APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR SINGLE-SIDED ZONED MATTRESS ROTATION
A sleep support system including: a sleep support member having an inflatable member, wherein the inflatable member communicates with a first connector and a second connector, and a control unit having a terminal; wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the first connector, if the sleep support member is in a first position, and wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the second connector, if the sleep support member is rotated to a second position. Accordingly, a sleep support member having zoned support characteristics can be conveniently rotated without losing the proper zoned effect.
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This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/028,597, filed on Feb. 14, 2008, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND1. Technical Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to the rotation of a single-sided zoned mattress. More particularly, methods and apparatuses consistent with this invention relate to a system and method in which a single-sided zoned mattress including a plurality of adjustable members can be conveniently rotated without losing the proper zoned effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
Periodic mattress rotation is an effective way to extend the life of a mattress and to minimize body impressions that occur when the upholstery layers of a mattress conform to the contours of mattress occupants. Indeed, many mattress owners rotate and/or flip their mattress on a regular basis in order to better preserve the comfort and support characteristics of the mattress.
In recent years, pillow-top mattresses and other single-sided mattresses having plush layers provided at a designated sleeping side of the mattress have become increasingly popular. While such single-sided mattresses cannot properly be flipped to extend their lifetime, since the designated sleeping side of such mattresses must face upward, single-sided mattresses can still be rotated to extend their typical lifespan and preserve their comfort and support characteristics.
Adjustable mattresses having a plurality of zones are also currently available and are becoming increasingly popular. Such conventional adjustable zoned mattresses allow the occupant to independently adjust each zone of the adjustable zoned mattress to a desired firmness. For instance, such an adjustable zoned mattress can provide different firmnesses to the occupant's head region, shoulders and upper-back region, lower-back and buttocks region, upper legs region, and lower legs and feet region, respectively.
However, such conventional adjustable zoned mattresses make periodic mattress rotation problematic in several respects. First, connection outlets for conventional adjustable zoned mattresses are typically located in only one place on the adjustable zoned mattress. For example, as shown in
Second, the zones in such conventional adjustable zoned mattresses may be arranged asymmetrically to provide suitable comfort and support to a person's body. Thus, if such an asymmetric adjustable zoned mattress is rotated, then the rotation would result in the adjustable zoned mattress losing the proper zoned effect.
As shown in
For illustrative purposes, as shown in
Thus, zone CB, which corresponds to the person's shoulders and upper-back region, is provided with additional pressure so that zone CB is firmer than any of the other zones. In this way, zone CB provides the greatest firmness in the person's shoulders and upper-back region, while allowing the other zones CA, CC, CD and CE to be less firm. Such a zoned effect could be employed, for instance, to address upper-back pain or soreness experienced by the occupant.
However, if the conventional asymmetric adjustable zoned mattress 200 described above with reference to
Accordingly, as shown in
In view of the above disadvantages, and other disadvantages not specifically discussed above, there is a need for an apparatus that allows convenient rotation of a single-sided adjustable zoned mattress. In particular, there is a need for an apparatus that allows for a single-sided adjustable zoned mattress to be rotated such that, after being rotated, a connection outlet of the adjustable zoned mattress is still positioned conveniently with respect to the respective connection terminals. There is also a need for an apparatus that allows a single-sided asymmetric adjustable zoned mattress to be rotated without losing the proper zoned effect of the asymmetric adjustable zoned mattress.
SUMMARYAccording to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sleep support system comprising: a sleep support member comprising an inflatable member, wherein the inflatable member communicates with a first connector and a second connector; and a control unit comprising a terminal; wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the first connector, if the sleep support member is in a first position, and wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the second connector, if the sleep support member is rotated to a second position.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of rotating a sleep support member, the method comprising: providing a sleep support member in a first position; wherein the sleep support member comprises an inflatable member; and wherein the inflatable member communicates with a first connector and a second connector; disconnecting the first connector from a terminal of a control unit; rotating the sleep support member so that the sleep support member is provided in a second position wherein the terminal is near the second connector; and connecting the second connector to the terminal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sleep support system comprising: a sleep support member comprising a plurality of zones; and a control unit comprising a terminal; wherein each of the zones provides adjustable support characteristics, wherein each of the zones communicates with a first connector and a second connector, wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the first connector, if the sleep support member is in a first position, and wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the second connector, if the sleep support member is rotated to a second position.
The above and other aspects of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail illustrative embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawing in which:
Illustrative embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements.
Related applications including U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/028,591 entitled “Apparatuses And Methods Providing Variable Support And Variable Comfort Control of a Sleep System and Automatic Adjustment Thereof” and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/028,578, entitled “Apparatus and Methods for Evaluating a Person on a Sleep System” were filed on the same day as the present provisional application and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. These provisional applications disclose sleep systems including at least one of a variable support layer or a variable comfort layer. The aforementioned variable support and variable comfort layers comprise inflatable members that are used to provide a variable sleep system in which different zones of the mattress can be controlled to have different support and comfort characteristics.
Illustrative embodiments of the apparatus for rotation of a single-sided zoned mattress, as discussed in detail below, are applicable to innerspring sleep systems like those discussed in the aforementioned related provisional applications, which employ such inflatable members. Alternatively, the apparatus for single-sided zoned mattress rotation according to the present invention can be applied to a mattress that does not include innersprings, but instead uses only inflatable support layers to provide support. More generally, the present invention may be applied to any type of single-sided zoned mattress.
