Body supporting system with adjustable firmness and related method and firmness adjusting device

Abstract

The present disclosure in general relates to body supporting systems and devices such as mattress, chair, car seat, etc., and their operating methods, and in particular to body supporting systems and devices with adjustable firmness, and related operating methods and firmness adjusting devices.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for adjusting the firmness or height or sag of a body support device, comprising:
 obtaining, at a time t1, a baseline pressure or compression/decompression or sag profile of the body support device when a body is being supported by the body support device; and   adjusting, at a later time t2, the firmness or height or sag of at least a portion of the body support device based on the baseline pressure or compression/decompression or sag profile obtained at the time t1.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , the firmness or height or sag of at least a portion of the body support is adjusted to increase comfort. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , the firmness or height or sag of at least a portion of the body support is adjusted to make sure the body's backbone is straight. 
     
     
         4 . A body support device with adjustable firmness or height or sag, comprising:
 means for obtaining, at a time t1, a baseline pressure or compression/decompression or sag profile of the body support device when a body is being supported by the body support device; and   means for adjusting, at a later time t2, the firmness or height or sag of at least a portion of the body support device based on the baseline pressure or compression/decompression or sag profile obtained at the time t1.   
     
     
         5 . An adjusting device for adjusting the firmness or height or sag of a body support device, comprising:
 a motor,   a pully that is driven by the motor,   a reduction gear that adjusts the rotation of the pully by the motor, and   a movable piece that is semi-stiff and is driven by the motor via a string, wherein the string is attached to the movable piece and is configured to be released from or wound on the pully in order to adjust the firmness or height or sag of the body support device.   
     
     
         6 . A method for determining or estimating the pressure or sag of a body support device, comprising:
 applying current to the motor as defined in claim  5 , and   counting the number of turns of the motor until a significant current, thereby determining or estimating the looseness of the string as defined in claim  5  and in turn determining and estimating the pressure or sag of the body support device in the corresponding location.   
     
     
         7 . A method for determining the sag of a body support device caused by the adjusting device according to  claim 5 , comprising:
 applying current to the motor, and   starting from a significant current, counting the number of spikes in the signal, thereby determining or estimating the sag of the body support device caused by the adjusting device.   
     
     
         8 . An adjusting device for compressing or decompressing one or multiple layers of a body support device, comprising:
 a top part attached to the top of the one or multiple layers, the top part comprising multiple magnets and/or electromagnets, and   a bottom part attached to the bottom of the one or multiple layers, the bottom part comprising multiple magnets and/or electromagnets, wherein one or more magnets and/or electromagnets from the top part overlap one or more magnets and/or electromagnets from the bottom part,   wherein when the one or multiple layers is compressed by magnetic force, a larger number of the magnets or electromagnets from the top and bottom parts overlap each other, thereby producing a greater magnetic force to compress the one or multiple layers.