WO1998055067A2 - Cushion - Google Patents

Cushion Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1998055067A2
WO1998055067A2 PCT/GB1998/001596 GB9801596W WO9855067A2 WO 1998055067 A2 WO1998055067 A2 WO 1998055067A2 GB 9801596 W GB9801596 W GB 9801596W WO 9855067 A2 WO9855067 A2 WO 9855067A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
cushion
gel
overlay
sac
foam
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1998/001596
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO1998055067A3 (en
Inventor
Colin Alexander Laidlaw
Original Assignee
Medical Support Systems Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Medical Support Systems Limited filed Critical Medical Support Systems Limited
Priority to AU76688/98A priority Critical patent/AU7668898A/en
Priority to GB9927303A priority patent/GB2342039B/en
Publication of WO1998055067A2 publication Critical patent/WO1998055067A2/en
Publication of WO1998055067A3 publication Critical patent/WO1998055067A3/en

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
    • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
    • A47C7/02—Seat parts
    • A47C7/021—Detachable or loose seat cushions
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
    • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
    • A47C7/02—Seat parts
    • A47C7/029—Seat parts of non-adjustable shape adapted to a user contour or ergonomic seating positions
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61G—TRANSPORT, PERSONAL CONVEYANCES, OR ACCOMMODATION SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PATIENTS OR DISABLED PERSONS; OPERATING TABLES OR CHAIRS; CHAIRS FOR DENTISTRY; FUNERAL DEVICES
    • A61G5/00—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs
    • A61G5/10—Parts, details or accessories
    • A61G5/1043—Cushions specially adapted for wheelchairs
    • A61G5/1045—Cushions specially adapted for wheelchairs for the seat portion
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61G—TRANSPORT, PERSONAL CONVEYANCES, OR ACCOMMODATION SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PATIENTS OR DISABLED PERSONS; OPERATING TABLES OR CHAIRS; CHAIRS FOR DENTISTRY; FUNERAL DEVICES
    • A61G7/00—Beds specially adapted for nursing; Devices for lifting patients or disabled persons
    • A61G7/05—Parts, details or accessories of beds
    • A61G7/057—Arrangements for preventing bed-sores or for supporting patients with burns, e.g. mattresses specially adapted therefor
    • A61G7/05715—Arrangements for preventing bed-sores or for supporting patients with burns, e.g. mattresses specially adapted therefor with modular blocks, or inserts, with layers of different material
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S5/00—Beds
    • Y10S5/909—Flowable viscous, e.g. gel material containing

Definitions

  • This invention relates to pressure relief cushions and in particular, but not exclusively, to cushions which are suitable for wheel chair users. It has long been known that the people, who have to spend a substantial portion of their life sitting, can develop very painful pressure sores and there are many designs of cushions which attempt to relieve the pressure that creates those sores.
  • One solution has been to provide a foam cushion with a cavity in its rear section for receiving a gel sac and this works quite well for normal patients, but is not totally satisfactory for wheel chair users, because they generally like to have a cushion which is much less deep. In those circumstances there is little foam under the gel sac and the sac and the foam are insufficient to provide proper pressure relief between the user and the hard surface of the wheel chair. This is particularly because the gel is fairly readily pushed to one side.
  • the invention consists in a pressure relief cushion comprising a foam base having a cavity in its rear section opening into its upper surface and a front section for supporting the users' thigh; and a gel sac disposed in the cavity characterised in that the cushion further comprises a gel overlay connected to the sac but not in gel communication with it.
  • both the overlay and the sac can be contained within an outer bag and the two may be welded together or other fixed to each other.
  • the overlay may further extend over the front section and may be provided with restrictions to inhibit the flow of gel through the overlay.
  • the cushion may be 7 to 9 cms in depth and may have a cavity which is between 4.5 and 5.5 cms deep at its deepest point .
  • the foam is resilient and the foam of the front section may be shaped to provide pressure relieving areas and/or appropriate support .
  • Figure 1 is a view from above of a cushion
  • Figure 2 is a section along the line II -II;
  • Figure 3 shows the pressure pattern produced when a user sits on a cushion having a single gel sac
  • Figure 4 is the corresponding pattern for the cushion of Figures 1 and 2.
  • a cushion generally indicated at 10, comprises a foam portion 11 and a gel portion 12.
  • the foam portion 11 has a rear section 13 defining a cavity 14, whilst the front section 15 is shaped to support the users' thighs (much in the shape of the front of a tractor seat) and has pressure relief cutouts (not shown) .
  • the gel portion 12 comprises a gel sac 16, which substantially fills the cavity, and an overlay 17 that extends over both the gel sac 16 and the front section of the foam 15.
  • the overlay 17 is attached to the bag 16 to maintain their relative positions, but is not in gel communication with it ie . gel cannot flow between them.
  • the overlay is provided with a variety of restrictions 18, formed by welds in the plastic cover of the overlay. These restrictions 18 serve to inhibit the flow of gel through the overlay.
  • the cushion of the invention is preferably 8 centimetres deep and may be in the range of 7 to 9 centimetres.
  • the cavity is preferably 5 centimetres deep but may be in the range, for example, 4.5 to 5.5 centimetres.
  • the front part of the overlay 17 adds to comfort, but is not essential to the invention.

