Adaptable Mattress
A mattress includes a first, phase changeable component and a thermal management system adapted to control the temperature of the phase changeable component in order to change the firmness of the mattress. Some embodiments of the mattress include an optional single phase component. The firmness can can be made spatially and/or temporally uniform or nonuniform, and can be controlled based on one or more sensed parameters.
1 . A mattress comprising:
a first, phase changeable component; and
a thermal management system adapted to control the temperature of the phase changeable component thereby changing firmness of the mattress.
2 . The mattress of claim 1 including a second, single phase component.
3 . The mattress of claim 2 wherein the single phase component is a single phase layer and the phase changeable component is a phase changeable layer.
4 . The mattress of claim 2 wherein the single phase component and the phase changeable component are at least partly vertically coextensive.
5 . The mattress of claim 2 wherein the single phase component and the phase changeable component are arranged so that when the mattress is used as intended by its manufacturer or designer the foam layer is vertically above the phase changeable layer.
6 . The mattress of claim 5 including at least one of:
A) a thermal barrier between the single phase layer and the phase changeable layer, and
B) a thermal conductor between the single phase layer and the phase changeable layer;
wherein when the mattress includes both the thermal barrier and the thermal conductor, the thermal conductor is closer to the single phase layer and the thermal barrier is closer to the phase changeable layer.
7 . The mattress of claim 6 wherein the thermal barrier is a thermal barrier layer and the thermal conductor is a thermal conductive layer.
8 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the thermal management system is a heat supply system adapted to supply heat to the phase changeable component.
9 . The mattress of claim 8 wherein the heat supply system is an electrical resistive heating element.
10 . The mattress of claim 8 wherein the thermal management system also includes a heat withdrawal system adapted to withdraw heat from the phase changeable component.
11 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the thermal management system is a heat withdrawal system adapted to transfer heat from the phase changeable component.
12 . The mattress of claim 11 wherein the heat withdrawal system is a Peltier device.
13 . The mattress of claim 11 wherein the thermal management system also includes a heat supply system adapted to supply heat to the phase changeable component.
14 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein one or both of the phase changeable component and the thermal management system are adapted to cause the firmness of the phase changeable component to be spatially nonuniform.
15 . The mattress of claim 14 wherein the mattress extends in longitudinal, lateral and vertical directions and one or both of the phase changeable layer and the thermal management system are adapted to cause the firmness of the phase changeable layer to be nonuniform in fewer than all of the longitudinal, lateral and vertical directions.
16 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein one or both of the phase changeable layer and the thermal management system are adapted to cause the firmness of the phase changeable layer to be temporally nonuniform.
17 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the phase changeable component is a wax coated or wax infused skeleton.
18 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the phase changeable component is constructed according to “Thermally Tunable, Self-Healing Composites for Soft Robotic Applications”, authored by Nadia G. Cheng, Arvind Gopinath, Lifeng Wang, Karl Iagnemma, and Anette E. Hosoi, and appearing in Macromolecular Materials and Engineering 2014, 299, 1279-1284.
19 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the phase changeable component is as described in “Thermally Tunable, Self-Healing Composites for Soft Robotic Applications”, authored by Nadia G. Cheng, Arvind Gopinath, Lifeng Wang, Karl Iagnemma, and Anette E. Hosoi, and appearing in Macromolecular Materials and Engineering 2014, 299, 1279-1284.
20 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the phase changeable layer is a wax infused mesh.
21 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the phase changeable layer is a wax infused open cell foam.
22 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the phase changeable layer is a wax coated lattice.
23 . The mattress of claim 1 wherein the phase changeable layer includes spatially separated 2D lattices with a spring extending between the lattices.
24 . The mattress of claim 1 including:
a sensor adapted to sense a parameter associated with an occupant of the mattress; and
a processor adapted to regulate operation of the thermal management system to control firmness of the phase changeable component as a function of the sensed parameter.
25 . The mattress of claim 24 wherein the parameter is at least one of pressure and force.
26 . The mattress of claim 24 wherein the parameter is related to at least one of:
A) occupant weight;
B) occupant morphology; and
C) occupant distribution on the mattress.
27 . The mattress of claim 24 wherein the processor is adapted to regulate operation of the thermal management system to control the firmness of the phase changeable component such that the firmness is at least one of:
A) spatially nonuniform, and
B) temporally nonuniform.