Inflatable mattress construction for preventing bedsores - has cellular construction defined by elongate rectangular-section chambers, formed by parallel weld lines between adjacent flexible sheets

摘要

The mattress is formed by a pair of sheets (1,2) welded together around their periphery, with a number of additional weld lines (6) defining connected parallel internal cavities (10). The sheets are folded to define a series of asymmetric pleats (11) parallel to the additional welds. On inflation of the mattress, the pleats inflate to define parallel chambers of approximately rectangular cross-section, whose walls (13,14) approach closely those of adjacent chambers. The dimensions of the pleats are such that their uninflated width divided by their inflated width is within 10 per cent of the constant value pi/2. ADVANTAGE - Avoids formation of stress concentration points between patient's skin and mattress surface.