INCORPORATED IN A MANUFACTURING SYSTEM OF PRESSURE OR IMPACT RECEIVING BODIES, DETERMINING FOR A DIRECTION-WISE CUSHIONING
This is a body (1) that may become, for example, a mattress with one density or another, thickness and size, which has various housings or hollows (2) in an inclined arrangement, this same body (1) being able to present hollows or housings (2) with a different inclination, a different arrangement and different size and have inward protrusions (3) or side branches (4) to provide, in the first case, greater hardness to the area where the hollows (2) are located and in the second case, to provide greater softness to the area of the body (1) where the respective hollows or housings (2) are located, all of them, some or those corresponding to these areas or others, being able to incorporate a filling that may range from air under pressure to a filling of any kind of material, including reinforcements (11 and 11′) with more or less rigidity to provide the corresponding area greater or less strength.
This invention refers to improvements incorporated in a manufacturing system for pressure or impact receiving bodies executed on an original cushioning body, offering the property of enabling a direction-wise decomposition of the forces or stresses received, forces which constituting the purpose of the intended cushioning, due to the system of this patent may be harnessed to improve the effective practical performance of the equipment or device to which this cushioning system is incorporated, preferably mattresses or cushions that will have hollows according to a preferably inclined arrangement, with different configurations, sizes and arrangements.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONTraditionally the cushioning provided by a body such as a mattress, the soles of footwear, etc, is performed by pressure and without shifting such that the cushioning effect is limited and logically will depend on the density of the corresponding body.
Patent PCT/ES 2008000702 describes a cushioning system has been developed with directional capacity determining an unquestionable advance in the technique known until now and performed for the attenuation of pressures or impacts in very different situations, particularly in resting items so extended like mattresses and cushions.
The subject matter of the present invention is to provide some improvements in the prior art described in the mentioned patent in order to improve the measures of cushioning forces, moreover obtaining a harnessing of the forces resulting from the cushioning performed.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe body being considered may consist of any type of suitable material, with more or less density, which may be uniform in all its extension, or have areas of greater hardness than others, all the latter as is conventional, having the particularity that the body being considered has several housings or hollows, that may be empty, filled with air under pressure, incorporate filling items and even springs, anyway constituting a body which under a pressure or impact over it provides a direction-wise cushioning, as a consequence of the inclined arrangement of the hollows or housings.
These hollows or housings, when the body is, for example, a mattress or a cushion, may have different configurations, even have a different size, some being more inclined than others, as well as having inward protrusions or not, to provide more or less hardness to the body or mattress being considered.
Hence, when a mattress is being considered, and it is desired that, for example, the area that has to support greater weight, the intermediate area or that of the back, is more reinforced, then the housings may have a greater number of inward protrusions than the rest, providing a very reinforced area on having this type of housing, the same occurring with the head area or even with the foot area.
Likewise, the hollows or housings may also have side branches to favour the compass effect, as the body may also only have hollows or housings in a determined part thereof, as may be the head area when considering a mattress, and even having an extreme space in this area designed to favour an obstacle free displacement, that is to prevent the impact with the bed headboard.
As a result, by means of the characteristics of the body, purpose of the invention, a mattress may be obtained with areas of different hardness, that is harder areas, softer areas and areas of intermediate hardness, depending on if they correspond to the area of the back, head, feet or lumbar zone, such that if the hollows or housings established in the body have opposite inclinations, the former will have a double prophylactic and therapeutic function, resulting especially interesting for the treatment of illnesses and back problems, such as disc hernias or protrusions, lumbar aches or sciatica, since thanks to these opposite inclinations of the hollows, a smooth vertebral “decompression” is obtained.
On the other hand, the hollows may even be interconnected and incorporate air or gas under pressure, providing them greater hardness, or filling or reinforcement elements, including springs, some of them being equipped with reinforcement and others without, that is, to combine filling means with others within the same body of the mattress and even have reinforcements occupying part of the hollows as regards to width, allowing that these reinforcements are arranged with one or other inclination, constituting in these cases reinforcements that enhance the compass effect of the mattress when the body of the invention is made in such a way. If air or gas is incorporated in the hollows by means of pneumatic chambers the strength of the mattress may be manually modified by the user. Also the possibility of incorporating an automatism in these cases is foreseen, performing a direction-wise massage by means of the sequential inflation and deflation of said air chambers.
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the mattress may be complemented with an upper comfort layer, superimposed over the former, to facilitate stretching and whose comfort layer may likewise have holes or slits, such that in combination with the means the body or mattress incorporate regarding housings and hollows and the filling thereof, the mattress may be adapted to the requirements of the user.
Among the most important advantages derived from the body with the direction-wise cushioning system, purpose of the invention, executed as a mattress, the following may be mentioned:
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- Better ventilation of the mattress is obtained due to the cushioning effect incorporated.
- Less weight and therefore the mattress may be more easily transported and handled, thanks to its internal hollows or housings.
- Economic saving in production since less material is required on having these hollows or housings.
