Remote operation of a bedding climate control apparatus

Abstract

A bedding climate control apparatus that delivers, in a quiet manner, forced airflow from a fan/blower within a housing to selectively deliver tempered (heated via a thermal element) and untempered (room temperature) air through a flexible hose to bedding. The quiet manner is attained with acoustic foam in the path of incoming airflow to the fan/blower and by oversizing each of the components that create a pressure drop including the capacity of the fan/blower over what is needed to deliver a required amount of airflow. Temperature may be set remotely via a wireless remote control and via a protocol access enabled device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of regulating operation of a bedding climate control apparatus, comprising the steps of:
 equipping a bedding climate control apparatus with a thermal element that imparts thermal energy to vary a temperature or a humidity in a bed before that of an environment surrounding the bed;   receiving commands in a wireless manner;   operating the equipped bedding climate control apparatus in response to receipt of the commands to vary the temperature or the humidity in a manner in accord with the commands;   sensing the varied temperature or humidity; and   transmitting in a wireless manner the sensed and varied temperature or humidity to a location that is beyond confines of the bedding climate control apparatus.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising operating at least one device in wireless communication with the bedding climate control apparatus, the at least one device being selected from the group consisting of a protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device, the protocol access enabled device being selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth protocol access enabled, WiFi protocol access enabled and Zigbee protocol access enabled. 
     
     
         3 . A method of  claim 2 , comprising further comprising operating the bedding climate control apparatus in response to simultaneous and non-simultaneous receipt of commands from both the protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device to carry out the varying, in accordance with the commands, of the temperature or humidity. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 delivering forced airflow in accordance with the commands; and   imparting thermal energy from the thermal element to the forced airflow in accordance with the commands.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the commands include further information pertaining to a manner to effect the varying of the temperature or humidity, the further information being selected from the group consisting of a time of commencement of the varying, a duration of the varying to reach completion of a fully varied temperature or humidity, a termination time of the varying, a time of commencement of applying thermal energy with the thermal element to commence the varying, a duration of the thermal energy and a termination time of the thermal energy. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 storing the further information as recall settings in memory storage;   retrieving the recall settings from the memory storage; and   effecting the operating of the bedding climate control apparatus in a manner that conforms with retrieved recall settings from the memory storage.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 retrieving recall settings from memory storage; and   effecting the operating of the bedding climate control apparatus in a manner that conforms with retrieved recall settings from the memory storage.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the bedding climate control apparatus is responsive to receipt of the commands to carry out a course of action in accord with the commands, the course of action being selected from the group consisting of commencement of adjustment in a temperature or humidity, setting a change in temperature or humidity as a function of time over a time interval, and effecting operation of the bedding climate control apparatus in a manner that conforms with recall settings from memory storage that are selected from the group consisting of time, temperature, humidity and air flow rate. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising configuring the bedding climate control apparatus to operate a thermal element at relatively high level of thermal energy in response to receipt of the commands and to carry out the adjusting by delivering heat to a forced airflow for a relatively short duration and thereafter operate the thermal element with heat power at a level lower than the relatively high thermal energy to deliver heat to the forced airflow for a relatively long duration that is a longer time interval than is the relatively short duration. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received commands include those indicative of heat or cool mode, further comprising advancing through different time increments and different maximum time intervals of an auto-shutoff timer accordingly depending upon the received commands that are indicative of different ones of the heat or cool modes. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising operating at least one device to remotely receive the information from the bedding climate control apparatus and to send out in a wireless manner the commands. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one device includes both a protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device, both the protocol access enabled device and the remote control wireless device issuing the commands simultaneously, the bedding climate control apparatus carrying out the commands that are simultaneously issued by both the protocol access enabled device and the remote control wireless device. 
     
     
         13 . A bedding climate control apparatus, comprising:
 a bedding climate control apparatus equipped with a thermal element that imparts thermal energy to vary a temperature or a humidity in a bed before that or an environment surrounding the bed;   receiving means for receiving commands in a wireless manner;   operating means for operating the equipped bedding climate control apparatus in response to receipt of the commands to vary the temperature or the humidity in a manner in accord with the commands;   sensing means for sensing the varied temperature or humidity; and   transmitting means for transmitting in a wireless manner the sensed and varied temperature or humidity to a location that is beyond confines of the bedding climate control apparatus.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising means for operating at least one device in wireless communication with the bedding climate control apparatus, the at least one device being selected from the group consisting of a protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device, the protocol access enabled device being selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth protocol access enabled, WiFi protocol access enabled and Zigbee protocol access enabled. 
     
