JPH0870961A - Air mattress - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To generate a mild feeling in sleeping by laying two non-air permeative sheets one over the other, forming a number of hexagonal air chambers, leaving the apex of each hexagon unsealedly so as to form a draft path leading to the connecting air chamber so that an air mat is constructed, laminating a plurality of such air mats, and giving a graduation to the air pressure to be supplied to them. CONSTITUTION: One layer of air mat is made from a soft polyethylene film which excels in the tensile strength, and two such films are layered and fusion attached by heat and thereby regularly hexagonal air chambers of the same shape and same dimensions are formed over the whole film surfaces so that a honeycomb pattern is generated, and each path leading to the connecting air chamber is formed by leaving the apex of each hexagon unsealedly except the sheet periphery. Thus an air mat is constructed as a basic constituent member. Heat insulating material is used as it is and mattress is formed by stacking a plurality of such air mats wherein a graduation is given to the supplied air pressure so that the hardness increases gradually from the over-layer toward the under-layer. At this time, the part 8 remaining out of fusion attachment constitutes an air path in orifice form having a narrow cross-section for air passage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the same basic structure and relates to the following two fields. (A) An air mattress that achieves both sleeping posture and sleeping comfort. (B) A temporary heat insulating material that achieves both heat insulating performance when used and storability when not used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional air mattress is as follows (a).
There was a problem of (d). (A) In a general air mattress, when the air pressure is low, the waist falls and the bottom easily hits, and when two people sleep at the same time, the sleeping posture greatly changes depending on the entry and exit of the neighbor. For this reason, the air pressure has to be increased, which makes it uncomfortable to sleep. (B) Even in an air mattress that is divided into a large number of small air chambers and each air chamber is connected by a narrow air passage, the posture change speed becomes slow but the static characteristics are not improved. (C) The air mattress in which the air chamber is divided and the thickness and the air pressure are changed cannot cope with changes in the body position and orientation and individual differences. (D) An air mattress that divides the air chambers into a plurality of chambers and independently controls the air pressure of each air chamber increases the cost of the control system.

The thicker the heat insulating material is, the higher the heat insulating performance is. However, since it cannot be thinned when it is not used, it is used in a temporary tent house, a prefab house, etc.
The high-performance heat insulating material has a problem that the storage space becomes too large and it is difficult to use.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, the air mattress has the following problems (a) to (e). (A) Decrease the air pressure to obtain a soft sleeping comfort. (B) To obtain a correct sleeping posture without lowering of the waist or bottom butt. (C) Being able to respond to individual differences and movements such as rolling over without adjustment. (D) To ensure breathability so that a refreshing sleeping comfort can be obtained. (E) The structure is simple, inexpensive, and excellent in durability.

Further, the following (f)-
The problem of (j) was raised. (F) Light weight and high heat insulation performance can be obtained. (G) It has no air permeability and does not condense inside. (H) It has appropriate rigidity and requires few fixing points. (I) Can be stored compactly when not in use. (J) The structure is simple and inexpensive.

[0006]

In the present invention, two non-breathable sheets are sealed by sealing the outermost peripheral portion of the sheet and each side of the hexagon so as to form a honeycomb pattern in which a large number of hexagons are connected. By forming air chambers and unsealing the hexagonal vertices excluding the outermost periphery of the seat, the air mat that forms the ventilation path with the air chambers that are connected is the basic member, and multiple air mats are used. An air mattress is formed by stacking air pressure so that it gradually hardens from the upper layer to the lower layer.

When the heat insulating material is used, the air mat of the above basic member is used as it is.

[0008]

The air mattress of the present invention simulates the buoyancy of water. First, the characteristics of the buoyancy of water and the support characteristics of the mattress will be described.

The correct sleeping posture is seen when floating in the pool, and when viewed from the side, the spine has a smooth S-shape, and it is said that when the center points of the thickness of each part of the body are connected, it becomes almost a straight line. The reason why everyone floats horizontally on the water surface is that the human body is almost equal to the specific gravity of water regardless of height, weight and body parts, and the load on each part of the body and the buoyancy of water are balanced.
However, it is difficult to obtain this posture with a mattress, and if it is too hard, the buttocks are pushed up, and if it is too soft, the buttocks tend to fall.

