Portable Ventilation System

Abstract

Provided herein is a portable device useful for providing ventilation to a selected area via circulation of ambient air. A device according to the present invention is especially well-suited to providing ventilating air to a person resting on a bed, by directing air from the room to the volume defined by the top surface of the mattress of the bed and a bed covering disposed thereon. Use of the present invention increases the ability of persons to achieve restful sleep by enabling convenient control of the air surrounding the person to a comfortable level.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] This invention relates generally to devices useful for providing ventilation by circulating ambient air. More particularly, it relates to portable devices that are useful for circulating the air surrounding a person resting on a substantially flat surface, such as a bed. BACKGROUND [0002] It is fairly common knowledge that on average, people spend about ⅓ of their lives sleeping. However, there are many people whose sleeping activity does not fall within the average, and of these people a substantial proportion experience one or more common sleeping disorders. While a detailed discussion of the number and types of sleep disorders is beyond this specification, it is nevertheless worthy of mention that most of the people who experience sleep disorders typically achieve less sleep than they generally desire. Sleep deprivation is known to alter cerebral behavior, as shown by hundreds of readily-available studies in the field of psychology, including MRI scans of t...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Of these causes the physical comfort of the person attempting to sleep or rest is paramount, for if a person's ambient surroundings are not conducive to their personal comfort, sleep can become extremely difficult to achieve, if at all.

If the temperature of the surroundings of a person is either too hot or too cold, restful sleep may be impossible.

Of particular concern is the case where the surroundings are too hot, because in such cases the body's ability to control its internal temperature may be effected to the point where the body begins to sweat, and it is nearly impossible to achieve restful sleep while sweating.

While air conditioners are highly effective at coarsely controlling the temperature in a room, the customary preference for persons to sleep beneath one or more bedsheets, covers, blankets, etc. coupled with the body's tendency to liberate heat during its normal operation translates to the well-known situation in which the person resting beneath the sheets cannot get comfortable because they are too hot, which is compounded by the proposition that if they remove the covers or sheets from themselves then they become too cold.

In spite of these efforts, however, perfect control of the temperature of ambient surroundings of persons desiring to sleep has been fleeting.

While each of the prior art devices and methods achieve to a greater or less extent their desired objectives, they are nevertheless not without features which have heretofore prevented their widespread adoption by large numbers of people.

One of the main factors is believed to be the relative complexity of the prior art devices, with their attendant high cost, tedium in operation, and cumbersomeness in appearance and difficulty in retrofitting existing furniture, beds, and the like.

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