GB2378647A

GB2378647A - Rail padding device for beds having upper and lower rails

Info

Publication number: GB2378647A
Application number: GB0218185A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael Anthony Wilkinson
Original assignee: Genie Care Ltd
Current assignee: Genie Care Ltd
Priority date: 2002-08-05
Filing date: 2002-08-05
Publication date: 2003-02-19
Also published as: GB0218185D0

Abstract

The padding 20 is designed to fit and cover all the surface of rails 12 of a bed (10, Fig.1) that run horizontally between headboard (14, Fig.1) and footboard.(16, Fig.1). Each length of padding 20 includes two co-joined loops 22 comprising two pieces of U-shaped resilient padding material 26 wrapped by an inner non-slip layer 28 and an outer protective impervious layer 24. The loops 22 are each arranged to embrace, one, the upper 12 and, the other, the lower rail, so that open parts of the U-shaped loops 27 meet and are joined at 30 in between the rails, with either fixed, or releasably attachable means. A further feature, is a sheet, mesh or net 130, preferably elastic to allow a tight fitting, that is provided to enclose the remaining side apertures of the bed below the railings 12. This sheet is welded along the bottom length 132 of the padding portion of the lower railings and is arranged so that it hangs from the bottom length 132 of the padding of one side covering the side apertures, extending then below the mattress 11 and up the opposite side to join with the bottom length 132 padding of the other side.

Description

"Padding" This invention relates to padding for fitting to beds of the type that have peripheral structure for constraining an occupant of the bed therewithin. Such peripheral structure is usually in the form of rails that run along the sides of the bed and/or across the head and foot of the bed.

Beds with such peripheral rails are intended to prevent occupants thereof from falling out of bed and injuring themselves whilst asleep. However, if occupants of such beds are prone to fitting or other violent movement, body parts of these occupants may strike the peripheral rails and thereby sustain injury.

Padded covers have been provided for fitting to peripheral rails of such beds with the intention of minimising the risk of injury that may otherwise result from striking the rails. However, such padded covers suffer from either not being positively fixed relative to the peripheral rails such that the padding is not maintained in a preferred location, or not covering enough of the peripheral rails to act as an adequate barrier between those rails and an occupant.

It is an object of this invention to address these problems.

According to an aspect of this invention there is provided padding for fitting to peripheral rails of a bed, the padding being arranged to project around and between at least two of the rails when fitted thereto so as to minimise movement of the padding relative to the rails.

Preferably, the padding is arranged to minimise rotation of the padding about the rails. Preferably, the padding is arranged to minimise translation of the padding along the rails.

By projecting around and between the at least two rails, contact area between the padding and the rails can be maximised, thereby minimising translation of the padding relative to the rails. Furthermore, projection between the rails acts as an abutment that abuts one or more of the rails to minimise rotation of the padding thereabout. The padding preferably covers substantially all the surface area of the rails.

The padding may include an outer casing and padding means contained within the outer casing, the outer casing projecting around and between the at least two rails. The outer casing may be of a water proof material.

Where the at least two rails are substantially parallel, the padding may project

around and between the at least two rails in a figure-of-eight, so as to encapsulate a respective one of the at least two rails in each loop of the figure- of-eight. The figure-of-eight may be formed by at least one part of the padding being for attachment to another part of the padding so that the at least one part projects between the at least two rails, when the padding is fitted thereto.

The at least one part may be fixably attached to the other part by fixing means such as, for example, one or more weld, by glue or by sewing. The at least one part may be releasably attached to the other part by releasable attachment means, such as, for example, hook-and-loop type fasteners, press studs or buttons. The arrangement may be such that the padding can be fitted to the rails by wrapping the padding therearound and then by attaching the at least one part to the other part using the releasable attachment means, rather than by sliding the padding over ends of the rails.

The padding means may be a foam material. The outer casing of the padding may be air-tight such that the padding is inflatable and the padding means is air contained within the outer casing.

The padding and/or the padding means may be of resilient material such that the resilience of the padding and/or the padding means causes the padding

adjacent to each rail to stand away from the rail, creating a pocket of air between the padding and that rail. This increases the cushioning provided by the padding as the padding travels further under impact by the occupant so that deceleration takes longer and the reaction force imparted by the padding on the occupant is reduced accordingly, thereby minimising the risk of injury to the occupant.

The padding may also include an inner casing that, when the padding is fitted to the rails, is between the padding means and each rail for protecting the padding means from damage that might otherwise result from contact with the rails. The inner casing may be arranged to grip one or more of the rails, thereby minimizing movement of the padding relative to the rails. The inner casing may be of a rubber material.

