JP7750712B2 - air bed - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air bed, and more specifically to an air bed that has excellent stability while containing a reduced amount of gas compared to conventional rectangular parallelepiped air beds.

Traditionally, blankets and cardboard beds have been the most common bedding used in evacuation shelters during disasters. These bedding items were sometimes stockpiled at the facility before the disaster struck, and sometimes delivered as part of subsequent relief supplies.

The cardboard beds mentioned above, which are used instead of futons, are bulky, making them difficult to pack and transport, and they are difficult to handle. Furthermore, cardboard beds lose their strength when they get wet, and they are prone to mold growth. Furthermore, because cardboard beds are designed to be strong enough to maintain their shape even when someone lies on them, they can be hard and uncomfortable to sleep on.

To solve the problems associated with cardboard beds, air beds, which can be inflated by sealing gas inside, are expected to be used as bedding in evacuation shelters as an alternative to cardboard beds. Air beds can be reduced in volume by releasing the gas inside them as needed when not in use, making them easy to handle when packing, storing, and transporting. However, air beds require the use of an air pump or similar device to supply gas to the inside of the bed when in use. In particular, air mattresses have traditionally been generally rectangular, and rectangular air beds of the appropriate size for use as beds are typically pumped with an electric pump. However, in the event of a disaster, electricity may be unavailable, posing the problem of manually inflating the air, which requires a considerable amount of time and effort. Therefore, air beds have been substantially unsuitable as bedding in evacuation shelters where bedding must be provided to a large number of people.

In response to this, Patent Document 1 proposes an air bed (hereinafter referred to as Prior Art 1) that includes an air bag that forms the surface on which a person lies, and multiple cylindrical air supports arranged along the length of the bed on the underside of the air bag. More specifically, Prior Art 1 features plate-shaped air supports of a predetermined thickness that extend along the short sides of the rectangular air bag in a plan view, and are arranged in parallel along the length of the bed. Belts connecting each air support are attached to the underside of these air supports. The patent explains that these belts are designed to prevent the air bed from sagging. In other words, when gravity is applied, such as when a person lies on the top of the air bag, the belts maintain a distance between the air supports (especially the air supports arranged at both ends of the bed's length) so that they pull on each other, presumably preventing the center of the air bag from sagging downward.

Since Prior Art 1 is made of non-breathable materials, it is resistant to water, and when the air inside is expelled, it reduces in volume, making it easy to pack and transport. Prior Art 1 also makes it possible to reduce the volume of the inner chamber in which gas is sealed compared to air beds that consist entirely of a single rectangular parallelepiped.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-131760

However, the above-mentioned prior art 1 has the following problems.
In the configuration of Prior Art 1, when a load is applied vertically downward from the top of the air bag due to the presence of the belt, the air bag is prevented from bending, making it possible to use it as a bed, but when a load is applied to the air bag in a direction other than vertically downward, the upper ends of the multiple air cradles (near the joint between the air bag and the air cradle) or the middle part in the vertical direction bend, causing the multiple air cradles to tilt and crush the entire bed. In other words, when the user lies down or turns over, the air bed of Prior Art 1 has difficulty firmly supporting the air cradles, making it unstable.

However, evacuation shelters such as gymnasiums tend to be crowded with people for long periods of time and are difficult to clean, resulting in dust and poor hygiene. To address this issue, it is desirable to raise the sleeping surface (top surface of the air bed) above the floor. Furthermore, air beds with a sleeping surface at a moderate height are also desirable because they make it easier for elderly people to get up and fall asleep.
In contrast, while it is easy to design a conventional rectangular parallelepiped air bed to ensure a certain height from the floor to the sleeping surface, this further increases the volume of the air bed's interior, and the labor and time required to seal the gas inside the air bed increases. Furthermore, in Prior Art 1, while it is possible to increase the height of the sleeping surface by increasing the vertical length of the legs (i.e., the air support), the longer the legs are, the less stable the air bed becomes, and the more likely it is to tilt or collapse during use.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems. Specifically, the present invention provides an air bed that is comfortable to sleep on, resistant to water, and can reduce its volume by venting the gas sealed inside when not in use. Even when the sleeping surface is raised, the amount of gas sealed inside can be reduced compared to a rectangular air bed of the same height, and the air bed also has excellent stability.

The air bed of the present invention is an air bed having a frame body portion that extends upward from the installation surface and is continuous circumferentially, and an upper surface portion that covers the upper end opening of the frame body portion, wherein the frame body portion is composed of a first air body that can seal gas inside, the height dimension from the lower end surface of the frame body portion to the upper surface portion is 30 cm or more, and in the design dimensions before air is sealed into the air body and it is expanded, the frame body portion has a constant thickness in the vertical direction, the thickness dimension is 4 cm or more, and when the air bed is observed in the longitudinal direction, the vertical cross section of the frame body portion is a long rectangle in the vertical direction.

As described above, the air bed of the present invention has a frame portion made of a first air mass and an upper surface portion that covers the upper opening of the frame portion, and is configured so that the user lies on the upper surface. The air bed of the present invention is configured so that the upper surface portion is supported by the frame portion, and because there is space inside the frame portion, the volume of the internal chamber for sealing in gas is smaller than that of a rectangular parallelepiped air bed of the same height. This reduces the effort and time required to seal in gas during use. Furthermore, because the upper surface portion is supported by a circumferentially continuous frame portion, stability is good, and tilting during use is unlikely to occur, even when the sleeping surface is set at a sufficiently high height.

1 is a perspective view of an air bed according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 2A is a cross-sectional view of the air bed shown in FIG. 1 taken along line AA, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the air bed shown in FIG. 1 taken along line BB. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the air bed shown in FIG. 1 taken along line CC. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an air bed according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the air bed shown in FIG. 4 taken along line DD. FIG. 10 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a modified example of the third embodiment of the present invention. 7A is a perspective view of an air bed according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of line E-E of FIG. 7A. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air bed of Comparative Example 1.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In all drawings, similar components are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted where appropriate. The various components of the present invention do not necessarily exist independently of one another, and it is acceptable for multiple components to be formed as a single member, for one component to be formed from multiple members, for one component to be part of another component, or for part of one component to overlap with part of another component.
The following definitions apply to several terms used in the description of the present invention. In the present invention, the term "up-down direction" refers to the top-to-bottom direction when the air bed is placed on a surface. The first and second air bodies used in the present invention may be collectively referred to as "air bodies." The dimensions of the air bed or each of its constituent parts (height dimension t1, thickness dimension t2, short side dimension t3, long side dimension t4, thickness dimension t5) shown in the following description all refer to the design dimensions before air is sealed into the air body and inflated. An air bed that has been inflated and can be used as a bed due to the sealing of gas into the air body may vary by several centimeters from its design dimensions due to the inflation of the air body.

[First embodiment]
An air bed 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 3. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the air bed 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2A is a cross-sectional view of the air bed 100 shown in Figure 1 taken along line A-A, and Figure 2B is a cross-sectional view of the air bed 100 shown in Figure 1 taken along line B-B. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the air bed 100 shown in Figure 1 taken along line C-C.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the air bed 100 comprises a frame body 10 that extends upward from the installation surface and is continuous in the circumferential direction, and an upper surface 20 that covers the upper end opening of the frame body 10 .
The frame 10 is composed of a first air body that can be filled with gas and expands to become stable and self-supporting. In the present invention, the height t1, which is the distance from the bottom surface of the frame 10 to the top surface of the upper surface 20, is 30 cm or more, and the thickness t2 of the frame 10 is 4 cm or more. As described above, the air bed 100 has the upper surface 20 supported by the frame 10, which is continuous in the circumferential direction and has a sufficient thickness t2. This allows a person lying on the upper surface 20 to maintain a stable upright position. Furthermore, the present invention provides a sufficiently high height t1, which prevents or minimizes the inhalation of dust and other particles from the floor when used in evacuation shelters, and also provides an air bed that is easy for elderly people to get on and off.
The first air body and the air body constituting the second air body described below have an internal chamber capable of sealing a gas therein, and expand when the gas is sealed in the internal chamber. Because the air body used in the present invention is made of a non-breathable sheet having a thickness of approximately 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm, the volume of the internal chamber is approximately the same as the volume calculated from the external dimensions of the air body, and therefore, for convenience, these will be described as the same.

