GB2437710A

GB2437710A - Bed cooling accessory

Info

Publication number: GB2437710A
Application number: GB0608681A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Frank Guttfield
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-05-03
Filing date: 2006-05-03
Publication date: 2007-11-07
Also published as: GB0608681D0

Abstract

A bed accessory 10 incorporating means for cooling the support surface on which the occupant lies. The bed accessory may be in the form of a mattress, mattress cover or an under blanket. Preferably the device is cooled by a matrix of Peltier effect devices. Alternatively the device may be cooled by circulating a cooling fluid or gas such as water drawn from a reservoir, air or a refrigerant vapour through one or more tubes 12 to extract heat from the support surface. A control unit 14 may be included to regulate the temperature.

Description

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BED ACCESSORY

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a bed accessory, which may term is used herein to refer to a mattress, a mattress cover or an under blanket.

Background of the invention

Blankets are known, for use as under blankets as well as over blankets, which incorporate an electric heating element to warm a bed. Such blankets make it more comfortable to enter a bed under cold conditions.

The present invention, on the other hand, is predicated on the realisation that some people get too warm in bed and have to move and turn in the bed in order to find a cooler and more comfortable position. This can lead to restless nights and loss of sleep.

Summary of the invention

With a view to mitigating this problem, the present invention provides a bed accessory incorporating means for cooling the support surface of the bed on which the bed occupant lies.

The cooling means preferably include an electrically operated cooling element. In such an embodiment of the invention, Peltier effect devices may be used as cooling elements.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the bed accessory may include one or more tubes through which a cooling fluid is circulated to extract heat from the bed support surface.

The cooling fluid may be a liquid, a vapour or a gas that is pumped through the tube(s) in the bed accessory.

If a gas is used as a fluid, then it may simply be ambient air or air that has been cooled by passing through a refrigeration unit. If the fluid is a vapour then it may be a refrigerant that is cooled by means of a compressor. As a liquid, it is possible to use water drawn from a tank cooled by a refrigerator or more simply by evaporation.

The temperature in the bed is preferably controllable, such as by varying the temperature of the fluid or its flow rate through the tube(s) The accessory may thus be in the form of a blanket resembling a conventional electric blanket but incorporating in the place of heating wires a sinuously laid cooling tube or wires connected to a set of Peltier devices.

Alternatively, similar cooling means may be incorporated into a mattress cover or into a mattress.

The heat extracting power of the cooling means need not be high as the aim it to maintain the support surface cool, at say around 15 C, not at a temperature which would risk causing frost bite or hypothermia to the bed occupant.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a section through an under blanket embodying the present invention.

The drawing shows an under blanket 10 having an internal pocket which encloses a cooling element 12 laid in a sinuous path. The ends of the cooling element project from the blanket 12 and are connected to a control unit 14 which allows the bed occupant to set the desired degree of cooling. The input lines 16 to the control unit 14 represent electric power lines or fluid supply and return lines.

If the bed accessory is electrically operated, then it / is most conveniently formed as a mattress and the cooling element may for formed as a matrix of individual Peltier devices (not shown) connected to two D.C. supply wires. When a current is passed through two dissimilar metals or semiconductors (n-type and p-type) that are connected to each other at two junctions (Peltier junctions), the current causes a transfer of heat from one junction to the other.

Thus, a current can be passed through the devices to transfer heat from the support surface of the mattress to the body of the mattress from which the heat can be dissipated into the ambient atmosphere. The control unit 14 would in this case include a rectifier and a current regulator while the input lines 16 would be connected to a mains supply.

The illustrated bed accessory is designed to be fluid cooled. The cooling element 12 is a tube through which a fluid cooling medium is circulated, the fluid being a vapour, liquid or gas.

As mentioned above, when using a gas as the fluid cooling medium, then it is most conveniently ambient air or air that has been cooled by passing through a refrigeration unit. If the fluid is a liquid, then it is preferably water drawn from a tank cooled by a refrigerator or more simply by evaporation. One can envisage using a refrigerant a fluid cooling medium through the accessory but this is likely to prove be excessive in terms of cost, complexity and cooling effect.

The control unit 14 is used in these cases to vary temperature in the bed by varying the temperature of the fluid or its flow rate through the tube(s).

Claims

CLAIMS

1. A bed accessory incorporating means for cooling the support surface of the bed on which the bed occupant lies.

2. A bed accessory as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling means comprises a matrix of Peltier effect devices serving to cool the support surface of the bed.

3. A bed accessory as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cooling means comprise one or more tubes through which a cooling fluid is circulated to extract heat from the bed support surface.

4. A bed accessory as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cooling fluid is a gas.

5. A bed accessory as claimed in claim 4, wherein the gas is air.

6. A bed accessory as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fluid is a liquid.

7. A bed accessory as claimed in claim 6, wherein the water drawn from a reservoir.

8. A bed accessory as claimed in claim 3, wherein the fluid is a refrigerant vapour.

9. A bed accessory as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a control unit is provided to enable the bed occupant to regulate the temperature of the support surface.