US 5,231,717 · Granted 1993-08-03
The Modular Bed Patent That Put Support Where Bodies Need It Most
Imagine a bed platform with built-in cups or wells that hold separate cushions—one under your shoulders, one under your hips—so your spine gets customized support instead of a flat, one-size-fits-all mattress. The genius is that you can swap out individual cushions based on how firm or soft you want each zone, kind of like adjustable sneaker insoles but for your whole body.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a bedding system made up of a rigid, non-flexible platform with depressions molded into its top surface. These depressions hold separate resilient (bouncy) cushions—typically positioned under key body zones like shoulders and hips—topped with a thin mattress. The key protection is the specific combination: a platform designed with shaped wells to lock cushions in place, allowing targeted support zones without the cushions sliding around.
Why it matters
This patent represents an early approach to zoned sleep support—the idea that different parts of your body need different firmness levels. Before this, mattresses were largely one uniform density. By breaking the bed into modular cushion zones anchored to a platform, manufacturers could offer customers adjustable comfort without building an expensive electronic adjustable base. Leggett & Platt, a major bedding component supplier, locked in a design that influenced how many mid-range mattresses and bed systems organize their internal support layers.
Real-world use
When you lie on a contemporary bed with distinct support zones—firmer under your waist, softer under your shoulders—you're experiencing the legacy of this modular zoning concept.
Original USPTO abstract
A modular bedding system which comprises a rigid non-resilient platform having depressions formed in the top surface thereof for the reception of resilient cushions, and a relatively thin mattress supported atop that platform and the cushions. In one preferred embodiment, there is a depression and one cushion located beneath the shoulders of a person reclining atop the mattress of the bedding system and a second cushion located beneath the hips of a person reclining atop the system. In another preferred embodiment, there is a single cushion located in a single depression of the bed but the cushion extends beneath the shoulders to beneath the hips of a person reclining atop the mattress and has a zone of increased firmness located beneath the waist of that person.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,231,717
- Filing date
- 1992-06-24
- Grant date
- 1993-08-03
- Assignee
- Leggett & Platt, Incorporated
- Inventor(s)
- SCOTT; TERENCE A., OEXMAN; ROBERT D., KENNEDY; EARL W.
- CPC class
- A47C27/148
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