WO2004093613A1

WO2004093613A1 - Control apparatus for pillow having sound-to-vibration converter

Info

Publication number: WO2004093613A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/001141
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sou Young Koh
Original assignee: Twinsaver Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2003-04-22
Filing date: 2003-06-10
Publication date: 2004-11-04
Also published as: KR200326061Y1; AU2003235330A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control apparatus that is applicable to a pillow having built a sound-to-vibration converter therein. The control apparatus according to this invention enables the vibrating pillows to be used effectively by users, when the users select various sleep patterns, various types of brain waves inducement signal with the sound-to-vibration converter in the pillow and by selecting sleep time, external sound sources and internal signal generating part.

Description

CONTROL APPARATUS FOR PILLOW HAVING SOUND-TO- VIBRATION

CONVERTER

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a control apparatus that is applicable to Korean Utility Model Registration No. 0280648 (granted on June 22, 2002) entitled "Pillow Having A Built-in Sound-to-Vibration Converter", which was filed by the present applicant on April 16, 2002 (Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-2002-0011390).

Background Art

In the Korean Utility Model No. 0280648 which was filed by the present applicant and earlier registered, a sound-to-vibration converter which is sensitive to human body is installed within a pillow for reproducing a sound or generating various brain waves via vibration of the converter to induce a comfortable sleep and promote secretion of growth hormone.

However, the prior art discloses only the structure of the sound-to-vibration converter and its mounting construction, but not an effective method for variously utilizing a pillow having the sound-to-vibration converter built therein. There is therefore an urgent need for a dedicated controller that is applicable to a pillow having a built-in sound-to-vibration converter.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above necessity, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a control apparatus that allows a user to select various sleep patterns so as to transmit the selected sleep patterns to a sound-to-vibration converter built in the pillow, select his or her sleep time and also select an external sound source and an internal waveform generator, thereby effectively utilizing such a vibrating pillow.

Brief Description of Drawings

Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the construction of a vibrating pillow system in which a pillow has a built_:in sound-to-vibration converter according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the inner construction of a control apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view illustrating a typical sleep pattern; and

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view illustrating a display section of the control apparatus according to the present invention.

Preferred Embodiment for Carrying out the Invention

The present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the construction of a vibrating pillow system in which a pillow has a built-in sound-to-vibration converter according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, sound waveforms are generated from a control apparatus 100, and are transmitted to a pillow 200. At this time, a sound-to-vibration converter 210 built in the pillow 200 receives the sound waveforms from the control apparatus 100 to generate various patterns of vibrations. The control apparatus 100 itself generates a waveform of a specific pattern for application to the sound-to-vibration converter 210. However, the control apparatus 100 may receive a sound signal from an external sound device 300 or output the sound to the outside via a headphone 400, etc., as shown in FIG. 1. The construction of the control apparatus 100 according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control apparatus 100 includes a waveform generator 102, a sound source selecting unit 104, a vibration mode selecting unit 106, a sleep pattern selecting unit 108 and a sleep time setting unit 110. The waveform generator 102 functions to generate signals indicative of waveforms of various sleep patterns through external selection. The sound source selecting unit 104 is adapted to select either a waveform signal outputted from the wavefonn generator 102 or a sound signal outputted from the external sound source to generate the selected signal. The vibration mode selecting unit 106 serves to determine whether or not the selected signal from the sound source selecting unit 104 is outputted to the sound-to- vibration converter 210 and/or an external output terminal. The sleep pattern selecting unit 108 is adapted to select a predetermined sleep pattern therethrough so that the waveform generator 102 generate the waveform signals of various sleep patterns set therein. The sleep time setting unit 110 acts to set the time period during which the W

waveform generator 102 generates the waveforms, and the display unit 112 functions to display the sound source selected by the sound source selecting unit 104, the vibration mode selected by the vibration mode selecting unit 106, the sleep waveform pattern selected by the sleep pattern selecting unit 108 and the time period set by the sleep time setting unit 110.

