Channelized inflatable bodies and methods for making the same
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current portable mattresses, such as camping mattresses, face challenges in achieving thermal efficiency and compactability while maintaining user comfort, with existing foam core mattresses being bulky and heavy, and air mattresses being expensive and prone to the 'balloon effect', and previous attempts to address these issues have been process-intensive and generated waste.
Innovation Solution
The development of hybrid inflatable bodies with channelized foam cores, featuring reduced bonded areas and elongate extending air channels, which allow for increased compactability and user comfort by enabling localized ballooning of panel portions, and the use of serpentine metalized films to enhance thermal performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If foam core mattresses use solid foam cores, then thermal efficiency and user comfort are maintained, but weight and bulk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses open cell foam cores with controlled porosity to reduce weight while maintaining thermal efficiency. The foam structure provides insulation through trapped air cells while the porous nature reduces material density and weight compared to solid foam cores.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines foam cores with fabric or film layers to create composite structures that provide both thermal insulation and structural support. This composite approach allows weight reduction while maintaining the thermal efficiency needed for user comfort.
2Weight of moving object
If air mattresses use pure film/fabric cores, then weight and compactability improve, but manufacturing cost increases and thermal efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines simpler foam cores with fabric or film layers to create composite structures. This approach reduces manufacturing complexity and cost compared to complex pure air mattresses, while the foam component provides inherent thermal insulation that improves thermal efficiency.
3Volume of moving object
If foam cores are expanded to reduce bulk, then compactability improves, but the balloon effect occurs in pure air mattresses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the foam core into multiple segments or layers with fabric/film reinforcement between them. This segmentation prevents the balloon effect by distributing internal pressure across multiple structural elements, maintaining stability while allowing bulk reduction through controlled expansion.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite structure of foam cores with fabric/film layers provides both the expandability needed for bulk reduction and the structural reinforcement needed to prevent the balloon effect, achieving both compactability and structural stability.
4Volume of moving object
If channelized foam cores are used, then compactability and localized ballooning improve, but bonded area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies fabric/film bonding selectively in specific locations rather than across the entire surface. The channelized foam cores are bonded at strategic points that provide sufficient structural support while allowing localized ballooning in unbonded areas for enhanced compactability.
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
This solution results in lighter, more compact, and thermally efficient inflatable mattresses with improved user comfort, as the channelized foam cores reduce density and allow for increased sectional thickness, while the serpentine films minimize heat transfer, addressing the limitations of previous mattress designs.
Implementation Method 1
serpentine metalized films to enhance thermal performance... serpentine films minimize heat transfer
Implementation Method 2
serpentine metalized films to enhance thermal performance
Implementation Method 3
channelized foam cores reduce density and allow for increased sectional thickness... enabling localized ballooning of panel portions
Data Source
AI summary
An article of manufacture includes a first discrete inflatable body having a first core member cut from a single slab of core material and a first root portion, and further includes a second discrete inflatable body comprising a second core member cut from the single slab of core material and a second root portion. Each of the first and second core members includes a plurality of ribs, and the ribs extend laterally from the first and second root portions.