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The invention relates to a mattress mount unit that is equipped with a paddle, to which is adhered a compressible/expandable foam block, a riser having height extending links that extend upward from the paddle and an air conduit clamp projecting from a distal end of the riser.
The entire contents of U.S. Pat. No. 9,723,932 are incorporated herein by reference. Normally the weight of the mattress is constant and holds the mattress mount paddle in place under the mattress. Such a mattress mount paddle was constructed in accordance with the underlying mattress portion of the mattress mount unit of U.S. Pat. No. 9,723,932 that is equipped with height extending links that adjust a riser distance between a base (paddle) and an air conduit clamp.
The use of the mattress mount unit for some adjustable beds is problematic, such as where the weight of the mattress on the paddle sometimes shifts or even releases with movement of the adjustable bed frame. Often the mattress doesn't conform perfectly to the leg-lifting portion of the adjustable bed frame after lift. As a consequence, the weight of the mattress is eliminated as an effective holding force and such creates a gap in exactly the area that the mattress mount paddle was typically placed (at the foot of the bed). With some very stiff mattresses, this would cause the mattress mount (constructed in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 9,723,932) to move around over time or fall out.
It would therefore be desirable to in effect lock in place the mattress mount unit, without forming a bump under the mattress.
One aspect of the invention resides in a compressible/expandable foam block adhered to an underside of a mattress mount paddle and that slides under a mattress into position. Because the foam is compressed when under the mattress, the mattress mount paddle is equipped, by virtue of the compressible/expandable block, to accommodate increases in the size of variable gaps between the mattress and mattress platform/bedframe that may be caused by adjustable bed frames lifting the leg portion of the bed (the foam just expands to fill the gap). As a consequence, the compressible/expandable foam block provides the paddle with a tighter and harder to move mounting point than without and further does so without creating a significant bump under the mattress.
For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.
Turning to the drawings,
However, the construction of the paddle 12 differs from that of the construction of the base of U.S. Pat. No. 9,723,932. Instead, the paddle 20 in according to
The mattress mount 10 in use is placed underneath a foot-side region of a mattress and atop a flat surface such as a box spring or paddle bed flat surface. As a result, pressure is applied that compresses the foam block 50 and thereby helps retain the paddle 12 in position. The foam block 50 has resilient memory so that it seeks to return to its non-compressed condition. For instance, the foam block 50 under compression accommodate increases in the size of variable gaps between the mattress and mattress platform/bedframe that may be caused by adjustable bed frames lifting the leg portion of the bed. This is because he foam just expands to fill the gap.
While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.