U.S. patent application number 15/208631 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-30 for foam filling elements.
The applicant listed for this patent is Healthcare Co., Ltd. Invention is credited to Hans Erik Schmidt.
Application Number | 20170340131 15/208631 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 59034412 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170340131 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schmidt; Hans Erik |
November 30, 2017 |
FOAM FILLING ELEMENTS
Abstract
A foam piece for filling a comfort item, includes a body part
and several foam arms having a first end and a second end, where
the first end is attached to the body part, and the second end
protrudes away from the body part, and a plurality of contour
recesses between the foam arms. The invention further relates to a
plurality of foam pieces to be used as filling for a comfort item,
and it relates to a comfort item with such filling. Thereby, foam
pieces are supplied which are better at retaining elastic expansion
and elastic deformation characteristics than the foam solutions of
the art by retaining at least some air between pieces in the
uncompressed state. A filling is thereby obtained having good
filling properties and adding air to the comfort item.
Inventors: |
Schmidt; Hans Erik;
(Sommersted, DK) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Healthcare Co., Ltd |
Rugao City |
|
CN |
|
|
Family ID: |
59034412 |
Appl. No.: |
15/208631 |
Filed: |
July 13, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 27/086 20130101;
A47G 2009/1018 20130101; A47C 27/144 20130101; B68G 2001/005
20130101; A47C 27/22 20130101; A47G 9/0207 20130101; B68G 1/00
20130101; A47G 9/10 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A47C 27/14 20060101
A47C027/14; A47C 27/22 20060101 A47C027/22; A47G 9/02 20060101
A47G009/02; A47G 9/10 20060101 A47G009/10 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 24, 2016 |
CN |
201620479890.3 |
May 24, 2016 |
DK |
201670346 |
Claims
1. A foam piece (100) for filling a comfort item, the foam piece
(100) comprising: a body part (101); a plurality of foam arms (102)
having a first end and a second end, where the first end is
attached to the body part (101) and the second end protrudes away
from the body part (101); and a plurality of contour recesses (103)
between the foam arms (102).
2. A foam piece according to claim 1, wherein the distance between
the body part (101) and at least a part of the contour recesses
(103) is smaller than the distance between the body part (101) and
the second end of the foam arms (101).
3. A foam piece according to claim 1, where the foam piece (100) is
planar.
4. A foam piece according to claim 1, where the foam arms (102)
extend in three dimensions from the body part (101).
5. A foam piece according to claim 1, wherein the foam piece may
comprise at least one through-going hole or blind cavity.
6. A foam piece according to claim 1, wherein the contour recesses
between the foam arms have a depth being longer than the length of
the foam arms.
7. A foam piece according to claim 1, wherein the contour recesses
between the foam arms have a width being smaller than the width of
the foam arms.
8. A foam piece according to claim 1, wherein the contour recesses
between the foam arms have a width being wider than the width of
the foam arms.
9. A plurality of foam pieces to be used as filling for a comfort
item, wherein the plurality of foam pieces comprises a plurality of
foam pieces according to claim 1.
10. A comfort item (200) comprising: a first volume (202) delimited
by an outer boundary, where the first volume (202) comprise a
plurality of foam pieces (100); the foam pieces comprising a body
part (101); a plurality of foam arms (102) having a first end and a
second end, where the first end is attached to the body part (101),
and the second end protrudes away from the body part (101); and a
plurality of contour recesses (103) between the foam arms
(102).
11. A comfort item (200) according to claim 5, wherein the outer
boundary further delimits at least one second volume (203), where
the first volume (202) and the second volume (203) are separated by
a divider sheet (204), wherein the second volume comprises a
comfort filling.
12. A comfort item (200) according to claim 5, wherein the outer
boundary delimits at least two second volumes (203) comprising a
comfort filling, where the first volume (202) is placed between at
least two second volumes (203).
13. A comfort item (200) according to claim 6, wherein the comfort
filling is chosen from a list of down, feather, buckwheat, latex,
foam, memory foam, micro beads, polyester fibre or water.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present invention relates to foam pieces, for example,
for filling a comfort item, and to comfort items having such
filling.
[0002] When making comfort items such as pillows and duvets,
various filling materials are possible having different advantages
and disadvantages.
[0003] Down, feathers, fibre and foam are possible conventional
materials.
[0004] Down is the softest of the conventional options, while foam
has a good supporting ability that allows maintaining a good
posture throughout a sleep cycle or a rest period.
[0005] Combination solutions have also been seen in the art
striving to combine the softness of the down and the support of the
foam.
[0006] Foam is typically either supplied as a single piece having
the size and shape thought to be desirable or alternatively, it is
shredded and supplied in a shape that allows a larger degree of
compression thus making it a softer choice.
[0007] However, the predefined shape of a single piece of foam may
become uncomfortable during the sleep period, while shredded foam
will collapse over a longer period.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In one aspect of the invention, it relates to a foam piece
for filling a comfort item, the foam piece comprising a body part
and a plurality of foam arms having a first end and a second end,
where the first end is attached to the body part, and the second
end protrudes away from the body part, and a plurality of contour
recesses between the foam arms.
