The present invention relates to the field of comfort systems. More particularly, the invention relates to an adjustable mattress in which the mechanism achieving the adjustment is fully contained therein without external parts.
Various forms of beds and mattresses have been used for centuries as a padded surface for supporting a reclining body. It is well known in the field of medicine and hospital beds that a static fully reclined bed and mattress may cause severe health issues, such as infections. The first adjustable bed was introduced in the early 1900's by Dr. Willis Dew Gatch, and to this day Dr. Gatch's basic idea of separating a bed into three segments and tilting each segment separately is practiced in hospitals and medical facilities worldwide.
As it has been realized that besides the health advantages, adjustable beds offer recreational and entertainment solutions, such as reading, watching television and using a laptop computer in bed, adjustable beds have become a common piece of furniture available in household bedrooms.
In many cases after falling asleep in an adjustable bed, there is need in changing the position of the bed. The preferred position for sleeping is usually different from various positions that a bed may be positioned beforehand. Obviously manual changing of the bed's position is impossible after falling asleep. Moreover, additional room parameters, such as lighting, music volume, air-conditioning, TV, etc., as they were set during waking time, may also not be appropriate during sleep. Adjusting such parameters for a sleeping individual would also be highly desirable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a comfort system that is free from the disadvantages of existing products and which is adjustable by means of a mechanism that is fully contained within the boundaries of the mattress (referred to herein also as “mattress mechanism” or simply as “mechanism”). The term “comfort system”, as used herein is meant to encompass adjustable systems suitable for different uses, such as simple sleeping, active resting (such as when reading, watching TV, using a laptop, etc.), as well as for health purposes, such as used in hospitals or at home with infirm or elderly people.
It is therefore another object of the present disclosure to provide an adjustable comfort system capable of automatically obtaining a preferred sleeping position. It is a further object of the invention to provide a comfort system that is adapted to control additional environmental parameters.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.
The present invention relates to an adjustable mattress frame suitable to be fully contained within a mattress, provided with a central body segment and with upper and lower body adjustable segments pivotally connected by one or more hinges to said central body segment, said central body segment being provided with two or more actuation modules suitable to actuate said upper and lower body segments respectively, and to a mattress containing it.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the frame comprises two adjustable segments on opposite sides of the base segment. In some embodiments of the invention, at least one adjustable segment comprises two sections, a first section abutting the base segment and the other section abutting the first section, and wherein sections are adjusted simultaneously.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the first section is actuated in the same manner an adjustable segment if actuated, and the second section comprises a top side pivotally connected by one or more hinges to the first section and a bottom side pivotally connected by arms to the base segment. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the frame further comprises a force absorbing apparatus suitable to absorb forces applied to the second section. In some embodiments of the invention, the frame comprises an upper body segment; a lower body segment; and a central body base segment.
The actuation apparatus typically (but not limitatively) comprises an electric motor, a linear actuator, and a motion-transmission module configured to transmit rotation of the motor to linear motion of the linear actuator. In some cases the at least one adjustable segment is connected to the linear actuator and is actuated thereby. According to another embodiment of the invention, the linear actuator is adapted to produce a linear motion that is transferred to the adjustable segment as a linear motion by levers that are pivotally fixed on one side to the adjustable segment and on the other side to the base segment.
The mattress may further comprise a power source suitable to provide power to the motor. Said power source can for instance be selected from an electrical cable configured to be connected to a power outlet, a battery cell, a rechargeable battery cell and a charge port, a power port configured to receive power from a remote battery cell, or a combination of two or more of said sources. According to some embodiments of the invention, the matters comprises a maintenance opening.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the mechanism (also referred to as “frame”) has a thickness of 8 cm or less, and in some embodiments the mattress does not exceed the height of a standard mattress. According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the boundary material is that of a flexible mattress casing. The padding material can connected, in one instance, on a cover located on the top side of the adjustable frame and separating said frame from said padding material. The padding material can be of any suitable material and, for instance, it may comprise springs, foam, memory foam, gel, latex, or any combination thereof.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to an adjustable twin, king size or queen-size and all sizes of existing mattress system comprising two adjustable frames arranged parallel and adjacent to each other, or integrally formed with one another to create a single double frame, padding material located above each adjustable frame, and flexible mattress-casing means enveloping said adjustable frames. In some embodiments of the present invention the mattress casing means consists of two separate casings comprising a fastening apparatus configured to bind them into a uniform structure and to allow separation thereof.
In a further aspect the invention relates to an adjustable twin, King size or queen-size and all sizes of existing mattress system comprising:
In another aspect the invention relates to an adjustable mattress, wherein the actuation module is adapted to be operated automatically upon determination of a waking/sleeping state of a user.
