Appeal No. 2006-1667
Application No. 10/775,634
side edges of Gordon’s bladder to provide greater firmness and
support in the center region relative to the side edges to
accommodate the relatively high sleeper’s weight in the center
region.
Accordingly, we are not convinced of reversible error in the
examiner’s rejection of claims 4, 5, 10 and 11.
Claims 6 and 12
Pepe discloses an inflatable pad or mattress having
contiguous air cells, a portion of which span the central region
and have a gradation in at least one dimension relative to air
cells of the foot and/or head region such that the heavier
portions of a persons body contact the higher cells while the
lighter portions contact shorter air cells (abstract; col. 1,
lines 54-64; col. 4, lines 45-47; col. 5, lines 50-57; figures 1,
8 and 9). Pepe thereby achieves a reasonably constant pressure
distribution over the length of the mattress (col. 2, lines 58-
65). Preferably, when a person lies on the mattress some fluid
in the central region shifts to the end regions to allow the
mattress to conform to the person’s back and buttocks, thereby
providing essentially contiguous surface area engagement between
the person’s skin and the mattress and relatively uniform
pressure on the person’s skin over the area of the person’s body
being supported (col. 4, line 63 – col. 5, line 9).
10
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