Contoured Sleeping Pad Design to Compensate for Cot Sagging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cots often sag in the center, creating an uncomfortable sleeping surface with a valley, which existing sleeping pads fail to adequately address by providing a consistently flat surface.
Innovation Solution
A contoured sleeping pad with varying thicknesses along its width, filled with air or open cell foam, and optionally featuring an integral pillow and air pump, designed to fit the contour of a cot, providing a flat sleeping surface by compensating for the sagging center.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional sleeping pad is placed on a cot, then the pad provides basic cushioning, but the pad cannot compensate for the cot's sagging center, resulting in an uncomfortable sleeping surface
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeping pad is constructed with varying thickness across its surface, featuring a thicker central region and thinner edge regions. This non-uniform thickness distribution allows the pad to compensate for the cot's sagging center, providing local cushioning exactly where needed while maintaining contact with the cot surface throughout.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeping pad incorporates a contoured, curved surface profile rather than a flat design. The convex curvature of the pad's top surface matches and counteracts the concave sagging contour of the cot, creating a combined flat sleeping surface when placed together.
2Ease of operation
If a thicker sleeping pad is used to compensate for cot sag, then comfort is improved, but the pad becomes bulky and difficult to store
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeping pad utilizes an inflatable design where the thickness and volume can be dynamically adjusted. Users can inflate the pad to the desired thickness for comfort, then deflate it completely for compact storage, transforming the pad from a bulky state to a minimal-volume state.
Solution Approach 2:
The pad incorporates an air chamber that can be inflated or deflated to adjust the thickness and cushioning properties. This pneumatic system allows the pad to achieve sufficient thickness for comfort during use, then collapse to a thin, compact form for storage by releasing the air.
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 contoured sleeping pad effectively creates a level sleeping surface on cots, enhancing comfort and usability by accommodating the cot's curvature, and offering convenient storage options through inflation and deflation.
Implementation Method 1
the cavity is filled with air
Implementation Method 2
the cavity is filled with a foam material such as an open cell foam
Data Source
AI summary
A contoured sleeping pad for use on a hot or other similar structure having a sag or “valley” in a central region. The contoured sleeping pad includes top and bottom surfaces and left and right longitudinal edges. The contoured sleeping pad has a height or thickness proximate the left and right longitudinal edges which is less than the height in a central region approximately midway between the left and right longitudinal edges.