JP6326868B2 - Cushion device and mattress - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cushioning device including a pedestal having heat insulation, a heat conductive elastic member supported by the pedestal, and a heater.

  Conventionally, an elastic unit including a pedestal portion formed of urethane foam and a heat conductive elastic member supported by the pedestal portion is configured, and separately from this elastic unit, a heater wire is included inside urethane resin. A cushion device in which a heat generating member is disposed under an elastic unit is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This cushion device is set in a recess formed in the base and covered with a quilt member or cloth to form a mattress for bedding.

  Moreover, the cushion apparatus of patent document 1 has made the integrated heater wire into the dense-and-dense arrangement | sequence so that a user's leg | foot side may become the most dense. As a result, an ideal heating / sleeping mode called “head cold foot heat” is realized.

JP 2008-22901 A

  However, in the conventional cushion device, since the heat generating member is disposed under the pedestal portion (elastic unit) formed of urethane foam as a heat insulating material, heat is transferred between the heat generating member and the elastic member. Is hindered, and it takes time to warm the elastic member. As a result, there is room for improvement because it is difficult for the user of the mattress to experience the heat through the elastic member. In addition, in order to make the mattress warm from bedtime, it is necessary to provide a long preheating period, which consumes a lot of electric power. Further, when the temperature of the mattress is adjusted, the temperature followability of the elastic member corresponding to the temperature change of the heat generating member is not good.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the cushion apparatus and mattress with a high thermal effect which a user can use comfortably.

A characteristic configuration of the cushion device according to the present invention includes a pedestal portion having heat insulation properties, a heat conductive elastic member supported by the pedestal portion, and disposed between the pedestal portion and the elastic member. And a plurality of the elastic members arranged in contact with each other when elastically deformed by receiving a load, and the heater units contact a part of the plurality of elastic members. It is in a certain point.

  According to this structure, an elastic unit is comprised in order of a base part, a heater part, and a heat conductive elastic member. That is, the heat generated by the heater part can be directly transmitted to the elastic member without using the pedestal part having heat insulation properties. For this reason, the heat delivery between the heater part and the elastic member is not hindered by the pedestal part made of urethane foam as in the prior art. Therefore, the elastic member is quickly heated, and the user can feel the thermal effect comfortably.

  In addition, by directly warming the elastic member, it is possible to reach the set temperature of the apparatus in a short time, and it is possible to save power consumption and to set the maximum temperature of the heater part lower than in the past. As a result, the durability of the heater is improved. Furthermore, since the temperature followability of the elastic member can be improved in response to the temperature change of the heater portion, even when the user changes the occupancy position, the cushion device can be warmed immediately and feel uncomfortable. Absent.

  The plurality of elastic members in this configuration are elastically deformed by the load of the user riding on the cushion device, and the adjacent members come into contact with each other. For this reason, the heat of the elastic member that is in contact with the heater portion is transferred to the elastic member that is not in contact with the heater portion, and the distance between the heater portion and the pressure receiving surface of the elastic member is reduced by compressing the elastic member. Since it is shortened, the heat from the heater part quickly spreads to the pressure receiving surface of the elastic member. Therefore, since the end surface of the elastic member is entirely heated at the place where the user's load is applied, that is, the place where the user's body exists, the thermal effect on the user can be enhanced. Moreover, since the arrangement area of a heater part may be small, an assembly man-hour and material cost can be reduced.

  The characteristic configuration of the mattress according to the present invention is that a plurality of the cushion devices are provided, and the heater portions provided in the respective cushion devices can be individually energized.

  As in this configuration, by individually energizing each heater unit of a plurality of cushion devices, for example, when you want to warm only the feet, turn on the power only for the cushion devices at the feet, and turn off the other cushion devices It becomes possible to control. Further, if the cushion device that does not apply a load is turned off in accordance with the body shape of the user, an energy saving effect can be expected. As described above, the mattress in the present configuration can select the optimum temperature of experience according to the usage pattern or body shape of the user.

It is a perspective view of the bedding in this embodiment. It is a sectional side view of the mattress in this embodiment. It is a top view of the elastic unit in this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view in the IV-IV direction of FIG. 3. It is a top view which combined each elastic unit in this embodiment. It is a top view which combined each elastic unit in another embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a cushion device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The elastic unit X as a cushion device in the present embodiment will be described as an example used for the mattress 3 of the bed Y. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a bed Y including a bed frame 2 having legs 1 and a mattress 3 mounted on the bed frame 2 is configured. The mattress 3 includes a base portion 31 made of urethane foam and an elastic unit X as a cushion device inserted into a recess 32 formed near the center of the base portion 31.

  FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of the mattress 3 in the longitudinal direction of the bed Y. The mattress 3 in this embodiment includes three elastic units X, and the upper surface and side surfaces of the base portion 31 into which these elastic units X are inserted are covered with a quilt portion 4 made of foamed urethane. Moreover, while providing the surface fabric 5 along the surface of the quilt part 4, the bottom surface 6 is provided in the lower surface side of the base part 31. As shown in FIG. The front fabric 5 and the bottom fabric 6 are made of synthetic fiber.

  Each elastic unit X includes a plate-shaped pedestal portion 34 having heat insulation properties, a plurality of columnar members 35 (an example of an elastic member) supported by the pedestal portion 34, and a space between the pedestal portion 34 and the columnar member 35. An electric heater wire 36 (an example of a heater portion) that is disposed and warms the columnar member 35 is provided. Further, by covering the periphery of each elastic unit X with a bag body 37 of an elastically deformable film material or fabric, the elastic unit X can be integrally inserted into the concave portion 32 of the base portion 31.

  FIG. 3 shows a plan view of one elastic unit X. The pedestal portion 34 is formed of a plate-like foamed urethane, and each columnar member 35 is formed of a columnar low-hardness elastomer resin. The columnar member 35 in the present embodiment is manufactured by cutting an extruded product in which oil is contained in a styrene base polymer. In addition, it may replace with styrene-type elastomer resin and may be other elastomer resins, such as urethane type and ethylene type, and is not specifically limited.

  FIG. 4 shows a side sectional view in the IV-IV direction of FIG. The pedestal 34 and the columnar member 35 are joined using an adhesive (an example of the adhesive layer 38) in which a low-hardness elastomer resin is dissolved in a solvent. At this time, the electric heater wire 36 is fixed in an adhesive layer 38 between the pedestal 34 and the columnar member 35.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the columnar members 35 in this embodiment are arranged in a total of 72 on the pedestal portion 34 by forming a group of 12 rows arranged in the vertical direction (row direction) in the figure. It is the composition to install. Adjacent columnar members 35 are arranged in a staggered manner with both ends shifted by a half pitch.

  The electric heater wire 36 disposed between the pedestal portion 34 and the columnar member 35 is continuously provided every other row along the horizontal direction (row direction). That is, the columnar member 35 that contacts the electric heater wire 36 and the columnar member 35 that does not contact the electric heater wire 36 appear alternately in the oblique direction. In other words, the electric heater wires 36 are arranged at intervals greater than the center interval c between the columnar members 35 that are closest to each other. As described above, since the electric heater wire 36 is in contact with a part of the plurality of columnar members 35, it is possible to reduce the number of assembling steps and material costs of the electric heater wire 36 and to save power consumption. it can.

  These columnar members 35 can limit the amount of sinking due to the load to a certain range. That is, the columnar member 35 receiving the load increases in pressure receiving area by expanding to the side surface, but when the columnar member 35 is compressed to some extent, adjacent columnar members 35 come into contact with each other to prevent an increase in pressure receiving area. . In addition, since the load per unit area decreases due to the increase in the pressure receiving area, the sinking speed of the columnar member 35 gradually decreases. Thus, the elastic unit X in this embodiment can suppress a sudden sinking and can provide a comfortable cushion function to the user.

  On the other hand, considering the elastic unit X in the present embodiment from the viewpoint of the thermal effect, it is as follows. When the adjacent columnar members 35 are not in contact with each other, air having a lower thermal conductivity than oil is interposed between them and functions as a heat insulating layer, so that the heat transferred to the columnar members 35 is hindered from moving in the horizontal direction. Then, it quickly moves along the height direction of the columnar member 35 and warms up to the pressure receiving surface (end surface).

  Next, as the user's load is applied, the columnar member 35 gradually sinks and the adjacent columnar members 35 come into contact with each other. At this time, the heat from the columnar member 35 that is in contact with the electric heater wire 36 is transmitted to the columnar member 35 that is not in contact with the electric heater wire 36, so that all the columnar members 35 under load are warmed. As a result, the pressure-receiving surface on which the user's load is applied is evenly warmed and the pressure-receiving area is increased, so that the entire body of the user can be warmed with a large surface. Moreover, since the height of the columnar member 35 is reduced by the load, the distance between the electric heater wire 36 and the pressure receiving surface is shortened, and the pressure receiving surface is quickly transferred. Therefore, when the temperature of the electric heater wire 36 is changed, the temperature followability of the pressure receiving surface is good.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the three elastic units X are arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction of the mattress 3. Each elastic unit X is individually formed with an electric heater wire 36 so that ON / OFF control and temperature adjustment can be performed independently. When a person lies along the longitudinal direction of the mattress 3, the three elastic units X correspond to the shoulder, the heel, and the foot, respectively. For example, when it is desired to warm only the foot, the elastic unit X at the position of the foot may be turned on and the remaining two elastic units X may be turned off. Moreover, when it is desired to lower the temperature in the order of the foot, the shoulder, and the buttocks, the current gradient of each elastic unit X can be adjusted to provide a temperature gradient. Further, when the user's body shape is small and it is sufficient to use only two elastic units X, the remaining one elastic unit X may be always set to OFF. As described above, by providing the electric heater wires 36 individually in the plurality of elastic units X, it is possible to appropriately set the optimum temperature of sensation according to the usage pattern and body shape of the user.

