Apparatus and methods for heating or cooling a bed based on human biological signals

Abstract

Introduced are methods and systems for an adjustable bed device configured to: gather biological signals associated with multiple users, such as heart rate, respiration rate, or temperature; analyze the gathered human biological signals; and heat or cool a bed based on the analysis.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a temperature control device coupled to a zone of a bed device, wherein the temperature control device is configured to change a temperature of the zone;   an environment sensor operatively coupled to the bed device, wherein the environment sensor is configured to detect an environment property associated with the bed device at a current time; and   a processor operatively coupled to the temperature control device and the environment sensor, wherein the processor is programmed to compare (i) the environment property that is detected at the current time and (ii) a historical environment property associated with the bed device from a prior sleep, to determine whether to direct the temperature control device to change the temperature of the zone.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the historical environment property is an average historical environment property associated with the bed device. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is programmed to direct the temperature control device to change the temperature of the zone when there is a mismatch between (i) the environment property and (ii) the historical environment property. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is programmed to access a historical environmental property profile associated with the bed device from a database, to retrieve the historical environment property from the historical environmental property profile. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the historical environmental property comprises a plurality of environmental property values, wherein each environmental property value of the plurality corresponds to a different sleep phase of a plurality of sleep phases associated with a user of the bed device. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the environment property is selected from the group consisting of humidity, temperature, and light. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the environment property and the processor are coupled via a computer bus. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the temperature control device is disposed within the zone. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the historical environment property comprises a plurality of different temperature settings of the bed device for a plurality of different time points. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a user sensor disposed in the bed device, to detect a biological signal of a user when the user is on top of the bed device, wherein the user sensor and the environment sensor are disposed at different positions with respect to the bed device. 
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 (a) detecting, by an environment sensor operatively coupled to a bed device, an environment property associated with the bed device at a current time;   (b) comparing (i) the environment property that is detected at the current time and (ii) a historical environment property associated with the bed device; and   (c) determining, by a processor and based on the comparison in (b), whether to direct a temperature control device coupled to a zone of the bed device to change a temperature of the zone.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the historical environment property is an average historical environment property associated with the bed device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising directing, by the processor, the temperature control device to change the temperature of the zone when there is a mismatch between (i) the environment property and (ii) the historical environment property. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising accessing, by the processor, a historical environmental property profile associated with the bed device from a database, to retrieve the historical environment property from the historical environmental property profile. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the historical environmental property comprises a plurality of environmental property values, wherein each environmental property value of the plurality corresponds to a different sleep phase of a plurality of sleep phases associated with a user of the bed device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the environment property is selected from the group consisting of humidity, temperature, and light. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the environment property and the processor are coupled via a computer bus. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the temperature control device is disposed within the zone. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the historical environment property comprises a plurality of different temperature settings of the bed device for a plurality of different time points. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , comprising using a user sensor disposed in the bed device to detect a biological signal of a user when the user is on top of the bed device, wherein the user sensor and the environment sensor are disposed at different positions with respect to the bed device.