Multi-walled gelastic material
View Patent ↗The present invention is directed to a gelastic cushion. The gelastic cushion is made from a conventional gelastic composition. The gelastic cushion has a structure having a first wall that defines an opening area and buckles when a force is applied to the first wall. When the first wall buckles a predetermined amount, a second wall, interconnected to the first wall, also buckles. The second wall decreases the chance that the first wall bottoms out. Bottoming out increases the pressure on the patient (a.k.a., the force) overlying the gelastic cushion. That increased pressure is undesirable.
1. A gelastic cushion comprising:
a head section, a foot section and a torso/pelvic section made of a gelastic material having a triblock polymer of the general configuration A-B-A and a plasticizer;
the torso/pelvic section contains a first gelastic structure having
A. a first set of buckling walls
(i) define a first bottom open-ended opening area wherein there is no gelastic skin material positioned on or across the entire first set of buckling walls' bottom surface,
(ii) are the tallest walls in the gelastic cushion with a first height ranging from the first set of the buckling walls' bottom surface to the first set of buckling walls' top surface,
(iv) have a first width that allows the first set of buckling walls to buckle, when a force is applied at the first set of buckling walls' top surface to the first set of buckling walls, into the first opening area or into
(a) an adjacent second opening and/or
(b) exterior to the perimeter of the gelastic cushion;
B. a second wall
(i) positioned within the first opening area,
(ii) interconnects to
(a) a first interconnection area that extends from the first set of buckling walls' bottom surface a distance greater than zero along the first wall toward the first set of buckling walls' top surface and
(b) a second interconnection area that extends from the first set of buckling walls' bottom surface a distance greater than zero along the first wall toward the first set of buckling walls' top surface wherein the first interconnection area is diametrical to the second interconnection area;
(iii) has a second height, which is less than the first height of the first set of buckling walls and the difference between the first height of the first set of buckling walls and second height of the second wall is a first differential distance;
(iv) has a second width that allows the second wall to buckle into the first opening area if the force applied to the first set of buckling walls buckles the first set of buckling walls a distance greater than the first differential distance; and
the head section and the foot section contain a second gelastic structure having a third set of buckling walls that (i) define a second opening area, (ii) has a third height that is shorter than the first height of the first set of buckling walls, (iii) a third width that allows the third wall to buckle, when a force is applied to the third wall, into the second opening area or into (a) an adjacent second opening area, (b) the first opening area and/or (c) exterior to the perimeter of the gelastic structure;
wherein the third wall and the first wall have top surfaces that are planar with each other.
2. The gelastic cushion of claim 1 wherein the first height of the first set of buckling walls is greater than the third height of the third set of buckling walls.
3. The gelastic cushion of claim 1 wherein the first height of the first set of buckling walls is equal to the third height of the third set of buckling walls.