In one embodiment the adjustable mattress is configured to be automatically brought to a previously defined position of the at least one adjustable segment.
Accordingly, there is also provided an adjustable mattress comprising:
The one or more parameters are typically (but not limitatively) chosen from a list comprising: the weight exerted on the mattress at various locations, sounds produced around the mattress and motion across the mattress. In one embodiment the adjustable mattress is further configured to automatically bring the environmental parameters of room environment systems to a previously defined state.
In another embodiment the control circuitry of the adjustable mattress comprises a machine learning module for autonomously learning habits and preferences, and accordingly defining mattress positions, and for autonomously obtaining the defined mattress positions.
Also encompassed by the invention is an adjustable mattress system comprising an adjustable mattress and a software application with which the previously defined position is defined.
In the drawings:
Reference will now be made to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are provided in the accompanying figures for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods exemplified herein may be employed, mutatis mutandis, without departing from the principles of the invention.
As will be immediately appreciated by the skilled person, the mattress of the invention is unique in that its mechanism is completely contained within the mattress and encased thereby, with no parts of the mechanism being located outside the contours of the mattress. This is distinct from previous attempts made to provide adjustable surfaces, such as that described in EP 2374376, which is needed to function to possess balancing bars that extend from the adjustment mechanism to the bedding, so as to make the mattress portion a part of the bedding which cannot be easily moved to a desired location, or that of U.S. Pat. No. 7,690,060, which similarly requires an external stabilization structure, both which teach away from the invention. Moreover, the dimensions of the bed described in the aforementioned EP application are not those of a regular mattress, since the dimensions it achieves are 8 inches (20.32 cm), while, as will be further described below, the invention allows to provide a mechanism that is much thinner and the thickness of which will typically not exceed 8 cm. The aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, in contrast, are those that made it impractical and caused it to fail.
As said, the adjustable mattress frame of the invention has the considerable advantage of being thin, thus permitting its full incorporation in a mattress of regular size and thickness. The typical total height of frame 101 can be, for instance, 5-7.5 cm or even less if desired. Several different motors can be selected for actuating the frame, and those can be provided with different sizes.
Persons skilled in the art will easily provide actuating motors that are capable of delivering the required power. An illustrative and non-limitative example of a motor that is suitable for operating a frame according to the invention is an OD-11 electric motor available from ODIN® (www.odin-manufacture.com, China), which generates a maximal thrusting force of 6000N for the linear actuator to extend 50 mm, with a low noise operation in a 77 mm high package. In one exemplary embodiment the following specification can be used for a motor:
Table 1 shows examples of suitable configurations:
A controller adapted for two users (double mattress or two coupled single mattresses) may for instance have the following specifications:
A system that utilizes such controller is schematically illustrated in
In contrast, the configuration of
The following illustrative specifications apply to an exemplary remote control:
The term “smartphone” as used herein should be understood to encompass any smart device, such as tablets, PCs, etc. The Application running on the smartphone, be it using iOS or Android, should support all the functions of a remote control and should preferably allow for voice control via conventional tools such as Google, Siri, Amazon Echo, Alexa, etc. Moreover, control of the system can be allowed, if desired, via Wi-Fi, cloud services, and the like external systems.
The frame and the elements that actuate it can be made of any suitable material that can withstand the mechanical forces applied thereto. Depending on the weight requirements for the final product, material such as industrial steel or other metal can be used, as well as light composite materials. Of course, the type of materials employed for the frame and its actuation will also affect the thickness of the assembly, as well as its weight and cost, and the skilled person will easily select the appropriate materials for an intended use.
It is noted that the present invention is not limited to a three-segment frame, and may be performed with any other number of segments, e.g. four segments.
When upper body segment 101a is tilted (i.e. not fully reclined) it is supported solely by center body segment 101b. Accordingly, motor 401 is required to resist the horizontal component of the torque collapsing force applied by upper body segment 101a being leaned upon. According to an embodiment of the present invention, motor 401 is capable of withstanding a load of up to 6000 Newton which is fairly enough relative to the weight applied by an average weighted person leaning on upper body segment 101a. Furthermore, the vertical component of force applied to the upper body segment is transferred to substructure 302, which is statically situated as the base of frame 101.
