Automated Anti-Snoring Bed Using Non-Contact Chest Displacement Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional snore detectors are invasive, uncomfortable, and only detect snoring without the ability to stop it, often causing discomfort and potentially worsening sleep quality.
Innovation Solution
An automated anti-snoring bed system that uses a non-contact sensing device to detect snoring through chest displacement analysis and adjusts the bed configuration to change the user's sleeping posture, eliminating the need for electrodes or audio sensors and allowing for wireless signal transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional snore detectors use audio sensors or airflow meters, then snoring detection accuracy is improved, but user comfort deteriorates due to invasive placement requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces acoustic sensors and airflow meters with a sensing device that detects chest displacement through non-contact means (such as optical or capacitive sensors). This substitutes the mechanical/acoustic detection system with a field-based detection system, eliminating the need for invasive placement while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces chest displacement as an intermediary parameter. Instead of directly measuring sound or airflow, the system measures the displacement of the chest wall during breathing, which serves as an indirect but accurate indicator of snoring conditions, allowing non-invasive detection.
2Reliability
If electrodes or audio sensors are attached to the user's body for snore detection, then detection reliability is improved, but skin irritation and discomfort occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces contact-based sensors (electrodes, audio sensors) with non-contact sensing technology that uses fields (optical, capacitive, or other physical fields) to detect chest displacement. This eliminates direct contact with the skin, removing the source of irritation while maintaining reliable detection through field interactions.
3Reliability
If the bed system actively adjusts configuration to stop snoring, then sleep quality improvement is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into a single bed system: the bed frame serves as both the support structure and the actuation mechanism for posture adjustment, while the sensing device and control unit form an integrated monitoring and response system. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity despite the added anti-snoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically detects snoring conditions through chest displacement monitoring and autonomously adjusts the bed configuration to correct the sleeping posture. This self-service operation eliminates the need for external intervention or complex manual control systems, simplifying the overall device architecture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively prevents snoring and sleep apnea by changing the user's posture without the discomfort of invasive devices, reducing production costs and avoiding skin irritation, while improving sleep quality.
Implementation Method 1
The sensing device can send out a detection signal toward the user's chest at regular intervals of time, receive a reflected signal returning from the user in response to the detection signal
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is to provide an automated anti-snoring bed system, which includes a bed designed to support a user lying thereon and internally provided with a driving device, a sensing device able to send out a detection signal toward the user's chest at regular intervals of time and receive a reflected signal returning from the user in response to the detection signal, and a control device. When the sensing device determines that the user is snoring according to the reflected signal, the sensing device sends out a control command to the control device and the control device then drives the driving device to change the configuration of the bed to a mode for stopping the user from snoring. Thus, the user is prevented not only from sleep disorders, but also from sleep apnea which may otherwise jeopardize the user's sleeping quality and health.