The waveform generator 102 has stored waveforms of various sleep patterns that have been pre-programmed therein, and generates the waveform of a certain sleep pattern mode when a user selects the mode via the sleep pattern selecting unit 108. Further, the user may set the time period during which the waveform generator 102 generates the waveform using the sleep time setting unit 110.

In general, it has been reported that a human being's sleep pattern mainly consists of three time periods; a sleep inducement period, a sound sleep period and a getting-up period. The sleep inducement period is a period from tl e time when the human being starts to sleep to the time when he or she enters a deep sleep. The sound sleep period is a period during which the human being has a comfortable sleep. The getting-up period is a period from the time when the sound sleep period is ended to the time when the human being awakes. The waveform generator 102 of the present invention is adapted to generate brain waves helpful to the human body based on the sleep pattern and then transmits them to the sound-to-vibration converter 210 embedded within the pillow 200. Various researches have been made on the type of brain waves helpful to the human being' sleep or an effect of the brain waves on the sleep.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the sleep inducement period (I) may generate Theta(θ) and Alpha(α) waves in such a manner that Theta(θ) and Alpha( ) waves are generated as optimum waveforms for sleep inducement by adequately controlling the generating period of Theta(θ) and Alpha(α) waves(for example, θ period: α period = 1:2). The sound sleep period (S) does not generate any brain wave in order not to hinder the sound sleep. The pre-wake period (W) generates Beta(β) wave so that the human being can slowly awake from the sleep. At this time, the waveforms may be generated in the ratio of (θ wave generating period): (α wave generating period): (β wave generating period) = 1:2:3.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the waveform generator 102 can generate the waveforms corresponding to sleep patterns of various modes in response to selection of the sleep patterns via the sleep pattern selecting unit 108 for application to the vibrating pillow 200. For example, as seen in Table 1 below, a human being's sleep patterns may be classified into three types, so that a user can select respective modes that generate the brain waves suitable for respective sleep patterns. [Table 1 ]

For example, when a user selects mode 4 ("sleep rarely") using the sleep pattern selecting unit 108, tlie waveform generator 102 generates waveforms of sleep patterns that was preset for the respective I, S and W periods in the ratio as in Table 1. In other words, the waveform generator 102 generates Theta(θ) and Alpha(α) waves in the ratio of 1 :2 for two hours in the I period, does not generate any waveform for six hours in the S period, and generates Theta(θ), Alpha(α) and Beta(β) waves in the ratio of 1 :2:3 for two hours of the W period. However, it should be noted that an additional automatic mode might be set in addition to the modes listed in Table 1 above. In case of the automatic mode, an average sleep pattern of a human being has been preset in the sleep pattern selecting unit 108. When the user selects the automatic mode using the sleep pattern selecting unit 108, the waveform generator 102 generates a waveform corresponding to the average sleep pattern.

Furthermore, if the user sets the sleep time using the sleep time setting unit 110, the waveform generator 102 can calculate and output the generating time of Theta(θ), Alpha(α) and Beta(β) waves for a total sleep time based on the waveform ratio of the modes as shown in Table 1 above. The sleep patterns in the waveform generator 102 are not limited thereto but may be easily selected by those skilled in the art depending on the function of the control apparatus, user environment, etc.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the sound source selecting unit 104 selects either a signal having the waveform outputted from the waveform generator 102 and a sound signal outputted from the external sound source for application to the vibration mode selecting unit 106. The aim of selecting the external sound signal is to transfer a sound from an external sound device, but not a sleep pattern waveform as a vibrating source to the vibrating pillow through the control apparatus according to the present invention, so that a user can bodily sense a desired sound. Meanwhile, the user may listen to a functional music such as a sleep promoting music, a meditation music, or the like through the vibrating pillow by selecting the external sound source. The sound-to- vibration converter for the vibrating pillow to which the present invention is applied serves to convert the sound signal into a mechanical vibration so that the user can bodily senses the sound through bone conduction. It is determined by the vibration mode selecting unit 106 that the signal selected by the sound source selecting unit is to be transferred to the vibrator 210 and/or the external output terminal or to both of them. Herein, the external output terminal means a terminal for outputting the sound signal therethrough to an external sound-reproducing device, but not the sound-to-vibration converter 210 within the pillow, for example, the headphone 400. The sound outputted from the vibration mode selecting unit 106 is transmitted to the sound-to-vibration converter 210 or the external output terminal 400 via a volume circuit (VR). A user can thus control vibration intensity of the sound-to- vibration converter 210 and sound volume of the external sound-reproducing device.