The air bed 100 of this embodiment has an opening 14 on the lower end surface in its overall shape, and the upper surface side forms a cylindrical body with the lower end open and closed by the upper surface part 20. The space surrounded by the installation surface, the frame part 10, and the upper surface part 20 is the external space. In other words, the air bed 100 is a cylindrical body with the opening 14 located on the lower surface side.
Compared to a rectangular parallelepiped air bed that has the same height as the height dimension t1 of the air bed 100 and the same base area as the area defined by the outer edge of the cross section of the frame body 10, the air bed 100 requires a smaller amount of enclosed gas, thereby reducing the time and effort required for installation. Note that the volume calculated from the height dimension t1 of the air bed 100 and the area defined by the outer edge of the cross section of the frame body 10 will hereinafter be referred to as the "virtual volume calculated from the outer dimensions of the air bed 100" or simply as the "virtual volume."

From the perspective of further reducing the time and effort required for installation, it is preferable that the total volume of each air body that makes up the air bed 100 be 85% or less of the virtual volume calculated from the external dimensions of the air bed 100, more preferably 75% or less, even more preferably 65% or less, and particularly preferably 50% or less.

The size of the air bed 100 can be determined as appropriate, but from the perspective of providing an air bed that can be used by adult men in evacuation shelters, it is preferable that the dimensions be within the following range. That is, the height dimension t1 is 30 cm or more, preferably 35 cm or more, and more preferably 40 cm or more. There is no particular upper limit to the height dimension t1, but from the perspective of preventing injuries from falls and making it easy to get on and off the top surface 20, it is preferably 60 cm or less, and more preferably 50 cm or less. A bed height within the above range allows for sufficient distance between the user of the air bed 100 and the surface on which it is placed, which is preferable from the perspectives of hygiene and ease of getting on and off. Furthermore, the short side dimension t3 of the cross section of the frame body 10 is preferably 65 cm or more and 100 cm or less, more preferably 70 cm or more and 95 cm or less, and even more preferably 75 cm or more and 90 cm or less. Furthermore, the longitudinal dimension t4 of the cross section of the frame body portion 10 is preferably 180 cm or more and 210 cm or less, and more preferably 185 cm or more and 200 cm or less.
As shown in Figure 3, the outer edge of the frame 10 in this embodiment is rectangular in cross section, with the short dimension t3 being the length of the short side of the rectangle and the long dimension t4 being the length of the long side of the rectangle. However, the present invention also encompasses air beds with frame parts whose outer edge in cross section is other than rectangular (for example, elliptical). When the outer edge in cross section of the frame 10 is non-rectangular, such as elliptical, the short dimension described above can be interpreted as the length of the short axis, and the long dimension as the length of the long axis.

The air bed 100 functions as a bed when gas is sealed in the air mass and the air mass is inflated. When the air bed 100 is filled with gas to the extent that it can be used as a bed, the height (distance from the bottom end surface of the frame body 10 to the top surface 20) of the air bed 100 is preferably 30 cm or more, more preferably 35 cm or more, even more preferably 35 cm or more, and most preferably 40 cm or more. If the bed height is within the above range, sufficient distance can be maintained between the user of the air bed 100 and the surface on which it is placed, which is preferable from the standpoint of hygiene and ease of getting on and off.

When not in use, the air bed 100 can be made compact by releasing the gas from the air mass, reducing its volume and making it easy to store, transport, and handle. The volume of the air bed 100 when it is compacted after the gas has been released varies depending on the dimensions of the air bed 100 and the thickness of the components (sheets) that make up the air bed 100, but an air bed with dimensions within the preferred range described above and made of sheet-like components with a thickness of approximately 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm can have a volume of, for example, 40 L or less when not in use.

