Patent Grant
10335335
The present invention relates to an air mattress for gatch bed, placed on a plurality of bottoms including a back bottom, a hip bottom and a leg bottom and the like arranged in the bed longitudinal direction to perform a back raising operation and the like, in particular relates to the air mattress for a gatch bed, formed of the plurality of air cells arranged in parallel in a bed longitudinal direction.
In the gatch bed having an air mattress, a back bottom 1a, hip bottom 1b, buttock bottom 1c, thigh bottom 1d, knee bottom 1e, leg bottom 1f are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the bed, as shown in
Placed on these bottoms 1a to 1f is an air mattress 2. As shown in
Of those gatch beds, when the back bottom 1a is raised in a back raising operation, the undersurface of air mattress 2 in contact with the back bottom 1a and others and the top surface of air mattress 2 in contact with the bed user become different in length in the longitudinal direction of the bed. That is, in the process of the back bottom 1a being moved up from the horizontal position (tilted upward), the top surface of air mattress 2 that is in contact with the bed user becomes shrunken while the length of the undersurface of air mattress 2 will not change because it is in contact with the back bottom 1a and others.
Particularly, in the case of air mattress 2, there is a mode in which a plurality of air cells 3 are successively and repeatedly inflated and deflated to thereby prevent the bed user front getting bedsores on their skin. If a back-raising operation is actuated while this mode is ongoing, the pressure of some of air cells 3 is lowered because the pressure of air cells is repeatedly increased and decreased successively. Such air cells 3 with their pressure lowered become likely to shrink due to the bed user's weight. Further, the air cells 3 of high pressure tend to fail down due to the bed user's weight if the pressure of the adjacent air cells is low. In this way, when the back section of air mattress 2 is moved up for a back raising operation, the top surface of air mattress 2 contracts with respect to the bed longitudinal direction, and the total length of air mattress 2 becomes shorter.
Patent Document 1:
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2014-46043
Patent Document 2:
Japanese Patent No. 3562940
As described above, the air mattress used for the conventional gatch bed shrinks in the bed longitudinal direction at the time of the back raising operation. This makes the bed user's body likely to move toward the foot side and/or sink into the air mattress 2. As a result, a strong shearing force acts on the skin of the mattress user, which may cause bedsores. Further, when the body of the bed user slides to the foot side, the caregiver has to move the bed user toward the head side, which increases the burden on the caregiver. This also poses the problem of shearing forces being applied to the skin of the bed user when the bed user's body is moved upstream.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an air mattress for a gatch bed that can prevent shrink of the air mattress in the bed longitudinal direction, prevent the bed user from sliding on the bed and further prevent the bed user from getting bedsores.
According to the present invention, an air mattress for a gatch bed, placed on a plurality of bottoms including a back bottom and used for the gatch bed that performs a back raising operation for raising the back bottom, comprises:
a plurality of air cells extending to a bed width direction and being arranged in parallel in a bed longitudinal direction;
an air supplying unit for performing supply and discharge of air for each of the air cells; and,
a control unit that alternately inflates and deflates the air cells by successively increasing and decreasing a pressure of air to be supplied to each of the air cells, wherein
the control unit monitors a back tilt angle of the back bottom, and when the back tilt angle has reached a predetermined angle or greater, increases a pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered at that moment so as to produce an inflated mode similar to that of the other air cells,
the control unit either returns an operation to a normal inflating end deflating control in which each air cell is alternately and repeatedly inflated and deflated or shifts the operation to a constant pressure control in which no alternate inflation and deflation is performed, after cessation of a back bottom raising.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an air mattress for a gatch bed, placed on a plurality of bottoms including a back bottom and used for the gatch bed that performs a back raising operation for raising the back bottom, comprises:
a plurality of air cells extending to a bed width direction and being arranged in parallel in a bed longitudinal direction;
an air supplying unit for performing supply and discharge of air for each of the air cells; and,
a control unit that alternately inflates and deflates the air cells by successively increasing and decreasing a pressure of air to be supplied to each of the air cells, wherein
the control unit, when a command signal for starting an inflating mode is input, when a previously set pressure control mode is actuated in accordance with a bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated start time, or when a previously set period of time has lapsed from a reference time, increases a pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered at that moment so as to produce an inflated mode similar to that of the other air cells, and
the control unit either returns an operation to a normal inflating and deflating control in which each air cell is alternately and repeatedly inflated and deflated or shifts the operation to a constant pressure control in which no alternate inflation and deflation is performed, when a command signal for ending the inflating mode is input, when the pressure control mode is ended in accordance with the bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated ending time, or when the previously set period of time has lapsed from the reference time.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, an air mattress for a gatch bed, placed on a plurality of bottoms including a back bottom and used for the gatch bed that performs a back raising operation for raising the back bottom, comprises:
a plurality of air cells extending to a bed width direction and being arranged in parallel in a bed longitudinal direction;
an air supplying unit for performing supply and discharge of air for each of the air cells; and,
a control unit that alternately inflates and deflates the air cells by successively increasing and decreasing a pressure of air to be supplied to each of the air cells, wherein
