Air pump with automatic pressure maintenance

Abstract

An air mattress comprising an inflatable bladder, at least one pump, a controller, and a timer. The inflatable bladder includes at least one inner chamber. The at least one pump is in fluid communication with atmosphere, as well as the at least one inner chamber of the inflatable bladder. The controller is in communication with the at least one pump, as well as a time. The controller causes activation of the at least one pump upon expiration of the timer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An air mattress comprising:
 an inflatable bladder having at least one inner chamber;   at least one pump in fluid communication with atmosphere and the at least one inner chamber of the inflatable bladder;   a controller in communication with the at least one pump;   a timer in communication with the controller, wherein the controller causes activation of the at least one pump upon expiration of the timer.   
     
     
         2 . The air mattress of  claim 1  wherein the controller includes the timer. 
     
     
         3 . The air mattress of  claim 1 , further including at least one sensor in communication with the controller, the at least one sensor for detecting a pressure within the at least one inner chamber of the inflatable bladder; 
     
     
         4 . The air mattress of  claim 3  wherein the controller causes deactivation of the at least one pump upon determining, via the at least one sensor, that the pressure within the at least one inner chamber has reached a predetermined pressure value. 
     
     
         5 . The air mattress of  claim 4  wherein the controller resets and restarts the timer upon deactivating the at least one pump. 
     
     
         6 . The air mattress of  claim 1 , further including a pump control in communication with the controller, the pump controller for selecting among one or more than one firmness setting for the air mattress. 
     
     
         7 . The air mattress of  claim 6  wherein the controller is in communication with an electronic memory, said electronic memory storing a predetermined pressure value within the at least one inner chamber of the inflatable bladder associated with each firmness setting. 
     
     
         8 . A method for maintaining a desired firmness in an air mattress, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) accepting an input from a user of a desired firmness level;   (b) determining a target pressure within the air mattress based on the desired firmness level;   (c) engaging at least one pump associated with the air mattress to inflate the air mattress to the target pressure;   (d) upon determining that pressure within the air mattress has reached the target pressure, deactivating the at least one pump;   (e) initiating a timer count down for a predetermined amount of time;   (f) upon expiration of the timer, engaging one of said at least one pump to begin pumping additional air into the air mattress;   (g) disengaging the one of said at least one pump upon determining that pressure within the air mattress has reached the target pressure, and reverting to step (e).