This invention concerns a chair cushion with support surface features for reducing shear stress to the skin of a person received thereon.
In medical care, the prevention of decubitus ulcers to the skin of non-ambulatory persons remains a goal. Also known as “bed sores” and “pressure ulcers,” decubitus ulcers may result in part from physiological causes such as decreased circulation, reduced skin integrity, impaired nutrition, and other bodily weaknesses. Certain areas of the body have been observed to have a relatively greater tendency to develop decubitus ulcers, including the spine, hips, buttocks, elbows, and heels. Conversely, certain portions of the body have been observed to have a relatively lesser tendency for the development of decubitus ulcers, such as the thigh area in which greater blood flow, the absence of bony prominences, and larger weight-bearing surfaces may be found.
In addition to physiological causes, external factors may contribute to the development of decubitus ulcers. Localized pressure to the skin is one such factor. Pressure to the skin occurs from support of the person's weight. Because different portions of the human body have different weights and have different surface areas for distribution of that weight upon a chair cushion, different pressure can be brought to bear at various locations along a person's body, with localized points of relatively great pressure. Of course, a generally planar surface, supporting the very non-planar human body, will result in even smaller areas of support, with concomitant greater increase in the pressure upon those areas.
Another external cause that may exacerbate the development of decubitus ulcers is moisture from perspiration, which makes the skin softer and more tender. As a person sits in a chair, for example, perspiration from skin in contact with the chair cushion surface may tend to accumulate rather than fully evaporate. By remaining in contact with the skin, the perspiration softens the skin and makes it more susceptible to breakdown, and thereby more susceptible to decubitus ulcers.
Still a third external exacerbation of the tendency of decubitus ulcer development is shear stress upon the skin. Shear stress occurs, in part, from the friction of rubbing the surface of the skin. For a person sitting in a chair, for example, shear occurs specifically between the person's skin and the chair cushions. That shear stress may result not only from movement of the person upon the surface of the chair, but also from gravity upon the person as the person's body is forced downward along the inclined slope of the back of the chair. However, the degree and extent of that shear stress is influenced by the surface features of the chair cushions.
To combat the development of decubitus ulcers and to promote the healing of existing decubitus ulcers, the medical practice has employed the use of foam chair cushions, foam overlays upon conventional chair cushions, and foam cushions for chairs, for use with persons at risk of such problems. While various foam products have been developed, no design has emerged that generally encompasses all of the desired characteristics as hereinafter presented in accordance with the present technology.
The present invention includes generally a chair cushion of resilient material containing a plurality of directionally oriented support ribs transverse to the longitudinal length of the cushion. Such support ribs have a predetermined cross-sectional geometry that is curvilinear. Because the cross-sectional geometry is curvilinear, the support ribs contain no protuberance that would tend to increase shear stress to the skin of a person upon the cushion. Further, the centerline of the cross-section of each support rib is inclined at an acute angle relative to the foam beneath it, providing a directional orientation to each support rib that is transverse to the support rib and lengthwise along the cushion. According to this geometry, the cross-section of each support rib includes a superior aspect that is disposed generally for receipt of a person upon the cushion. Additionally, this geometry likewise includes an opposite inferior aspect to the geometry of each support rib. The superior aspect and the inferior aspect meet generally at the center line of the geometry of the cross-section of a support rib and together constitute the entirety of the cross-section of a support rib. The inferior aspect of the cross-sectional geometry may also undercut the superior aspect relative to the vertical dimension of the cushion. A support rib so configured may be biased to more readily compress or collapse toward the undercutment. As such, shear stress will tend to be lessened for movement by a person in the direction of the directional orientation of the support ribs.
A chair cushion including such directional support ribs may be configured to include different zones of such directional support ribs along its longitudinal length. Such different zones may be created by fabricating the cushion with directional support ribs at certain locations along the length of the cushion that are directionally oriented toward the foot of the cushion, and oppositely at other locations. The directional orientation of the support ribs for those locations expected to receive and support a person's head and upper torso may be directed toward the feet of the person received thereon, while the directional orientation of the support ribs adapted for support of a person's thighs may be directed toward the person's head. In such a configuration, shear forces upon the skin of a person upon a chair with such a cushion would be reduced for the head, upper torso, and ischial tuberosities, while at the same time additional support and resistance to sliding would be provided for that portion of the person's weight borne by the person's thighs at which the tendency for the development of decubitus ulcers is physiologically less. In addition, or alternatively, such different zones may be created by varying the respective geometries of the superior aspects and inferior aspects of the cross-sections of different support ribs at different locations along the longitudinal length of the cushion, thereby changing the dimensions of the channels between adjacent support ribs, so as to provide systematized reduction in shear forces for those areas of the person's body more susceptible to the development of decubitus ulcers.