[0009] Thereby, foam pieces are supplied which are better at
retaining elastic deformation characteristics than the foam
solutions of the art by retaining at least some air between pieces
in the uncompressed state. When using a plurality of such foam
pieces for filling e.g. a comfort item such as a pillow or a
mattress, a filling is obtained having good filling properties and
adding air to the comfort item.
[0010] In an embodiment of the invention, the distance between the
body part and at least a part of the contour recess is smaller than
the distance between the body part and the second end of the foam
arms. Thereby the foam arms are present along the body parts.
[0011] In an embodiment of the invention, the foam piece is
planar.
[0012] Thereby, it is easy to produce, e.g. by making a shaped foam
beam and slicing the foam elements from the foam beam.
[0013] In an embodiment of the invention, the foam piece extends in
three dimensions from the body part.
[0014] Thereby, it is even more effective at retaining free air
between foam pieces.
[0015] In an embodiment of the invention, the foam piece may
comprise at least one through-going hole or blind cavity.
[0016] Thereby, it is even more effective at retaining free air
between foam pieces. The holes and/or cavities may be arranged
according to any angle relative to the foam pieces, such as
perpendicular to the plane of the planar piece or parallel to the
plane, or even angular relative to the plane.
[0017] In an embodiment, the contour recesses between the foam arms
have a depth being longer than the length of the foam arms.
Thereby, even if a foam arm enters a recess, the entire recess will
not be filled, and air will still be present.
[0018] In an embodiment, the contour recesses between the foam arms
have a width being smaller than the width of the foam arms.
Thereby, the foam arms cannot fit into the recesses ensuring that
the air in the recesses is maintained.
[0019] In an embodiment, the contour recesses between the foam arms
have a width being wider than the width of the foam arms. Thereby,
even if the arms enter the recesses, air is still present and
further, the arm does not lock in the recess.
[0020] The various embodiments of the present invention further
relates to a plurality of foam pieces to be used as filling for a
comfort item, wherein the plurality of foam pieces comprises a
plurality of foam pieces according to the above. Such plurality of
foam pieces would be suitable as filling for a comfort item and
would ensure a filling material introducing air into the comfort
item.
[0021] In an aspect of the invention, it relates to a comfort item
comprising a first volume delimited by an outer boundary, where the
first volume comprises a plurality of foam pieces.
[0022] In an embodiment of the invention, the outer boundary
further delimits at least one second volume, the second volume
comprising a comfort filling. By comfort filling is meant down,
feather, buckwheat, latex, foam including memory foam, micro beads,
polyester fibre or other biological or synthetic material generally
being elastically compressible. In an embodiment of the invention,
the comfort filling may be water, whereby the water allows at least
the second volume to change shape reversibly.
[0023] Thereby, the benefits of other materials may be combined
with the benefits of foam according to the invention.
[0024] In an embodiment of the invention, the outer boundary
delimits at least two second volumes comprising a comfort filling,
where the first volume is placed between the second volumes.
[0025] Thereby, the user may turn over the comfort item and retain
the softness of the comfort filling between the foam and the
skin.
[0026] In an embodiment of the invention, the comfort filling is
chosen from a list of down, feathers and synthetic fibres.
[0027] By comfort item is meant pillows, mattresses and duvets. The
outer boundary and divider sheet are most often made of cotton,
wool or synthetic fibres.
[0028] In an embodiment of the invention, it has at least two arms,
at least three arms, at least four arms, at least five arms, at
least six arms, at least seven arms or at least eight arms.
[0029] In another embodiment of the invention, it has at most three
arms, at most four arms, at most five arms, at most six arms, at
most seven arms, or at most eight arms.
[0030] In an embodiment of the invention, the foam pieces are made
of any type of foam such as open-celled or closed-celled foam. In a
preferable embodiment of the invention, the foam pieces are made of
open-celled foam.
LIST OF FIGURES
[0031] In the following, example embodiments are described
according to the invention.
[0032] FIG. 1 illustrates different foam piece embodiments
according to the invention.
[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates foam pieces used in different comfort
items.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0034] In the following, the invention is described through a
series of embodiments, none of which are to be thought of as
limiting the invention.
[0035] FIG. 1 illustrates a number of foam pieces 100 according to
the invention. The foam pieces 100 may take a variety of different
shapes as illustrated by the embodiments shown in FIG. 1. Foam
piece 100A is a rectangular plus-shaped foam piece. Foam piece 100B
is a substantially rectangular plus-shaped foam piece having
rounded corners closest to the centre of the piece. Foam piece 100C
is flower-shaped. Foam piece 100D comprises eight arms protruding
from a centre. These arms are placed with equal radial distance
between each other in the plane. Foam piece 100E is like 100D
having thinner arms. Foam piece 100F is star-shaped.
