Patient support

1 . A patient support comprising:

a mattress; and

a mattress cover, the mattress including a main patient support cushion with at least one sleeve at one of its opposed sides that is configured to extend from a first configuration where the sleeve is unfilled and to a second configuration where the sleeve is filled and in an extended configuration to increase a width of the mattress, wherein the mattress cover is configured to expand to an expanded configuration to accommodate the increased width of the mattress when the sleeve is filled, and when the sleeve is no longer filled, the mattress cover is configured to automatically return to an unexpanded configuration to hold the unfilled sleeve in a stowed configuration; and

wherein the mattress includes at least one elongate member that extends under the main patient support cushion, wherein the at least one elongate member is attached at one end at a first side of the mattress cover and attached at another end at a second side of the mattress cover opposite the first side, and

wherein the at least one elongate member is coupled to the mattress cover to apply a biasing force to pull the first and second sides of the mattress cover inward from the expanded configuration toward the unexpanded configuration when the sleeve is deflated thereby biasing the first and second sides of the mattress cover automatically toward each other to pull the cover inward underneath the main patient support cushion to prevent formation of excess material simultaneously at both the first and second sides of the mattress cover.

2 . The patient support according to claim 1 , further comprising a pneumatic system, and wherein the sleeve is sealed to form an inflatable expansion bladder and is in fluid communication with the pneumatic system to fill or remove air from the sleeve to thereby inflate or deflate the inflatable expansion bladder.

3 . The patient support according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one elongate member comprises at least one elastic member.

4 . The patient support according to claim 3 , wherein the elastic member comprises a plurality of elastic members.

5 . The patient support according to claim 4 , wherein the mattress further includes a plurality of guides to guide the elastic members.

6 . The patient support according to claim 5 , wherein:

the guides are mounted to the mattress cover adjacent but spaced from ends of the elastic members; and

the guides comprise a plurality of straps, with each strap having opposed ends that are secured at one side of the mattress cover and a detached portion between the opposed ends forming the guide for a respective elastic member.

7 . The patient support according to claim 5 , wherein:

the guides are formed from a pair of straps that extend along at least a portion of a length of the mattress cover, with each strap secured at one side of the mattress cover at multiple anchor points with a respective guide being formed between pairs of anchor points; and

the guides are coupled to the mattress cover and provide stiffer regions to the mattress cover relative to flexible regions of the mattress cover adjacent to the guides and the stiffer regions, with the stiffer regions and the flexible regions cooperatively forming folds in the mattress cover in response to contraction of the elastic members to pull the mattress cover inward toward the unexpanded configuration, wherein the folding action provided by the guides and the elastic members are configured to substantially prevent formation of excess material or slack in the mattress cover in the unexpanded configuration.

8 . A patient support comprising:

a mattress;

a mattress cover;

a pneumatic system;

the mattress including a main patient support cushion with a pair of sealed sleeves on its opposed sides to form inflatable expansion bladders that are in fluid communication with the pneumatic system, which is configured to inflate or deflate one or both expansion bladders to increase or decrease a width of the mattress; and

each sleeve being configured to extend from a first configuration where the sleeve is uninflated to a second configuration where the sleeve is filled with air and in an extended configuration to increase the width of the mattress, wherein one or both of the sleeves are no longer filled, the mattress cover is configured to automatically return toward an unexpanded configuration and to hold the deflated sleeve or sleeves in a stowed configuration within the mattress cover; and

wherein the mattress includes at least one elongate member that extends under the main patient support cushion, wherein the at least one elongate member is attached at one end at a first side of the mattress cover and attached at another end at a second side of the mattress cover opposite the first side, and

wherein the at least one elongate member is coupled to the mattress cover to apply a biasing force to pull the first and second sides of the mattress cover inward from the expanded configuration toward the unexpanded configuration when the sleeve or sleeves are deflated in the stowed configuration, thereby biasing the first and second sides of the mattress cover automatically toward each other to pull the cover inward underneath the main patient support cushion to prevent formation of excess material simultaneously at both the first and second sides of the mattress cover.