[Another embodiment]
In another embodiment, only a configuration different from the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In order to facilitate understanding of the drawings, the same members as those in the above-described embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals.

  In the present embodiment, three elastic units X are further divided into three in the short direction of the mattress 3 to form nine elastic units X. Thereby, for example, further energy saving effect can be expected by turning on the electric heater wire 36 only in the drawing center line of the mattress 3 mainly used by the user and turning off the other electric heater wires 36.

  By the way, conventionally, a determination device that attaches a load sensor between the four legs 1 of the bed Y and the bed frame 2 to estimate the sleeping position of the sleeper is known (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-250950). Issue gazette). In the present embodiment, it is conceivable that the electric heater wire 36 is ON / OFF controlled in accordance with the current position of the sleeper in conjunction with the determination device. For example, when a sleeper turns over to the left line of the drawing, the electric heater wire 36 on the left line is turned on, and the electric heater wire 36 on the center and right side of the drawing is turned off, or the sleeper turns over due to heat. Assuming the case, the electric heater wire 36 on the moving side may be turned off. Thereby, power consumption can be saved, and the floor position can be quickly warmed by the good temperature followability of the columnar member 35 as in the above-described embodiment. Thus, in the present embodiment, by subdividing the plurality of elastic units X, it becomes possible to appropriately control the required heating position according to the user's sleeping posture. Therefore, it is possible to provide a comfortable sleep corresponding to the sleep of the sleeper.

[Other Embodiments]
(1) The quantity, shape, and arrangement of the columnar members 35 in the above-described embodiment are not particularly limited. For example, instead of the columnar shape, a polygonal columnar shape, an elliptical sectional view shape, a spherical shape, or the like may be used. Further, the arrangement of the plurality of columnar members 35 may be arranged in a lattice shape orthogonal to the matrix direction instead of the staggered shape. Further, instead of the columnar member 35, a plate-like heat conductive elastic member may be used.
(2) In the above-described embodiment, the electric heater wires 36 are arranged every other row, but may be arranged every two rows, for example. Even in this case, one side surface of the columnar member 35 not in contact with the electric heater wire 36 is heated by being transferred from the columnar member 35 in contact with the electric heater wire 36. That is, it is sufficient that at least one columnar member 35 is in contact with the electric heater wire 36 among the plurality of adjacent columnar members 35, and the arrangement mode of the electric heater wire 36 is not particularly limited.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, the electric heater wire 36 has been described. However, the heater may be heated by air or fluid, and is not particularly limited.
(4) In the above-described embodiment, the low-hardness elastomer resin is used for the columnar member 35. However, it is particularly preferable to use foamed rubber or the like if the displacement is possible in a state in which a user's load is applied while maintaining the three-dimensional shape. It is not limited.
(5) In the above-described embodiment, the elastic unit X is covered with the quilt portion 4, but the cover may not be provided.
(6) In the above-described embodiment, the mattress 3 is taken as an example, but it is needless to say that the elastic unit X can be applied to a vehicle seat, a cushion, a care sheet, or the like.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a cushion device used for a mattress for bedding, a vehicle seat, and the like.

3 Mattress 34 Base 35 Columnar member (elastic member)
36 Electric heater wire (heater part)
X Elastic unit (cushion device)

Claims (2)

A pedestal having heat insulation,
A heat conductive elastic member supported by the pedestal;
A heater portion that is disposed between the pedestal portion and the elastic member and warms the elastic member ;
When the elastic member is elastically deformed by receiving a load, a plurality of elastic members are arranged so as to be in contact with each other,
The heater unit is a cushion device in contact with a part of the plurality of elastic members . A plurality of cushion devices according to claim 1 are provided,
The mattress comprised so that the said heater part with which each said cushion apparatus was equipped can be separately energized.

Images