Thigh section 501 is connected, in this specific embodiment, to substructure 302 in the same manner that upper body segment 101a is connected thereto. The bottom side of calf section 502 is linked to substructure 302 by arms 503, while the top side of calf section 502 is axially connected to thigh section 501 by hinges 504 (one of which is seen in the figure) thereby separating between the thigh and calf sections during tilting, as demonstrated in
Motor 505 is configured to resist the torque force applied by lower body segment 101c being leaned upon, much like motor 401 and upper body segment 101a. Arms 503 are further used for transferring collapsing forces from calf section 502 to substructure 302 which serves as the base of the adjustable frame 101. Of course, the arms 503 shown in this exemplary embodiment can be substituted by any other element that serves the purpose of allowing the tilting movement of calf section 502, for instance, a separate motor.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, arms 503 comprise a force-absorbing apparatus, such as springs, pistons or other force absorbing apparatus, suitable to absorb forces applied to calf section 502. This embodiment is beneficial for preventing breaking of the connection between the calf section and thigh section or substructure 302 caused by heavy loads applied to calf section 502 and motor 505 being static and force-unabsorbent. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention arms 503 are gas springs such as gas spring 120 shown in
In order to control electric motors 401 and 505, an electrical cable (104 in
According to an embodiment of the invention, an opening 105 (
In contrast to common adjustable twin beds, where two mattresses may be separately adjusted by adjusting the bed's base beneath each mattress, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a large mattress (e.g. king- or queen-size) comprises two side-by-side frames 101 and two independent padding apparatuses 102, each on a frame 101, in order to adjust each side of the mattress separately. The flexible casing of the mattress comprises a fastening apparatus (e.g. a zipper) configured to bind the two independent padding apparatuses to a uniform large mattress and to allow separating of the mattress, for instance when separate adjusting is desired.
Frame 101 occupies a portion of the height of mattress 100, although it may be designed such that the height of the metal profiles, motors and other components of frame 101 allow padding apparatus to be high enough to provide the padding and comfort of a standard mattress while not exceeding the height of a standard mattress. According to an embodiment of the invention, the height of every component in frame 101 is 80 mm or less, leaving plenty of height for padding the mattress.
Referring back to
Some parameters that can be measured by sensor(s) 106 and that indicate sleeping state include, but are not limited to:
Moreover, additional sensors can be provided in the frame or within the padding material, to sense parameters not related to the user but rather to the surroundings, such as for instance, temperature. Environmental parameters, e.g., light, sounds, state of equipment such as a TV set, etc., may also be sensed by sensors outside the mattress, which are found in data connection with the mattress' controller, for instance, via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or physical connection, directly or via cloud connection.
Bed frame 101 further comprises a control circuitry 107 (
Therefore, the adjustable comfort system of the invention may comprise an apparatus suitable to automatically bring the comfort system to a preferred sleeping position by the operation of an automatic position changing apparatus comprising sensing circuitry suitable to identify a user sleep state (e.g. whether or not a user has fallen asleep) and control circuitry suitable to control the position of the comfort system based on the identified sleep state.
According to an embodiment, control circuitry 107 is connected to various systems that control mattress 100's room environment, e.g. light switch, air conditioner, audio system, etc. In this embodiment, upon determining that an individual has fallen asleep the room environment systems are automatically brought to a predefined state by control circuitry 107 (for instance lights are turned off, temperature of the air conditioner is lowered and the audio system is muted). In this embodiment, therefore, controller 107 not only controls the operation of the adjustable mattress, but also the environment in which the mattress is located.
Programming of control circuitry 107 to user preferences can be performed so as to define the position to which mattress 100 is brought upon determining a sleeping state. Accordingly, a software application (not shown in the figures) is provided, with which a user may choose and define preferred positions. The software application can further be used for defining preferred states of room environment systems. Software applications can be provided in a dedicated appliance, or can be actuated from a mobile device, such as a mobile phone or a tablet. Moreover, control circuitry 107 can be adapted to change the aforementioned environmental parameters, or maybe in data connection, wired or wirelessly, with an external device that receives data relative to the sleeping state of the individual using the mattress and operates on the environmental parameters accordingly.
According to an embodiment, the processing unit of control circuitry 107 comprises a machine learning module capable of autonomously learning user habits and preferences and accordingly defining positions for different states. In this aspect, mattress 100 is an autonomous mattress suitable to autonomously accommodate its position to the activity and sleeping state of individuals.
Control circuitry 107 comprises a communications module suitable to communicate with the various abovementioned elements, i.e. sensor(s) 106, the upper and lower body actuation modules 301a and 301b, and, in some embodiments, environment control systems and mobile devices. Embodiments of the connection between the various elements and the communications module include wired connections, wireless connections and a combination of the two.
Having described the mechanism and its operation, it is useful to list and appreciate some of the characteristics it imparts to the mattress containing it:
Although embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may be carried out with many variations, modifications, and adaptations, without exceeding the scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
258387 | Mar 2018 | IL | national |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 16221713 | Dec 2018 | US |
Child | 16364263 | US |