The padding means may be substantially U-shaped in cross section, the open part of the U-shape being for positioning in between rails to which the padding is to be fitted, thereby provided parts of the rails that are most likely to be struck by an occupant with a substantially complete covering of the padding means.

The padding may have a web of material that is attached or attachable along an

edge thereof such that the web is for extending from the padding, under a mattress of a bed to which the padding is fitted, and to similar padding also fitted to the bed for attachment along an edge of the similar padding, the arrangement being such that the web acts to constrain body parts of the occupant within the periphery of the bed. The web of material may be a sheet of material. The web of material may be a mesh or net of material. The web of material may be stretchable in at least on direction such that, when the padding and the similar padding are fitted to the bed, the web of material is taught between the padding and the mattress.

Specific padding in which this invention is embodied is now described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bed with the padding fitted thereto; Figure 2 is a sectional view of the padding fitted to the bed; and Figure 3 is a sectional view of a bed with alternative padding fitted thereto.

Figure 1 shows a bed 10 that is of the type that includes peripheral structure for constraining an occupant of the bed 10 within the bed 10. The peripheral

structure is in the form of rails 12 that run along the sides of the bed 10, between a headboard 14 and a footboard 16 thereof. A respective pair of rails 12 is provided along each side of the bed, one of each pair being above the other of the pair, and the two being substantially parallel.

Figure 1 also shows the bed 10 with padding 20 fitted to the rails 12 thereof. A respective length of the padding 20 is fitted to each pair of the rails 12. Each length of padding 20 is substantially the same as the other. Each length of padding 20 is sized to run substantially the full length of the respective pair of rails 12, but is shown to run slightly shorter than this in Figure 1 for clarity of illustration.

Figure 2 is a sectional view through one of the lengths of padding 20 and the respective pair of rails 12 to which that one length 20 is fitted. The section is transverse the length of the padding 20 and the rails 12 and is representative of substantially the entire length of the padding 20. The padding 20 includes two co-joined loops 22, each loop 22 being around a respective one of the rails 12.

Each rail 12 is substantially rectangular in cross section. Each loop 22 is a mirror image of the other in a horizontal plane therebetween, and for this reason, only one of the loops 22 will be described in detail.

The loop 22 includes an outer casing in the form of an outer membrane 24, padding material 26 and an inner casing in the form of an inner membrane 28.

AH three of the outer membrane 24, the padding material 26 and the inner membrane 28 extend around the rail 12, with the inner membrane 28 being innermost, the outer membrane 24 being outermost and the padding material 26 being sandwiched therebetween. The padding material 26 extends substantially all the way around the rail 12 in a U-shape, the opening 27 of the U-shape being in between the two rails 12. The padding material 26 does not closely follow the external shape of the rail 12 around which it extends, but instead only contacts the rail 12 at the comers thereof and stands away from the faces of the rail 12, so as to leave an air pocket 18 between each face of the rail 12 and the padding material 26.

The outer membrane 24 is a material that lends itself to prolonged and close exposure to an occupant of the bed. It is therefore envisaged that the outer membrane 24 is waterproof and easily cleaned by wiping. The padding material 26 is for providing cushioning and in this exemplary embodiment is a foam material. The inner membrane 28 is for protecting the padding material 28 from damage that may otherwise result from direct contact and abrasion between the padding material 28 and the rail 12. In certain embodiments, it is envisaged that the inner membrane 28 is of a material that tends to grip the rail

12, such as a rubber material.

The outer membrane 24 extends around and beyond the opening 27 of the padding 26 to form a joining portion 30 that joins the two loops 22 of the padding 20, and extends beyond the joining portion 30 to form the outer membrane of the other loop 22. The inner membrane 28 extends through the opening 27 of the padding 26 to the joining portion 30, and also extends beyond the joining portion 30 to form the inner membrane of the other loop 22.

At the joining potion 30, the outer membrane 24 and the inner membrane 28 are joined to each another by welding to form a laminate comprised of two inner layers of the inner membrane 28 with a layer of the outer membrane 24 on either side thereof. The inner membrane 28 and the outer membrane 24 are welded to each other such that the joining portion 30 lies in between the two loops 22 and is positioned slightly to one side to give a shallow indentation 32 between the loops 22 on the one side of the padding 20 and a deep indentation 34 on the other side of the padding 20. The overall impression of the padding 20 in cross section is of a figure-of-eight arrangement, but with the centre of the figure pulled slightly to one side.

