Air control system for an air bed
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for selectively, adjustably controlling the firmness of a fluid supported cushion, the system comprising:
- a fluid pump;
a valve assembly operably coupling said fluid pump and said fluid supported cushion in selective fluid communication, said valve assembly comprising at least one valve;
an electronic control circuit operably coupled to said fluid pump and to said valve assembly, the electronic control circuit selectively controlling the operation of said fluid pump and said valve assembly and thereby selectively controlling the firmness of said fluid supported cushion;
wherein the selective control of the operation of said fluid pump includes turning the pump on in accordance with a pump-on command and turning the pump off in accordance with a pump-off command;
further wherein the selective control of the operation of the valve assembly includes opening the at least one valve of the valve assembly in accordance with a valve-open command and closing the at least one valve of the valve assembly in accordance with a valve-close command;
a free standing, hand held control device adapted for entry of manual firmness commands by an operator, said manual firmness commands including a firmness-increase command and a firmness-decrease command, the free standing, hand held control device presenting indicia perceptible to the operator to guide the entry of said manual firmness commands; and
an electronic wireless transmission circuit responsive to said manual firmness commands to electronically communicate with said electronic control circuit;
wherein the system generates one or more of said pump-on command, pump-off command, valve-open command and valve-close command based on said manual firmness commands;
whereby the operation of said fluid pump and said valve assembly, and thereby the firmness of said fluid supported cushion, can be selectively, remotely controlled by entry of said manual firmness commands on said free standing hand held control device to adjust the firmness of said fluid supported cushion.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An automatic control system for controlling the firmness of a fluid supported mattress of a bed assembly. The control system includes a motorized fluid pump, a control unit for operating the pump to adjust the firmness of the air mattress, a hand held remote control unit for actuating the control unit, and a transceiver system for transmitting information signals between the hand held unit and the control unit. The air control system provides for independent control of both bladders in a two bladder air mattress from a single unit, and allows a user to consistently set the firmness of each mattress air bladder to a desired value. The air control system includes an air pump specially designed to minimize transmission of motor noise into the environment.
283 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A system for selectively, adjustably controlling the firmness of a fluid supported cushion, the system comprising:
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a fluid pump; a valve assembly operably coupling said fluid pump and said fluid supported cushion in selective fluid communication, said valve assembly comprising at least one valve; an electronic control circuit operably coupled to said fluid pump and to said valve assembly, the electronic control circuit selectively controlling the operation of said fluid pump and said valve assembly and thereby selectively controlling the firmness of said fluid supported cushion; wherein the selective control of the operation of said fluid pump includes turning the pump on in accordance with a pump-on command and turning the pump off in accordance with a pump-off command; further wherein the selective control of the operation of the valve assembly includes opening the at least one valve of the valve assembly in accordance with a valve-open command and closing the at least one valve of the valve assembly in accordance with a valve-close command; a free standing, hand held control device adapted for entry of manual firmness commands by an operator, said manual firmness commands including a firmness-increase command and a firmness-decrease command, the free standing, hand held control device presenting indicia perceptible to the operator to guide the entry of said manual firmness commands; and an electronic wireless transmission circuit responsive to said manual firmness commands to electronically communicate with said electronic control circuit; wherein the system generates one or more of said pump-on command, pump-off command, valve-open command and valve-close command based on said manual firmness commands; whereby the operation of said fluid pump and said valve assembly, and thereby the firmness of said fluid supported cushion, can be selectively, remotely controlled by entry of said manual firmness commands on said free standing hand held control device to adjust the firmness of said fluid supported cushion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for selectively, adjustably controlling the firmness of a fluid supported cushion, the system comprising:
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a fluid pump; a valve assembly operably coupling said fluid pump and said fluid supported cushion in selective fluid communication, said valve assembly comprising at least one valve; an electronic control circuit operably coupled to said fluid pump and to said valve assembly, the electronic control circuit selectively controlling the operation of said fluid pump and said valve assembly and thereby selectively controlling the firmness of said fluid supported cushion; wherein the selective control of the operation of said fluid pump includes turning the pump on in accordance with a pump-on command and turning the pump off in accordance with a pump-off command; further wherein the selective control of the operation of the valve assembly includes opening the at least one valve of the valve assembly in accordance with a valve-open command and/or closing the at least one valve of the valve assembly in accordance with a valve-close command; and a control device adapted for entry of firmness commands by an operator, said firmness commands including a firmness-increase command and/or a firmness-decrease command, said control device being constructed for communication with the operator and with the electronic control circuit, at least a portion of said communication being remote communication free of physical connection; wherein the system generates one or more of said pump-on command, pump-off command, valve-open command and valve-close command based on said firmness commands; whereby the operation of said fluid pump and said valve assembly, and thereby the firmness of said fluid supported cushion, can be selectively, remotely controlled by entry of said firmness commands to adjust the firmness of said fluid supported cushion. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification