Cooling support cushion and related methods
A cooling support cushion ( 10 ) and method of forming same is provided. In particular, the present cooling support cushions and methods of producing the same make use of a plurality of surface coatings ( 32 ) to a base layer ( 20 ) to provide an extended cooling effect. The surface coating may be mixed and applied or may be applied as separated layers.
1. A method of producing a support cushion, comprising the steps of:
providing a base layer having a lower surface and an upper surface;
providing a phase change material slurry and a polyurethane gel, the phase change material slurry including a phase change material and one or more binders;
mixing the phase change material slurry and the gel to form a combined system; and
applying the combined system to the upper surface of the base layer to form a surface coating, the surface coating allows an amount of air to flow through the base layer and the surface coating and provides a cooling effect.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of applying the combined system comprises spray applying the combined system.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mixing of the phase change material slurry and the polyurethane gel is performed in situ at a mix chamber of a spray device prior to spray applying the combined system.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binders are selected from an acrylic latex binder, a carboxylated styrene-butadiene binder, a vinyl acetate/ethylene copolymer binder, and combinations thereof.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the binders include an acrylic latex binder, a carboxylated styrene-butadiene binder, and a vinyl acetate/ethylene copolymer binder.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the binders include an acrylic latex binder.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the base layer is a flexible foam.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface coating comprises, by weight, 80-90% phase change material slurry and 10-20% polyurethane gel.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the polyurethane gel is a 2K polyurethane gel.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the 2K polyurethane gel comprises a combination of an isocyanate and a polyol.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface coating has a thickness of greater than 0 mm and less than about 5 mm.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the phase change material undergoes a phase change at a temperature of about 20° C. to about 36° C.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface coating is defined by a plurality of layers.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of layers is two layers.
15. The support cushion of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of layers is three or more layers.