(Top part)
Next, the upper surface portion 20 will be described. In this embodiment, the upper surface portion 20 is composed of a second air mass that can be filled with gas. That is, in the air bed 100 of this embodiment, not only the frame portion 10 but also the upper surface portion 20 is composed of air. Therefore, the air bed 100 has high cushioning properties and is comfortable to sleep on, and when a user lies down on the air bed 100, excessive downward sinking of the upper surface portion 20 is effectively prevented.

The second air body is preferably made of a flexible, non-breathable material such as a resin sheet. From the perspective of good processability, a sheet member made of a thermoplastic resin that can be cut or welded is preferred. More specifically, examples include a thermoplastic polyurethane resin (TPU) sheet, a polyvinyl chloride resin (PVC) sheet, and a laminated sheet (including tarpaulin) in which a thermoplastic polyurethane resin or a polyvinyl chloride resin is laminated on at least one side of a fabric. For example, by using a laminated sheet in which a resin is laminated on one side of a fabric and creating the second air body with the fabric surface exposed, the feel of the upper surface 20 can be improved, providing an even better sleeping experience.

The shape of the second air body that makes up the upper surface portion 20 is not particularly limited, but generally, by making it the same as or similar to the outer shape of the frame portion 10 when viewed from above, it is possible to provide an air bed 100 that has a sense of unity. Furthermore, the thickness dimension t5 of the second air body that makes up the upper surface portion 20 is not particularly limited, but from the perspective of providing sufficient stability and a comfortable sleeping experience, it is preferably 3 cm or more, more preferably 4 cm or more, and even more preferably 5 cm or more. In this embodiment, the thickness t2 of the first air body and the thickness t5 of the second air body are the same dimension.

The internal chambers of the second air body and the first air body that constitutes the adjacent frame portion 10 may be independent of each other, or may be in airtight communication. In this embodiment, the first air body that constitutes the frame portion 10 and the second air body that constitutes the upper surface portion 20 are in airtight communication. Therefore, only one air supply hole 12 can be provided at any location in the air body, and gas can be sealed into both the frame portion 10 and the upper surface portion 20 through this air supply hole 12. Of course, the present invention does not prohibit the provision of two or more air supply holes 12 for filling the air body with gas. A sealing plug 12a is provided in the air supply hole 12 to prevent the air sealed inside the air body from escaping.

(Frame part)
Next, the frame portion 10 will be described.
The frame 10 is configured with a first air body that can be filled with gas and that can support the upper surface 20 when in an expanded state with the gas sealed inside. As shown in Figure 3, the frame 10 is continuous in the circumferential direction when viewed from above. Therefore, when a user lies on the upper surface 20, the frame 10 is less likely to bend like the legs in Prior Art 1, and exhibits excellent stability.

The first air body that constitutes the frame body 10 is made of a flexible, non-breathable material such as a resin sheet, and is resistant to water. The details of this material are the same as those of the second air body that constitutes the upper surface portion 20 described above, so a detailed explanation will not be given here. The first air body and second air body may be made of the same material or different materials, but from the perspective of improving processability, it is preferable that they be made of the same material.

As shown in FIG. 3, the frame body 10 in this embodiment has a substantially rectangular external shape when observed in cross section. That is, the frame body 10 in this embodiment is a cylindrical body with a rectangular cross section, with the upper end opening covered by the upper surface portion 20 and the lower end opening having an opening 14. The thickness dimension t2 of the first air body is 4 cm or more, and from the perspective of providing better stability, it is preferably 5 cm or more, more preferably 7 cm or more, and even more preferably 9 cm or more. On the other hand, there is no particular upper limit to the thickness of the first air body that constitutes the frame body 10, but from the perspective of providing good stability while sufficiently reducing the total volume of the air bodies that constitute the air bed 100 relative to the virtual volume described above, it is preferably 20 cm or less, more preferably 18 cm or less, and even more preferably 15 cm or less.

