Boyd Gets Two Patents for Air Mattress Hand Controllers

March 2, 2017  by Larry Thomas in Industry, Legal   

Company President Denny Boyd said it brings to 35 the number of U.S. patents awarded to the diversified sleep products producer. 

The first patent, US9501065, covers a hand controller for an air mattress which uses a series of colors and numbers to provide detailed feedback to a sleeper about his or her comfort settings and preferences.

The patent applies to remote controls for either two-chamber or six-chamber air beds, Boyd said.  Each controller (one for each sleeper) displays incremental firmness levels from 1 to 100 and comfort indices from 1 to 4.  These “values” are expressed in four quadrants depicting different colors and numbers which ultimately correlate to the comfort index.   

The hand controller for a six-chamber air mattress, for example, has three settings for the head, lumbar and foot regions on each side of the bed.  The comfort index at the top of the remote reflects the sleeper’s comfort preferences as captured in the color quadrants, as well as the matching, color-coded “firm,” “medium firm,” “medium plush” or “plush” designations at the bottom of the display.         

An Auto Fill button enables each sleeper to find their comfort preference and record it using the Memory button, Boyd noted. 

“The Auto Fill function—when filled to maximum air—also enables retail salespeople to assist shoppers in determining their ideal comfort setting(s) by releasing air incrementally and selectively using the down-arrow buttons.” 

Boyd’s second patent, US950166, also applies to air mattresses, but involves a different hand controller with a sophisticated pressure-sensing system.  The sensing system indicates the number of times a sleeper tossed and turned during the night, or — thanks to a data-storing microchip — during every night for the last several years. 

“This smart technology can actually tell you your sleep history and how many times you tossed and turned at various pressure settings,” Boyd said.  “It also can process data over an extended time period and give the sleeper a scientifically analyzed and recommended comfort setting —  the Ideal Support Index (ISI)—reflecting the head/foot and lumbar settings that have generated the fewest toss-turn incidences for that person over the short- or long-term.”

Pointing out that what feels comfortable to a person isn’t necessarily what’s best for him or her, Boyd said the new technology eliminates the guesswork associated with finding the “right” sleep settings. 

“Consumers can compare their initial preferred settings with the system’s recommended settings to refine their sleep data,” Boyd explained.  “And, whether a person has experienced weight gain, weight loss or weight re-distribution, the system will always deliver the most empirical and reliable information.”   

As with Boyd’s other patented hand controllers, the system offers Auto Fill and Memory buttons, plus a comfort index used by retailers in the selling process.   

Another smart function includes an under-bed LED light that turns itself on at night to prevent stumbling if a sleeper leaves the bed, and then turns off when the sleeper returns to bed.