As shown in
According to an illustrative embodiment, a first connection outlet 20 is provided at one end of the mattress 60, and a second connection outlet 30 is provided at an opposing end of the mattress 60. As shown in
In the illustrative embodiment shown in
According to the illustrative embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 4-5, the single-sided zoned mattress 60 can be rotated from an initial position (shown in
Additionally, according to the illustrative embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 4-5, the single-sided zoned mattress 60 can be rotated 180 degrees without losing the proper zoned effect characteristics of the mattress. For instance, when the mattress 60 is in the initial position (shown in
Moreover, as shown in
For illustrative purposes, as shown in
As such, the inflatable members 50b in zone B, which corresponds to the person's shoulders and upper-back region, are provided with additional pressure so that zone B is firmer than any of the other zones. In this way, zone B provides the greatest firmness in the person's shoulders and upper-back region, while allowing the other zones A, C, D and E to be less firm.
In this rotated position shown in
Thus, according to the illustrative embodiment shown in
Although the illustrative embodiments described above relate to an apparatus for single-sided zoned mattress rotation, wherein each of the plurality of inflatable members 50 extends across the width of the mattress 60 (i.e., the zoned effect on the right side of the mattress is the same as the zoned effect on the left side of the mattress), the present invention is not limited to this specific configuration. As shown in
According to the illustrative embodiment shown in
In the illustrative embodiment shown in
Further, as shown in
According to the illustrative embodiment shown in
Although the illustrative embodiment shown in
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to illustrative embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The illustrative embodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined not by the detailed description of the invention but by the appended claims and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.
Claims
1. A sleep support system comprising:
- a sleep support member comprising an inflatable member, wherein the inflatable member communicates with a first connector and a second connector; and
- a control unit comprising a terminal;
- wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the first connector, if the sleep support member is in a first position, and
- wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the second connector, if the sleep support member is rotated to a second position.
2. The sleep support system according to claim 1, wherein the first connector is connected to one end of the inflatable member, and
- wherein the second connector is connected to an opposing end of the inflatable member.
3. The sleep support system according to claim 1, wherein the inflatable member comprises a bladder filled comprising a fluid.
4. The sleep support system according to claim 3, further comprising:
- first tubing provided between the inflatable member and the first connector; and
- second tubing provided between the inflatable member and the second connector.
5. The sleep support system according to claim 1, wherein the first connector is provided at a first longitudinal end of the sleep support member, and
- wherein the second connector is provided at a second, opposing longitudinal end of the sleep support member.
6. The sleep support system according to claim 5, wherein the first connector is provided at a first latitudinal end of the sleep support member, and
- wherein the second connector is provided at a second, opposing latitudinal end of the sleep support member.
7. A method of rotating a sleep support member, the method comprising:
- providing a sleep support member in a first position; wherein the sleep support member comprises an inflatable member; and wherein the inflatable member communicates with a first connector and a second connector;
- disconnecting the first connector from a terminal of a control unit;
- rotating the sleep support member so that the sleep support member is provided in a second position wherein the terminal is near the second connector; and
- connecting the second connector to the terminal.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first connector is connected to one end of the inflatable member, and
- wherein the second connector is connected to an opposing end of the inflatable member.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the inflatable member comprises a bladder comprising a fluid.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein first tubing is provided between the inflatable member and the first connector; and
- second tubing is provided between the inflatable member and the second connector.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first connector is provided at a first longitudinal end of the sleep support member, and
- wherein the second connector is provided at a second, opposing longitudinal end of the sleep support member.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first connector is provided at a first latitudinal end of the sleep support member, and
- wherein the second connector is provided at a second, opposing latitudinal end of the sleep support member.
13. The sleep support system according to claim 1, wherein the sleep support system is configured such that the rotation of the sleep support member from the first position to the second position is about 180°.
14. The method according to claim 7, wherein the rotating comprises rotating the sleep support member about 180°.
15. The sleep support system according to claim 1, wherein the sleep support system is configured such that the rotation of the sleep support member from the first position to the second position comprises rotation of the sleep support member while a single side of the sleep support member faces upward.
16. The method according to claim 7, wherein the rotating comprises rotating the sleep support member while a single side of the sleep support member faces upward.
17. The sleep support system according to claim 1, wherein the sleep support member comprises a plurality of inflatable members; and
- wherein each of the inflatable members communicates with the first connector and the second connector.
18. The method according to claim 7, wherein the sleep support member comprises a plurality of inflatable members; and
- wherein each of the inflatable members communicates with the first connector and the second connector.
19. A sleep support system comprising:
- a sleep support member comprising a plurality of zones; and
- a control unit comprising a terminal;
- wherein each of the zones provides adjustable support characteristics,
- wherein each of the zones communicates with a first connector and a second connector,
- wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the first connector, if the sleep support member is in a first position, and
- wherein the terminal is configured to be connected to the second connector, if the sleep support member is rotated to a second position.
20. The sleep support system according to claim 19, wherein each of the zones comprises an inflatable member.
21. The sleep support system according to claim 19, wherein the first connector is provided at a first longitudinal end of the sleep support member, and
- wherein the second connector is provided at a second, opposing longitudinal end of the sleep support member.
22. The sleep support system according to claim 21, wherein the first connector is provided at a first latitudinal end of the sleep support member, and
- wherein the second connector is provided at a second, opposing latitudinal end of the sleep support member.
23. The sleep support system according to claim 19, wherein the sleep support system is configured such that the rotation of the sleep support member from the first position to the second position is about 180°.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 13, 2009
Publication Date: Dec 23, 2010
Applicant: KINGSDOWN, INC. (Mebane, NC)
Inventors: David B. Scott (Carthage, MO), Robert D. Oexman (Carthage, MO)
Application Number: 12/867,739
International Classification: A47C 27/10 (20060101); A47C 27/08 (20060101);