Patent Abstract:
An adjustable bed having a bed frame and a center support section supported by the bed frame. A second support section has one end pivotally attached to one end of the center support section, and the second support section has an opening therethrough. A massage motor assembly has a housing mounted to the second support section over the opening. A massage motor is disposed in the housing, and a resilient material is disposed in the housing between the massage motor and the housing. Enclosing the massage motor in the resilient material reduces its operational noise and permits the massage motor to move in its natural orbital motion.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to beds and more particularly, to improvements to beds having massage motors. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Adjustable beds were originally designed principally for use by patients who had to spend long periods of time in bed for reasons of health, injury, etc. However, more recently, adjustable beds are being used in residential environments by users who have no health or physical impairment. An increasing number of people place televisions and other entertainment devices in the bedroom, and more time is spent lounging in bed. Hence, the bed, and in particular, an adjustable bed, is considered by many users an alternative piece of leisure furniture. 
     One recent development in adjustable beds is the development of a “wallhugger” adjustable bed. The wallhugger adjustable bed maintains the user in the same position with respect to adjacent appliances and furniture as the head portion of the bed is moved between flat and elevated positions. As the market for leisure beds grows, there is a continuing effort by suppliers to provide leisure beds that are more comfortable, have more options, for example, massage capabilities, more sophisticated controls, and are more affordable. 
     Almost all adjustable beds utilize one or more massage motors which are controllable by a user to provide a massaging action to the user. In one embodiment, a massage motor is rigidly connected to an underside of a rigid platform, for example, a head board or a foot board, that is hinged to a center board or platform. Further, the whole articulated platform normally supports a mattress base, for example, a foam pad, over which is placed a mattress. Thus, any vibration applied to the underside of the head board must vibrate the whole head board; and further, the vibration is partially absorbed and attenuated by the soft materials in the mattress base and the mattress. The resulting or net vibration applied to a user lying on the mattress is often substantially less than desired. Further, with such a massage motor mounting, the noise caused by the massage motor operation can be objectionable. 
     In other designs, the mattress base is a foam pad approximately 4 inches thick; and the massage motor is inserted into a slit, so that it is fully contained within the mattress base. While such a design is relatively quiet, the massage action of the massage motor is attenuated by the relatively thick foam of the mattress base. 
     Thus, there is a need for an improved structure for more effectively mounting a massage motor that provides a more desirable and penetrating massaging action to a user lying on the bed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a bed having a quieter operation and an improved massage capability, thereby increasing the satisfaction of the user with the bed. The massage motor mounting of the present invention is especially useful on beds having a relatively thin mattress base. Further, the massage motor mounting of the present invention is less expensive than known massage motor mountings for beds having a thin mattress base. 
     According to the principles of the present invention and in accordance with one embodiment, the present invention provides an adjustable bed having a bed frame and a center support section supported by the bed frame. A second support section has one end pivotally attached to one end of the center support section, and the second support section has an opening therethrough. A massage motor assembly has a housing mounted to the second support section over the opening. A massage motor is disposed in the housing, and a resilient material is disposed in the housing between the massage motor and the housing. 
     Enclosing the massage motor with the resilient material substantially reduces the operational noise of the massage motor. Further, the massage motor is able to move in its orbital motion within the housing and into the opening in the second support section, thereby imparting an effective massage action to the user. In addition, the mounting of the massage motor assembly does not in any way adversely impact the feel of the bed to a very heavy user. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the resilient material is a flexible foam material which adds very little cost to the massage motor assembly. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 a perspective view of an adjustable bed having a massage motor mounted in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  of FIG.  1  and illustrates a massage motor mounting in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  of FIG.  1  and illustrates a massage motor mounting in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, an adjustable bed  18  includes a bed frame  20  comprised of a lower frame  22  and an upper frame  24  movably mounted on the lower frame  22 . The lower frame  22  has head and foot end rails  26 ,  28 , respectively, and left and right side rails  30 ,  31 , respectively. The rails  26 - 31  are joined at their ends to form a generally rectangular frame section. Each of the casters  32  includes a caster bracket  33  for receiving the stem of the caster (not shown) that supports the adjustable bed  18  on the floor. The upper frame  24  includes a head rail  33 , a foot rail  34  and left and right side rails  35 ,  36 , respectively. The rails  33 - 36  are rigidly connected at their ends with fasteners to form the generally rectangular upper frame  24 . The upper frame side rails  35 - 36  are made of angle stock, and the upper frame  24  is movably mounted on the lower frame  22  by four wheels  37  which are rotatably mounted to the ends of legs  38 . The wheels  37  ride in C-shaped channels or tracks  39  forming the left and right lower frame side rails  30 ,  31 , respectively. 
     In a known manner, a center support board or platform  40  is connected to the upper frame  24 , and a head support board or platform  42  is pivotally connected to a head end of the center supporting platform  40  with hinges  41 . A thigh support board or platform  44  is pivotally connected to a foot end of the center support platform  40  by hinges  41 ; and a foot supporting board or platform  46  is pivotally connected to a foot end of the thigh supporting platform  42  by hinges  41 . The supporting platforms  40 - 46  may be made from any desired material that is capable of properly supporting a user on a mattress, for example, a plywood or OSB material. The supporting platforms  40 - 46  are normally 0.625 inch thick but may be other thicknesses as is required. A mattress base  48 , for example, a one inch foam pad, is mounted over and covers the head, center, thigh and foot support boards  40 - 46 . Normally, the boards  40 - 46  and mattress base  48  are enclosed within a covering (not shown). A mattress  50  is then laid over the mattress base  48 . 
     Head and thigh motors  52 ,  54 , respectively, are mounted to a drive assembly  56  which mechanically couples the head and thigh motors  52 ,  54  to respective head and thigh torque tubes  58 ,  60  in a known manner. Operating the head motor  52  rotates the torque tube  58  and raises the head platform  42 . With the bed of FIG. 1, as the head platform  42  is raised, the upper frame  24  translates toward the head end the bed; and the head platform  42  remains close to the headboard  117 . Operating the thigh motor  54  rotates the thigh torque tube  60  and raises the junction of the thigh and foot platforms  44 ,  46 , respectively. 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mattress base  48  lays over an upper surface  66  of the support platform  46 . The mattress base  48  can be made of any soft, flexible material such as a fiber or foam, for example, a fire retardant, urethane foam of about 0.500-3 inches thick, for example, 1 inch thick. The foam mattress base  48  has a typical density of about 1.3-2.3 pounds per cubic foot, for example, 1.8 pounds per cubic foot and a typical I.L.D. of about 30-40 pounds per square inch (“psi”), for example, 35 psi. 
     The adjustable bed  18  has a massage motor assembly  68  mounted to the foot platform  46 . The massage motor assembly  68  includes a massage motor  70  having a massage motor housing  71  surrounded by a foam enclosure or cocoon  73  disposed within an outer housing  74 . The massage motor  70  is an electric DC motor that has a light weight, for example, molded plastic motor housing  71 , and there are no moving massage motor parts outside the housing motor  71 . Massage motors having a heavier metal housing may also be used and are commercially available from Hankscraft of Reedsburg, Wis. More specifically, the outer housing  74  is a generally rectangular enclosure having four sides  77 , a top  79  and an upper opening  75 . The massage motor housing  71  is fully encased within a first foam inner jacket  72 . The assembly of the foam inner jacket  72  and motor  70  is disposed through an opening  75  of the outer housing  74 . The outer housing  74  may be made of any rigid material, for example, metal, plastic, etc., that is molded, formed or fabricated to the desired size. The housing includes a mounting flange  76  located on its peripheral edge. 
     A foam top jacket  78  is placed across the opening  75  of the outer housing  74  and over a bottom side  80  of the massage motor housing  71 . A foam pad  82  is placed over the top foam jacket and extends outward over the mounting flange  76 . Thus, the housing  71  of the vibrator motor  70  is totally encased by, and floats within, the foam enclosure  73  formed by the respective inner and top jackets  72 ,  78 . The foam inner and top jackets  72 ,  78  and foam pad  82  can be made of any resilient material, for example, substantially the same flexible foam used for the mattress base  48 . 
     The assembly of the housing  71  of the motor  70 , outer housing  74  and foam pad  82  is placed over an opening  84  within the foot platform  46 . In that position, the mounting flange  76  compresses a portion of the foam pad  82  a lower surface  86  of the foot platform  46 . Fasteners  88  extend through against contiguous holes in the mounting flange  76 , foam pad  82  and foot platform  46 . The fasteners  88  may be any suitable fastener, for example, a threaded screw or bolt and a mating nut. The fasteners  88  are tightened so that the foam pad  82  provides little, if any, resiliency to the mounting of the massage motor assembly  68  to the foot platform  46 . 
     In FIGS. 2 and 3, the mounting of the massage motor assembly  68  is described with respect to the foot platform  46 . As will be appreciated, the massage motor assembly  90  (FIG. 1) and its mounting with respect to the head platform  40  is identical to that described with respect to massage motor assembly  68  in FIGS. 2 and 3. Thus, one or more massage motor assemblies  68  as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be used with respect to any of the bed platform sections  40 - 46 . 
     In use, the mattress base  48  functions to dampen the feeling of the irregularities on the top surface  66  (FIGS. 2 and 3) caused by fasteners, for example, fasteners  88  and the fasteners used to connect the hinges  41  (FIG. 1) to the supporting platforms  40 - 46 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the vibrator motor  70  is turned off, the massage motor  70  is principally below the platform  46  and outside the opening  84 . When the message motor  70  is turned on, the whole motor  70  including the massage motor housing  71  is able to move in its orbital motion within the foam enclosure  73 . The foam enclosure  73  functions first to attenuate the noise of the vibrating motor  70 . Further, the foam enclosure  73  can also attenuate the vibrating action of the motor  70  and change the “feel” of the massaging action imparted by the motor  70 . Thus, the degree of noise attenuation and “feel” of the massaging action can be tuned by using foams in the enclosure  73  of different densities. Being placed over the opening  84  in the foot platform  46 , as the motor  70  moves through its orbital motion, it moves partially into the opening  84  within the platform  46 . Such motion is effective to transfer a massaging action to a user lying on the mattress  50 . 
     The massage motor mounting of the present invention provides numerous advantages. First, the operation of the massage motor  70  is very quiet. Second, the massage motor assembly  68  can be used with a relatively thin, for example, one inch thick, mattress base  48 . Third, the massage motor assembly  68  permits the massage motor to move through its orbital motion, and a very effective, penetrating massage action is transferred to the user. 
     While the invention has been illustrated by the description of one embodiment and while the embodiment has been described in considerable detail, there is no intention to restrict nor in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those who are skilled in the art. For example, the massage motor assembly  68  of FIGS. 2 and 3 are described with respect to a “wallhugger” adjustable bed. As will be appreciated, the same massage motor assembly  68  may be applied to other adjustable bed designs as well as nonadjustable bed designs. Further, the massage motor assembly  68  may also be used with recliner chairs and couches as well as other leisure furniture. 
     Therefore, the invention in its broadest aspects is not limited to the specific detail shown and described. Consequently, departures may be made from the details described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims which follow.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8