Patent Application
20130174344
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1. Field of the Invention
Mattresses with multiple layers are disclosed herein.
2. Description of the Background of the Invention
Manufacturers of mattresses have made significant improvements in mattress comfort in recent decades. One innovation that has contributed to the improvement in mattress comfort is the introduction of foams. A primary foam material used by manufacturers is polyurethane foam.
Foams have numerous characteristics, including density and firmness, that contribute to the “feel” of the mattress. Density refers to the amount of gas-containing cells within a foam matrix. Firmness refers to the rigidity of the matrix, such as polyurethane, itself. Therefore, by varying the density and firmness of a foam, one may provide a mattress having a different “feel.” Further, by combining layers of different types of foams, a multitude of different mattresses possessing a broad spectrum of “feel” may be produced. However, problems persist in foam-containing mattresses. For example, many manufacturers utilize foams that have a more closed-cell structure, which restricts air flow through the mattress resulting in poor heat dissipation or transfer away from an individual resting upon the mattress.
Another problem with current approaches to mattress manufacture relates to the effective support of an individual on the mattress. Many foams are not able to conform well to the curves of an individual's body and provide poor support by focusing the individual's weight on a couple of points on the foam rather than along the entire length of the foam adjacent to the individual's body. This is due to a phenomenon referred to as “bottoming out” where the individual's weight on the foam compacts the foam to a point where resilience is lost. Typical foams bottom out and exhibit a hard “feel” as they are compacted by the weight of an individual's body.
In light of the above, there exists a need for an improvement in the materials and methods used for manufacturing beds to provide greater comfort. Incorporation of new materials into mattresses that improve air flow and cooling through better heat dissipation is desirable. Moreover, the use of materials that simultaneously improve heat dissipation while providing better support would provide a marked improvement in the bedding industry.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a component includes a first layer and a second layer affixed to the first layer or an optional third layer. At least one of the first layer and the second layer comprises a gel foam.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a bedding component includes a top portion and a middle portion having a foam core, wherein the middle portion is affixed to a bottom surface of the top surface with an adhesive. The bedding component further includes a bottom portion. At least one of the top portion, the foam core, and the bottom portion comprises a gel foam.
According to a further aspect of the present disclosure, a mattress includes a gel foam topper layer, a core layer disposed beneath the gel foam topper layer and having at least one of a foam core, a gel foam core, a latex core, an inner spring layer, or a layer of individually wrapped coils. The mattress further includes a fire-resistant layer affixed beneath a bottom surface of the core layer and a fire-resistant sock that encloses at least the core layer and the fire-resistant layer.
The present disclosure relates to layered components, such as a bedding component, including mattresses, cushions, pillows, mattress supports, such as box springs, pads, mats, and the like. Components of the present disclosure may be constructed of multiple layers as described hereinbelow to provide a desired effect, such as a firm feel, a heat dissipating feel, a soft feel, and the like, to a user resting on a top surface thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the layered components include a gel foam placed therein or thereon.
The contemplated components may be part of a conventional item of furniture, such as a bed equipped with a bed frame. In this scenario, the component may be a mattress that is placed upon the bed frame, perhaps atop of a box spring or other mattress support. As an alternative, the component may form an integral part of an item of furniture. For example, the component may be in the form of a padded sleeping surface of a foldable cot, wherein the sleeping surface incorporates one or more structural components of a support frame of the cot. In this way, the sleeping surface is affixed to the support frame of the cot. In other examples, the component may be a cushion of a chair or a couch, a throw pillow, a pet pillow, a portion of a car seat, or any other padded surface.
Components may be of any desired size according to the intended use. In the context of mattresses, a mattress may have a length of about 73 to about 82 inches and a width of about 37 to about 75 inches. However, a mattress may be shorter or longer. Indeed, many mattresses may be manufactured to conform to standard size conventions, such as, a crib mattress size, a twin bed size, a twin XL size, a full bed size, a full XL size, a queen bed size, a king bed size, and a California king size.
In one embodiment depicted in
Layers may be affixed by any suitable means known in the art. Layers may be sprayed-on, injection molded, extruded, coextruded, laminated, and the like. In several preferred embodiments, layers may be stapled, tacked, welded, laminated, mechanically affixed via friction or interference fit, adhered via an adhesive, a glue, a cement, or other material with adhesive properties, stitched, affixed via hook and loop fastener, a zipper, a Dennison-style tag, snaps, and/or other reversible means.