This is because the buoyancy of water is proportional to the volume of the surface-rendered body, whereas the mattress deforms more than the volume of the body below the reference surface due to the "pulling" of the compressed and deformed surroundings. This is because the supporting force corresponding to the buoyancy of the body is not proportional to the volume of the body below the reference plane. Since this effect is determined by the ratio of the weighted area and the deformation area including the surrounding area, the head and legs, which have a smaller area than the chest and buttocks, have a larger apparent support force and change the compression elastic force of the mattress. Can not even up and down the body. This action is the same as the surface tension of water, but the surface tension of water is so small that it can be ignored, while it is so large that it affects the sleeping posture in the mattress, and in the present invention, this is referred to as the surface tension of the mattress hereinafter. ing.

The surface tension of the mattress has a greater effect as the tensile elastic force of the material near the surface is larger, the area on which the load is applied is smaller, and the compressive displacement is larger.
In general mattresses, the material near the surface is difficult to stretch and the effect of surface tension is unavoidable, so we usually deal with it by making it very hard or changing the distribution of hardness and thickness, but it is comfortable to sleep and individual differences are dealt with. Have to make compromises.

Without the surface tension of the mattress, a support force corresponding to the volume of each part of the body can be obtained, and a proper sleeping posture should be maintained with the same softness as the buoyancy of water. The present invention is based on the above theory, and the operation of each structure will be described below.

[Formation of honeycomb-like air chamber] In order to reduce the surface tension of the mattress, it is necessary to reduce the extension elastic force in the vicinity of the surface, but the extension elastic force of a non-breathable sheet excellent in durability is usually Since it is extremely large, a honeycomb-shaped air chamber in which a large number of hexagons are connected to each other is formed so that when it expands, it contracts uniformly in all horizontal directions. When a load is applied, it is easily expanded by the amount of this contraction, so an extremely small expansion elastic force can be obtained.

In the honeycomb pattern, long straight lines do not exist in any direction, and when a thick air chamber is formed, each part has substantially uniform rigidity against bending, twisting, and displacement in any direction, and the air mat A force is generated that maintains the overall horizontal shape. As a result, it is difficult for pulling and warping of the peripheral portion to occur.

[Formation of Ventilation Path at Each Apex of Hexagon] When air is filled in each air chamber, peeling stress is generated in the sealing portion, and if ventilation paths are provided in the middle of the sealing portion, both sides of Stress is concentrated on the edge of the sealed portion, and is easily broken. When the air chamber is formed in a hexagonal shape, most of the stress is received at the side portions and the stress at the apex portion becomes small. Therefore, a ventilation path is formed at this apex portion.
However, as in the prior art, the end of the sealed portion is subjected to R treatment and the straight line portion and the smooth curve are connected to avoid stress concentration as much as possible.

When the air mat is inflated, the periphery shrinks around the sealed portion. Therefore, if the sealed portion is linear, the shrinking direction is only the width direction, and the shrinkage becomes larger as the straight line becomes longer. Furthermore, the contraction of the straight lines intersects with each other, and they are easily collapsed. The honeycomb pattern has neither long straight lines nor intersecting points, and the degree of contraction and the direction of contraction are small, so that the ventilation passages provided at the apex portions are not excessively crushed and an appropriate ventilation cross-sectional area can be obtained. Furthermore, since each apex is an air passage, it does not become clogged no matter how a load is applied, and stable damping characteristics can be obtained.

[Miniaturization of the air chamber] The viscous feeling is better as the size of the air chamber is smaller, because the damping force with respect to the vertical sinking as well as the damping force with respect to the inclination, that is, the difficulty with the inclination has a great influence. However, if you make it too small, you will not be able to obtain the thickness of an air mat, so when you put your hand on it or step on it with the foot, you can feel the damping force of the tilt on the palm and the sole of the foot. Was used as a guide for the size of the air chamber.

[Matching air chamber size over the entire surface] By forming air chambers of the same shape and size on the entire surface of the air mat, uniform compression elastic force can be given to the entire surface of the air mat. Not only the difference in height, but also the direction and position of the body are different, you can always get a constant support characteristic.

