US 5,243,722 · Granted 1993-09-14
The Nested Air-Cell Patent That Made Cushions Smarter
Imagine a cushion made of multiple layers, each with tiny air pockets of different sizes arranged in a grid. The clever part: fluid can flow between the smallest pockets to redistribute pressure and make the cushion more comfortable. It's like giving your pillow a circulatory system.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a multi-layer cushioning structure where top and bottom material layers sandwich two middle layers, each with preformed cell patterns. What's protected is the specific arrangement of larger outer cells and smaller inner cells, plus the fluid passages that allow the small cells to communicate with each other in a lateral plane. The seal lines that bond these layers together and create this nested cell architecture are also part of the protected design.
Why it matters
This patent represents an early approach to engineered cushioning comfort by treating air and fluid distribution as an active system rather than passive foam. By allowing controlled fluid flow between cells of different sizes, the design enables pressure redistribution under load, which can reduce pressure points and improve durability. For furniture makers, this approach offered a pathway to differentiate cushioning performance without relying solely on material density.
Real-world use
When you sit on a high-end office chair or premium mattress that adapts to your body shape and doesn't go flat in one spot after a few years, you might be experiencing cushioning based on engineered cell structures like this one.
Original USPTO abstract
A fluid cushion is comprised of a top material layer having a first preformed cell pattern formed therein, and first seal lines pattern between cells, respectively, and a bottom material layer having a second preformed cell pattern formed therein. The second preformed pattern is congruent and complementary to the first preformed cell pattern and has a seal line matching the first seal lines, respectively. A first middle material layer has a third preformed cell pattern formed therein, with second seal lines between cells, respectively, the cells in the third preformed cell pattern being a fraction of the size of cells in the first preformed pattern. A second middle material layer has a fourth preformed cell pattern which is congruent and complementary to the third preformed cell pattern and has seal lines between cells matching and joined to the second seal lines to form small center cells, respectively, there being a cluster of small cells bounded by the larger outer cells. A fluid medium is confined in said cells, respectively, the top material layer and the bottom material layer being joined to the first and second middle material layers, respectively, along the first seal lines. Fluid flow passages are formed between selected ones of the small center cells to permit fluid to flow laterally in a common plane for the small center cells formed between said first and second middle layers.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,243,722
- Filing date
- 1992-04-06
- Grant date
- 1993-09-14
- Assignee
- Ignaty Gusakov
- Inventor(s)
- GUSAKOV; IGNATY
- CPC class
- A61G7/05769
Want to file your own patent?
If you're designing a new furniture or seating product with novel cushioning technology, search our patent database to see what cell structures and fluid dynamics approaches are already claimed in your space.
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