Importance

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Abstract

An adaptive cushion apparatus for minimizing force concentrations on body parts of a person seated or lying on a chair or bed includes an overlay cushion having a plurality of individual air bladder cells, each having thereon a stretchable piezoresistive force sensor of novel design and construction. The apparatus includes an electro-pneumatic control system for inflating and deflating individual air bladder cells to pressures measured by a pressure transducer which tend to minimize force concentrations sensed by the force sensors. A force minimization method according to the invention includes varying the inflation pressure in a first air bladder cell while measuring the sum of the forces exerted on all air bladder cells, repressurizing the first cell to that pressure for which a minimum total force was obtained, repeating the cyclical variation in pressure and re-inflation to a minimum force-obtaining pressure for each of the remaining air bladder cells, and repeating the sequence for all air bladder cells until the force variations are minimized below a predetermined threshold value.

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First Claim