Contoured Side-Sleep Surface With Arm Cavity for Spinal Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional flat mattresses fail to align the spine properly during sleep, leading to discomfort, potential injury, and exacerbation of conditions like acid reflux and nasal congestion, due to uneven pressure distribution and lack of spinal alignment.
Innovation Solution
A contoured sleep system with a trunk rest and head rest that includes a cantilevered arm cavity to support the arm, reducing pressure on joints and allowing the spine to align along the Sagittal plane, thereby alleviating discomfort and improving circulation and respiratory functions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a person sleeps on a flat mattress, then the sleeping surface is simple and comfortable, but the spine cannot align properly causing back pain and potential injury
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress incorporates a contoured surface with specific curvatures designed to match and support the natural alignment of the spine. The contoured surface includes a head region, shoulder region, hip region, and foot region, each with specific curvature radii that correspond to anatomical landmarks, allowing the spine to maintain proper alignment while sleeping.
2Ease of operation
If a person sleeps on their arm, then the arm is easily accessible, but circulation is hindered causing numbness and pain
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the arm from the sleeping surface by providing a dedicated arm cavity that receives and supports the arm in a suspended position. This removes the arm from contact with the mattress surface, preventing circulation obstruction while maintaining accessibility.
3Device complexity
If a person sleeps on a flat mattress, then the mattress structure is simple, but pressure distribution is uneven causing discomfort and injury
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress applies different local qualities through its contoured surface, with each region (head, shoulder, hip, foot) having specific curvature characteristics tailored to support corresponding body parts. This localized differentiation of surface properties enables even pressure distribution across the body while maintaining overall structural simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for facilitating sleep is disclosed. Embodiments of the sleep system receive a person's lower arm in an arm cavity of a person laying in a sleep-on-side position. An exemplary sleep system has a trunk rest and head rest. Two separated cantilevered supports extending outwardly from the base portion of the head rest are in contact with and supported by a top edge of the trunk rest, thereby defining an arm aperture that receives the person's lower arm when laying in a sleep-on-side position. An arm cavity is defined by lower surfaces of the two cantilevered supports and a trunk rest cantilevered arm cavity surface that extends generally downward and inward.