[Lamination of Thin Air Mat and Hierarchization of Air Pressure] Since the buoyancy of water is proportional to the water depth per horizontal unit area and the spring rate can be regarded as constant, it is necessary to realize this also in the air mattress. However, since the compressive elastic force of the air mat is determined by the ratio of the total volume to the compressed volume, it is not proportional to the magnitude of compressive displacement, that is, the depth of depression, and the spring rate is not constant. Therefore, by stacking independent thin air mats, the air pressure of the surface layer is low, and the layers are arranged so that the air pressure becomes higher as it goes down, so the characteristic that the compression elastic force increases almost in proportion to the compression displacement, that is, a constant Got a spring rate.

[Formation of Ventilation Slits in Sealed Portion] In addition to the heat retaining property of the air itself, this air mattress has semi-independent formation of each air chamber, so that large convection of internal air does not occur It has a very high quality. Although this is advantageous for sleeping in the winter and for use as a heat insulating material, it is disadvantageous for sleeping in the summer.Therefore, a slit is inserted in the sealing part so that the air inside the air mat does not leak and the front and back of the air mat are not leaked. Allowed air to flow between them. Since the slit expands due to the contraction of the periphery when the air mat expands, a sufficient ventilation area can be obtained as a whole. When forming as a heat insulating material, this slit is not provided.

[0021] As described above, even if the body sinks deeply into the mattress, the surface tension does not act so much and a low air pressure can be adopted, so that a soft sleeping comfort can be obtained and strong supportive force can be obtained as the water becomes deeper. Therefore, a correct sleeping posture can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to achieve both heat retention and air permeability.

On the other hand, the heat insulating performance of the heat insulating material depends on the capacity of dead air (still air), but this air mat has excellent heat insulating performance because all the inside is dead air, and also maintains an appropriate plane shape. While it has characteristics and flexibility, it can be stored easily because it becomes a film when not in use.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
2 is a top view of the air mattress, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the air mattress. The air mat of one layer is made of polyethylene film that is flexible and has excellent tensile strength. Two layers of this film are stacked and heat-fused to form a honeycomb pattern over the entire surface of the film. Is formed.

FIG. 4 is a dimensional diagram of the sealing pattern near the end of the air mat. Regarding the size of each air chamber, the length a of one side of the regular hexagon is 25 mm, the length b of the welded portion 7 is 19 mm,
The remaining 3 mm portions of both ends are not welded. In the state of being filled with air, the unwelded portion 8 at each apex is crushed by the contracting force in the horizontal direction to form an orifice-like ventilation passage having a narrow ventilation cross-sectional area. It is preferable that the width c of the welded portion 7 is as narrow as possible within the range where the durability is not deteriorated. In the trial production, the slit 11 for front and back ventilation is about 1 mm. I did it. The width d of both ends of the welded portion 7 swells to 2 to 3 mm so that peeling stress is not concentrated, and is connected to the straight portion by a smooth curve.
Since the outermost part of the air mat is the most susceptible to damage, a smooth curve with a width (e) of 5 mm along each air chamber of the outer part 9
It is welded for one round with a width (f) of about 1 on the outside.
The ears 10 of 5 mm are left and reinforced.

When the air mat is filled with air, it uniformly contracts in all the horizontal directions, and the degree of contraction is about 18% for the low air pressure mat in the uppermost layer and about 20% for the high air pressure mat in the lowermost layer. Therefore, the total size is about 1 when filled with air.
The original size is about 1220 mm × 2440 mm at the uppermost layer and about 1250 mm × 2500 mm at the lowermost layer so that the size is 000 mm × 2000 mm, and the size of the intermediate layer is gradually changed. The thickness of one air mat is about 17m
m, 6 sheets were stacked to form a mattress having a thickness of about 100 mm.

The buoyancy of the mattress can be freely adjusted by air pressure, but in actuality, it is preferably about 3 to 5 times the buoyancy of water in view of the balance between the feeling of being wrapped and the feeling of being buried. The air pressure of each layer was individually determined by trial and error using an air tank for ornamental fish tanks and a distribution valve for trial production, but when commercializing it, air was placed in one place by a pressure distribution valve or a pressure reducing valve between layers. When supplied, it is desirable to automatically fill at a predetermined pressure. Once filled with air, it is not necessary to replenish anything other than the leaked amount, so a small air pump or an easily available small carbon dioxide gas cylinder can be used as the air supply source.