(fishing cloth)
The air body in this embodiment is provided with a fishing cloth 30 inside. The fishing cloth 30 is a sheet member of a predetermined width that spans between the opposing inner circumferential surfaces inside the air body. The fishing cloth 30 is bonded to one inner circumferential surface and the opposing inner circumferential surface. When gas is sealed inside the air body, the distance between the opposing inner circumferential surfaces at the location where the fishing cloth 30 is provided is maintained within the width of the fishing cloth 30. This prevents the entire air body from expanding too much and becoming unnecessarily rounded. Instead of providing the fishing cloth 30, the opposing inner circumferential surfaces inside the air body may be directly bonded at predetermined locations. However, in this case, the unevenness of the surface of the air body may become more pronounced, reducing comfort or making the air body more prone to bending at the recessed portions.

In this embodiment, the fishing cloth 30 is provided with one or more through-holes, or at least one of the longitudinal ends of the fishing cloth 30 is positioned so that it is spaced apart from the inner surface of the air body, so that the interior of the air body is not divided into multiple spaces completely separated by the fishing cloth 30. This creates a ventilation path 32 that allows ventilation between the end and the inner surface of the air body, ensuring breathability throughout the entire interior of the air body.

The fishing cloth 30 is preferably provided inside at least one of the first air body and the second air body, and more preferably inside both. In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 1, 2A, and 3, the fishing cloth 30 is provided inside both the first air body and the second air body.
In this embodiment, the fishing cloth 30 provided inside the first air body constituting the frame body 10 is a sheet member having a width approximately equal to the thickness dimension t2 of the frame body 10, and extends in the vertical direction. A plurality of such fishing cloths 30 are provided, and are arranged in parallel in the circumferential direction of the frame body 10. In this way, by providing a plurality of fishing cloths 30 extending in the vertical direction inside the first air body in the circumferential direction, bending of the frame body 10 in the vertical middle portion is prevented when a load is applied from above, which is preferable.

In addition, in this embodiment, the fishing cloth 30 provided inside the second air body constituting the upper surface portion 20 is a sheet member having a width approximately equal to the thickness dimension t5 of the upper surface portion 20, and extends along the short side of the upper surface portion 20, which is rectangular in plan view. Multiple such fishing cloths 30 are provided, arranged side by side along the long side of the upper surface portion 20. By providing multiple fishing cloths 30 extending along the short side and along the long side inside the second air body in this way, when a user lies down on the upper surface portion 20, the mat shape can be maintained while providing sufficient strength to support the person.

[Second embodiment]
An air bed 120 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 4 and 5, and an air bed 140 according to a modified example of the second embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 6. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the air bed 120 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the air bed 120 shown in Figure 4 taken along line D-D. Figure 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the air bed 140 according to a modified example of the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the air bed 120 includes a frame portion 11 that extends upward from the installation surface and continues in the circumferential direction, and an upper surface portion 25 that covers the upper end opening of the frame portion 11 .
The frame portion 11 is made up of a first air body that can seal a gas inside, and can stand on its own stably by expanding with the gas sealed inside.

The frame body 11 in this embodiment is configured similarly to the frame body 10 in the first embodiment, except that the upper and lower end openings are covered by the upper surface portion 25 and lower surface portion 40, which are sheets. Therefore, for the frame body 11, please refer to the description of the frame body 10 in the first embodiment as appropriate, and a detailed description will be omitted.

The upper surface portion 25 in this embodiment differs from the air bed 100 in the first embodiment in that it is made of a sheet rather than an air body.
The sheet body constituting the upper surface portion 25 is the surface on which the user of the air bed 100 lies, and is therefore preferably made of a material strong enough to withstand such pressure. The sheet body may be made of fabric such as woven fabric or mesh fabric, or may be made of a resin sheet. Examples of such resin sheets include thermoplastic polyurethane resin sheets, vinyl chloride resin sheets, and laminated sheets (including tarpaulin) in which a thermoplastic polyurethane resin or vinyl chloride resin is laminated on at least one side of a fabric. When the sheet body of the upper surface portion 25 is made of such a laminated sheet, it is preferable to use it so that the fabric is on the upper surface side, from the viewpoint of providing a bed that is comfortable to the user.

