Smart mattress with adaptive actuation system
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional smart mattresses with air-filled bladders are poorly suited for supporting users and adapting to their movements, leading to issues like air displacement, leaks, and high power consumption, resulting in a less reliable user experience.
Innovation Solution
A smart mattress system featuring an actuation assembly with a size-changing component that adjusts in response to energy, such as heat or light, integrated with a flexible fabric to manipulate the sleeping environment, including vibration, light, and sound, and capable of detecting user inputs like brainwaves and oxygen levels to provide personalized support and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If air-filled bladders are used to adjust mattress firmness, then firmness adjustment capability is provided, but reliability deteriorates due to leaks, deflation, and high power consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical air-filled bladder system with a solid foam mattress structure. The foam material inherently provides firmness support without requiring air pressure regulation mechanisms, eliminating leaks, deflation issues, and high power consumption associated with pneumatic systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention removes the air-filled bladder component entirely from the mattress structure. By extracting the pneumatic element and replacing it with solid foam, the system eliminates the complexity and reliability issues associated with air pressure management while maintaining firmness adjustment capability through foam density and configuration.
2Adaptability or versatility
If air-filled bladders are used to provide firmness support, then firmness control is achieved, but spinal support capability deteriorates due to air displacement and user rolling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes the unstable air-filled bladder system with a stable solid foam structure. The foam material maintains consistent mechanical properties and does not displace or deform unpredictably under user weight, providing stable spinal support while retaining firmness control through material selection and structural design.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional smart mattresses are designed with individual cell adjustment, then customization capability is provided, but device complexity increases leading to poorer reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the complex individual cell adjustment mechanism from the mattress design. By eliminating the segmented pneumatic system, the patent reduces device complexity while maintaining customization capability through alternative means such as zoned foam densities or adjustable solid support structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The solid foam mattress structure serves multiple functions simultaneously - providing firmness support, spinal alignment, pressure distribution, and durability - without requiring separate mechanical systems for each function. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity while maintaining adaptability.
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 system provides an immersive and adaptive sleep experience by dynamically adjusting firmness and environment settings, enhancing user comfort and reliability without the need for large air cells or pumps, thus improving spinal support and reducing issues like snoring and sleep apnea.
Implementation Method 1
the size-changing component can include a material having a volumetric coefficient of thermal expansion greater than 20/° C.
Data Source
AI summary
A smart mattress and adaptive actuation systems for a flexible fabric are disclosed. The mattress can include a flexible fabric associated with a sleeping or resting structure configured to engage a user arranged in a prone, semi-prone, or sitting position. An actuation assembly can be configured to manipulate the sleeping or resting structure. In one example, the actuation assembly includes a plurality of size-changing components, and the sleeping or resting structure can be responsive to sizes of the size-changing components. The actuation assemblies can be included in a sealable sleeping or resting structure, which can alter at least a vibration, a light, a sound, or a composition and pressure of a gaseous environment of a user.