Detailed explanation on additional operations of the sleep pattern selecting unit 108 and the sleep time setting unit 110 will be omitted since they has been described above when the operation of the waveform generator 102 has been described.

The display unit 112 serves to display the type of the sound source selected in the sound source selecting unit 104, the vibration mode selected in the vibration mode selecting unit 106, the waveform pattern selected in the sleep pattern selecting unit 108, and the waveform generating time period set in the sleep time setting unit 110. The display unit 112 will now be described by way of an example with reference to FIG. 4.

Two icons at the upper left portion of a screen of the display unit 112 indicate "internal waveform select" 114 and "external sound source select" 116, respectively. Three icons at the upper central portion of the display screen indicate "sound output" 118, "vibration output" 120, and "sound and vibration output" 122, respectively, which are selected by the vibration mode selecting unit 106. Five human face-like icons at the lower left and central portion of the display screen indicate the first mode 124, the second mode 126, the third mode 128, the fourth mode 130 and the fifth mode 132 as shown in Table 1, respectively. An icon at the upper right portion of the display screen indicates "automatic mode" 134 selected through the sleep pattern selecting unit 108. An icon just below the "automatic mode" 134 indicates a level 136 displayed upon adjustment of the sound volume of the external sound-reproducing device or the vibration intensity of the sound-to-vibration converter 210. A numerical segment 138 at the lower right portion of the display screen indicates the waveform generating time period set in the sleep time setting unit 110.

As described above, according to a control apparatus for a vibrating pillow of the present invention, it is possible to effectively use various functions of an earlier registered invention of the present applicant, i.e., a pillow having a built-in sound-to- vibration converter and to control various functions through selection of a user.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

What Is Claimed Is:

1. A control apparatus for a vibrating pillow (200) having a sound-to-vibration converter (210) built therein, the control apparatus comprising: a waveform generator (102) for selectively generating signals indicative of waveforms of various sleep patterns that have been preset therein through external selection; a sleep pattern selecting section (108) for selecting a predetermined sleep pattern therethrough so as to allow the waveform generator (102) to generate the waveform signals of various sleep patterns preset therein; a sleep time setting section (110) for setting the time period during which the waveform generator (102) generates the waveform signals; a sound source selecting section (104) for selecting either a waveform signal outputted from the waveform generator (102) or a sound signal outputted from the external sound source to generate the selected signal; a vibration mode selecting section (106) for determining whether the selected signal from the sound source selecting section (104) is outputted to the sound-to- vibration converter (210) and/or an external output terminal; and a display section (112) displaying the sound source signal selected by the sound source selecting section (104), the vibration mode selected by the vibration mode selecting section (106), the sleep waveform pattern selected by the sleep pattern selecting section (108) and the time set by the sleep time setting section (110).

2. The control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the waveform generator (102) generates waveforms of a sleep pattern mode selected by a user through the sleep pattern selecting section (108), from waveform patterns that have been preset for I, S and W periods as typical sleep patterns, during the time period set by the user tlirough the sleep time setting section 110.

3. The control apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display section (112) comprises: an "internal waveform select" icon (114) and an "external sound source selecting" icon (116), as a result of the selection of the sound source selecting section (104); a "sound output" icon (118), a "vibration output" icon (120), and an "sound and vibration output" icon (122), as a result of the selection of the vibration mode selecting section (106);

"mode selecting icons" (124, 126, 128, 130, 132 and 134), as a result of the selection of the sleep pattern selecting section (108); and a time indicator set by the sleep time setting section (110).