In one embodiment, the layers of
An alternate adhesive application pattern may be used to adhere a fire-resistant layer directly to a bottom surface of the middle portion 14, such as a foam core, or intermediate portion 17, of the component. As is seen in
Component layers may be of any thickness. For example, in several preferred embodiments, the component layer is less than or about ½ inch, less than or about 1 inch, less than or about 2 inches, less than or about 3 inches, less than or about 4 inches, less than or about 5 inches, less than or about 6 inches, less than or about 8 inches, or less than or about 12 inches, and all thicknesses in between. Component layers may also be of varying widths and lengths that are not necessarily tied to the size of the component. For example, a mattress may include a first layer with a first width and a second layer with a second width, where the first width is wider or narrower than the second width. When a layer is wider than the component, it may be folded in upon itself or folded upwardly or downwardly along the side of the component to form a portion of a sidewall of the component. Similar variability with respect to layer length is also possible.
Layers may include a fabric, a natural fiber, a synthetic fiber, a ticking layer, a quilt layer, a thread layer, a film, a foam, a gel, a gel foam, a woven layer, a nonwoven layer, a fire-resistant layer, a non-skid layer, and combinations thereof. A component core layer may be any mattress core construction including a foam core, a gel foam core, latex core, an inner spring layer, or a layer of individually wrapped coils. For example, fire-resistant layers contemplated for use herein include PFG880 Precision Fabrics Group (Greensborough, N.C.) and Tietex C243 (Tietex International, Ltd., Spartanburg, S.C.). Additional fire resistant fabrics may include materials comprising fire-resistant polyesters and/or fire-resistant rayon, and the like. Further, additional materials that may be used in the construction of the components contemplated herein include those disclosed in Attorney Docket Nos. 135845.01311, entitled “Bedding Component With Fire-resistant Laminate,” and 135845.01312, entitled “Method for Providing a Fire-resistant Component,” each filed on the same date as the present disclosure (numbers to be assigned).
In another embodiment, a layer may further include an adhesive, such as a hot melt, water-based or pressure sensitive adhesive. Adhesives that may be used in the present disclosure include any adherent materials or fasteners known in the art. Specific examples of adhesives include hot melt, water-based, and pressure-sensitive adhesives, fire-resistant adhesives, and mixtures thereof. Hot melt adhesives that may be used include those available from Henkel (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and UPACO adhesives available from Worthen Industries (Nashua, N.H.). Water-based adhesives that may be used include water-based adhesives under the SIMALFA brand available from Alfa Adhesives, Inc. (Hawthorne, N.J.). Further, a layer may further include a silica, a metallic layer, a plastic, such as an acrylic, a modacrylic, a polyolefin, a latex, a polyurethane, and combinations and/or blends thereof. In addition, a layer may further include biocides, preservatives, odor blocking agents, scents, pigments, dyes, stain guards, antistatic agents, antisoiling agents, water-proofing agents, moisture wicking agents, and the like, as are known in the art.
One particular material contemplated herein is foam, such as a polyurethane or latex-containing foam. Foams contemplated herein may vary by density, firmness, as may be measured by indentation force deflection (IFD) or other suitable metrics, and thickness, among other characteristics. One example of a foam that may be used is KOOLCOMFORT foam. Additional foams contemplated are available from Advanced Urethane Technologies (West Chicago, Ill.). The characteristics of a foam layer may be chosen based on whether the layer is to be placed within the top portion 12, the middle portion 14, the bottom portion 16, or the intermediate portion 17 of the component (see
Another particular material contemplated herein is a gel foam. Gels include a solid three-dimensional molecular network that comprise a substantially cross-linked system of particles distributed in a gelatinous matrix of any form, shape or size which exhibit no or substantially no flow when at steady-state. Discrete gel particles or articles can have physical properties ranging from soft-to-hard and weak-to-tough. Gels have defined and sustainable shapes supported by a continuous three-dimensional network of cross-linked particles. Gel foams are a binary system of dissimilar materials in which the continuous phase may be a polyurethane foam or a similar suitable material, and one or more gels is infused or integrated into the continuous phase as discrete particles, beads or other shapes thereby modifying the support factor, thermal capacitance, and/or thermal conductance characteristics. In this way, heat dissipation capacity and additional comfort may be incorporated into a component of the present disclosure.