the control unit monitors a back tilt angle of the hack bottom, and, when the back tilt angle has reached a predetermined angle or greater, increases a pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered at that moment so as to produce an inflated mode similar to that of the other air cells,
the control unit, thereafter, repeats controlling of alternate inflation and deflation of each air cell on a cycle shorter than that at the time of a normal inflating and deflating control, in a period in which the back bottom is being raised, and,
the control unit either returns an operation to the normal inflating and deflating control in which each air cell is alternately and repeatedly inflated and deflated on a cycle for the normal control or shifts the operation to a constant pressure control in which no alternate inflation and deflation is performed, after cessation of the back bottom raising.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, an air mattress for a gatch bed, placed on a plurality of bottoms including a back bottom and used for the gatch bed that performs a back raising operation for raising the back bottom, comprises:
a plurality of air cells extending to a bed width direction and being arranged in parallel in a bed longitudinal direction;
an air supplying unit for performing supply and discharge of air for each of the air cells; and,
a control unit that alternately inflates and deflates the air cells by successively increasing and decreasing the pressure of air to be supplied to each of the air cells, wherein
the control unit, when a command signal for starting an inflating mode is input, when a previously set pressure control mode is actuated in accordance with a bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated start time, or when a previously set period of time has lapsed from a reference time, increases a pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered at that moment so as to produce an inflated mode similar to that of the other air cells,
the control unit, thereafter, repeats controlling of alternate inflation and deflation of each air cell on a cycle shorter than that at the time of a normal inflating and deflating control, in a period in which the back bottom is being raised, and,
the control unit either returns an operation to the normal inflating and deflating control in which each air cell is alternately and repeatedly inflated and deflated on a cycle for a normal control or shifts the operation to a constant pressure control in which no alternate inflation and deflation is performed, when a command signal for ending the inflating mode is input, when the pressure control mode is ended in accordance with a bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated ending time, or when a previously set period of time has lapsed from a reference time.
According to still a further aspect of the present invention, an air mattress for a gatch bed, placed on a plurality of bottoms including a back bettors and used for the gatch bed that performs a back raising operation for raising the back bottom, comprises:
a plurality of air cells extending to a bed width direction and being arranged in parallel in a bed longitudinal direction;
an air supplying unit having n (n is a natural number equal to or greater than 2) lines independent from each other for performing air supply and air discharge to the air cells, every n−1th air cells being connected to the common line; and,
a control unit that alternately inflates and deflates each air cell by increasing and decreasing a pressure of air in n lines, in turn in such a manner as to increase and decrease an air pressure in one line, then increase and decrease air pressure in the next line,
wherein
the control unit monitors a back tilt angle of the back bottom, and, when the back tilt angle has reached a predetermined angle or greater, increases a pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered at that moment so as to produce an inflated mode similar to that of the other air cells,
the control unit, thereafter, repeats controlling of alternate inflation and deflation of each line on a cycle shorter than that at the time of a normal inflating and deflating control, in a period in which the back bottom is being raised, and,
the control unit either returns an operation to the normal inflating and deflating control in which each line is alternately and repeatedly inflated and deflated on a cycle for a normal control or shifts the operation to a constant pressure control in which no alternate inflation and deflation is performed, after cessation of the back bottom raising.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, an air mattress for a gatch bed, placed on a plurality of bottoms including a back bottom and used for the gatch bed that performs a back raising operation for raising the back bottom, comprises:
a plurality of air cells extending to a bed width direction and being arranged in parallel in a bed longitudinal direction;
an air supplying unit having n in is a natural number equal to or greater than 2) lines independent from each other for performing air supply and air discharge to the air cells, every n−1th air cells being connected to the common line; and,
a control unit chat alternately inflates and deflates each air cell by increasing and decreasing a pressure of air in n lines, in turn in such a manner as to increase and decrease an air pressure in one line, then increase and decrease an air pressure in the next line,
wherein
the control unit, when a command signal for starting an inflating mode is input, when a previously set pressure control mode is actuated in accordance with a bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated start time, or when a previously set period of time has lapsed from a reference time, increases the pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered at that moment so as to produce an inflated mode similar to that of the other air cells,
the control unit, thereafter, repeats controlling of alternate inflation and deflation of each air cell on a cycle shorter than that at the time of a normal inflating and deflating control, in a period in which the back bottom is being raised, and,
the control emit either returns sin operation to the normal inflating and deflating control in which each line is alternately and repeatedly inflated and deflated on a cycle for a normal control or shifts the operation to a constant pressure control in which no alternate inflation and deflation is performed, when a command signal for ending the inflating mode is input, when the pressure control mode is ended in accordance with a bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated ending time, or when a previously set period of from a reference time.
