Convective blanket with discontinuous air flow guides and air flow patterns

摘要

A convective blanket has multiple sets of discontinuous bonding strips that bond or attach its upper layer to its lower layer to form a number of air flow guides within the blanket. There is at least one set of substantially parallel discontinuous strips proximate to the air input port of the blanket and another set of substantially parallel discontinuous strips remote from the air input port. For each set of in parallel discontinuous bond strips, the respective distal and proximal ends of each successive strips are aligned with the distal and proximal ends of a corresponding substantially in parallel strip to effect a cross channel so that air flowing along the air flow guide may escape to different sections of the blanket. To output the heated air from the blanket, respective single rows of successively spaced air holes are formed adjacent to and substantially along the length of the discontinuous bond strips that are located proximate to the air input port. For those sets of discontinuous bond strips that are remote from the air input port, there is provided adjacent to and substantially along the length of each of those strips multiple rows of successively spaced holes.

主权项

1. A blanket, comprising:
an upper sheet and a lower sheet each having a periphery, the upper sheet and the lower sheet bonded together at their respective peripheries to form an inflatable structure consisting of the upper and lower sheets, the upper and lower sheets each being air impermeable; at least one air flow channel extending longitudinally along the structure away from a head portion of the structure, the air flow channel being defined by two sets of substantially in parallel non-contiguous strips that selectively bond the upper and lower sheets to each other at least a given distance longitudinally along the structure to form a non-inflatable section of the blanket, there being no other bonding of the upper and lower sheets between the two sets of substantially in parallel non-contiguous strips so that air flows uninterrupted through and is guided by the air flow channel along at least the given distance; wherein each set of the non-contiguous strips has at least two longitudinal strips of non-inflatable sections of the blanket in longitudinal alignment with each other, each of the longitudinal strips has a proximal end and a distal end, the respective proximal and distal ends of each of the strips of one of the two sets of non-contiguous strips being aligned with the respective proximal and distal ends of a corresponding strip for other of the two sets of non-contiguous strips to from at least one cross channel along the air flow channel to enable some of the air flowing through the air flow channel to escape to other sections of the structure; and a substantially rectangular area at a body portion of the structure formed by a substantially rectangular strip that bonds the upper sheet and the lower sheet together, the respective ends of the substantially rectangular strip being separated from each other so that the substantially rectangular area is not completely sealed off from the rest of the structure.