This application is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202311726681.5, filed on Dec. 14, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of fluid mattresses, and in particular relates to a sponge, an air mattress, and a sponge fabrication process.
An existing air mattress is filled with a layer of sponge inside, making the air mattress more comfortable and warmer than an air mattress without the sponge filling. However, since the entire layer of sponge is arranged in the air mattress, the weight of the air mattress is greatly increased, making it inconvenient to use.
In order to reduce the weight of the air mattress and improve the comfort of use, the sponge inside the air mattress can be vertically punched to form holes, and the formed holes are matched with corresponding positions of the sponge to provide different patterns. Due to these holes, the weight of the air mattress is reduced at the same area, providing more choices for consumers and making the air mattress easy to carry.
However, in the actual fabrication process, punching holes on the entire sponge for preparing the sponge can cause sponge waste, environmental pollution, and low sponge utilization.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems existing in the prior art, an objective of the present disclosure is to provide a sponge, an air mattress, and a sponge fabrication process.
An aspect of the present disclosure provides a sponge, including a sponge body, where the sponge body includes a plurality of geometric sponge blocks that are connected to each other; the sponge body is a whole under a normal condition; and when an external force is applied, some sponge blocks rotate, while the remaining sponge blocks move, to allow the sponge body to expand, and gaps are formed between the plurality of adjacent sponge blocks.
In some implementations, the sponge body is provided with a plurality of cutting seams; the sponge body is divided into the plurality of geometric sponge blocks through the cutting seams; and there is at least one connecting part between each two adjacent sponge blocks. In this way, the sponge body can be divided into a plurality of sponge blocks. When an external force is applied, the sponge blocks expand in all directions to increase an area. The connecting part is configured to connect the two adjacent sponge blocks.
In some implementations, when an external force is applied to expand the sponge body, the plurality of sponge blocks and the gaps form a regular geometric pattern.
In some implementations, the sponge is made of a polyurethane foam material and is suitable for both outdoor and household air mattresses.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an expanded sponge. The expanded sponge is bonded onto the fabric to create the gaps between adjacent sponge blocks under the normal condition.
When the expanded sponge is bonded onto the fabric, the gaps are formed, which are equivalent to the holes formed by a conventional vertical punching method.
In some implementations, the sponge body has a density of 14-50 kg/m3.
In some implementations, the sponge body has a thickness of 2.5-25 cm.
Another aspect of the present disclosure further provides an air mattress, including an air mattress body and an expanded sponge, where the sponge is filled in the air mattress body, and the air mattress body is provided with a pattern.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a sponge fabrication process, including the following steps:
In some implementations, the sponge fabrication process further includes the following steps:
The present disclosure has the following beneficial effects:
1. In the present disclosure, the sponge is provided with cutting seams. When an external force is applied, the sponge is expanded, and the gaps are formed, which are equivalent to holes formed by a conventional vertical punching method.
2. Compared to an air mattress that requires punching on the entire sponge, the air mattress in the present disclosure does not require punching. Instead, the present disclosure only requires cutting the sponge and applying an external force to expand the sponge, thereby forming gaps (corresponding to conventional holes). After the sponge of the present disclosure is combined with the air mattress body, a pattern is formed. The present disclosure avoids waste materials formed by punching holes, and is environmentally friendly.
Reference Numerals: 1. sponge body; 11. sponge block; and 12. cutting seam.
The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely a part rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by those skilled in the technical field of the present disclosure. The terms used in the specification of the present disclosure herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. The term “and/or” used herein includes one or more of the associated items listed.
The following is a comprehensive description of the present disclosure.
A sponge includes sponge body 1. The sponge body 1 includes a plurality of geometric sponge blocks 11 that are connected to each other. Under a normal condition, that is, when no external force (including adhesion and other fixing methods) is applied to the sponge body 1, the sponge body 1 is a whole. There is certain elasticity between each two sponge blocks 11, so there is no gap between each two adjacent sponge blocks 11. Specifically, there is no space between each two adjacent sponge blocks 11. When an external force is applied, some sponge blocks 11 rotate, while the remaining sponge blocks 11 move, to allow the sponge body 1 to expand. After the sponge body 1 is expanded, gaps are formed between the plurality of adjacent sponge blocks 11. Specifically, the gaps indicate the spaces formed between each two adjacent sponge blocks 11.
The sponge body 1 is provided with a plurality of cutting seams 12. The sponge body 1 is divided into the plurality of geometric sponge blocks 11 through the cutting seams 12. There is at least one connecting part between each two adjacent sponge blocks 11. In this way, the sponge body 1 can be divided into a plurality of sponge blocks 11. When an external force (such as stretching or pasting) is applied, the sponge blocks 11 expand in all directions to increase an area. The connecting part is configured to connect the two adjacent sponge blocks 11.
The cutting seams are preferably formed by a cutting tool. Of course, other methods can also be used to form the cutting seams. In this way, the cutting seams are formed on the sponge body 1, and after an external force is applied to expand the sponge body 1, the gaps are formed between the plurality of adjacent sponge blocks 11.
Before an external force is applied to the sponge body 1, the cutting seams 12 are fine seams. Regarding the cutting seams 12, there are gaps between each two adjacent sponge blocks 11. After an external force is applied, due to the characteristic of the sponge body 1, the sponge blocks will not fully return. That is to say, after the external force is applied, there are gaps of a certain size formed, with a width ranging between a width of a fully expanded gap and a width of the cutting seam.
When an external force is applied to expand the sponge body 1, the plurality of sponge blocks 11 and the gaps form a regular geometric pattern. The geometric pattern is related to the positions of the cutting seams. In the actual production process, the positions and number of the cutting seams can be calculated and set based on the pattern formed after the sponge body 1 is expanded.