The present invention may comprise a support surface for which the uppermost portions of the support ribs reside in a single plane—that is to say, the cushion may have a uniform thickness. Alternatively, the cushion may have different thicknesses at different locations, adapted to more optimally receive different portions of a person's body situated thereon and to thereby minimize shear stress to the person's body. In one embodiment, the portion of the support surface adapted for receipt of the head and upper torso may define a progressively increasing thickness from the head area to the back area, with the maximum of such increasing thickness achieved at the lumbar area; the portion adapted for receipt of the gluteal region may comprise a first decreasing thickness from the lumbar area and then a constant thickness for the hips area, which may lie at the juncture typically at which the seat of the chair meets the back of the chair; the portion adapted for receipt of the thighs of a person may define another progressively increasing thickness from the hip area to the knee area, with the maximum of such increasing thickness achieved at the knee areas; and the portion adapted for receipt of the lower legs and feet may comprise a second decreasing thickness from the knee area to the foot of the cushion. So configured, the chair cushion may further provide for better management and reduction of shear forces, especially considering the effect of gravitational forces upon a person reclined thereon.
The present invention may also include longitudinal cuts or slices upon the support surface, along the length of the chair cushion. Such longitudinal cuts, intersecting the support ribs, create cells upon the surface of the cushion. Such cells may provide for pressure dispersion and, in cooperation with the geometry of the support ribs, may result in further shear reduction. Such longitudinal cuts may be equally spaced apart, or may have differential spacing as may be advantageous in given situations.
Additional objects and advantages of the inventions will be set forth in part in the following description or may be obvious from the description and the included drawings.
The aspects described above, as well as other apparent aspects, advantages, and objectives of the present invention are apparent from the detailed description below in combination with the drawings in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments to the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, and not meant as a limitation of the invention. For example, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. It is intended that the present application includes such modifications and variations as come within the scope and spirit of the invention. The same numerals are used to refer to the same features throughout the drawings and in the text that follows.
Referring to the figures, a chair cushion generally 20 includes a main body 25 comprised of a resilient material, for example polyurethane foam. The chair cushion 20 is generally rectangular. As described herein, a “chair cushion” may be understood to be of any predetermined thickness; in the appended drawings, a thickness is shown only for illustrative purposes.
The chair cushion 20 defines a upper support surface generally 30 for receipt of a person reclined thereon. The chair cushion 20 may be understood to have a longitudinal orientation from the head 45 of the chair cushion 20 to the foot 50. The chair cushion 20 may also be understood to have a lateral orientation from side to side.
The upper support surface 30 of the chair cushion 20 includes a plurality of directional support ribs 65. The directional support ribs 65 extend laterally. The directional support ribs 65 may be disposed along the entire longitudinal length of the chair cushion 20, or instead may be disposed only in preselected areas along such length (not shown). As shown in
As illustrated in
The directional support ribs 65 are configured to a predetermined cross-sectional geometry 63. Specifically, the directional support ribs 65 define a cross-sectional geometry 63 that may be curvilinear—formed, bounded, or characterized by curved lines. With reference to
The dimensions of the channels 60 may be varied. The dimensions of the channels 60 may be varied between different channels upon the chair cushion 20, for advantageous reasons, or may be uniform for each channel upon a given chair cushion 20.
The dimensions and cross-sectional configuration of the directional support rib 65 likewise may be varied. As shown in
As will be appreciated from review of the Figures, the channel 60 may undercut a side of the directional support rib 65, such that a portion of the channel 60 lies vertically beneath a portion of the directional support rib 65. So configured, the directional support rib 65, made of a resilient material, will tend to be less resistant of movement of a person thereon in the direction of the directional orientation 69, and less receptive to movement by a person disposed thereon opposite of the directional orientation 69, in that the directional support rib 65 has less resilient material on its side favoring the directional orientation 69 and has more resilient material on the side against the directional orientation 69.
Chair cushion 20 may include along the entirety of its upper support surface 30 the directional support ribs 65. Alternatively, the directional support ribs 65 may be located only upon a portion of the upper support surface 30 (not shown).
The directional support ribs 65 may have a given directional orientation 69 in certain areas of the upper support surface 30 and an opposite directional orientation 69 in other areas upon upper support surface 30. Consider
The chair cushion 20 may have all of its directional support ribs residing on a single plane (not shown). Alternatively, the upper support surface 30 may comprise a plurality of separate planes. For example, as illustrated in
The upper surface 30 of the chair cushion 20 may also include longitudinal cuts 55. Such longitudinal cuts 55 may cooperate with the channels 60 to form individual cells 90 upon the upper support surface 30. Such longitudinal cuts 55 may be spaced equally one from another, or may be advantageously differently spaced (not shown), such that the cells 90 would have different widths laterally across the upper support surface 30 so as to provide differing support characteristics to differently-sized cells 90 at different regions about the upper support surface 30. With reference to
Various modifications and variations can be made in the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. It is intended that the present invention include such modifications and variations as come within the scope of this disclosure and their equivalents.
This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/509,691, filed Oct. 8, 2003.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050076448 A1 | Apr 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60509691 | Oct 2003 | US |