Herein, in an operation in which alternate inflation and deflation control is performed on a cycle shorter than that at the time of normal inflating and deflating control, the air may be discharged from air cells at an air flow rate higher than that at the time of the normal inflating and deflating control.
According to the present invention, when a back raising operation in the gatch bed is operated, after start of the back raising operation (the back tilt angle has been equal to or greater than a predetermined angle), immediately, the air cells being deflated at that moment is inflated with the maximum pressure of inflating and deflating mode, to thereby make all the air cells inflated. Accordingly, even if an excessive stress from the reactive force from the back of the bed user at the start of the back raising operation is applied on the air cells being in the expanded mode and adjacent to the deflated air cells to compress and bring down the air cells being in the expanded mode, all the air cells come to the inflated mode immediately after start of the back raising operation. Therefore, the above-described shrinkage and fall of the air cells as well as shrinkage of the air mattress with respect to the bed longitudinal direction due to the shrinkage and the fail will not occur. Accordingly, it is also possible to prevent the bed user's body from sliding in the bed longitudinal direction. Further, as a result of reducing stress causing the bed user's body to slide, the risk of generating bedsores can be towered and early recovery from bedsores can be expected.
Since when back raising is being operated, alternate inflation and deflation of air cells is repeated on a cycle shorter than that at the time of the normal control, it is possible to further reliably prevent the bed user's body from sliding. That is, inflation of all the air cells after start of back raising can make the air mattress unlikely to shrink as a whole. Thanks to the geometrical relation of the bed at the time of back raising the undersurface of the air mattress 2 that is in contact with the bottoms of unvaried dimensions will not change its length in the longitudinal direction of the bed while the top surface of the air mattress 2 becomes shorter in the longitudinal direction of the bed. This will cause stress that slides the bed user on the back bottom to the foot side. To deal with this, the air pressure of air cells on one of the lines is reduced so as to temporarily lower the contact pressure of the body against the air mattress in the corresponding areas. As a result, thanks to the shrinkage of the top surface of the air mattress, the downward stress acting on the bed user from the air mattress is released. Thus, it is possible to prevent sliding of the body.
Now, the embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in
Placed on these bottoms 1a to 1f is the air mattress 2. As shown in
As shown in
When a back raising operation is performed, the control unit first confirms that the back tilt angle has reached 20 degrees, for example. The back tilt angle may be determined by detecting the angle of the back bottom 1a from the horizontal by means of a sensor, or by calculation based on the advanced amount of the actuator (the moving length of the piston) or the like. When the control unit confirms that the back tilt angle of the back bottom 1a has reached a predetermined angle (e.g., 20°) and if the pressure of the air cell group connected to the first line is being lowered (in a shrunken state) at the movement as shown in
Subsequently, the control unit controls inflation and deflation of each air cell in shorter cycles compared to those in normal control mode. For example, as to one cycle of inflation/deflation control for the first, second, and third lines, one cycle of the three lines as a whole is shortened to 3 minutes by allotting 1 minute, for each line so as to control inflation and deflation of air cells for each line in a markedly short cycle. Specifically, air is discharged from the air cells of the second line as shown in
In this case, the back raising period in which the back bottom 1a is tilted up in some tens seconds, e.g., 60 seconds. Accordingly, upon this back raising control, from when ail the air cells are inflated (
Thereafter, when the rising motion of the back bottom 1a is complete and the back bottom 1a is tilted up to the set angle, the control unit restarts normal inflating and deflating control for air cells. That is, the control unit effects inflation and deflation for the third line as shown in
As has been described, in the present embodiment, at the time of back raising, once all the air cells are inflated so as to prevent the air cells that have been repeatedly inflated and deflated, from falling down and shrinking, whereby it is possible to achieve a back raising operation without shrinkage of the air mattress as a whole. Thus, it is possible to prevent the bed user from sliding and getting bedsores. Further, since air is temporarily released from a part of the air cells at the time of back raising, downward force acting on the bed user based on the contact pressure of the air mattress is released so that it is possible to stretch the body of the bed user and prevent the bed user from being slid and getting bedsores in a further effective manner.
