Foam Cushion Padding with Recess Gradients for Smooth Support Transitions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture padding technologies face challenges in adapting suspension to different users without using spring materials of varying density and stiffness, and struggle to provide varying resilience with smooth transitions without straining the foam material, leading to potential ruptures and increased production complexity and cost.
Innovation Solution
A foam padding system with recesses of varying size, density, and shape, which can be moulded or drilled into the foam, allowing for adjustable softness and collapsibility in one surface direction, integrated with a frame for enhanced support and ventilation, enabling smooth transitions from firm to soft padding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If different types of foam with different properties are used to provide varying resilience, then the support characteristics are improved, but the production complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating regions with different resilience properties within a single homogeneous foam piece through mechanical deformation. Specific areas are deformed to different extents during the forming process, creating local variations in cell structure and density that provide different support characteristics without requiring multiple foam types or complex assembly processes.
2Ease of operation
If holes are drilled through the foam to provide ventilation and varying resilience, then the comfort is improved, but the risk of foam tearing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by creating the ventilation channels and resilience variations through deformation during the foam forming process itself, before the foam is fully cured and hardened. By performing the hole creation and shaping operations while the foam is still pliable, the structure is established without subjecting the cured foam to stress-prone post-processing operations like drilling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potential harm of creating holes (which could tear the foam) into a benefit by using controlled deformation during forming that simultaneously creates ventilation channels and establishes the desired resilience pattern. The deformation process that creates the holes also structures the foam cells to provide strength and support.
3Strength
If the suspension is made harder to provide support, then the structural integrity is improved, but the comfort for sitting down and getting up deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a gradient of deformation within the foam structure, where edge regions are deformed more intensely to provide softer, more compliant areas for easy sitting and rising, while central regions maintain greater structural integrity for support. This spatial variation in deformation intensity allows the single foam piece to simultaneously provide both softness and support in appropriate locations.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The present invention concerns a padding for a cushion (1), such as a cushion for a seat, comprising foam material (100), with modified resilience provided by recesses (101), in at least one section of the cushion, the size and/or density of the recesses being different in adjacent sections providing a varying softness or collapsibility in the foam material (100) in one surface direction of the cushion, wherein the recesses (101) may be non-transient and a frame (410) may be completely or partly embedded in the foam. The invention also concerns a seat cushion or furniture comprising such padding and the method for producing such padding.