5, the air bed 120 of this embodiment is provided with a lower surface portion 40 that covers the lower end opening of the frame portion 11. The lower surface portion 40 is preferably made of a sheet. The sheet provided on the lower surface portion 40 corresponds to the installation surface of the air bed 120, and is preferably made of a waterproof resin sheet. Examples of such resin sheets include a thermoplastic polyurethane resin sheet, a vinyl chloride resin sheet, and a laminated sheet (including tarpaulin) in which a thermoplastic polyurethane resin or a vinyl chloride resin is laminated on at least one side of a fabric.
As described above, the air bed 120 of this embodiment has both the upper and lower openings of the frame 11 covered with sheet members, forming a hollow body with an internal hollow body 42. In this air bed 120, at least one of the frame 11, the upper surface 25, and the lower surface 40 is provided with an air vent 27 that ventilates the hollow body 42 of the air bed 120 and the outside.

When gas is sealed into the first air mass constituting the frame body 11 through the air supply hole 12 provided in the frame body 11 and the frame body 11 expands and stands up, air flows into the hollow body 42 through the air vent 27, and the upper and lower surfaces 25 and 40 each become roughly stretched in response to the expansion of the frame body 11. Once the gas has been sealed into the frame body 11, the air bed 120 is completed, with the hollow body 42 enclosed by the frame body 11, upper surface 25, and lower surface 40. In other words, simply by sealing the air bed 120 into the frame body 11, gas can also flow into the hollow body 42, thereby providing an air bed with a volume substantially equal to the virtual volume calculated from the external dimensions of the air bed 120.

After the operation of sealing the gas in the frame body 11 is completed, the air supply hole 12 is sealed with a sealing plug 12a to prevent the sealed gas from leaking to the outside. On the other hand, since the top surface 25 is supported by the expanded frame body 11, the air vent 27 does not necessarily need to be provided with a sealing plug.
Of course, a sealing plug may also be provided for the air vent 27. For example, in order to adjust the degree of inflation of the entire air bed 120 to the user's preference, after the air bed 120 is completed by inflating the frame 11, gas may be artificially sealed into the main body hollow portion 42 through the air vent 27, and the air vent 27 may be sealed with a sealing plug (not shown) to maintain this state. The sheets constituting the upper surface 25 and the lower surface 40 may be either breathable or non-breathable. However, particularly in the case where the air vent 27 is sealed with a sealing plug, it is preferable that both the sheets constituting the upper surface 25 and the lower surface 40 be non-breathable. This allows the air bed 120 to be a hollow body with an airtight interior.

The first air body constituting the frame body 11 is preferably provided with a fishing cloth 30 inside, similar to the frame body 10 in the first embodiment, to prevent the frame body 11 from expanding too much in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the top surface 25 is made of a sheet, it is more preferable that the fishing cloth 30 extending in the vertical direction prevents bending in the vertical direction.

The thickness dimension t2 of the frame body 11 is 4 cm or more, and from the perspective of providing better stability, it is preferably 5 cm or more, more preferably 7 cm or more, and even more preferably 9 cm or more. On the other hand, there is no particular upper limit to the thickness dimension t2 of the first air body that constitutes the frame body 11. For example, because the upper surface 25 is a sheet body, even if the thickness dimension t2 of the frame body 11 is sufficiently ensured, from the perspective of being able to sufficiently reduce the ratio of the volume of the air body (first air body) provided in the air bed 120 to the virtual volume calculated from the external dimensions of the air bed 120, it is preferably 25 cm or less, more preferably 20 cm or less, and even more preferably 18 cm or less.

The air bed 120 of this embodiment described above has a frame portion 11 made of a first air body and an upper surface portion 25 and a lower surface portion 40 made of a sheet body. However, as a variation of this embodiment, the present invention also includes an embodiment that does not have a lower surface portion 40, such as the air bed 140 shown in Figure 6.

The air bed 140 does not have a bottom surface 40, but has an opening 14 at its bottom end. When the frame body 11 is inflated, the top surface 25, which is made of a sheet, follows suit and becomes taut. Because it has an opening 14 at its bottom end, there is no need for a vent hole 27 to allow air to flow inside. The air bed 140 has a very simple structure, which reduces the effort and time required to seal in gas when in use, and also reduces the overall volume when the gas is released and the bed is not in use, making it easy to store and transport.

