Inflation and deflation of an encased bladder system
View Patent ↗The present invention provides seating apparatuses that may reduce an effect of an ailment such as sciatica, joint illness, degenerative disc condition, hip bursitis, tendinitis, or sacral/coccyx pain. A seating apparatus includes a back portion and a seating portion, each portion having at least one encased bladder that is inflated by a pumping component in a timed sequence. The bladders may be differently shaped, asymmetrically situated with respect to a center axis, and spatially overlapping. The bladders are inflated and deflated in accordance with a predetermined time sequence and are independently controlled. The seating apparatus may contain a set of encased bladders that may be configured for different aliments. A user selects a treatment for one of the ailments through a remote control unit. Consequently, a subset of bladders is configured so that the selected subset of bladders is inflated and deflated.
1. A seating apparatus for reducing an associated effect for one of a plurality of ailments, the seating apparatus comprising:
a cushion component having a set of bladders within at least a portion of the cushion component, the cushion component having a back portion and a seating portion;
a pumping component inflating a selected subset of the set of bladders; and
a control component configuring the selected subset of bladders in response to a selection of an ailment type, and communicating with the pumping component.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , the control component instructing the pumping component to inflate the selected subset to inflate with an associated sequence.
3. The seating apparatus of claim 2 , the control component selecting a different subset of the set of bladders based on another of the plurality of ailments.
4. The seating apparatus of claim 3 , the control component instructing the pumping component to inflate the different subset with a different sequence.
5. The seating apparatus of claim 2 , the control component instructing the pumping component to inflate the selected subset to inflate with a different sequence.
6. The seating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pumping component fully inflates at least two bladders at a same time.