Inflatable air mattress system architecture

• US 10,201,234 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sleep Number Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sleep Number Corporation
• Inventors: Nunn, Rob, Tilstra, Matthew Wayne, Hilden, Matthew Glen, Mahoney, Paul James
• Primary Examiner(s): Karim, Ziaul
• Application Number:
  US14/211,367
• Publication Number:
  US 20140277611A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,796 Days
• Field of Search: 700 79, 341 20, 5713
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 27/081 of pneumatic type
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 27/082 with non-manual inflation, e.g. with electric pumps
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 27/083 with pressure control, e.g. with pressure sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 31/008 Use of remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0267 Fault communication, e.g. human machine interface [HMI]

Abstract

A method may comprise receiving, at a central controller, a command, from a remote control, to adjust a feature of a first component of an air mattress framework; relaying, from the central controller, the command to the first component; receiving from the first component at the central controller, an indication of the success of the command; and relaying the indication from the central controller to the remote control.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a central controller of an air pump, a first command for articulation of a bed foundation, from a remote control, to adjust articulation via an articulation system having an articulation controller, wherein the air pump is part of the central controller and the articulation controller is not part of the central controller;

relaying, from the central controller of the air pump, the first command to the articulation controller of the articulation system;

receiving at the central controller of the air pump, electronic communication comprising an indication of the success in articulation due to the first command from the articulation controller of the articulation system;

relaying electronic communication comprising the indication from the articulation controller of the articulation system through the central controller of the air pump to the remote control;

articulating, by the articulation controller, to adjust the bed foundation according to the first command.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote control cannot communicate directly with the articulation controller.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, at the central controller, a second command, from a remote control, to adjust a feature of a second component; and

relaying from the central controller the second command to adjust the feature of the second component to the second component, wherein the articulation controller and second component are not directly communicatively coupled.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the central controller, an indication of a failure of the articulation controller;

requesting, from the central controller, diagnostic data from the articulation controller;

receiving, from the articulation controller, the diagnostic data in response to the request; and

relaying the diagnostic data from the central controller to an external network device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first command from the remote control includes receiving the first command from an application executing on a smart phone.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the articulation controller, a third command from an input device physically separate from the remote control, to adjust articulation of the articulation system having the articulation controller, wherein the input device is a dedicated device configured to generate the third command for the articulation controller and is not configured to generate commands for actuating the air pump to inflate a chamber.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first command from the remote control is received over a first network protocol and relaying the first command to the articulation controller is performed over a second network protocol.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first command includes receiving an encapsulated data structure that identifies a destination for the first command and a setting for the articulation controller.

9. The method of claim 1, and further comprising:

receiving, at the central controller of the air pump, a command, from the remote control, to adjust a feature of a temperature controller configured to adjust a temperature controlled device; and

relaying, from the central controller of the air pump, the command to the temperature controller.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the central controller and the air pump are packaged as a single unit.

11. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

transmitting, by the central controller, a list of components that are linked with the central controller.

12. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the central controller, a discovery request from the remote control,

wherein the list of components that are linked with the central controller is transmitted by the central controller responsive to receiving the discovery request.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the list of components that are linked with the central controller further comprises available functions for the components.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the list of components that are linked with the central controller is transmitted by the central controller responsive to an addition or removal of a component.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, at a central controller of an air pump, a first command for articulation of a bed foundation, from a remote control, to adjust articulation via an articulation system having an articulation controller, wherein the air pump is part of the central controller and the articulation controller is not part of the central controller;

relaying, from the central controller of the air pump, the first command to the articulation controller of the articulation system;

receiving at the central controller of the air pump, electronic communication comprising an indication of the success in articulation due to the first command from the articulation controller of the articulation system;

relaying electronic communication comprising the indication from the articulation controller of the articulation system through the central controller of the air pump to the remote control; and

updating a display of the remote control responsive to receiving the indication.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, at a central controller of an air pump, a first command for articulation of a bed foundation, from a remote control, to adjust articulation via an articulation system having an articulation controller, wherein the air pump is part of the central controller and the articulation controller is not part of the central controller;

relaying, from the central controller of the air pump, the first command to the articulation controller of the articulation system;

receiving at the central controller of the air pump, electronic communication comprising an indication of the success in articulation due to the first command from the articulation controller of the articulation system;

relaying electronic communication comprising the indication from the articulation controller of the articulation system through the central controller of the air pump to the remote control; and

wherein the bed foundation supports a mattress on the bed foundation and comprises at least one zone that is configured to be adjusted by the articulation controller.