     
         15 . A apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein said operating means is equipped with means for operating the bedding climate control apparatus in response to simultaneous and non-simultaneous receipt of commands from both the protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device to carry out the varying, in accordance with the commands, of the temperature or humidity. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 means for delivering forced airflow in accordance with the commands; and   means for imparting thermal energy from the thermal element to the forced airflow in accordance with the commands.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the commands include further information pertaining to a manner to effect the varying of the temperature or humidity, the further information being selected from the group consisting of a time of commencement of the varying, a duration of the varying to reach completion of a fully varied temperature or humidity, a termination time of the varying, a time of commencement of applying thermal energy with the thermal element to commence the varying, a duration of the thermal energy and a termination time of the thermal energy. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 memory storage that stores the further information as recall settings; and   retrieving means for retrieving the recall settings from the memory storage, said operating means being configured to effect operation of the bedding climate control apparatus in conformance with the retrieved recall settings retrieved by said retrieving means.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 memory storage that stores recall settings; and   retrieving means for retrieving the recall settings from the memory storage, said operating means being configured to effect operation of the bedding climate control apparatus in conformance with the retrieved recall settings retrieved by said retrieving means.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the bedding climate control apparatus is responsive to receipt of the commands to carry out a course of action in accord with the commands, the course of action being selected from the group consisting of commencement of adjustment in a temperature or humidity, setting a change in temperature or humidity as a function of time over a time interval, and carrying out operation of the bedding climate control apparatus in a manner that conforms with recall settings from memory storage that are selected from the group consisting of time, temperature, humidity and air flow rate. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising configuring the bedding climate control apparatus to operate a thermal element at relatively high level of thermal energy in response to receipt of the commands and to carry out the adjusting by delivering heat to a forced airflow for a relatively short duration and thereafter operate the thermal element with heat power at a level lower than the relatively high thermal energy to deliver heat to the forced airflow for a relatively long duration that is a longer time interval than is the relatively short duration. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the received commands include those indicative of heat or cool mode, further comprising advancing through different time increments and different maximum time intervals of an auto-shutoff timer accordingly depending upon the received commands that are indicative of different ones of the heat or cool modes. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising at least one device operative to remotely receive the information from the bedding climate control apparatus and to send out in a wireless manner the commands. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein the at least one device includes both a protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device, both the protocol access enabled device and the remote control wireless device issuing the commands simultaneously, the bedding climate control apparatus carrying out the commands that are simultaneously issued by both the protocol access enabled device and the remote control wireless device. 
     
     
         25 . A method of adjusting temperature or humidity within bedding, comprising the steps of:
 equipping the bedding climate control apparatus with components including a thermal element that imparts thermal energy to vary a temperature or a humidity in a bed before that of an environment surrounding the bed;   receiving commands in a wireless manner;   operating the equipped bedding climate control apparatus in response to receipt of the commands in a manner that is in accord with the commands; and   transmitting in a wireless manner feedback to a location that is beyond confines of the bedding climate control apparatus, the feedback pertaining to a condition in the bed that arises from the operating in accord with the commands causing the temperature or humidity in the bed to vary.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising:
 sensing a change in the temperature or humidify due to the operating, wherein the devising of the feedback pertains to the sensed change in the temperature or humidity.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising:
 arranging a bed sheet over a fitted mattress sheet to define a space between, wherein the operating includes varying the temperature or the humidity of the space, wherein the operating including inflating the spaced into an inflated configuration whose periphery is bounded by the bed sheet and the fitted mattress, the operating being implemented to change the temperature or the humidify of the space at a location away from the periphery before changing the temperature or the humidity of the space at the periphery.   
     
     
         28 . An apparatus that adjusts temperature or humidity within bedding, comprising:
 a bedding climate control apparatus equipped with components including a thermal element that imparts thermal energy to vary a temperature or a humidity in a bed before an environment surrounding the bed;   means for receiving commands in a wireless manner;   means for operating the equipped bedding climate control apparatus in response to receipt of the commands to vary the temperature or the humidity in a manner in accord with the commands; and   means for transmitting in a wireless manner feedback to a location that is beyond confines of the bedding climate control apparatus, the feedback pertaining to a condition that arises from the means for operating in accord with the commands causing the temperature or the humidity in the bed to vary.   
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 means for sensing a change in the temperature or humidify due to implementation of the means for operating, wherein the means for devising the feedback pertains to the sensed change in the temperature or humidity.   
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 a bed sheet arranged over a fitted mattress sheet to define a space between, wherein the means for operating varies the temperature or the humidity of the space, the means for operating including means for inflating the spaced into an inflated configuration whose periphery is bounded by the bed sheet and the fitted mattress, said means for operating being implemented to change the temperature or the humidify of the space at a location away from the periphery before changing the temperature or the humidity of the space at the periphery.   
     
     
         31 . A method of adjusting temperature or humidity within bedding, comprising the steps of:
 equipping a bedding climate control apparatus with components including a thermal element that imparts thermal energy to vary a temperature or a humidity in a bed before that of an environment surrounding the bed;   operating at least one device in wireless communication with the bedding climate control apparatus to transmit simultaneous and non-simultaneous commands in a wireless manner, the at least one device being selected from the group consisting of a protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device, the protocol access enabled device being selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth protocol access enabled, WiFi protocol access enabled and Zigbee protocol access enabled; and   operating the equipped bedding climate control apparatus to receive the transmitted simultaneous and non-simultaneous commands from both the protocol access enabled device and the remote control wireless communication device to have the components vary the temperature or humidity in the bed in a manner that is in accord with the commands.   
     
     
         32 . An apparatus to adjust temperature or humidity within bedding comprising:
 a bedding climate control apparatus equipped with components including a thermal element that imparts thermal energy to vary a temperature or a humidity in a bed before that of an environment surrounding the bed;   means for operating at least one device in wireless communication with the bedding climate control apparatus to transmit simultaneous and non-simultaneous commands in a wireless manner, the at least one device being selected from the group consisting of a protocol access enabled device and a remote control wireless communication device, the protocol access enabled device being selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth protocol access enabled, WiFi protocol access enabled and Zigbee protocol access enabled; and   means for operating the equipped bedding climate control apparatus to receive the transmitted simultaneous and non-simultaneous commands from both the protocol access enabled device and the remote control wireless communication device to have the components vary the temperature or humidity in the bed in a manner that is in accord with the commands.