Patent Application
20060031993
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a padding system for allowing individuals with large breasts to lay prone more comfortably than with conventional padding systems. The present invention also allows therapists better access to a person's upper back while they are supine on the padding system.
2. Description of Related Art
Various cushion support and mattresses are known in the art for improving comfort to a woman laying prone by providing features on the cushion to receive the woman's breasts so that pressure on the breasts are reduced. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,548,728 to Milam discloses a mattress including a removable section of the mattress which is designed to be used when the bed is to be used by a woman having large breasts so that she may comfortably lie on her face. In this regard, recesses are formed upon the removal of the section to receive the breasts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,384 to Blosser discloses a spinal adjustment table for use in osteopathy. The table includes separate support surfaces for the head, chest-abdomen and hip areas. The chest-abdomen support surface also includes breast receiving openings to facilitate altering the curvature of the dorsal spinal region without putting appreciable pressure on the breasts.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,061 to Giori et al. discloses a female anatomical mattress including a generally rectangular body supporting structure. The body supporting structure has an upper panel with a generally rectangular cavity that extends downwardly and toward the lower panel for receiving breasts of a female lying face down on the mattress. A generally rectangular head supporting structure is rounded and is sized for positioning within the cavity of the body supporting structure when not used to support a person's head. The mattress is disclosed as being foam filled or inflatable.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,768 to Schlechter discloses a cushion support to be placed on a bed or other horizontal support surface which allows a woman to lie or sleep in a face-down position without exerting pressure on the breasts. The cushion support includes an elongated block or wedge of foam material. The front section of which is horizontally oriented supports the upper rib cage and the sternum of the user, and a wedge-shaped lower section supports the torso of the user. Vertically oriented arcuate recesses are provided to accommodate the breasts. When lying in a face-down position, the breasts of the user depend downwardly into the recesses without contacting the underlying support surface or the cushion support.
Despite the known cushion and mattress designs, such devices are not commonly used. One reason is that they can be a source for embarrassment to the therapist and/or client due to the conspicuous shape of the prior art cushions and mattresses. For example, if the devices of the above noted prior art references are used in the intended manner, immediate attention is drawn to the client's breasts which can be embarrassing, especially if the client or the therapists is a male. Moreover, such known cushion and mattress designs only serve to increase comfort to the client when the client is laying prone on his/her stomach, and does not provide any benefit when the client is laying supine on his/her back. In this regard, such features for the breasts can actually decrease the client's comfort when laying supine because there is complete lack of support for the client in the breast receiving portions of the cushion or mattress.
Therefore, there exists an unfulfilled need for an improved cushion or mattress for improving comfort of the client when the client is laying prone on his/her stomach by minimizing pressure to the client's breasts. There also exists an unfulfilled need for such a cushion or mattress that is less conspicuous so as to not attract attention to the client's breasts. There further exists an unfulfilled need for such a cushion or mattress that is also comfortable when the client is laying supine on his/her back.
In view of the above, one object of the present invention is in providing an improved padding system for improving comfort of the client when the client is laying prone on his/her stomach by minimizing pressure to the client's breasts.
One advantage of one embodiment of the present invention is in providing such a padding system which is less conspicuous so as to not attract attention to the client's breasts.
Another advantage of another embodiment of the present invention is in providing such a padding system that provides progressive support of the client's breasts.
Yet another advantage of another embodiment of the present invention is in providing such a padding system that is also comfortable when the client is laying supine on his/her back.
Still another advantage of another embodiment of the present invention is in providing such a padding system that facilitates providing of massage or therapy services to the client.
In the above regard, the padding system of the present invention may be implemented as an integral part of a portable table such as a massage table with multi-piece top. The invention may also be implemented as a one piece top table, a separate padding system, or utilized as a chest support pad on a chair designed to support a person's chest.
The padding system in accordance with one implementation of the present invention includes two U shaped areas formed by inserts received in recesses positioned at each end thereof. Of course, the padding system may be provided on both ends, or just one, of the table. The recesses may be implemented with beveled surfaces around three sides. The U shaped inserts are made of a foam that is softer than foam used elsewhere. These two inserts are separated by a firmer mid-section, substantially trapezoidal or triangular in cross section, designed to support the sternum in prone positions, thereby supporting the patient in a coplanar fashion to the rest of the padding system. This trapezoidal section, in conjunction with the soft areas, allows a person's breasts to be comfortably supported by the soft foam without the normally high level of compression of the breasts which is typical of other padding systems.