- Better control of the rigidity of the resulting product or mattress, only having to vary the shape and arrangement of the hollows and housings and the filling incorporated to them.
To complement the description to be made and with the purpose of providing a greater understanding of the invention characteristics, according to a preferable example of a practical execution thereof, a set of drawings with an illustrative and non-limiting character is included as an integral part of said description:
FIG. 1.—This shows a detail of a section of part of the body with a direction-wise cushioning system executed according to the purpose of the invention.
FIG. 2.—This shows a sectional view like that of the previous figure where the housings or hollows have a different configuration to that of
FIG. 3.—This shows a sectional view of the body that may correspond, for example, to the head of a mattress, this only having hollows in the area of said head.
FIG. 4.—This shows a sectional view of a complete mattress where the different areas thereof may be seen with different types of bodies or housings, with opposite inclinations, also different configurations and with details that provide more or less hardness to the corresponding area of the mattress.
FIG. 5.—This shows a detail of a section of a body part where hollows or housings may be observed incorporating reinforcements, like, as may be appreciated, for example, an area corresponding to the mattress head where the body is materialised, with the housings or hollows interconnected and the reinforcements of less force than those foreseen in other hollows of a more intermediate area of the mattress body.
FIG. 6.—This shows a variation of the execution shown in the previous figure, where the reinforcements have a different inclination to that of the housing hollows, being located in a practically vertical arrangement, to provide greater strength to the mattress.
FIG. 7.—Finally, this shows a mattress with the silhouette of a person's body located over the former, with the interposition of a comfort layer and where different areas of the mattress may be seen with more or less reinforcement depending on the configuration, arrangement and other characteristics of the hollows or housings the mattress hollow incorporates.
As may be seen in the mentioned figures, and more specifically in
In
Likewise, it should be said that the hollows or housings (2) may be empty as shown in the figures considered until now, with the possibility of being filled by a manual or automatic system with air or gas under pressure, by which the user may fill the hollows or housings according to his/her weight and needs, obtaining a desired control. The possibility of inflation or deflation has been foreseen, executed by an automatism, which acting sequentially produces a directional massage effect.
With respect to the side protrusions (4) of determined hollows or housings (2) the former favour the compass effect or directed cushioning when an impact is produced by the support of the body, for example, of a person, over the mattress or body (1) constituting it.
In
In a variation of execution of that previously considered and shown in
In either case, the hollows or housings (2) may be filled with air, be empty, incorporate reinforcements (11-11′), or other type of fillings (13) providing greater rigidity or hardness to the corresponding area where these fillings are located and likewise depending on the greater or lesser rigidity of them.
Finally, in
Claims
1. The improvement in a pressure or impact receiving body (1), formed as a single piece and intended to receive pressure or impact in a first direction, comprising;
- the provision of internal housings or hollows (2) having central axes in an inclined direction to said first direction, the internal housings or hollows being empty or incorporating reinforcements (11-11′) or filling materials (13) of variable rigidity.
2. Improvements, according to claim 1 characterised because the hollows or housings (2) may have the same or different inclination in the body (1) where they are made and have the same or different configuration and size.
3. Improvements, according to claim 1, characterised because the hollows or housings (2) have one or more internal protrusions (3) providing greater strength to the area where this type of hollows or housings (2) are made.
4. Improvements, according to claim 2, characterised because the hollows or housings (2) have side protrusions (4) favouring the compass effect in the cushioning provided by said hollows (2), providing the corresponding area with less strength.
5. Improvements, according to claim 1, characterised because the body (1), comprises a mattress, may be, totally or partially in the hollows or housings (2), with or without filling, with one or other configuration and inclination.
6. Improvements, according to claim 1, because the hollows or housings (2) may be filled with air or gas under pressure, manually or by means of an automatism giving a direction-wise massage by the sequential inflation or deflation of said air chambers.
7. Improvements, according to claim 1, characterised because the hollows or housings (2) may incorporate reinforcements (11-11′) or a filling material (13) of variable rigidity, occupy the entire hollow or housing (2), permitting the strength control of the area in question.
8. Improvements, according to claim 7, characterised because the reinforcements (11-11′) are smaller than the width of the hollows or housings (2), permitting that said reinforcements (11-11′) may be arranged almost vertically, providing greater strength in the area where the hollows having these reinforcements are located.
9. Improvements, according to claim 1, characterised because the hollows or housings (2) may be interconnected to provide less strength to the area where these connections between hollows or housings (2) are made.
10. Improvements, according to claim 1, characterised because the body (1) comprises a mattress, is complemented with a comfort layer (9) having holes (10) that facilitate the stretching of the corresponding user (12) when lying on said comfort layer (9), located over the upper surface of the body (1) of the mattress.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 17, 2010
Publication Date: Aug 18, 2011
Inventor: Ramiro Tarazona De La Asuncion (Tarazona (Zaragoza))
Application Number: 12/707,148
International Classification: A47C 27/00 (20060101);