US 12,290,484 B2
Manifold assembly for pneumatic system
Philippe Legros, Pluneret (FR); Anthony Thepaut, Pluneret (FR); Etienne Yvernault, Brech (FR); Pierre-Yves Le Naour, Quimperle (FR); Mikael Maho, Pluvigner (FR); and Pascal Lemonnier, Locoal Mendon (FR)
Assigned to Hill-Rom Services, Inc., Batesville, IN (US)
Filed by Hill-Rom Services, Inc., Batesville, IN (US)
Filed on Jun. 28, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/851,184.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/216,591, filed on Jun. 30, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2023/0000703 A1, Jan. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. A61G 7/057 (2006.01); A47C 27/08 (2006.01); A47C 27/10 (2006.01); A61H 9/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61G 7/05776 (2013.01) [A61G 7/05769 (2013.01); A47C 27/082 (2013.01); A47C 27/10 (2013.01); A61H 9/0078 (2013.01); Y10T 137/86863 (2015.04)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A patient support apparatus, comprising:
a frame having a supporting surface;
a mattress disposed on the supporting surface, wherein the mattress defines an interior;
bladders disposed within the interior of the mattress; and
a manifold assembly disposed within the interior of the mattress, wherein the manifold assembly is in fluid communication with the bladders, and wherein the manifold assembly includes:
a manifold core having an inlet-connecting aperture in fluid communication with an inlet and outlet-connecting apertures in fluid communication with multiple outlets, respectively, with the inlet on an opposing side of a centerline compared to the multiple outlets, wherein each bladder is in fluid communication with one of the multiple outlets;
a connector coupled to the manifold core, wherein the connector has an inner side defining a recessed region having a connecting portion in fluid communication with a first leg portion extending on a first side of a driveshaft aperture and a second leg portion extending on a second side of the driveshaft aperture, and wherein each of the first and second leg portions includes a groove between the connecting portion and an end of the first and second leg portions, respectively, and further wherein the inner side abuts the manifold core; and
a motor configured to rotate the connector relative to the manifold core to adjust the recessed region relative to the inlet and the multiple outlets and fluidly couple the inlet with at least one of the multiple outlets via an airflow passage defined between the recessed region and an engagement surface of the manifold core, wherein the motor is configured to rotate the connector to position the connecting portion over one of the outlet-connecting apertures and one of the grooves over the inlet-connecting aperture to direct airflow along the airflow passage to one of the bladders.