US 6,085,369 · Granted 2000-07-11
The Smart Cushion That Heats or Cools Your Seat
Imagine a cushion that can warm you up on a cold day or cool you down when you're hot—all automatically. This patent describes a special cushion packed with tiny flexible tubes that pump conditioned air through it, controlled by a heat pump system that adjusts the temperature to what you need.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a cushion design with an internal network of flexible plastic woven tubes that distribute temperature-controlled air, surrounded by impermeable and permeable layers, combined with a foam pad on top and a Stirling cycle heat pump as the control system. What's protected here is the specific arrangement of these components working together to selectively heat or cool the cushion surface.
Why it matters
This patent addresses comfort in seating—a category where most chairs and cushions are passive and static. By adding active temperature control to a cushion, it opens the door to personalized thermal comfort in furniture, which matters for long sitting sessions, medical applications, and luxury seating. The integration of a Stirling cycle heat pump (an efficient, compact cooling/heating system) makes this practical rather than theoretical.
Real-world use
If you sat in an office chair or car seat equipped with this technology, you'd feel warm air flowing through the cushion on cold mornings or cool air on hot afternoons, adjusting automatically to keep you comfortable without needing a separate blanket or fan.
Original USPTO abstract
A cushion (10, 12) has a plenum (16) which includes a plurality of flexible plastic woven tubes (34) held within a pair of similarly woven sheathes (38,40). The plenum has its sides and bottom covered by an air impermeable (14) layer with the top covered by an air permeable layer (20). A low to medium density foam pad (19) is located between the plenum (16) and the top layer (20). Conditioned air is provided to the cushions (10,12) from a Stirling cycle heat pump (44).
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,085,369
- Filing date
- 1996-09-24
- Grant date
- 2000-07-11
- Assignee
- Feher; Steve
- Inventor(s)
- FEHER; STEVE
- CPC class
- A47C7/74
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