The padding system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention also allows a therapist to easily reach the client's upper back when the client is supine. This can be attained because the U shaped inserts are made of soft foam which can be easily compressed by the therapist. Alternatively, the U shaped inserts made of soft foam may be implemented to be easily removed and out of the way to allow the therapist inserts their hands under the client while the trapezoidal section and other firmer areas of foam keep the client's body supported. As can be appreciated, the padding system may be implemented so as to not draw visual attention to it so that any embarrassment for the client can be minimized.
In particular, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a breast comfort padding system is provided which includes a compressible body having an upper surface sized to support at least a chest area of a user thereon, at least a pair of recesses formed in the compressible body which are positioned with respect to each other on the compressible body to correspond to position of breasts, and compressible inserts received in the recesses, a durometer value of the compressible insert being less than a durometer value of the compressible body so that the compressible insert is more easily compressed than the compressible body.
In accordance with one implementation, the recesses provided on the compressible body are substantially U shaped, extend to an edge surface of the compressible body, and have beveled side surfaces. The edge surface may be an end edge surface or a side edge surface. In yet another embodiment, the compressible inserts have a longitudinal dimension parallel to a height direction of the user which is larger than a transverse dimension perpendicular to a width direction of the user. In this regard, the longitudinal dimension of the compressible inserts may be at least 20% larger than the transverse dimension of the recesses, and in one embodiment, between 30% to 80% larger.
In yet another embodiment, the breast comfort padding system is further provided with a compressible mid-section that is positioned between the at least pair of recesses to support a sternum when the user is laying down in a prone position. In this regard, the compressible mid-section may have a substantially trapezoidal or triangular cross-sectional shape. Furthermore, the compressible inserts received in the recesses may be implemented to be removable from the recesses, or be affixed in the recess. Moreover, the breast comfort padding system may be multi-layered and include an upper section and a lower section, for example, where the upper surface is provided on the upper section. In this regard, the upper section preferably has a lower durometer value than the lower section.
Still another aspect of the present invention is a breast comfort padding system including a compressible body having an upper surface sized to support at least a chest area of a user thereon, and at least a pair of recesses formed in the compressible body which are positioned transversely with respect to each other on the compressible body to correspond to position of breasts, where the pair of recesses extend to an edge surface of the compressible body. The edge surface may be an end edge surface and/or a side edge surface.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is a breast comfort padding system including a compressible body having an upper surface sized to support at least a chest area of a user thereon, a recess formed in the compressible body, and a compressible insert received in the recess, the compressible insert having a longitudinal dimension parallel to a height direction of the user which is larger than a transverse dimension perpendicular to a width direction of the user, where a durometer value of the compressible insert is less than a durometer value of the compressible body so that said compressible insert is more easily compressed than the compressible body.
Yet another aspect of the present invention is in providing a massage table that incorporates a breast comfort padding system as described above.
These and other advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention when viewed in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
The compressible body 12 may be made of any appropriate compressible material such as foam including foam made of polyurethane, polyethylene, memory foam, etc. that has a durometer value or firmness sufficient to allow comfortable support of a client's chest, and may be implemented with a plurality of layers. The compressible body 12 may be of any appropriate thickness, and may be implemented with a plurality of layers. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the compressible body 12 includes an upper section 11 that is supported by a lower section 13 which is firmer than the upper section 11, i.e. has a higher durometer value than the upper section 11, to thereby provide progressively increasing support of the client laying on the breast comfort padding system 10.
The compressible body 12 in the illustrated embodiment includes a pair of recesses 16 formed in the compressible body 12. The pair of recesses 16 are positioned with respect to each other on the compressible body 12 to correspond to the transverse position of breasts with respect to the width of typically sized clients. The pair of recesses 16 extend through the upper section 11 and the lower section 13. As can be seen, the pair of compressible inserts 20 in the present illustrated embodiment have a substantially U shape as viewed from the top of the upper section 11.
The pair of recesses 16 of the illustrated embodiment of
Referring again to
Moreover, in the illustrated embodiment of
The breast comfort padding system 10 of the present embodiment further includes optional compressible inserts 20 that are dimensioned to correspond to the shape of the pair of recesses 16 and are received therein. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the compressible inserts 20 have a U shape with tapered edges that corresponds to the pair of recesses 16 having the beveled side surfaces. These compressible inserts 20 are preferably sized large enough to support clients with a wide range of breast sizes, and to accommodate the client even if they are not perfectly centered on the table. When received in the pair of recesses 16, the compressible inserts 20 are preferably flush with the upper surface 14 as shown so as to provide a continuous surface so that attention is not drawn to the pair of recesses 16 and/or the compressible inserts 20. In this regard, the color of the upper section 11 and the compressible inserts 20 may be the same so that the compressible inserts 20 blend in with the compressible body 12 and is inconspicuous. Of course, in other embodiments, such compressible inserts 20 need not be provided in the breast comfort padding system, be implemented to be removable, or be coplanar with the upper surface 14 of the compressible body 12.