In use, each length of the padding 20 is fitted to the respective pair of the rails 12 by sliding the padding over ends of the rails 12, the rails 12 being

removable from the bed 10. The padding 20 is fitted to the rails 12 such that the shallow indentation 32 of each length of padding 20 faces inwardly, towards the bed 10. The padding material 26 of the padding 20 is compressible to provide cushioning against body parts of an occupant of the bed hitting the rails 12, so as to minimise the risk of damage being sustained thereby. The padding material 26 is also deformable to reduce the volume of the air pockets 18 between faces of the rails 12 and the respective padding material 26 therearound. This provides further cushioning. Positioning the shallow indentation 32 of each length of padding 20 inwardly minimises the risk of body parts of the occupant becoming stuck or caught between the two loops 22 of each length of padding 20.

Figure 3 shows two lengths of alternative padding 120 fitted to the bed 10 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a sectional view, the section being taken transverse the bed 10. Each length of alternative padding 120 is substantially the same as each length of the padding 20 described above with reference to Figure 1 and Figure 2, but with the addition a web of material 130 extending therebetween.

The web of material 130 is envisaged to be a rectangle of mesh or net-like material. The length of the web 130 is that of each length of the alternative padding 120. Each longitudinal edge 132 of the web 130 is attached by welding along a respective one of the lengths of alternative padding 120 so as

to run along a bottom edge of that length of padding 120. The web 130 extends under a mattress 11 of the bed 10. The width of the web 130 is such that the web 130 is taught between each length of the alternative padding 120 and the mattress 11.

In use, the web 130 of the alternative padding 12 acts to contain body parts of an occupant (not shown) within the periphery of the bed 10 and to thereby prevent those body parts from becoming entangled between the rails 12 and the mattress 11 of the bed 10.

Claims

1. Padding for fitting to peripheral rails of a bed, the padding being arranged to project around and between at least two of the rails when fitted thereto so as to minimise movement of the padding relative to the rails.

2. Padding according to claim 1, wherein the padding is arranged to minimise rotation of the padding about the rails.

3. Padding according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the padding is arranged to minimise translation of the padding along the rails.

4. Padding according to any preceding claim, wherein the padding covers substantially all the surface area of the rails.

5. Padding according to any preceding claim, wherein the padding is arranged to project around and between at least two rails that are substantially parallel to each other, and substantially in a figure-of-eight, so as to encapsulate a respective one of the at least two rails in each loop of the figureof-eight.

6. Padding according to claim 5, wherein material of the padding joins each loop to the other, between the two rails.

7. Padding according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the figure-of-eight is formed by at least one part of the padding being for attachment to another part of the padding so that the at least one part projects between the at least two rails, when the padding is fitted thereto.

8. Padding according to claim 7, wherein the at least one part is fixably attached to the other part by fixing means.

9. Padding according to claim 7, wherein the at least one part is releasably attached to the other part by releasable attachment means.

10. Padding according to claim 9, wherein the arrangement is such that the padding can be fitted to the rails by wrapping the padding therearound and then by attaching the at least one part to the other part using the releasable attachment means.

11. Padding according to any preceding claim, where the padding includes an outer casing and padding means contained within the outer casing, the outer

casing projecting around and between the at least two rails.

12. Padding according to claim 11, wherein the outer casing is of a water proof material.

13. Padding according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the padding and/or the padding means is of resilient material such that the resilience of the padding and/or the padding means causes the padding adjacent to each rail to stand away from the rail, creating a pocket of air between the padding and that rail.

14. Padding according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the padding includes an inner casing arranged such that, when the padding is fitted to the rails, the inner casing is between the padding means and each rail for protecting the padding means from damage that might otherwise result from contact with the rails.

15. Padding according to claim 14, wherein the inner casing is arranged to grip and/or of a material such that it grips one or more of the rails, thereby minimising movement of the padding relative to the rails.

16. Padding according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the padding means is substantially U-shaped in cross section, the open part of the U-shape being for positioning in between rails to which the padding is to be fitted, thereby provided parts of the rails that are most likely to be struck by an occupant with a substantially complete covering of the padding means.

17. Padding according to any preceding claim, wherein the padding has a web of material that is attached or attachable along an edge thereof such that the web is for extending from the padding, under a mattress of a bed to which the padding is fitted, and to similar padding also fitted to the bed for attachment along an edge of the similar padding, the arrangement being such that the web acts to constrain body parts of the occupant within the periphery of the bed.

18. Padding according to claim 17, wherein the web of material is a sheet of material.

19. Padding according to claim 17, wherein the web of material is a mesh or net of material.

20. Padding according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the web of

material is stretchable in at least on direction such that, when the padding and the similar padding are fitted to the bed, the web of material is taught between the padding and the mattress.

21. Padding substantially as described hereinbefore with reference to the accompanying drawings and/or as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2; or in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3 of those drawings.