Bed microclimate control
AssigneeSleep Number Corporation
InventorsKody Lee Karschnik, Chee Nong Yang, Eric Stephen Rose, Caleb Siffring, Alexander Norell, Reuben Wesley Meline
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bed system includes microclimate control capabilities for providing quality sleep experience. The bed system can include a microclimate control subsystem configured to supply conditioned air (e.g., heated or cooled air) to a mattress, or draw ambient air from the mattress, to achieve a desired temperature at the top of the mattress. Utilizing supply of conditioned air to provide air at desired temperature to the mattress system, or utilizing air suction to drain heat away from the mattress system, can provide precise microclimate control at the mattress, thereby permitting conformable sleep.
Claims21
A method of operating a mattress air controller, the method comprising:
- determining that a user is in bed;
- operating the mattress air controller to heat or cool the user while the user is determined to be in bed;
- determining that the user is not in bed;
- operating the mattress air controller in a refresh mode to refresh air in the mattress while the user is determined to be not in bed;
- detecting a characteristic of the air during the refresh mode;
- determining that the characteristic of the air meets a threshold value;
- and
- based on determining that the characteristic of the air meets the threshold value, controlling the air controller to deactivate the refresh mode.
A bed system comprising:
- a mattress;
- and
- a mattress air controller comprising:
- a fan;
- one or more processors;
- and
- a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
- operating the mattress air controller in a conditioning mode whereby the fan is operated to move air at a top of the mattress to heat or cool a user;
- and
- operating the mattress air controller in a refresh mode whereby the fan is operated to move air at the top of the mattress to refresh the mattress, wherein in the refresh mode, the fan is operated in alternating directions for a predetermined period of time.
A method of operating a mattress air controller, the method comprising:
- determining that a user is in bed;
- operating the mattress air controller to heat or cool the user while the user is determined to be in bed;
- determining that the user is not in bed;
- and
- operating the mattress air controller in a refresh mode to refresh air in the mattress while the user is determined to be not in bed;
- wherein to refresh air in the mattress comprises circulating ambient air at a top surface of the mattress.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.