As can also be seen in
Moreover, in addition to the geometric shape described above, the compressible inserts 20 of the illustrated embodiment is implemented to be softer than the compressible body 12. In this regard, the compressible inserts 20 may also be made of any appropriate material such as foam, but has a durometer value that is less than that of the compressible body 12. In addition, the compressible inserts 20 may be implemented so that they are readily removable from the recesses 16 of the compressible body 12. Of course, alternatively, the compressible inserts 20 may be affixed in the recess so that it is not readily removable.
One significant advantage of the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is that because the recesses 16 are provided with beveled and have beveled side surfaces, and the compressible inserts 20 received therein are correspondingly shaped, the firmness of the support provided by the breast comfort padding system 10 to areas of the client's breasts increases toward the side periphery of the breasts. In particular, as can be appreciated by examination of
Again, it is noted that compressible inserts have been omitted in
As shown, the two breast comfort padding systems 10 are supported on each of the base frames 32 of the massage table 30. The two breast comfort padding systems 10 of the massage table 30 are substantially the same in the illustrated embodiment. Of course, in other embodiments, the massage table may be provided with only one breast comfort padding system. In addition, the present invention may also be implemented in non-folding, single section or multi-section tables by merely sizing the length of the compressible body 12 to correspond to the size of the table top. Further, the massage table 30 may included a separate head support (not shown) that extends past the end of the table for supporting the client's head thereon, such head support devices also being known in the art.
The breast comfort padding systems 10 are clearly shown in
The recesses 16 shown in
As can also be seen in
In addition, as discussed previously with respect to
It should be again noted that whereas the illustrated embodiment shows the recesses 16 extending to the end edge surfaces 15 of the compressible body 12, and correspondingly, to the end edge of the massage table 30, other embodiments of the present invention may be implemented so that the recesses 16 do not extend to the end edge surface, but instead, be provided toward the mid-portion of the compressible body 12, or extend to the side edge surface of the compressible body 12. This would allow the client's head to be supported on the compressible body 12 of the table 30 while the client's breasts are still supported by the softer compressible inserts. However, by having the recesses 16 extend to the end edge surface 15 as shown, the special advantage is provided in facilitating the therapist in accessing the client's upper back when the client is laying supine on the table 30 as discussed above.
The pair of recesses 116 are positioned with respect to each other on the compressible body 112 to correspond to the transverse position of breasts, and extend through the upper section 111 and the lower section 113. However, in contrast to the embodiment of
The breast comfort padding system 110 in accordance with illustrated embodiment is further provided with a compressible mid-section 118 that is positioned between, and in the illustrated embodiment, is defined, by a pair of recesses 116 (only one shown in
The breast comfort padding system 110 also includes compressible inserts 120 that are implemented to be softer than the compressible body 112, and are dimensioned to correspond to the recesses 116 for receipt therein. In this regard, the compressible inserts 120 may be made of any appropriate material such as foam having a durometer value that is less than that of the compressible body 112, and be implemented to be removable or affixed in the compressible body 112. As can be seen, the pair of compressible inserts 120 in the present illustrated embodiment have a substantially U shape as viewed from the top of the compressible body 112.
Like the embodiment of
Because the recesses 116 are provided with beveled and have beveled side surfaces, and the compressible inserts 120 received therein are correspondingly shaped, the firmness of the support provided by the breast comfort padding system 110 to areas of the client's breasts increases toward the top and bottom periphery of the breasts while providing the softest support to the pressure sensitive areas toward the middle of the breasts.
This orientation of the recesses 116, and correspondingly, the compressible inserts 120 which extend to the side edge surfaces 121 of the compressible body 112, is not as user friendly to the therapists rendering services to the client laying supine on the breast comfort padding system 110 as compared to the embodiment shown and discussed above relative to
While various embodiments in accordance with the present invention have been shown and described, it is understood that the invention is not limited thereto. The present invention may be changed, modified and further applied by those skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is not limited to the detail shown and described previously, but also includes all such changes and modifications.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/600,391, filed Aug. 11, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60600391 | Aug 2004 | US |
