Feedback Control for a Person Support Apparatus with a Mattress Replacement System and Methods for Automatically Pausing a Turn and Hold Operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016353900-A1
Application number	US-201615170300-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 1, 2016
Priority date	Jun 4, 2015
Publication date	Dec 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for triggering a pause event in a turn and hold operation applied to a mattress replacement system of a person support apparatus may include inflating at least one air bladder in only one of a right side portion and a left side portion of the mattress replacement system; detecting, automatically with at least one sensor, a force applied to at least one of a frame of the personal support apparatus and the at least one air bladder as the at least one air bladder is inflated; determining, automatically with a microcontroller communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, if the force applied has a force duration that is greater than a threshold force duration to trigger the pause event; and discontinuing inflation of the at least one air bladder when the pause event is triggered.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for triggering a pause event in a turn and hold operation applied to a mattress replacement system of a person support apparatus, the method comprising:
inflating, automatically with a pump, at least one air bladder in only one of a right side portion or a left side portion of the mattress replacement system, wherein an inflation of the other of the right side portion or the left side portion is not increased; detecting, automatically with at least one sensor, a force applied to at least one of a frame of the person support apparatus and the at least one air bladder as the at least one air bladder is inflated; determining, automatically with a microcontroller communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor, if the force applied to at least one of the frame and the at least one air bladder has a force duration that is greater than a threshold force duration to trigger the pause event; and discontinuing inflation of the at least one air bladder when the pause event is triggered.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold force duration is in a range of from about 3 seconds to about 15 seconds.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is at least one of a pressure transducer associated with the at least one air bladder, a capacitive sensor disposed in the mattress replacement system, and a load sensor disposed in the frame.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor is a pressure transducer associated with the at least one air bladder and measures fluctuations of air pressure over a period of time.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating one or more alerts when the pause event is triggered.

6 . A system comprising:
a person support apparatus including at least one sensor, a frame, and a mattress, the mattress including a plurality of air bladders, wherein the at least one sensor is disposed in at least one of the mattress and the frame; and a microcontroller comprising a processor communicatively coupled to a non-transitory computer storage medium and the at least one sensor, wherein the non-transitory computer storage medium stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
inflate, automatically with a pump, at least one air bladder in only one of a right side portion or a left side portion of the mattress, wherein an inflation of the other of the right side portion or the left side portion is not increased;
detect, automatically with the at least one sensor, a force applied to at least one of the frame of the person support apparatus and the at least one air bladder as the at least one air bladder is inflated;
determine, automatically with the microcontroller, if the force applied to at least one of the frame and the at least one air bladder has a force duration that is greater than a threshold force duration to trigger a pause event; and
discontinue inflation of the at least one air bladder when the pause event is triggered.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the threshold force duration is in a range of from about 3 seconds to about 15 seconds.

8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the threshold force duration is in a range of from about 5 seconds to about 10 seconds.

9 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to provide one or more alerts when at least one of the inflation is initiated and the inflation is discontinued.

10 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to provide one or more alerts when the pause event is triggered.

11 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one sensor is at least one of a pressure transducer associated with the at least one air bladder, a capacitive sensor disposed in the mattress, and a load sensor disposed in the frame.

12 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one sensor is a pressure transducer associated with the at least one air bladder and measures changes of air pressure associated with the applied force with respect to a pressure threshold.

13 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one sensor is a load sensor disposed in the frame.

14 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one sensor is a capacitive sensor disposed in the mattress that measures capacitive change associated with a changeable distance between a pair of plates, wherein the distance is changeable via an application of force on the capacitive sensor, and an output signal of capacitive change associated with the applied force is transmitted when a capacitive change threshold is surpassed.

15 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to resume the inflation after discontinuing the inflation until a hold position is reached and, after a hold time is reached while the mattress is in the hold position, to deflate the at least one air bladder to return the mattress back to a normal resting position.

16 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to deflate the at least one air bladder to return the mattress to a normal resting position after discontinuing inflation and after a hold time is reached.

Assignees

• Hill Rom Services Inc

Inventors

• Williams Joshua A
• Batta Nicholas C
• Shannon Gregory J
• Kerr Andrew Robert

Classifications

• A61G7/1021 Primary

  Inflatable cushions · CPC title

• G05B15/02 Primary

  electric · CPC title

• A47C27/083 Primary

  with pressure control, e.g. with pressure sensors · CPC title

• A61G7/001

  with means for turning-over the patient · CPC title

• G16H40/67

  for remote operation · CPC title