An air mattress is an inflatable mattress or sleeping pad.
Due to its buoyancy, it is also often used as a water toy or flotation device, and in some countries, including the UK and South Africa, is called a lilo ("Li-lo" being a specific trademark — derived from the phrase "lie low") or a Readybed. [1]
An air mattress, also known as an airbed or a blow-up bed, [2] is an inflatable mattress made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or textile-reinforced urethane plastic or rubber. The deflated mattress can be compacted and carried or stored in a small form. They are inflated by blowing into a valve, either with a manual or an electric pump. Some are automatically inflated when a valve is opened, up to a certain pressure with additional inflation manually or by pump.
Air mattresses are used for camping, temporary or full-time home use, and may be optimized to combine several uses (e.g., camping and guest use) while others are single purpose. Air mattresses may have customized shapes, such as wheel cutouts for use in the cargo area of a pickup truck or SUV.
Sleeping pads are lightweight, reduced-size and reduced-thickness air mattresses intended for camping and backpacking, and may feature a layer of foam insulation under the air chambers. Higher quality air chambers use vulcanized rubber, covered in canvas or of polyurethane with a cloth shell or tick(ing). Permanent air beds will look almost like conventional beds with the exception of having a hose (one air chamber) or hoses (two air chambers) coming out of the head of the bed. These hoses will be connected to an air inflation device, with two outlet valves, that will have a remote control(s) so that each person can adjust the firmness of his or her side to his/her own exact needs. The firmness can be adjusted up or down, with the simple push of a button, on the remote(s).
A USA government safety agency has warned against letting infants sleep on air mattresses, because they can be too soft and suffocate smaller children (especially those below the age of 8 months) within folds or while entrapped between the mattress and the bed base. Additionally, there have been several recent governmental studies and regulations enacted due to the poisonous nature of the phthalate plasticizers contained within most PVC vinyl air beds and other soft vinyl products. [3] The European Union has made similar efforts to prevent the use of vinyl materials in toys and bedding. [4]
Larger, more elaborate air mattresses (known as "air beds" in British English speaking locations) [5] have come on the market in recent years that are intended for guest use or as permanent beds in the bedroom. Bed sizes for temporary air beds range from twin to king size, but few guest bed manufacturers offer king size as most guest air beds are sold outside the United States where king-size mattresses are not standard. Most permanent air beds use easy-to-find conventional sheets and bedding. California King (or Western King) sheets and bedding may be more difficult to find as this size was originally conceived for the waterbed industry.
Raised guest or temporary beds are typically raised off the ground to keep users away from the floor and offer a more traditional mattress experience. Though 'raised' air beds are off the ground, they are not designed for full-time use, as the base of the bed is an air chamber and not a solid foundation.
Air mattresses can also improve the quality of life (and potentially provide some measure of relief) for people who suffer with back pain. [6] [7] Having the ability to adjust the firmness of a mattress to accommodate different body shapes, sizes, and weights, can be a factor in the healing process. Air mattresses are sometimes used to protect bedridden people from pressure sores, which can create life-threatening ulcers. [8] Hygiene issues regarding sweat, oils, or other bodily fluids are easily removed by washing the air mattress with warm water along with mild detergents such as liquid soap or heavily diluted bleach and letting it air dry in the shade. New air mattresses can be washed in the same manner as with hygiene related issues but using hot (70 deg Celsius) instead of warm water. Also, air mattresses can use purchased which is manufactured without the use of materials[ clarify ] that may release VOCs or other toxic compounds from the manufacturing process (which can exacerbate allergies in children or other sensitive individuals) are available. [9] [10]
The term air mattress may also refer to a certain inflatable swimming pool or beach toy, which has an air-sac "pillow" and several (usually four or five) tubes running its length. Also called a "lilo" (UK, AUS, NZ, SA), "pool air mat", "air mat", "pool lounge", or "float(ing) mat(tress)", it is used to recline on the water surface. The Li-Lo trademark for a rubberised material products was registered in UK on 19 Apr 1944 and in the USA on 25 Sep 1947 [11] by P. B. Cow and Co Ltd. An inflatable air mattress for recreational use was advertised as one of the Li-Lo brand of products at the British Industries Fair in London 1949. [12] Although it bears some resemblance to an air mattress, it is typically not built as strongly and may not reliably stay inflated all night long, making it impractical for use as a bed.
Permanent use adjustable-firmness "airbeds" became popular particularly after market leader Select Comfort began a major marketing campaign around 2001. [13] The original airbed was manufactured by Comfortaire in 1981, which was later purchased by Select Comfort, in January 2013 for $15.5m. Select Comfort announced on March 30, 2017, that they were ceasing all third-party retail sales, of the Comfortaire Line of products, essentially shutting down the Comfortaire Brand. [14] Other manufacturers include Boyd Specialty, [15] InnoMax, and American National. [13]
Less expensive airbeds used for camping or guests include the Aerobed, sold by Jarden subsidiary The Coleman Company.
Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons of PVC are produced each year.
In camping, a ground pad, sleeping pad, thermal pad, sleeping mat, or roll mat is lightweight pad, common among hikers, backpackers and budget travelers, often used in conjunction with a sleeping bag. Its purpose is to provide padding and thermal insulation. All types currently available use air as their primary form of insulation.
An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflatables depend on the presence of a gas to maintain their size and shape. Function fulfillment per mass used compared with non-inflatable strategies is a key advantage. Stadium cushions, impact guards, vehicle wheel inner tubes, emergency air bags, and inflatable space habitats employ the inflatable principle. Inflation occurs through several strategies: pumps, ram-air, blowing, and suction.
Phthalates ( ), or phthalate esters, are esters of phthalic acid. They are mainly used as plasticizers, i.e., substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity. They are used primarily to soften polyvinyl chloride (PVC). While phthalates are commonly used as plasticizers, not all plasticizers are phthalates. The two terms are specific, unique, and not used interchangeably.
A futon is a traditional Japanese style of bedding.
A waterbed, water mattress, or flotation mattress is a bed or mattress filled with water. Waterbeds intended for medical therapies appear in various reports through the 19th century. The modern version, invented in San Francisco and patented in 1971, became a popular consumer item in the United States through the 1980s with up to 20% of the market in 1986 and 22% in 1987. By 2013, they accounted for less than 5% of new bed sales.
A buoyancy compensator (BC), also called a buoyancy control device (BCD), stabilizer, stabilisor, stab jacket, wing or adjustable buoyancy life jacket (ABLJ), depending on design, is a type of diving equipment which is worn by divers to establish neutral buoyancy underwater and positive buoyancy at the surface, when needed.
A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are inflated with air to a high pressure so as to give the sides resilient rigidity along the boat's topsides. The design is stable, light, fast and seaworthy. The inflated collar acts as a life jacket, ensuring that the vessel retains its buoyancy, even if the boat is taking on water. The RIB is an evolutionary development of the inflatable boat with a rubberized fabric bottom that is stiffened with flat boards within the collar to form the deck or floor of the boat.
An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull are often flexible, while for boats longer than 3 metres (9.8 ft), the floor typically consists of three to five rigid plywood or aluminium sheets fixed between the tubes, but not joined rigidly together. Often the transom is rigid, providing a location and structure for mounting an outboard motor.
A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterized by its usage for sleeping. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds, a clothes closet, and bedside table and dressing table, both of which usually contain drawers. Except in bungalows, ranch style homes, ground floor apartments, or one-storey motels, bedrooms are usually on one of the floors of a dwelling that is above ground level. Beds range from a crib for an infant; a single or twin bed for a toddler, child, teenager or single adult; to bigger sizes like a full, double, queen, king or California king). Beds and bedrooms are often devised to create barriers to insects and vermin, especially mosquitoes, and to dampen or contain light or noise to aid sleep and privacy.
A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, containing materials such as hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, or a framework of metal springs. Mattresses may also be filled with air or water.
Bedding, also called bedclothes or bed linen, is the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, protection of the mattress, and decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environment. Multiple sets of bedding for each bed are often washed in rotation and/or changed seasonally to improve sleep comfort at varying room temperatures. Most standardized measurements for bedding are rectangular, but there are also some square-shaped sizes, which allows the user to put on bedding without having to consider its lengthwise orientation.
A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax.
Memory foam consists mainly of polyurethane with additional chemicals that increase its viscosity and density. It is often referred to as "viscoelastic" polyurethane foam, or low-resilience polyurethane foam (LRPu). The foam bubbles or ‘cells’ are open, effectively creating a matrix through which air can move. Higher-density memory foam softens in reaction to body heat, allowing it to mold to a warm body in a few minutes. Newer foams may recover their original shape more quickly.
Sleep Number Corporation is an American manufacturer that makes the Sleep Number and Comfortaire beds, foundations and bedding accessories. The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to its Minnesota headquarters, Sleep Number has manufacturing and distribution facilities in South Carolina and Utah. As of 2023, the company employed 5,515 people across the United States.
A swim ring is a toroid-shaped inflatable water toy.
Wide Open Spaces is a 1947 Donald Duck short cartoon, produced by Walt Disney and directed by Jack King for Walt Disney Productions and RKO Radio Pictures.
A bed base, sometimes called a foundation, is the part of a bed that supports the mattress. The bed base can itself be held in place and framed by the bedstead. In the United States, box-spring bed bases are very common. In Europe, sprung slats are much more common.
A travel cot is a bed for use by a baby or young child that collapses or folds into a bag for easy carriage. Travel cots are typically much lighter than a standard cot, with soft sides to provide comfort to the baby when sleeping.
Media related to Air mattresses at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of lilo at Wiktionary| Authority control databases: National |
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