US PATENT CLASS 5
Class Notes
Current as of: June, 1999
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DEFINITION
Classification: 5/
This class relates to devices intended to receive the human body in a prone, supine, or sitting position for the purpose of repose, examination, or treatment. This class includes, devices ordinarily known as beds, examining tables, operating tables, hammocks, cradles, cribs, cots, camp beds, groundmats, sleeping bags, and bed accessories, such as mattresses, pillows, surgical supports, and bed clothing.
NOTES TO THE CLASS DEFINITION
(1) Note. Excluded from this class are mosquito nets and canopies attached to or attachable to a bed or bedstead structure via a clamp, screws, bolts, or other separate, discreet fastening devices designed to be used on an existing bed (i.e., no modification of the bed or bedstead).
(2) Note. Surgical supports for all parts of the human body, and surgical supports that are adapted to support animals or parts of animals, are included in this class.
(3) Note. Art in this class has historically required that the device receive the body for the purpose of repose. Exceptions to this requirement are subclasses which include field stretchers, and subclasses which include invalid beds and surgical supports.
(4) Note. Art in this class requires some structural modification to materials to adapt them for body support. The mere recitation of a support, wherein the novelty resides in a chemical composition for the support, would not suffice for inclusion in this class; it would place the application in the appropriate composition art area.
REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES
SEE OR SEARCH CLASS 4, Baths, Closets, Sinks, and Spittoons, appropriate subclasses for body supports associated with washing or bathing a user, or associated with a user while using a toilet.
29, Metal Working,
91+, for methods of making upholstered articles.
105, Railway Rolling Stock, appropriate subclasses for modification of car structure to form berths and bunks.
108, Horizontally Supported Planar Surfaces,
1+, for a horizontal planar supporting surface which provides a tiltable supporting surface.
114, Ships,
192+, for self-leveling berths and bed structure specific to use on ships.
128, Surgery,
869+, for restraining and immobilizing devices.
135, Tent, Canopy, Umbrella, or Cane,
121+, and Cross-Reference Art Collection 913 for canopy frames and mosquito net covers. 182, Fire Escape, Ladder, or Scaffold,
34, for a ladder convertible bed structure.
190, Trunks and Hand-Carried Luggage,
2, for trunks and baggage convertible to beds.
248, Supports,
118+, for arm rests and headrests not associated with devices under the class definition.
267, Spring Devices,
80+, for spring panels and subclasses 142+ for cushion for human comfort.
296, Land Vehicles: Bodies, and Tops,
19+, for ambulances, subclasses 156+ for camping vehicles, and appropriate subclasses, for vehicle structure (except seats) involving parts thereof convertible into beds.
297, Chairs and Seats, appropriate subclasses, for devices for supporting a seated occupant. 378, X-Ray or Gamma Ray Systems or Devices,
209, for tables for supporting a person in combination with X-ray apparatus which often have manipulation of supports for parts of the body similar to adjustments of invalid beds.
428, Stock Material or Miscellaneous Articles,
12, for a collapsible article; subclass 16 for treated fauna; subclasses 17+ for treated flora; subclass 71 for sheet including cover encasing foam; subclass 74 for sheet including cover encasing, noninterengaged, fibered material (e.g., batt); subclass 101 for superposed movable attached layers; subclasses 102+ for web or sheet including stitching and discrete fastener, coating, or bond; subclass 116 for a honeycomb-like web or sheet; subclass 178 for nonplanar uniform thickness material with cells; subclasses 304.4+ for composite material having voids in a component; subclasses 357+ for coated or structurally defined flake, particle, cell, strand, strand portion, rod, filament, macroscopic fiber, or mass thereof; subclasses 402+ for particulate matter; subclasses 443+ for composite laminate including asbestos; subclass 903 for microfiber; and subclasses 920+ for fire or heat protection feature.
441, Buoys, Rafts, and Aquatic Devices,
125+, for a waterproof mattress or cushion having special features to convert it into a life raft or having a special shape or fastening means to enable it to conform to or secure a person's body.
482, Exercise Devices, particularly
142+, for a support for the entire body of the user, e.g., a bench, slant board, etc., used for an exercise purpose.
600, Surgery,
9+, for magnetic devices used for therapy.
601, Surgery: Kinesitherapy, 49+, 86, 90, 98, 115+, and 146 for body support vibrator; subclasses 154+ for lavative devices; and subclass 158 for lavative device with applicator having specific movement on a couch.
607, Surgery: Light, Thermal, and Electrical Application,
104+, especially 107, for thermal applicators.
D6, Furnishings,
331, 382+, 505+, 596+, and other appropriate subclasses for designs for devices under the class definition.