The strength of the viscous feeling when moving on an air mattress can be reproduced from clay to the viscosity of a free-flowing liquid such as water by changing the ventilation cross-sectional area of the ventilation passage. Here, the size of the air chamber is the same as that of the high-viscosity gel so that the same viscosity as that of the high-viscosity gel can be obtained so as not to shake, bounce, or suddenly change the posture. We covered the surface of this air mattress with a wool pad, put it in sheets so that the inside could not be seen, and asked a large number of subjects to check the feeling. We all got the impression that "I think it contains gel." It was

As a fixing method when laminating the air mattresses, it is desirable that the air mattresses are put into bed box sheets or partially connected by snap buttons, belts or the like so that the air mattress layers do not interfere with each other. Further, the bed pad is always necessary for absorbing moisture and preventing damage to the air mat, but it is desirable that the one covering the mattress surface is excellent in stretchability or a thin one is loosely used.

By utilizing the excellent air permeability of this air mattress and performing forced ventilation, it is possible to prevent stuffiness for a long time, and the location of ventilation can be limited by the arrangement of slits for vertical ventilation. In addition, if the air supply passage is formed by partially closing the air passage between the air chambers and the air is constantly supplied, the heat retaining performance can be reduced in whole or in part.

On the other hand, an air mat having no front and back ventilation slits can be used as a heat insulating material. Although excellent thermal insulation performance was obtained as it was, the use of an aluminum vapor deposition film on one or both sides could block infrared radiation heat, and further superior thermal insulation performance was obtained.

[0031]

The air mattress of the present invention has the following effects (a) to (k). (A) People of different heights, weights, and physiques can obtain the correct sleeping posture at the same time. (B) People of different heights, weights, and physiques can get a comfortable sleep at the same time. (C) A stable sleeping comfort that is hard to shake even when a neighbor goes in and out or turns over can be obtained. (D) Since the outer peripheral portion has the same softness as that of the central portion, even if the user sits on the edge, the waist is not greatly bent, and it is easy to go in and out. (E) It has excellent heat retention properties and is resistant to stuffiness to provide a refreshing sleeping comfort. (F) It can be compactly stored when not in use. (G) No adjustment of air pressure is required, and replenishment is almost unnecessary. (H) The manufacturing cost can be suppressed by the simple structure. (I) The material cost can be suppressed by the structure that does not excessively depend on the material strength. (J) Since the air mat of each layer is not fixed, it can be gently curved and is compatible with the reclining mechanism. (K) Conventionally, when a sofa is used as a sofa, the hardness in the bed form is prioritized, and the sitting comfort as a sofa is hard. can get.

On the other hand, as the heat insulating material, the following (l) to (o)
The effect of was obtained. (L) Simple, lightweight and inexpensive structure with high heat insulation and moisture resistance. (M) It has appropriate rigidity, and can be easily stacked on the wall surface or installed under the ceiling. (N) If the periphery is made into a fastener shape, it is easy to increase the area, and ventilation can be blocked between the front and back sides to prevent dew condensation on the wall surface. (O) When air is released, it becomes a film and is easy to store, which is ideal for temporary installation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view near an end portion.

FIG. 2 Top view

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A ′ in FIG.

[Figure 4] Sealing pattern dimensions

[Figs. 5 and 6] Sealing pattern diagrams with and without slits

7 and 8: Top view of the inflated state with and without slits

[Explanation of symbols]

1-6 ... Air mat of the 1st-6th layers, 7, 9 ... Sealing part,
8 ... Ventilation path, 10 ... Peripheral reinforcement ear, 11 ... Slit,
12 ... Wrinkles caused by contraction, 13 ... Air valve

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An air chamber is formed by stacking two non-breathable sheets and sealing the outermost peripheral portion of the sheet and each side of the hexagon so that a large number of hexagons are connected to each other. Except for the hexagonal vertices that are not sealed, multiple air mats that form a ventilation path with the air chambers that are connected to each other are stacked, and the air pressure is increased so that it gradually hardens from the upper layer to the lower layer. An air mattress characterized by having layers. 2. An air mat is kept airtight in the vertical direction by making a cut in the central portion in the width direction, which is slightly shorter than the length of the sealed portion, in the central portion in the width direction, separating the air chambers. The air mattress according to claim 1, wherein the air mattress has breathability. 3. An air chamber is formed by stacking two non-air-permeable sheets and sealing the outermost peripheral portion of the sheet and each side of the hexagon so that a large number of hexagons are connected to each other, thereby forming an air chamber. Except for each hexagon, the apex is unsealed to form a ventilation path with the air chamber that is connected to it.