9 . The patient support according to claim 8 , wherein the at least one elongate member comprises at least one elastic member to bias the mattress cover to the unexpanded configuration so that, when one or both sleeves are deflated, the mattress cover automatically returns towards the unexpanded configuration.

10 . The patient support according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one elastic member includes two elastic members spaced along a length of the mattress, wherein the at least two elastic members extend under the mattress and are coupled to the mattress cover to apply a biasing force to pull the mattress cover inward from the extended configuration toward the unexpanded configuration when one or both sleeves are unfilled.

11 . The patient support according to claim 10 , wherein the mattress cover includes an upper cover portion and a lower cover portion, which are joined together by a zipper formed by an upper zipper half mounted to the upper cover portion and a lower zipper half mounted to the lower cover portion, wherein each elastic member is coupled to the lower cover portion adjacent the lower zipper half on one side of the lower cover portion and adjacent the lower zipper half on the other side of the lower cover portion.

12 . The patient support according to claim 11 , wherein the mattress further includes a plurality of guides to guide the elastic members, wherein the guides are mounted to the lower cover portion that is inward of ends of the elastic members, and wherein the guides are spaced inward from a lower zipper portion sufficiently to allow the lower cover portion to fold between the respective end of the elastic member and the respective guide.

13 . The patient support according to claim 12 , wherein:

the guides comprise a plurality of straps, with each strap having opposed ends that are secured to a respective side of the lower cover portion and a detached portion between the opposed ends forming the guide for a respective elastic member; and

the guides on one side of the lower cover portion are formed from a first strap that extends along one side of the lower cover portion and which is secured to the one side of the lower cover portion at multiple anchor points with the guides for the one side being formed between the anchor points, and the guides on the other side of the lower cover portion are formed from a second strap that extends along the other side of the lower cover portion and which is secured to the other side of the lower cover portion at multiple anchor points with the guides on the other side being formed between the anchor points of the second strap to the other side of the lower cover portion.

14 . A patient support comprises:

a mattress;

a mattress cover;

a pneumatic system;

the mattress including a main patient support cushion and inner and outer sealed sleeves at each side of the main patient support cushion, each sleeve being in fluid communication with the pneumatic system;

the pneumatic system being configured to inflate or deflate the outer sealed sleeves to form expansion bladders together or independently to increase a width of the mattress by one inflated expansion bladder or two inflated expansion bladders or decrease the width by deflating one or both expansion bladders; and

the mattress cover being configured to expand from an unexpanded configuration to an expanded configuration to accommodate the increased widths of the mattress, and the mattress further including at least one elastic member that extends under the main patient support cushion, wherein the at least one elastic member is attached at one end at a first side of the mattress cover and attached at another end at a second side of the mattress cover opposite the first side,

wherein the at least one elastic member is coupled to the mattress cover to apply a biasing force to pull the mattress cover inward toward the inner sleeves when one or both expansion bladders are deflated, thereby biasing the first and second sides of the mattress cover automatically toward each other to pull the cover inward underneath the main patient support cushion to prevent formation of excess material simultaneously at both the first and second sides of the mattress cover.

15 . The patient support according to claim 14 , wherein the mattress cover forms one or more folds when pulled toward or to its unexpanded configuration.

16 . The patient support according to claim 14 , wherein the main patient support cushion includes a plurality of inflatable bladders.

17 . The patient support according to claim 14 , wherein:

the elastic member or members comprise elastic straps, optionally the straps each have a generally rectangular cross-section;

the expansion bladders when filled or inflated form bolster bladders that are filled or inflated to a higher firmness or pressure than the remainder of the mattress;

the elastic member or members are adjustable and/or removable so that the length of each elastic strap is shortened to counteract an increase in length due to fatigue and a resulting reduction in tension;

the mattress cover is formed from a material including high endurance polyurethane; and

when employing multiple elastic members, the ends of the elastic straps are anchored to the mattress cover via stitching or welding.

18 . The patient support according to claim 14 , wherein, when employing one elastic member, the elastic member is laced from one side of the mattress cover across to the other side of the mattress cover and coupled to each side of the cover using loops that are welded or otherwise adhered to the mattress cover, and wherein the ends of the one elastic member extend from one end or side of the mattress cover to allow a caregiver to pull on the ends to adjust the elastic member.