[0036] Each foam piece according to the invention has a body part
101 and a number of foam arms 102 extending away from the body part
101. Between two neighbouring foam arms 102, the foam piece forms a
recess contour 103, where the distance between the contour and the
body part 101 is lower than between the outer edge of a foam arm
102 and the body part 101. The recess may be shaped by straight
edges as in the embodiment 100A, as a concave recess as in the
embodiment 100B, and as an angle between two diverging lines as in
100C.
[0037] In the art, shredded foam is blown into for example pillows
and duvets. These arbitrarily formed pieces of foam will eventually
settle against each other in a way, where there is substantially no
free air between the foam pieces. This corresponds to the pillow
becoming compressed. Shaking, beating and washing the pillows may
then be performed to disband the shredded foam. However, this only
achieves moderate success of separation and expansion of the
pillow.
[0038] By having the shapes disclosed herein and exemplified in
embodiments 100A, 100B, 100C 100D, 100E and 100F, it is ensured
that the pieces may never engage each other completely, but instead
there will always be free air between them. Further, by compressing
the pieces such as by placing a head onto the pillow, the arms of
the pieces may easily bend and compress out of their preferred
shapes thus affording comfort. Removing the head again restores the
previous and preferred state at least partially. Since the shape of
the pieces are known and controlled, and since the non-deformed
shapes do not engage each other effectively, it is ensured that
during compression, the foam pieces do not fasten to each other.
Instead, on decompression, the pieces return at least substantially
or partially to their natural and preferred shapes. Thereby, a
pillow filled with foam pieces according to the invention will
retain its capacity of elastic expansion for longer than solutions
in the art.
[0039] In another embodiment of the invention, the foam piece is
star-shaped, has an uneven number of arms, is a sphere and/or is
elongated.
[0040] Embodiments 100G and 100H are two variations of embodiment
100A. Embodiment 100G is a planar foam piece, whereby the foam arms
102 all extend from the body part 101 in a single plane. Then, only
the thickness of the piece protrudes in the third dimension.
Thereby, foam pieces may easily be produced from foam sheets or
rolls or other convenient planar foam shapes.
[0041] In another embodiment 100H, the arms of the foam piece
extend from the centre in all three dimensions. Thereby, pockets of
air are secured even better between foam pieces.
[0042] The principles behind embodiments 100G and 100H being that
100H is a version of 100G extended into three dimensions are
extendable to the other shown planar embodiments.
[0043] Three-dimensional foam pieces may also take the basic shape
of 100D but instead having arms distributed in three dimensions
according to the same distribution of 45 degrees between
neighbouring arms.
[0044] Further, star-shaped foam piece 100F may have any number of
arms extending symmetrically in three dimensions, such as
conveniently 4, 6, 8, 12 or 20.
[0045] In another embodiment of the invention, the foam piece
further comprises holes or cavities.
[0046] FIG. 2 illustrates various embodiments of comfort items
according to the invention.
[0047] FIG. 2A illustrates a pillow 200A according to the
invention, with a first volume 202 and a multitude of foam pieces
100 filling up this first volume 202.
[0048] FIG. 2B illustrates a pillow 200B according to the
invention, being a combination pillow, where a first volume is
filled with foam pieces according to the invention, and where a
second volume 203 is filled with another type of comfort fill, such
as feathers, down or fibres. The volumes are separated by divider
sheets 204. Thereby, the shape stability of foam is achieved in
combination with other product features, such as the softness of
down, feathers or fibre.
[0049] FIG. 2C illustrates a pillow 200C according to the
invention, much like embodiment 200B in that it is a combination
pillow. Importantly, 200C comprises two second volumes filled with
another type of filling such as down or feathers. Thereby, the
pillow retains its comfort in both orientations, and the user may
turn it over during use.
[0050] FIG. 2D illustrates a mattress according to the invention,
the mattress being a combination mattress, where a first volume is
filled with foam pieces according to the invention, and where a
second volume 203 is filled with another type of filling,
preferably feathers or down. Thereby, the shape stability of foam
is achieved, while the comfort of down or feathers is also
achieved.
[0051] When a multitude of foam pieces according to the invention
is placed together, the recesses then geometrically hinder the foam
pieces from taking up the full space of the comfort item. Instead,
air pockets among the foam pieces remain. These are then
compressible by a user on use. Thereby, the total compression range
remains greater for a longer period of time.
[0052] Further, because the foam pieces are not shredded, their
edges are significantly smoother, whereby even if they settle into
a somewhat clumped position, a shake of the comfort item will
release the foam pieces much better than will be possible with
shredded foam pieces which may easily fasten strongly together. In
an embodiment of the invention, this allows the pillow not to
experience fatigue like normal shredded foam-filled comfort
items.
REFERENCE NUMBERS
[0053] 100A-H--foam pieces [0054] 101--body part [0055] 102--foam
arm [0056] 103--contour recess [0057] 200A-D--comfort items [0058]
202--first volume [0059] 203--second volume [0060] 204--divider
sheet
* * * * *