through the outlet 6 of the pump and may be sterilized and delivered outside the building in
which the bed is located. According to Davis, “[t]he device tends to create a draft of greater or
less strength across the top of the mattress 10, thus promoting ventilation and aiding in
regulating the temperature” (p. 1, ll. 82-85).
Davis lacks members for measuring air temperature in immediate proximity to the
support surface of the mattress and a control unit for controlling the pump depending on the
measured temperature, as called for in independent claim 25. To make up for this deficienc y,
the examiner turns to Yamada.
Yamada discloses an air mat for a surgical bed. The objective of Yamada’s air mat is to
maintain the body temperature of a patient in a cold operating room. In order to do this, a
carbon heater layer 3 is disposed adjacent the lower side of the air mat 5, which is housed in a
bag 6. The air mat 5 comprises a plurality of air cells 1b having closed ends and opened en ds.
Two air supply pipes 2a and 2b extend from a pump P and are al ternately connected to the
o d ends such that the same air pressure source is connected to every second air cell 1pene b.
While the first group of air cells is supplied with compressed air, the air pressure in the second
group of air cells is released. Compressed air is then supplied also to the second group of air
cells. After the second group of air cells is sufficiently pressurized, the pressure in the first
group of air cells is released. A thin temperature detecting element 9 is buried in the upper
portion of the bag 6 to detect a temperature synthesized from the temperature of a body lying
on the bag 6 and a temperature of an air layer disposed thereunder. The temperature
detected by detecting element 9 is used in a control circuit to control the heater 3. Yamada
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Last modified: November 3, 2007