Implementations described and claimed herein include a cellular cushioning system comprising a first matrix of void cells, and a second matrix of void cells opposing the first matrix of void cells, wherein one or more peaks of each void cell in the second matrix is attached to one or more peaks of each void cell in the first matrix, and wherein the void cells of the first matrix have a higher cell resolution than the void cells of the second matrix. In another implementation, a method of manufacturing a cushioning system includes molding a first matrix of void cells, molding a second matrix of void cells, the void cells of the first matrix having a higher cell resolution than the void cells in the second matrix, and attaching peak surfaces of the void cells of the first matrix and peak surfaces of the void cells of the second matrix together.

The present invention relates to a cushion device for supporting a large animal such as a cow, a horse, a buffalo, a sheep, a goat, a pig and so forth. The cushioning device includes a top and bottom surface interconnected by a drop stitch structure and a chamber. Contained within the chamber of the cushioning device is a filling material. The filling material includes a gaseous compound, a liquid or a mixture of a gaseous compound and a liquid. Additionally, the present invention also relates to the methods of transporting and installing the cushioning device. The device is shipped to the installation site absent the filling material. During installation a controlled mixture of dual phase fluids such as water and inert gas are disposed into the cushioning device, creating a gelatinous and gaseous filling material.

A mattress includes a generally rectangular prismatic foam body, having a length, a width, and a thickness, having a top surface, a plurality of slits in the top surface of the foam body extending across the width of the body to divide the top surface into a plurality of adjacent slats. An elongate chamber extends through the body, parallel to and aligned with each slit. At least one fluid filled cell disposed in each of the elongate chambers to support the edges of adjacent slats.

A mattress cover masks, buffers, or dampens the feel of the texture of the upper surface of a patterned gel layer of an upper cushioning element of a mattress. The mattress cover includes an outer surface, a mask layer, an outer periphery, and an optional bottom. A configuration of the mask layer enables it to mask, buffer, or dampen the feel of the texture of the upper surface of the patterned gel layer without interfering with a compressibility of the upper cushioning element. The mask layer may include a patterned gel layer with a different pattern than that of the patterned gel layer of the upper cushioning element of the mattress. Methods of manufacturing and installing mattress covers that mask, buffer, or dampen the feel of a patterned gel layer of an upper cushioning element of a mattress are also disclosed.

Disclosed are embodiments of a vibrating bed which allows a particular person to induce a customized vibrational pattern that they find particularly therapeutic. In certain embodiments, the bed has a water mattress, a carriage for the mattress, a hardwood frame to support the carriage, a transducer for producing different vibrational patterns in the mattress, a vibrotactile amplifier for controlling the transducer, a computer for controlling the amplifier and software on the computer for producing sounds of particular frequencies to induce the vibrational patterns in the water mattress.

An apparatus is configured for use with a chair having a supporting surface, and includes a cushioning member adapted to be placed above the supporting surface, a bottom sheet connected to the cushioning member and having an engagement surface opposite the cushioning member, a top sheet having a bottom surface positioned in confronting relation to the engagement surface and a top surface opposite the bottom surface, and a selective gliding assembly positioned between the top and bottom sheets. The top sheet has at least one end connected to the bottom sheet, and the top sheet further has a slip resistant material positioned on the top surface. The selective gliding assembly includes engagement members positioned on the engagement surface and on the bottom surface of the top sheet, and the engagement members engage each other to resist forward sliding of the top sheet and to permit rearward sliding of the top sheet.

An endoskeleton elastomer that variably impacts the mattress firmness head-to-toe is described. The elastomer fills voids cut into the foam using contour cutting or spherical cap-shaped cutouts. The elastomer is poured as a hot liquid into the voids, and cools to a solid elastomer. The specific incarnation involves the creation of a set of parallel inclusions at the center of the mattress or a set of spherical cap-shaped cutouts that help prop up the hip area to maintain proper spinal alignment by firming the center of the mattress. The depth, width, shape, spacing, elastomer durometer, and location (both head-to-toe and depth in the mattress) may be varied to impact firmness in any desired manner. The mattress may also include a series of horizontal-oriented cutouts that are cut into various portions of the mattress layers. These cutouts may extend along the width of the mattress and may be placed at portions of the top and portions of the bottom of the mattress.

A bed making it possible to simulate an absence of gravity comprises a tank containing a fluid with a specific gravity of between 1.20 and 1.23, a plate mobile between a high position above the fluid and an immersed low position, and a membrane covering the plate and having a thickness less than or equal to 0.3 mm A sensory isolation and/or stimulation chamber incorporates such a bed.

Mattresses and mattress toppers having an upper layer including a high heat capacity material are disclosed. The mattress is configured to reduce a core body temperature of the body supported thereon, and thus induce improved sleep, measurable as an increase in the time spent in slow wave sleep relative to standard mattresses having lower heat capacities. The high heat capacity of the mattress may be attributable to the geometry and nature of the support material and optional additives, including polymer gels and phase change materials. Methods for improving sleep quality and uses of the high heat capacity mattresses to improve sleep quality are also disclosed.

A cushion includes a cushioning element and a coating material provided on a surface of the cushioning element. The cushioning element includes an elastomeric material forming a plurality of intersecting buckling walls defining a plurality of hollow columns in an expanded form. The coating material includes stearic acid, a metal stearate, propylene glycol, and triethanolamine. The cushioning element is configured to be compressed, such as by a roll-packing machine, into the compressed form and subsequently released from the compressed form to transform to the expanded form. Methods of forming the cushion include forming the cushioning element comprising an elastomeric material, coating a surface of the cushioning element with the coating material, and compressing the cushioning element into a compressed form.