[Third embodiment]
An air bed 160 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figure 7. Figure 7A is a perspective view of the air bed 160 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line E-E in Figure 7A.

The air bed 160 has air struts 50 arranged along the surface of the upper surface 25. The rest of the configuration is the same as the air bed 120 of the second embodiment. Therefore, for the configuration of the air bed 160 other than the air struts 50, please refer to the description of the second embodiment as appropriate.

The air struts 50 are narrow, hollow sections extending in a predetermined direction, and can be filled with gas through the air supply holes 52. The air supply holes 52 are fitted with sealing plugs (not shown). The provision of the air struts 50 improves the support capacity of the upper surface 25, which is made of a sheet, and appropriately prevents the upper surface 25 from sinking when the user lies down on the air bed 160.

In this embodiment, the air struts 50 are arranged in multiple short-side air struts 50a extending in the short direction of the top surface 25 in the longitudinal direction of the top surface 25. By providing the short-side air struts 50a in this manner, the effect of suppressing sinking of the top surface 25 is more fully exerted.

In addition, in this embodiment, connecting air struts 50b are provided to allow multiple short-side air struts 50a to communicate with each other in a breathable manner. Because the entire air strut 50 is connected by the connecting air struts 50b, the entire air strut 50 can be inflated by sealing gas in through a single air supply hole 52.

In this embodiment, the communication air struts 50b are narrow hollow sections extending in the longitudinal direction of the upper surface portion 25, and are formed to connect one end of the short-side air struts 50a, as shown in FIG. 7A, for example. In this embodiment, a communication air strut 50b is provided at each end of the short-side air strut 50a. However, the position in which the communication air struts 50b are formed is not limited to this, and they may be provided in any position as long as the short-side air struts 50a can be connected to each other.

Examples of the present invention and comparative examples are shown below.
Example 1
Example 1 was fabricated with a configuration similar to the modified example (air bed 140) of the second embodiment shown in Figure 6. Specifically, an air bed with a bottom opening was fabricated, including a frame body made of a first air body and an upper surface made of a sheet body covering the upper opening of the frame body, but no lower surface. The frame body was constructed using a sheet-like member with a thickness of 0.25 mm and composed of a fabric with TPU attached to one side. The first sheet body was constructed using the same sheet-like member as the frame body. Inside the frame body, 10 cm x 30 cm hanging cloths were installed in 19 locations along the long side and 9 locations along the short side, extending vertically between the opposing side surfaces, as in Figure 1. The external dimensions of the air bed, the thickness of the first air body, the size when not in use after the internal gas has been released, the designed total volume of the first air body, and the apparent volume calculated from the external dimensions of the air bed are shown in Table 1.
Example 2
Example 2 was produced, which has the same configuration as the first embodiment (air bed 100) shown in Figures 1 to 3. Specifically, a second air body measuring 190 cm in length, 80 cm in width, and 10 cm in thickness was used instead of the sheet body on the upper surface of Example 1, and Example 2 was produced in the same manner as Example 1, except that the height of the frame body made of the first air body was changed taking into account the height dimensions of the bed and the thickness of the second air body. The second air body was placed so as to cover the upper surface of the first air body, which is the frame body, and the two were arranged so as to be integrally joined together.
(Examples 3 to 5)
Air beds were prepared in the same manner as in Example 2, except that the height of the external dimensions of the air bed and the thickness of the first air body and the second air body were changed to the values shown in Table 1, and the height of the frame body portion consisting of the first air body was changed taking into account the height dimension of the bed and the thickness of the second air body.These were designated Examples 3 to 5.
Example 6
An air bed was fabricated in the same manner as in Example 1, except that a lower surface portion made of a sheet body covering the lower end opening of the frame body was provided and ventilation holes were provided in the upper surface portion, and this was designated Example 6. See Figures 5 and 6 for the configuration of Example 6. The sheet body constituting the lower surface portion was the same as the sheet-like member constituting the first sheet body.
(Examples 7 and 8)
Air beds were prepared in the same manner as in Example 6, except that the thickness of the first air body was changed to that shown in Table 1, and were named Examples 7 and 8.
(Comparative Example 1)
An air bed as shown in Fig. 8 was fabricated and designated Comparative Example 1. Specifically, an air bed 200 was fabricated that included an upper surface 220 having a length of 190 cm, a width of 80 cm, and a thickness of 10 cm, and three legs 210 connected to the underside of the upper surface 220. The legs 210 were three rod-shaped air bodies having a length of 80 cm, a width of 10 cm, and a thickness of 20 cm, with two attached along the short sides of the underside of the upper surface and one leg attached to the middle of the two.
Furthermore, strings 230 were attached in a taut state to the undersides of the three legs.

