BEDDING WITH ODOR-SUPPRESSANT AND HEAT-INSULATIVE PROPERTIES

MATELAS ET ARTICLE DE LITERIE AYANT DES PROPRIETES CALORIFUGES ET DE SUPPRESSIONS D'ODEURS

English Abstract

Bedding having at least one of Eubacteriales, Actinomycetes and Algae with at least deodorant activity and a far infrared emitting substance, incorporated therein.

French Abstract

Matelas et article de literie comprenant au moins une eubactérie, actinomycète ou algue ayant au minimum une activité désodorisante, et incorporant une substance émettant dans l'infrarouge lointain.

Claims

7
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. Bedding having incorporated therein both bacteria with
an odor-suppressing activity and a far-infrared emitting
substance, the bacteria comprising algae and at least one
of Eubacteriales and Actinomycetes.
2. Bedding as defined in claim 1, wherein the bacteria
are soil bacteria.
3. Bedding as defined in claim 1 or 2, wherein the
bacteria are aerobic.
4. Bedding as defined in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the
bacteria comprises a combination of Actinomycetes and
algae.

Description

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1
Bedding With Odor-Suppressant Arid
Heat-Insulative Properties
This invention relates to bedding.
Sleeping mats begin to smell after repeated use,
especially when patients, elderly people, and babies must
frequently or continuously lie and rest thereon for a long
time. Such contaminated sleeping mats can cause bedsores
(or decubiti) and can inflame allergic skin.
An object of the invention is to provide bedding having
odor destroying and/or masking properties as well as
satisfactory heat insulating~properties.
According to the present invention, there is provided
bedding having bacteria with at least deodorant activity and
having a far infrared emitting substance incorporated
therein. Preferably the bacteria are soil bacteria which
may be aerobic. More preferably the soil bacteria are
actinomycetes and/or algae.
The term "beddingn as used herein encompasses
mattresses or sleeping mats and bedclothes including sheets,
blankets, and covers; that is, all pieces of fabric used for
sleeping purposes.
Due to the incorporation of a far infrared emitting
substance, the~bedding of the invention has satisfactory
heat insulating properties for the person who lies thereon.
Soil bacteria act to decompose substances which would
otherwise serve as nourishment for microorganisms, typically
the bacteria which cause bad odors, so that the said
substances are no longer nutritious. This suppresses
further propagation of the microorganisms, thereby
destroying or inhibiting odors.

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As used herein "far infrared" means having a wavelength
of at least 25 ~,m and extending up to the limit of infrared
which is generally taken as about 1,000 Vim.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA~nlINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a
sleeping mat according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a sleeping mat is illustrated as a
typical example of the bedding according to the invention.
The sleeping mat 1 includes a filling 2 and a covering 3.
The covering 3 is stuffed with the filling 2 while a
bacteria-bearing sheet 4 and a far infrared emitting
substance-bearing sheet 5 are buried in the filling 2.
Preferably the sheets 4 and 5 extend over the entire area of
the mat 1.
The filling 2 may be made of a natural material such as
cotton, wool, silk and camel's hair, or a synthetic material
such as polyester and rayon fibers. The covering 3 may be a
closed bag made of conventional fabric made from a natural
material such as cotton, wool or silk, or from a synthetic
material such as polyester or rayon fibers.
The bacteria-bearing sheet 4 includes a base sheet
formed as non-woven fabric made from natural fibers such as
cotton or hemp, or synthetic fibers such as nylon,
polypropylene or polyester. Bacteria are carried on the
base sheet. The bacteria are preferably soil-borne
bacteria, typically Eubacteriales, actinomycetes and algae.
Useful are Eubacteria such as ammonia-oxidizing bacteria,
nitrate bacteria, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, and
Penicillium, actinomycetes such as Nocardia, and algae such
as blue-green algae.
Exemplary soil bacteria include ammonia-decomposing
bacteria or nitrite bacteria (Nitrosomonas, etc.), nitrate
bacteria (Nitrobacter etc.), sulfur-oxidizing bacteria or
sulfur bacteria (bacteria utilizing hydrogen sulfide as a