The sponge body 1 is made of a polyurethane foam material and is suitable for both outdoor and household air mattresses. In other embodiments, the sponge body 1 can be made of other materials according to actual usage needs.
In order to more intuitively demonstrate the sponge of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is described below in conjunction with specific drawings. In order to make the drawings more intuitive, some drawings are presented in gray and white. For example, as shown in
A further detailed description of the present disclosure is provided below according to the specific embodiments shown in
As shown in
According to
There are three connecting parts formed between the triangular sponge block 11 and the adjacent hexagonal sponge blocks 11, denoted {circle around (1)}, {circle around (2)}, and {circle around (3)} in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the sponge body 1 is made of a polyurethane foam material and is suitable for both outdoor and household air mattresses. In other embodiments, the sponge body 1 can be made of other materials according to actual usage needs.
A detailed description of the expanding process of the sponge in the present disclosure is provided below according to
1. Before expanding, as shown in
When the triangle unit 1 rotates to the angle shown in
When the triangle unit 1 rotates to the angle shown in
A further detailed description of the present disclosure is provided below according to the specific embodiments shown in
As shown in
According to
There are three connecting parts formed between the triangular sponge block 11 and the adjacent Y-shaped sponge blocks 11, denoted {circle around (1)}, {circle around (2)}, and {circle around (3)} in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the sponge body 1 is made of a polyurethane foam material and is suitable for both outdoor and household air mattresses. In other embodiments, the sponge body 1 can be made of other materials according to actual usage needs.
A detailed description of the expanding process of the sponge in the present disclosure is provided below according to
1. Before expanding, as shown in
When the triangle unit 1 rotates to the angle shown in
When the triangle unit 1 rotates to the angle shown in
A further detailed description of the present disclosure is provided below according to the specific embodiments shown in
As shown in
According to
There are three connecting parts formed between the small square sponge block 11 and the adjacent large square sponge blocks 11, denoted (1, 2, and 3) in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the sponge body 1 is made of a polyurethane foam material and is suitable for both outdoor and household air mattresses. In other embodiments, the sponge body 1 can be made of other materials according to actual usage needs.
A detailed description of the expanding process of the sponge in the present disclosure is provided below according to
1. Before expanding, as shown in
When the small square unit 1 rotates to the angle shown in
When the small square unit 1 rotates to the angle shown in
In summary, the shape and size of the pattern are changed by changing the number and positions of the cutting seams, such that the sponge expands in the XY directions to present hole patterns with different sizes and shapes, as shown in
The focus of the present disclosure is to set the cutting seams 12 on the sponge body 1. When an external force is applied to the sponge body 1, it can cause the cutting seams 12 to rotate, thereby forming the gaps. Finally, the gaps and the sponge blocks form the geometric pattern.
According to the number and positions of cutting seams, the expanded area of the sponge body 1 can be adjusted. The expanded area of the sponge body 1 can become 1.1 to 2 times the original area of the sponge body, with an expansion ratio of 10-100%.
In the present disclosure, the excess waste generated by forming the cutting seams is much smaller than that generated by a conventional vertical punching method, greatly reducing the sponge material and subsequent processing cost, and greatly improving the sponge utilization. In addition, the present disclosure reduces waste generation, thereby reducing carbon emissions in production, and practicing the concept of environmental protection.
The depth of the gap (hole) refers to the thickness of the sponge body 1 or the sponge block 11 (through-hole state). A minimum distance between each two adjacent gaps (holes) in all solutions is 2-8 mm.
As the rotating shaft, the geometric sponge block 11 needs to rotate 30-90° until it is fully expanded. When a mechanical force applied is removed and the sponge is placed on a platform, the sponge in its natural state slightly retracts. But if no force is applied to cause the sponge to gather inward, the sponge will not return to its unexpanded state.
The moved geometric sponge block 11 can be omitted, but the geometric sponge block 11 as the rotating shaft cannot be omitted.
In the present disclosure, the sponge in an expanded state can be bonded to a fabric through a certain bonding process to form an inflatable product. For example, the sponge in a fully expanded state can be applied to an air mattress or a normal mattress. In the present disclosure, the main protected object of the sponge is the sponge body.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an expanded sponge. The expanded sponge is bonded onto the fabric to create the gaps between adjacent sponge blocks 11 under the normal condition. Compared with the sponge mentioned above, the expanded sponge includes a fabric, and there are gaps between adjacent sponge blocks 11 under a normal condition. The normal condition refers to a situation where there is no external force applied.
When the expanded sponge is bonded onto the fabric, the gaps are formed, which are equivalent to the holes formed by a conventional vertical punching method.
In addition, this embodiment further provides an air mattress, including an air mattress body and an expanded sponge. The sponge is filled in the air mattress body, and the air mattress body is matched with the gaps to form a pattern. The air mattress is only a specific embodiment of the sponge application scenario of the present disclosure, and the sponge can also be applied to other products (such as seat cushions and yoga mats).
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a sponge fabrication process, including the following steps.
In some implementations, the sponge fabrication process further includes the following steps:
In the present disclosure, the sponge is provided with cutting seams. When an external force is applied, the sponge is expanded, and the gaps are formed, which are equivalent to the holes formed by a conventional vertical punching method.
Compared to an air mattress that requires punching on the entire sponge, the air mattress in the present disclosure does not require punching and only requires cutting to form holes. After the sponge of the present disclosure is combined with the air mattress body, a pattern is formed. The present disclosure avoids waste materials formed by punching holes, and is environmentally friendly.
The present disclosure is not limited to the above optional embodiments, and those skilled in the art may derive other products in various forms under the enlightenment of the present disclosure. However, regardless of any changes in the shape or structure, any technical solutions falling within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure should fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202311726681.5 | Dec 2023 | CN | national |