In the above embodiment, after cessation of the back bottom raising, the operation returns to the normal inflating and deflating control in which individual air cells are repeatedly controlled to inflate and deflate alternately. However, the present invention should not be limited to this. The operation after cessation of back bottom rising may be followed by constant pressure control without performing any alternate inflation and deflation.
In the above embodiment, the control unit is adapted to monitor the back tilt angle of the back bottom, and increase the pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered and produce an inflated mode similar to that for the other air cells when the back tilt angel becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined angle. However, the present invention should not be limited to this. The control unit may be adapted to increase the pressure of air cells whose pressure is being lowered and produce the inflated mode similar to that for the other air cells when a command signal for starting inflating mode is input, when a previously set pressure control mode is actuated in accordance with the bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated start time, or when a previously set period of time has lapsed from a reference time. Further, in the present embodiment, the operation is returned from the control in which individual air cells are alternately inflated and deflated, to the normal inflating and deflating control in which individual air cells are inflated and deflated in normal control cycles after cessation of the back bottom rising. However, the present invention should not be limited to this. It is possible to provide a configuration in which the operation is returned to the normal inflating and deflating control in which individual air cells are repeatedly controlled to inflate and deflate alternately when a command signal for ending the inflating mode is input, when the pressure control mode is ended in accordance with the bed posture, when it has reached a previously designated ending time, or when a previously set period of time has lapsed from a reference time. As described above, in the control configuration in which the pressure of the air cells whose pressure is lowered is increased to be set into the inflating mode similar to that for the other air cells in a period during which no back raising operation is operation, if a back pressure releasing operation command can be given when shearing stress has built up in the body without any back raising operation, it is possible to actuate the back pressure releasing operation at appropriate timing such as when the bed is moved, when the body position is changed, when diapers are changed and other occasions.
In the operation in which alternate inflation and deflation is repeatedly controlled on a shorter cycle than that in normal control mode, air may be discharged from the air cells at a greater floe rate man that in the normal control mode. The alternate inflating and deflating mode has periods for air supply, hold and air discharge. It is possible to sake the patient on the bed feel easy if the back pressure relieving is performed as soon as possible. Air discharge is a function that is normally used upon pressure adjustment. Since it becomes difficult to aim at a set value if air discharge is carried out at a high flow rate, air is discharged slowly. Specifically, the diameter of the flow channel of the air to be discharged is made smaller. However, since, at the time of alternate inflation and deflation, a pressure is simply lowered, it is possible to perform the back pressure relieving quickly by discharging air in the high flow rate (by selecting a large-diametric flow channel).
Here, the present invention should not be limited to the above embodiment, but various changes and modifications can be made. Connection of the air cells of the air mattress with the air supplying unit is not limited to the above embodiment using three hose lines, but various connection using two lines, four lines and others are possible. Though the back raising operation in the above embodiment is performed by inflating and deflating control based on a cycle shorter than that at the time of normal control, the back raising operation should not be limited to this, but air cells are not necessarily deflated in the back raising operation. Further, even if air cells are inflated and deflated at a high speed in the back raising operation, deflation of air cells may be performed multiple times not limited to one time. In the above embodiment, the cycle of inflation, and deflation for prevention of bedsores is 15 minutes=5 minutes×3 lines, for example, and the cycle of inflation and deflation in back raising is 3 minutes=1 minute×3 lines, for example. The cycle for this is not limited to the above, but various settings are possible.
Further, the layout of air cells in the air mattress is not limited to that shown in
Upon back raising operation in the gatch bed, the air mattress for gatch bed of the present invention can prevent shrinkage of the air mattress in the longitudinal direction of the bed and prevent the bed user from sliding on the bed, further prevent the bed user from getting bedsores.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-145363 | Jul 2014 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2015/068649 | 6/29/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2016/009818 | 1/21/2016 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 3562940 | Sep 2004 | JP |
| 2010-268837 | Dec 2010 | JP |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170202719 A1 | Jul 2017 | US |
