Support surface with integral patient turning mechanism

1. A support surface, comprising:

a pressurized air supply;

a controller operatively connected to, and controlling, the air supply;

a first air cell array defining a support surface plane, the first air cell array being inflated or deflated under control of the controller; and

left and right turning bladders located under the first air cell array, each turning bladder including an upper body wing and a lower body wing and being inflatable or deflatable under control of the controller, wherein the upper body wing and the lower body wing of each turning bladder are connected to each other and to the pressurized air supply via a respective conduit, and wherein the conduits are oriented lengthwise in a middle of the support surface and between the left and right turning bladders in order to provide rapid inflation and deflation of the turning bladders, thereby facilitating the turning of a patient positioned on the first air cell array for providing various types of patient care and treatment,

wherein the left and right turning bladders are independently inflatable and/or deflatable such that when one of the left and right turning bladders is inflated, and the other of the left and right turning bladders is deflated, a patient resting on the support surface is rotated, and wherein each of the upper body wings and the lower body wings of the left and right turning bladders is shell shaped in a bladder plane parallel to the support surface plane including a narrow section adjacent a center of the support surface and extending toward a side of the support surface and a wide section adjacent an outermost side of the support surface in order to minimize the amount of air required to inflate the turning bladders, thereby resulting in high-speed turning of the patient.

2. A support surface, as in claim 1 , wherein:

the air cell array has left and right air cell array sets, each air cell array set is further comprised of a plurality of air cell array segments, the air cell array segments arranged continuously such they form a single air cell array set.

3. A support surface, as in claim 2 , wherein:

the air cell array segments in each air cell array set are organized into at least two groups which are independently inflatable or deflatable under control of the pressurized air supply; and

air pressure provided to each group is varied such that alternating pressure therapy can be provided to a patient resting on the support surface.

4. A support surface, as in claim 3 , wherein:

the air cell array segments are arranged laterally.

5. A support surface, as in claim 3 , further comprising:

a second air cell array positioned substantially above the first air cell array;

the second air cell array inflated and deflated under control of the pressurized air supply independent of the first air cell array;

the air cell array segments in the first and second air cell arrays are oriented both laterally, both longitudinally, or segments are oriented laterally in one air cell array and longitudinally in the other air cell array.

6. A support surface, as in claim 3 , wherein:

the air cell array segments are arranged longitudinally.

7. A support surface, as in claim 3 , wherein:

each air cell array set is independently inflatable or deflatable, such that the left or right air cell array set may be inflated while the other is deflated to increase the angle of rotation of the patient.

8. A support surface, as in claim 1 , wherein the conduits are connected to the upper and lower body wings via the respective narrow sections of the upper and lower body wings.

9. A support surface, as in claim 8 , further comprising a semi-rigid open weave material in each of the conduits.