Abstract

This invention relates to pressure relief cushions. A cushion, generally indicated at (10), comprises a foam portion (11) and a gel portion (12). The foam portion (11) has a rear section (13) defining a cavity (14), whilst the front section (15) is shaped to support the users' thighs. The gel portion (12) comprises a gel sac (16), which substantially fills the cavity, and an overlay (17) that extends over both the gel sac (16) and the front section of the foam. The overlay (17) is attached to the bag (16) but is not in gel communication with it.

Description

Cushion
This invention relates to pressure relief cushions and in particular, but not exclusively, to cushions which are suitable for wheel chair users. It has long been known that the people, who have to spend a substantial portion of their life sitting, can develop very painful pressure sores and there are many designs of cushions which attempt to relieve the pressure that creates those sores. One solution has been to provide a foam cushion with a cavity in its rear section for receiving a gel sac and this works quite well for normal patients, but is not totally satisfactory for wheel chair users, because they generally like to have a cushion which is much less deep. In those circumstances there is little foam under the gel sac and the sac and the foam are insufficient to provide proper pressure relief between the user and the hard surface of the wheel chair. This is particularly because the gel is fairly readily pushed to one side. Another approach is to provide a very substantial gel bag on an essentially rigid base so that the sac provides the complete seating surface. However this is not particularly comfortable, because it allows for no variation in support for the different parts of the body and because the material of the sac tends to become rucked up. From one aspect the invention consists in a pressure relief cushion comprising a foam base having a cavity in its rear section opening into its upper surface and a front section for supporting the users' thigh; and a gel sac disposed in the cavity characterised in that the cushion further comprises a gel overlay connected to the sac but not in gel communication with it. The applicants have deter- mined, surprisingly, that by in effect forming the gel sac as two separate individual sacs, one overlying the other, the effect of "bottoming out", wherein the ischial tuberosities effectively contact the bottom of the cavity, is removed. This is true even where the upper sac or overlay is thin, for example less than a centimetre deep. Conveniently both the overlay and the sac can be contained within an outer bag and the two may be welded together or other fixed to each other. The overlay may further extend over the front section and may be provided with restrictions to inhibit the flow of gel through the overlay.
The cushion may be 7 to 9 cms in depth and may have a cavity which is between 4.5 and 5.5 cms deep at its deepest point .
Preferably the foam is resilient and the foam of the front section may be shaped to provide pressure relieving areas and/or appropriate support .
Although the invention has been defined above, it is to be understood it includes any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description. The invention may be performed in various ways and a specific embodiment will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view from above of a cushion; Figure 2 is a section along the line II -II;
Figure 3 shows the pressure pattern produced when a user sits on a cushion having a single gel sac; and
Figure 4 is the corresponding pattern for the cushion of Figures 1 and 2.
A cushion, generally indicated at 10, comprises a foam portion 11 and a gel portion 12. The foam portion 11 has a rear section 13 defining a cavity 14, whilst the front section 15 is shaped to support the users' thighs (much in the shape of the front of a tractor seat) and has pressure relief cutouts (not shown) .
The gel portion 12 comprises a gel sac 16, which substantially fills the cavity, and an overlay 17 that extends over both the gel sac 16 and the front section of the foam 15. The overlay 17 is attached to the bag 16 to maintain their relative positions, but is not in gel communication with it ie . gel cannot flow between them. As can be seen in Figure 1, the overlay is provided with a variety of restrictions 18, formed by welds in the plastic cover of the overlay. These restrictions 18 serve to inhibit the flow of gel through the overlay.
As has been mentioned already, the combination of a thin overlay 17 on top of the sac 16, surprisingly improves the performance of the cushion and enables a cushion of suitable depth to be provided for wheel chair users. Thus the cushion of the invention is preferably 8 centimetres deep and may be in the range of 7 to 9 centimetres. In that case the cavity is preferably 5 centimetres deep but may be in the range, for example, 4.5 to 5.5 centimetres. It will be understood that the front part of the overlay 17 adds to comfort, but is not essential to the invention.
In Figures 3 and 4 the difference between the performance of a single gel sac and a double gel sac is shown. The red areas in Figure 4 illustrate areas of significant pressure in the region of the ischial tuberosities .

