Patent Application
20220225797
The present disclosure generally relates to blanket, and more particularly to a vibrating blanket and alarm, the blanket having one or more of a vibrating element, heating element, sound emitting element and programmable wake-up alarm.
Blankets are well known and come in all shapes and sizes and are used to many ways including covering people during sleep.
A blanket is provided with one or more of a vibrating element, heating element, sound emitting; element and programmable wake-up alarm. The blanket includes a circuit electrically connecting the programmable wake-up alarm with one or more of the vibrating element, heating element, sound emitting element. A remote control, or an application on a smartphone, can be used control the circuitry and the one or more elements of the blanket.
The foregoing features will be apparent from the following Detailed Description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
A vibrating blanket and alarm is shown in
As shown in
Referring to
The controller 20 may be accessed and actuated manually from the exterior of the blanket 10 or remotely. The controller 20 can include a control panel with controls that are accessible from the exterior of the blanket 10. It can be covered by a flap of the blanket 10 to cover the controller 20 when not in use and maintain the uniformity of the sides and/or edge of the blanket 10.
Alternatively, the controller 20 can be distributed such that each of the vibrating element, the heating element, the sound emitting element incorporate distributed controls for each of said elements that are directly operated by a remote control 60 exterior of the blanket 110, The remote control 60 could be wired or wireless. The controller 20, or distributed controls, can be operated by a dedicated remote control 60 which could have include a clock 62 and controls 64 that can be manipulated by a user. Alternatively, the controller 20, or distributed controls, can be operated through a software application on a smartphone 70. The controller 20, or distributed controls, can include Bluetooth (Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.) technology or another communication interface to receive communications from the remote control 60 or smartphone 70.
The controller 20, or distributed controls, can control the length of time a vibrating element 50 is actuated, and the level of intensity of the vibration. The one or more vibrating elements 50 can be controlled to turn on or off at predetermined times. The controller 20, or distributed controls, can also control the length of time a heating element 40 is actuated and the level or amount of heat generated. The one or more heating elements 40 can be turned on or off at predetermined times. The controller 20, or distributed controls, can also control the actuation of the sound generator 30 or sound speaker 36 including the sound input and the volume. The one or more sound speakers 36 can be turned on or off at predetermined times. All of these elements, and the controller, or distributed controls, can be controlled and programed through a software application on a smartphone.
The vibration element or elements 50 can be any vibration mechanism or vibration generator known in the art and suitable for inclusion in a blanket such as an oscillator with a motor and a built-in imbalance. For example, a vibration mechanism from a. vibrating plush toy could be used. The heating element or elements 40 can be any heating element known in the art and suitable for inclusion in a blanket such as heating element from a heating pad or heated blanket. The sound emitting element can be any music playing mechanism suitable for inclusion into a blanket. The sound emitting element can comprise one or more speakers, such as Bluetooth enabled speakers, that can play music from a smartphone.
As shown in FIG, 3, a circuit 80 can be used with the blanket 10. The circuitry 80 can include a controller 20, optionally with batteries 22, wiring 31 to sound generating element 30, wiring 32 to sound speaker element 36, wiring 42 to heating element 40, and wiring 52 to vibrating element 50. The settings for each element, including the intensity or volume, and the duration, can be controlled from the controller 20, or from a remote control 60 or by a software application on a smartphone 70. The circuit 80 can be programmed, or set, to turn on or turn off one or more elements at a specific time or after a specific duration of time after actuation. Additionally, each of the elements can be programmed, or set, to turn on a specific element at a scheduled time so that the blanket 10 functions as a wake-up alarm that can be set to start vibrating, heating or emitting sound, or a combination thereof, at a particular time to wake-up or otherwise notify a user in a manner chosen by the user, such as vibration, heat or sound or a combination. For example, one could use the blanket and turn on vibration and heat for a period of time to ease one to sleep, and then to set a sound or music alarm in the morning to wake up the user. Other combinations or activating and deactivating elements, as desired, can be set by a user.
It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the disclosure herein therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.