(evaluation)
For each example and comparative example, the reduction rate (%) of the total volume of the air body used in the air bed relative to the apparent volume calculated from the external dimensions of the air bed was calculated using the following formula (1) and is shown in Table 1.
[Equation 1]
Volume reduction rate (%) = (apparent volume - total volume) ÷ apparent volume × 100 (1)

The sleeping comfort of each example and comparative example was evaluated as follows, and the results are shown in Table 1. Ten adult males participated in the evaluation, and the most common evaluation result was adopted.
◎: There was a sense of stability and the sleeping comfort was good.
Good: There was a sense of stability, but the upper end of the frame felt like it was touching the shoulders or arms.
×: The air bed was unstable, and when lying on the upper surface or turning over, the entire air bed tilted and the upright position was not maintained.

The present invention described above encompasses the following technical ideas.
(1) a frame body portion extending upward relative to the installation surface and continuing in the circumferential direction;
an upper surface portion that covers an upper end opening of the frame body portion,
The frame portion is configured from a first air body capable of sealing a gas therein,
An air bed characterized in that the height dimension from the lower end surface of the frame body to the upper surface is 20 cm or more, and the thickness dimension of the frame body is 4 cm or more.
(2) An air bed as described in (1) above, in which the upper surface portion is composed of a second air body capable of sealing gas inside.
(3) An air bed as described in (1) above, in which the upper surface portion is made of a sheet body.
(4) A lower surface portion covering the lower end opening of the frame body portion,
The lower surface portion is made of a sheet body,
An air bed as described in (3) above, in which an air vent is provided in at least one of the frame body, the upper surface, and the lower surface, allowing ventilation between the hollow portion of the main body of the air bed and the outside.

10, 11...frame body portion 12, 52...air supply hole 12a...sealing plug 14...opening 20, 25...upper surface portion 27...vent hole 30...fishing cloth 30a...frame body fishing cloth 30b...upper surface fishing cloth 32...ventilation path 40...lower surface portion 42...main body hollow portion 50...air strut 50a...short side direction air strut 50b...communicating air strut 100, 120, 140, 160...air bed 230...string portion t1...height dimension t2, t5...thickness dimension t3...short side dimension t4...long side dimension

Claims (4)

a frame portion extending upward relative to the installation surface and continuing in a circumferential direction;
An air bed having an upper surface portion that covers an upper end opening of the frame body portion,
The frame portion is configured from a first air body capable of sealing a gas therein,
The height dimension from the lower end surface of the frame body to the upper surface portion is 30 cm or more, and the design dimensions before air is sealed into the air body and expanded are as follows:
An air bed characterized in that the frame body has a constant thickness in the vertical direction, the thickness dimension being 4 cm or more, and when the air bed is observed in the longitudinal direction, the vertical cross section of the frame body is a long rectangle in the vertical direction. An air bed as described in claim 1, wherein the upper surface portion is composed of a second air body capable of sealing gas inside. An air bed as described in claim 1, wherein the upper surface is made of a sheet. a lower surface portion that covers a lower end opening of the frame body portion,
The lower surface portion is made of a sheet body,
An air bed as described in claim 3, wherein at least one of the frame body, the upper surface, and the lower surface is provided with an air vent that allows ventilation between the hollow portion of the main body of the air bed and the outside.