reference to in?atable supporting
`members for the human body such as mattresses, pillows
`and cushions, particularly in?atable hospital mattresses,
`and has for its primary object to provide a construction
`wherein different pressures may be given to various parts
`of the supporting member whereby the load-bearing area
`can be divided into separate sections capable of inde
`pendent adjustment as to degree of softness to suit indi
`vidual requirements. Invalids who are forced to lie in
`bed for long periods, and who are unable to move easily
`from one position to another, su?er considerable discom
`fort, and by means of the invention the pressures at selec
`ted areas of the mattress may be relieved or increased to
`minimize this discomfort. The same considerations ap
`ply to smaller body or body-part supports such as pillows,
`or cushions for limbs.
`According to the said invention an in?atable support
`ing member for the human body (particularly a mat
`tress) is made of ?exible airtight material and is divided
`interiorly by airtight webs extending between its upper
`and lower walls into a plurality of individually in?atable
`compartments, each compartment being provided with a
`pair of separate tubes respectively for in?ation and de
`?ation.
`‘
`In order that the said invention may be readily under
`stood some embodiments thereof will be described, by
`way of example, with the aid of the accompanying draw
`ings wherein:
`FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a mattress accord
`ing to the invention;
`FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a pillow according
`to the invention, also shown in position (dot-and-dash)
`lines) in FIGURE 1;
`FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the side
`of the mattress so as to show more clearly the arrange
`ment of air tubes;
`FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an in?ation and
`de?ation control box used in conjunction with the mattress
`seen in FIGURE 1; and
`FIGURE 5 is a sectional detail to an enlarged scale
`showing one way in which the control buttons, which ap
`pears in FIGURE 4, operate to strangle the ?ow of air
`through the respective air tubes.
`Referring to FIGURE 1 a mattress of oblong form and
`requisite size is constructed of an airtight plastics ma
`terial with a top 1 spaced from a similar bottom, sides 2
`and ends 3.
`It is divided interioraly into a suitable num
`ber, e.g. nine, compartments 4. These compartments 4
`are of box-like form made by airtight Webs 5 extending
`between the top wall 1 and bottom wall of the mattress,
`and in criss-cross disposition. It is advantageous to make
`the three compartments which lie in the transverse middle
`somewhat longer than the others. Each compartment is
`capable of being individually in?ated and de?ated, and
`for this purpose is connected by air tubes 6, 6a or other
`suitable ducts to a device such as a combined air com
`pressor and vacuum pump, the tubes 6 communicating
`with the compressor and the tubes 6a to the pump. The
`tubes are neatly bundled together and ?xed to the mat
`tress along one side 2, and led through the side wall to
`their various compartments (as shown for example by the
`broken lines in the three compartments at the foot of the
`mattress in FIGURE 1).
`i
`The compressor/pump is not shown, and is remotely
`controlled by a means capable of easy use by a person
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`35
`
`40
`
`4:5
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`2
`using the mattress, and the remote control means is so
`designed as to permit each compartment of the mattress
`to be in?ated or de?ated to any degree required by the
`occupant of the mattress.
`Thus the control device such as the control box 9
`shown in FIGURE 4 includes a panel 8 having two sets
`of operating buttons 7 and 7a in pairs corresponding to
`the mattress compartments, one set being for in?ation and
`the other for de?ation. The sets are advantageously
`distinguished by shape so that they may be selected by the
`sense of touch, e.g. round buttons 7 for in?ation and
`square buttons 7a for de?ation, the buttons operating
`switches for electrically starting the pump, and opening
`respective valves in the air ducts, or, as illustrated in
`FIGURE 5, they may be screws, preferably quick thread,
`for strangling or opening the tubes 6, 6a in the interior of
`the control box 9. The latter would have main pressure
`and exhaust chambers constituting manifolds for feeding
`the respective tubes, and such manifolds would be con
`nected to the compressor/ pump by the tubes 10, 10a.
`In a simple form the air tubes or the like from the com
`partments terminate in in?ation valves for manual in?a
`tion or de?ation by a nurse or other attendant.
`It will be seen that in a mattress according to the inven
`tion it will be a simple matter to adjust the mattress to the
`requirements of the occupant’s body at any given point.
`In the case of particular sensitivity of a part of the body,
`it will be possible by de?ating almost completely an ap
`propriate compartment, to remove altogether bodily con
`tact with the mattress and allow the part to “bridge”
`itself between in?ated compartments.
`In cases where only a limb is to be served by the in
`vention, a smaller in?atable supporting member may be
`constructed as a cushion of appropriate shape, e.g. an
`elongated cushion with a reduced number of individually
`in?atable and de?atable compartments, and, as illustrated
`in FIGURES 1 and 2 a pillow could equally Well be di
`vided into compartments capable of individual in?ation
`and de?ation. The pillow could be attachable to the
`mattress by complemental press stud parts 11.
`I claim:
`A mattress for supporting a body, comprising an air
`tight envelope having an upper wall and a lower wall
`united by a peripheral wall, the walls being of ?exible
`impervious material, internal transverse webs of ?exible
`impervious material extending between, and joined in an
`airtight manner to, the Walls to divide the interior of the
`mattress into a plurality of isolated compartments, a
`plurality of pairs of ?exible tubes grouped together and
`secured to the exterior of the peripheral wall, the number
`of pairs corresponding to the number of compartments and
`extending in an air-tight manner through the ?exible
`impervious material to open at their inner ends into the
`compartments with one pair opening into each compart
`ment, each pair of tubes comprising an in?ating tube and
`a de?ating tube, the outer ends of the in?ating tubes and
`de?ating tubes being coupled, by a control box, to a com
`mon main air pressure inlet tube and a common air ex
`traction tube respectively, and manually operable means
`on the control box for selectively opening and closing
`the passage betwen each in?ating and de?ating tube and
`the respective air inlet and air extraction tube.
`
`References Cited by the Examiner
`UNITED STATES, PATENTS
`2,814,053 11/1957 Sevcik _____________ __ 5—-348
`2,998,817
`9/1961 Armstrong _________ __ 128-33
`3,209,719 10/ 1965 Christopher ______ __ 5-—349 X
`
`70
`
`FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.
`A. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner.
`
`Petitioner Tempur Sealy - Ex. 1014, p. 2
`
`