Channelized inflatable bodies and methods for making the same
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current portable mattresses face challenges in achieving thermal efficiency and compactability while maintaining user comfort, with self-inflating foam core mattresses being bulky and heavy, and air mattresses being expensive and prone to the 'balloon effect', and existing methods to reduce bulk result in process intensity and waste generation.
Innovation Solution
The use of channelized foam cores with elongate extending air channels and reduced bonded area to non-bonded area ratios, allowing for increased compactability and user comfort through localized ballooning, combined with radiant energy reflective treatments and serpentine films to enhance thermal performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If holes and voids are created in foam cores to decrease bulk and weight, then compactability is improved, but manufacturing complexity and waste generation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The foam core is segmented into multiple channels or voids that extend through the core structure. This segmentation reduces the overall bulk and weight of the mattress while maintaining structural integrity. The channels are created by cutting or forming the foam material into distinct sections, allowing air to flow through and reduce bulk without requiring complex manufacturing processes or generating excessive waste.
2Strength
If internal pressure is increased to improve mattress thickness, then support is improved, but the balloon effect occurs in pure air mattresses
Solution Approach 1:
The foam core structure is designed with varying local properties - denser foam regions provide structural support and prevent ballooning, while lighter foam or channel regions allow for controlled expansion and air flow. This local variation in foam density and structure enables the mattress to maintain support at high pressures without developing the unwanted balloon effect seen in pure air mattresses.
3Volume of moving object
If foam core area is reduced to increase compactability, then weight and bulk are decreased, but thermal efficiency and user comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The foam core is designed with nested or layered structures where channels and voids are positioned within the foam matrix. This nesting allows the foam to maintain its thermal insulating properties while creating internal pathways that reduce bulk and improve compactability. The foam surrounds and protects the thermal core, ensuring thermal efficiency is maintained even as the overall structure is optimized for compactness.
4Object-generated harmful factors
If foam compliance is increased to expand slits for void formation, then void creation is improved, but bond performance at foam-panel interfaces degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The foam core is pre-formed with channels and voids created before the final assembly and bonding process. This preliminary formation of the void structure allows the foam to be bonded to panels while maintaining its structural integrity and bond strength. The channels are created in advance through cutting or molding, rather than requiring excessive compliance during bonding, thus preventing bond degradation at the foam-panel interfaces.
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
Results in lighter, more compact, and thermally efficient inflatable bodies with improved user comfort and reduced manufacturing costs, while preventing the 'balloon effect' and enhancing thermal performance.
Implementation Method 1
serpentine films to enhance thermal performance
Implementation Method 2
radiant energy reflective treatments to enhance thermal performance
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.