Patent Publication Number: US-2022225797-A1

Title: Vibrating Blanket and Alarm

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Field 
     The present disclosure generally relates to blanket, and more particularly to a vibrating blanket and alarm, the blanket having one or more of a vibrating element, heating element, sound emitting element and programmable wake-up alarm. 
     Related Art 
     Blankets are well known and come in all shapes and sizes and are used to many ways including covering people during sleep. 
     SUMMARY 
     A blanket is provided with one or more of a vibrating element, heating element, sound emitting; element and programmable wake-up alarm. The blanket includes a circuit electrically connecting the programmable wake-up alarm with one or more of the vibrating element, heating element, sound emitting element. A remote control, or an application on a smartphone, can be used control the circuitry and the one or more elements of the blanket. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing features will be apparent from the following Detailed Description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a blanket with a controller, vibrating elements, heating elements, and sound emitting elements. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view of the blanket shown in  FIG. 1  taken along line A-A. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a circuit for the vibrating blanket and alarm. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A vibrating blanket and alarm is shown in  FIG. 1 . The blanket, generally indicated at  10 , could be of any configuration, size or shape. It can be used to cover a person while the person is sleeping, or it can be otherwise used as blankets are used. It could be soft, with padding inside, and it could be plush on the outside. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the blanket includes a top  12  and a bottom  14 . The top  12  and bottom  14  can be attached together, or the top  12  and bottom  14  can be connected to a sidewall  16  that extends about the perimeter of the blanket  10 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-3 , the blanket  10  includes one or more or more vibrating elements  50 , and can include one or more heating elements  40 . The blanket  10  also includes a sound emitting element that can include a sound generator  30  and sound speaker  36 . The one or more vibrating elements  50 . heating elements  49  and sound speaker  36  are all positioned within or partially within the blanket  10 . The sound generator  30  can be positioned within the blanket, as shown, or it can be exterior to the blanket. The blanket  10  can include a controller  20  electrically connected to the vibrating element  50 , heating element  40 , and sound generator  30  for controlling these items. The controller  20  can be positioned within the blanket  10 , or exterior to the blanket  10 , and can powered with an electrical cord that is plugged into an outlet, or it can be battery powered. if the controller  20  is positioned within the blanket  10 , the battery or batteries  22  can be charged by a cord extending from the controller  20  to the exterior of the blanket  10 , or the controller  20  can be proximate the exterior of the blanket  10  and a charging cord  24  can be plugged into the controller  20 , through a top wall  12 , bottom wall  14  or sidewall  16 , at one end and into an outlet at the other end. The controller  20  can also be inductively charged by placing the blanket  10 , or a portion thereof with induction charging circuitry, on an induction charging apparatus. Alternatively, the controller  20  can have a battery compartment that is accessed from outside the blanket for receiving batteries  22  and/or replacement batteries  22 , 
     The controller  20  may be accessed and actuated manually from the exterior of the blanket  10  or remotely. The controller  20  can include a control panel with controls that are accessible from the exterior of the blanket  10 . It can be covered by a flap of the blanket  10  to cover the controller  20  when not in use and maintain the uniformity of the sides and/or edge of the blanket  10 . 
     Alternatively, the controller  20  can be distributed such that each of the vibrating element, the heating element, the sound emitting element incorporate distributed controls for each of said elements that are directly operated by a remote control  60  exterior of the blanket  110 , The remote control  60  could be wired or wireless. The controller  20 , or distributed controls, can be operated by a dedicated remote control  60  which could have include a clock  62  and controls  64  that can be manipulated by a user. Alternatively, the controller  20 , or distributed controls, can be operated through a software application on a smartphone  70 . The controller  20 , or distributed controls, can include Bluetooth (Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.) technology or another communication interface to receive communications from the remote control  60  or smartphone  70 . 
     The controller  20 , or distributed controls, can control the length of time a vibrating element  50  is actuated, and the level of intensity of the vibration. The one or more vibrating elements  50  can be controlled to turn on or off at predetermined times. The controller  20 , or distributed controls, can also control the length of time a heating element  40  is actuated and the level or amount of heat generated. The one or more heating elements  40  can be turned on or off at predetermined times. The controller  20 , or distributed controls, can also control the actuation of the sound generator  30  or sound speaker  36  including the sound input and the volume. The one or more sound speakers  36  can be turned on or off at predetermined times. All of these elements, and the controller, or distributed controls, can be controlled and programed through a software application on a smartphone. 
     The vibration element or elements  50  can be any vibration mechanism or vibration generator known in the art and suitable for inclusion in a blanket such as an oscillator with a motor and a built-in imbalance. For example, a vibration mechanism from a. vibrating plush toy could be used. The heating element or elements  40  can be any heating element known in the art and suitable for inclusion in a blanket such as heating element from a heating pad or heated blanket. The sound emitting element can be any music playing mechanism suitable for inclusion into a blanket. The sound emitting element can comprise one or more speakers, such as Bluetooth enabled speakers, that can play music from a smartphone. 
     As shown in FIG,  3 , a circuit  80  can be used with the blanket  10 . The circuitry  80  can include a controller  20 , optionally with batteries  22 , wiring  31  to sound generating element  30 , wiring  32  to sound speaker element  36 , wiring  42  to heating element  40 , and wiring  52  to vibrating element  50 . The settings for each element, including the intensity or volume, and the duration, can be controlled from the controller  20 , or from a remote control  60  or by a software application on a smartphone  70 . The circuit  80  can be programmed, or set, to turn on or turn off one or more elements at a specific time or after a specific duration of time after actuation. Additionally, each of the elements can be programmed, or set, to turn on a specific element at a scheduled time so that the blanket  10  functions as a wake-up alarm that can be set to start vibrating, heating or emitting sound, or a combination thereof, at a particular time to wake-up or otherwise notify a user in a manner chosen by the user, such as vibration, heat or sound or a combination. For example, one could use the blanket and turn on vibration and heat for a period of time to ease one to sleep, and then to set a sound or music alarm in the morning to wake up the user. Other combinations or activating and deactivating elements, as desired, can be set by a user. 
     It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the disclosure herein therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.