Mattress shipping unit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mattress shipping units use tear-resistant films that fail to meet environmental and health standards due to the accumulation of volatile organic compounds during shipping.
Innovation Solution
A mattress shipping unit with a shipping bag made predominantly of air-permeable material, featuring a predetermined breaking point and designed for one-time use, which allows for the release of volatile compounds into the environment, ensuring low exposure and improved environmental sustainability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a tear-resistant film is used as the cover, then the mattress can be kept in a compressed shipping state, but volatile organic compounds accumulate within the shipping bag causing health risks and environmental issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies porous breathable fabric material for the shipping bag cover instead of impermeable tear-resistant film. The breathable fabric allows volatile organic compounds to permeate through the material and dissipate into the surrounding environment, eliminating the accumulation problem while maintaining sufficient mechanical strength to keep the mattress compressed during shipping.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a foil cover is used, then protection against soiling and damage is provided, but volatile compounds are trapped inside creating health hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The breathable fabric cover provides protection against soiling and damage through its physical structure and material properties, while simultaneously allowing volatile compounds to pass through via its porous nature. This resolves the contradiction by providing both protective function and ventilation function through a single material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful trapped volatile compounds into a beneficial situation by using breathable fabric that allows these compounds to escape and dissipate safely into the environment, transforming a health hazard into a safe release mechanism.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If a breathable material is used for the cover, then volatile compounds can escape, but the material must still provide sufficient strength to maintain compression
Solution Approach 1:
The breathable fabric material inherently provides both porosity for gas permeation and mechanical strength through its woven or non-woven structure. The material's physical construction allows it to simultaneously permit volatile compound escape while exerting sufficient constraining force to maintain the mattress in its compressed shipping state.
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 air-permeable material ensures effective release of volatile compounds, reducing health risks and environmental impact while providing reliable protection against dirt and damage, with a design that maintains the mattress in a compressed state without the need for additional stabilizing elements.
Implementation Method 1
The predominantly air-permeable nature of the shipping bag material ensures that volatile compounds, especially volatile organic compounds, that escape from the mattress during shipping are released into the environment and do not accumulate within the shipping bag.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
A mattress shipping unit (10) comprises a mattress (12) and a shipping bag (14), wherein the mattress (12) is in a compressed shipping state and is completely contained within the shipping bag (14). The shipping bag (14) has a cover (16) made predominantly of an air-permeable material (21).