Claims

1. A pressure relief cushion comprising a foam base having a cavity in its rear section opening into its upper surface and a front section for support the user's thigh and a gel sac disposed in the cavity characterised in that the cushion further comprises a gel overlay connected to the sac, but not in gel communication with it.
2. A cushion as claimed in claim 1 wherein the overlay further extends the front section.
3. A cushion as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the overlay is provided with restrictions to inhibit the flow of gel through the overlay.
4. A cushion as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the cushion is 7 to 9 cms in depth. 5. A cushion as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the cavity is between 4.5 and 5.
5 cms deep at its deepest point .
6. A cushion as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the foam is resilient.
7. A cushion as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the foam of the front section is shaped to provide pressure relieving areas.
PCT/GB1998/001596 1997-06-03 1998-06-01 Cushion WO1998055067A2 (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU76688/98A AU7668898A (en) 1997-06-03 1998-06-01 Cushion
GB9927303A GB2342039B (en) 1997-06-03 1998-06-01 Cushion

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9711276.7 1997-06-03
GBGB9711276.7A GB9711276D0 (en) 1997-06-03 1997-06-03 Cushion

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1998055067A2 true WO1998055067A2 (en) 1998-12-10
WO1998055067A3 WO1998055067A3 (en) 1999-03-04

Family

ID=10813370

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB1998/001596 WO1998055067A2 (en) 1997-06-03 1998-06-01 Cushion

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US5918334A (en)
AU (1) AU7668898A (en)
GB (2) GB9711276D0 (en)
WO (1) WO1998055067A2 (en)

Families Citing this family (20)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6241320B1 (en) 1999-10-15 2001-06-05 Invacare Corporation Customizable seat cushion and positioning assembly including pressure compensation inserts
CA2340914C (en) * 1998-11-16 2006-02-21 Invacare Corporation Customizable seat cushion and positioning assembly including pressure compensation inserts
US6502263B1 (en) 2001-07-26 2003-01-07 Invacare Corporation Seat cushion and positioning assembly including inflatable air cell pressure compensation insert
FR2841507A1 (en) * 2002-06-26 2004-01-02 Cera Decorative component for an automobile interior, and especially the seating, is produced by inserting a body into the mold and the remaining mold space is taken by an injected foam to give a combined molding
FR2841508B1 (en) * 2002-06-26 2005-01-14 Cera GARMENT COMPONENT WITH VISCOELASTIC INSERT
FR2853287B1 (en) * 2003-04-01 2006-01-20 Renault Sa SEAT CUSHION FOR MOTOR VEHICLE SEAT
US20050023872A1 (en) * 2003-07-28 2005-02-03 Hetzel Thomas R. Modular seat cushion with interlocking human support and base portions and method of creating and using a seat cushion
US7396078B2 (en) * 2004-02-05 2008-07-08 Wenger Corporation Music posture chair
US8668977B2 (en) * 2006-10-23 2014-03-11 Polymer Concepts, Inc. Support structures and methods
US8607387B2 (en) * 2006-11-20 2013-12-17 Stryker Corporation Multi-walled gelastic mattress system
US8549684B2 (en) * 2008-03-25 2013-10-08 Stryker Corporation Gelastic material having variable or same hardness and balanced, independent buckling in a mattress system
CN101305877B (en) * 2008-07-09 2011-12-28 范立涛 Gel mat and its production method
TWI403300B (en) * 2009-11-16 2013-08-01 Ind Tech Res Inst Method for controlling cleaning apparatus
US8584286B2 (en) 2010-04-27 2013-11-19 Ec Service Inc. Systems and methods for providing a self deflating cushion
US20120079661A1 (en) * 2010-10-05 2012-04-05 Fu-Chieng Chen Cushion structure
WO2013102777A1 (en) * 2012-01-05 2013-07-11 Escobar Uribe Andres Anatomical padding system with multi-level layers
US20140345058A1 (en) * 2013-05-21 2014-11-27 SEC Medical Development, Inc. Pressure Monitoring and Management Cushion System And Method Of Use
US9468299B2 (en) * 2013-09-05 2016-10-18 Heavy Feather, Llc Cushions for relieving sciatic and/or perineum pressure
US20160183691A1 (en) * 2014-12-30 2016-06-30 Technogel Italia S.R.L. Support element
CN210870669U (en) * 2019-11-04 2020-06-30 上海旭佰科技有限公司 Breathable cushion

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WO1983003195A1 (en) * 1982-03-16 1983-09-29 Jay, Eric, C. Improved seat cushion
US5395162A (en) * 1993-02-16 1995-03-07 Jay Medical Ltd. Seating system
WO1996010352A1 (en) * 1994-10-03 1996-04-11 Jay Medical Ltd. Seating system with pressure relieving fluid pad

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US5395162A (en) * 1993-02-16 1995-03-07 Jay Medical Ltd. Seating system
WO1996010352A1 (en) * 1994-10-03 1996-04-11 Jay Medical Ltd. Seating system with pressure relieving fluid pad

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9711276D0 (en) 1997-07-30
GB2342039A (en) 2000-04-05
AU7668898A (en) 1998-12-21
WO1998055067A3 (en) 1999-03-04
GB9927303D0 (en) 2000-01-12
GB2342039B (en) 2000-10-18
US5918334A (en) 1999-07-06

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