Apparatus, system, and method for providing a climate controlled environment surrounding a bed for healthy sleep
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current sleeping environments often fail to maintain optimal temperatures for restful sleep, as most people are forced to set thermostats to suboptimal levels due to energy consumption concerns, leading to restlessness and affected sleep quality, with existing cooling methods only slightly affecting surface temperatures rather than the environment.
Innovation Solution
A system that creates a microclimate around the bed by using a heat pump with ducting and filtration to maintain a temperature range of 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit, ensuring thermal neutrality and continuously filtering the air to alleviate breathing issues, while also incorporating climate-controlled cavities for CPAP machines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the home thermostat is set to 65 degrees during the night to achieve optimal sleep temperature, then sleep quality is improved, but the home air conditioning system runs all night resulting in higher energy bills
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the thermal control into two independent systems: a global home thermostat that maintains energy-efficient temperatures, and a local bed-mounted climate control system that creates a microclimate zone. This segmentation allows the sleep area to be cooled independently without running the entire home AC system, thereby improving sleep quality while reducing overall energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by creating a focused climate-controlled environment directly around the bed using embedded fans, heat exchangers, and insulation layers. This localized approach concentrates cooling resources where they are most needed (the sleep area) rather than cooling the entire house, achieving optimal sleep temperature without proportionally increasing energy consumption.
2Temperature
If existing cooling methods like gel infused mattresses or circulating water are used, then surface temperatures are slightly affected, but the environment remains uncontrolled
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple cooling approaches into a unified system: it combines passive thermal management (insulation layers, heat exchangers) with active environmental control (fans, temperature sensors, microprocessors). This integration allows the system to both affect surface temperatures like mattress technologies and control the surrounding environment like room AC systems, achieving both goals simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The bed-mounted climate control system performs multiple functions: it cools/warms the mattress surface, circulates air in the immediate environment, filters particles, and responds to user preferences. This multi-functionality addresses both surface temperature control and broader environmental control, making the system adaptable to various sleep conditions and preferences.
3Ease of operation
If the home heating system is set to 70-72 degrees during the night, then comfort is improved, but the system runs half the day to bring temperature up resulting in higher energy bills
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the heating function into a localized bed-level system independent of the home HVAC. The bed-mounted system with its own heat exchanger and insulation can provide warmth to the sleep area without requiring the entire house to be heated, thereby improving comfort while significantly reducing energy consumption from the main heating system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating heating resources in the immediate sleep zone using embedded thermal elements, insulation layers, and directed airflow. This localized heating approach achieves comfortable temperatures for sleepers without the need to heat the entire house to 70-72 degrees, thereby improving comfort while avoiding the energy waste of heating unoccupied spaces.
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
The system effectively maintains a controlled microclimate around the bed, promoting restful sleep by achieving thermal neutrality and reducing allergens and asthma triggers, thereby improving sleep quality and energy efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a heat pump assembly capable of providing both hot and cold air
Implementation Method 2
a built in fan assembly and ducting to move the air outside of the house
Implementation Method 3
The air path/circuit also blends and mixes the cold/warm air output from the heat pump with a precise amount of return/processed air from the processed air supply plenum
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is an assembly, system, and methods for enveloping a sleeper in a lower/higher temperature area of filtered and cooled/warmed air to promote a healthy sleeping environment. The invention maintains the environment around the sleeper between a lower temperature and an upper temperature. The invention consists of a hollow platform supporting a mattress, a cooling compressor/heat exchanger and ducting within the platform to mix the incoming and processed air before the air is blown onto the sleeping area through a plurality of louvers in a hollow headboard higher and wider than the sleeping platform. The headboard directs the air over the sleeper such that the sleeper is shielded from higher/lower temperature air in the room containing the invention.