Open-Frame Bed Structure to Eliminate Bedbug Harborage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional beds, especially in institutional settings, are prone to bedbug infestations due to the hiding nature of bedbugs in box-spring mattresses and enclosed spaces, making it difficult to detect and eradicate them.
Innovation Solution
A bed frame design featuring a right-rectangular perimeter frame with open angled members, wire mesh infill, and tapered legs that allow for vertical stacking and nesting, eliminating enclosed spaces where bedbugs can hide, combined with a seamless foam mattress to prevent bug harborage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional box-spring mattresses and enclosed bed frames are used, then buyer comfort and aesthetics are improved, but bedbug harborage and infestation risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes enclosed spaces and potential harborage areas from the bed structure. The frame uses open angled members instead of enclosed tubular structures, and the mattress is designed without internal compartments or seams where bedbugs could hide, effectively extracting the harborage function from the bed system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs light-colored finishes on the bed frame and mattress surfaces. This color change makes bedbugs and their fecal matter highly visible against the light background, enabling easy detection and monitoring of infestations while maintaining aesthetic appeal.
2Ease of operation
If enclosed spaces and upholstered sections are added to bed frames, then aesthetics and comfort are improved, but detection and eradication of bedbugs becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The bed frame is segmented into open angled members rather than enclosed structures, creating a modular appearance that maintains aesthetics while eliminating hidden spaces. The mattress is segmented into quilted sections that provide comfort without creating enclosed harborage areas, allowing visual inspection of all surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Light-colored upholstery and frame finishes are used throughout, creating high contrast that makes bedbugs and their evidence easily visible. This color strategy maintains aesthetic appeal while solving the detection difficulty problem.
3Device complexity
If conventional tubular corner posts are used, then structural simplicity is maintained, but enclosed spaces are created that facilitate bedbug infestation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the enclosed space function from the corner posts by using open angled members that meet at corners without forming closed tubular structures. This maintains structural simplicity and visual clarity while eliminating the harborage function that enclosed posts would provide.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using enclosed tubular posts that hide spaces, the patent inverts the approach by using open structures that deliberately expose all surfaces. This inversion transforms the corner posts from potential harborage sites into visible, inspectable structural elements.
Data Source
AI summary
A bedbug-resistant bed comprises a horizontal right-rectangular frame including four open angled rigid members pair-wise joined at their eight termini in four corners; one or more support members extending across the frame near the upper edge of the joined angled members; and a right-rectangular wire mesh infill expanse extending within a perimeter of the frame and affixed along upper inwardly extending expanses of the joined angled members. A bedbug-resistant bed in another embodiment comprises two right-rectangular horizontal frames differentially dimensioned in three orthogonal axes such that one of the two frames is fittable within a three-dimensional enclosure defined by the other of the two frames for stowage of the bed, the two frames configured in deployment in a proximate side by side arrangement, each frame including four open angled rigid members joined at their eight termini to define a perimeter and four corners of the frame, each frame further including one or more solid support members extending across the frame, and each frame further including four legs extending downwardly from the four corners of the frame.