Contemplated gel foams may or may not be memory foams. Additional materials contemplated include memory foams, which may be a memory gel foam and/or a latex gel foam. A memory foam exhibits a slow return to its original form once compacted by a weight. Further, memory foams are activated by temperature of user's body, in that, memory foams soften where they come in contact with user's body and thereby more easily conform to the user's body curves. One type of a memory foam is a slow response latex foam.
Layers, such as foam layers, may be monolithic or may include multiple portions of the same or different materials affixed together, as shown in
In addition to the embodiment depicted in
As another alternative, the attributes of the embodiments depicted in
In a further embodiment, the lines 44 and 46a-d may demarcate different materials included in the layer 40, such as different foams. These lines of demarcation may indicate affixation points of separate materials or gradient changes from one material to another of a single portion.
A further layer contemplated includes a fire-resistant material that is laminated to a bottom surface of the component. Typically, the fire-resistant laminate is adhered to a bottom surface of a foam layer. In the context of a mattress, the fire-resistant layer may be a non-skid material, which helps prevent the mattress from sliding when placed on top of a mattress support, such as a box spring. One example of a non-skid material is a velour, though additional materials are contemplated. Fire-resistant materials useful as laminates include fabrics, spun-bonded materials, stitch-bonded materials, woven materials, nonwoven materials, films, and other flexible and/or stretchable materials that are made of inherently fire-resistant threads or that have been treated with or constructed to include a fire-resistant material or both. In one particular embodiment, the fire-resistant material may include PFG880 and PFG 6009-5006 barrier filler cloth, which has a basis weight of about 4.5 to about 6.1 oz/yd2, available from Precision Fabrics Group (Greensborough, N.C.), and Tietex C243, which has a basis weight of about 5.0 oz/yd2 and is available from Tietex International, Ltd. (Spartanburg, S.C.).
The fire-resistant layer provides additional rigidity to the edges and corners of the bottom surface of a foam layer, which enables the component to be better tailored within a fabric cover when the fire-resistant laminate is at the bottom surface of the component. In addition, the fire-resistant layer adds to the durability of the bottom surface of the component against normal wear and tear. Components constructed with a fire-resistant laminate bottom layer may be used in the assembly of components, such as mattresses, and thereby enable the production of mattresses with improved fire-resistance compared to conventional mattresses.
Another type of layer considered includes a sock layer that completely surrounds one or more layers. For example, the sock layer may be made of a fire-resistant material and therefore help protect layers disposed therein from open flame. One fire-resistant sock material that may be used is Springs Creative fire-resistant sock available from Springs Creative (Rock Hill, S.C.), which is made of about 61% modacrylic and about 39% silica (fiberglass), has a density of about 7.0 oz/yd2, and a thickness of about 0.02 inches. While the fire-resistant laminates of the present disclosure may be rigid materials, fire-resistant socks are typically “transparent” to the feel of the component. Therefore, in the context of a mattress, the fire-resistant sock is not readily noticeable by an individual resting thereon. Fire-resistant socks of this type may confer fire-resistance to materials enclosed therein when the fire-resistant sock is closed by an adhesive and/or a thread or yarn including fire-resistant threads or yarns. Specific examples of fire-resistant threads include Tex 50 para-amid thread and similar threads, available from Saunders (Gastonia, N.C.) and 12/1 para-amid yarn and similar yarns available from Pharr Yarns (McAdenville, N.C.).
Fire-resistant laminates and fire-resistant socks provide advantages over conventional components, such as mattresses. For example, fire-resistant laminates and socks provide char barriers that retard combustion of the component when contacted with an open flame. Further, the fire-resistant laminates and socks control the flow of gases and molten foam, such as polyurethane, from components exposed to open flame. By controlling the flow of flammable material from a component when exposed to flame, fire-resistant laminates and socks effectively limit the amount of fuel that could contribute to a fire.
Another embodiment is depicted in
In a further embodiment shown in
A further embodiment, depicted in
In another embodiment shown in
The components disclosed herein provide improvements in comfort for mattresses and other cushioned furniture. The disclosure has been presented in an illustrative manner in order to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the disclosure, and the terminology used is intended to be in the nature of description rather than of limitation. It is understood that the disclosure may be practiced in ways other than as specifically disclosed, and that all modifications, equivalents, and variations of the present disclosure, which are possible in light of the above teachings and ascertainable to a person of ordinary skill in the art, are specifically included within the scope of the claims. All patents and patent applications disclosed herein are incorporated by reference herein, in their entireties.