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hydrogen donor, green sulfur bacteria, for example, aerobic
bacteria such as Beggiatoa and Thiobacillus), cellulose-
decomposing bacteria (aerobic and anaerobic bacteria),
manganese-decomposing bacteria (heterotrophic bacteria),
manganese-reducing bacteria (aspergillus niger and
protobasidium), nitrifying bacteria, actinomycetes (chitin-
decomposing bacteria), methane-oxidizing bacteria,
sporangium, cellulose molds, lignin-decomposing fungi, iron-
oxidizing bacteria, iron-reducing bacteria and sulfate-
reducing bacteria. Especially useful in the practice of the
invention are bacteria such as nitrite bacteria, nitrate
bacteria, sulfur bacteria, cellulose-decomposing bacteria
and Pseudomonas, actinomycetes such as Streptomyces and
Penicillium, and algae such as blue-green algae. These
bacteria are either aerobic or anaerobic, with aerobic ones
being preferred.
The actinomycetes have characteristics intermediate
molds and bacteria and are either aerobic or anaerobic.
The ammonia-decomposing bacteria (or nitrite bacteria)
and nitrate bacteria change ammonia-form nitrogen into
nitrate-form nitrogen. This action is called nitration and
is known to proceed in the following two stages.
NH3 + 30 = HNOZ + Hz0
HN02 + O = HN03
The ammonia-decomposing bacteria (or nitrite bacteria)
contribute to the early stage of oxidizing ammonia into
nitrite, whereas the nitrate bacteria contribute to the
later stage of chemically converting the resulting nitrate
into nitric acid.
These soil bacteria prevent the generation of odors in
accordance with the following principle. Soil bacteria
decompose, oxidize or reduce substances which can serve as
nourishment for microorganisms causing bad odors (e. g.,
nitrogenous materials) so that these substances lose their
nutritious properties, thereby suppressing the propagation
of the microorganisms and preventing the generation of
odors. Soil bacteria, especially actinomycetes, utilize

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phagocytosis to kill bad odor-generating microorganisms and
act to coagulate or settle materials which can be nutritious
for microorganisms, thereby effectively reducing the amount
of available nutrients for the microorganisms.
In the practice of the present invention, one or more
of the above-mentioned bacteria can be used. It is
preferred to use actinomycetes in combination with algae
because carbonate anabolism concomitant with formation of
algae supplies oxygen to the aerobic actinomycetes to
promote their propagation.
The actinomycetes and algae may be used in any desired
ratio. Preferably about 0.5 to 3, especially 0.8 to 2 of
actinomycetes and about 0.05 to 2, especially 0.1 to 0.5 of
algae are used per 100 of bacteria.
Soil bacteria are supported on a carrier, for example,
by adding soil bacteria to water, fully stirring the mixture
to form an impregnating solution, dipping a piece of fabric
as the carrier in the solution for a suitable length of
time, pulling out the carrier and allowing the carrier to
dry. Other suitable impregnating methods can be employed.
It is noted that soil bacteria are cultivated, for
example, by inoculating a strain into a culture medium and
aerating and stirring the medium. The culture medium is
preferably a neutral liquid culture medium containing a
carbon source such as glucose, sucrose, maltose, dextrin,
glycerin or starch, a nitrogen source such as peptone, meat
extract, yeast extract, malt extract or casein, and an
inorganic salt such as NaCl, KzHPO~, MgS04 or CuS04. The
medium is preferably at about pH 5 to 8, more preferably
about pH 6.5 to 7.5, most preferably about pH 7.2 and is at
a temperature of 20 to 35°C, more preferably about 30°C.
The amount of soil bacteria carried on the carrier is
preferably 5x10$ to 200x10$ cells/cm3, more preferably 10x108
to 100x108 cells/cm3 although it varies with the impregnating
procedure and especially the cultivating conditions and the
culture medium composition.

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For details of soil bacteria, reference is made to (1)
OKAMI Kichiro and OMURA Satoshi, Microorganisms and Their
Application, No. 5, Summary of Antibiotics Production,
Kyoritsu Publishing K.K. (1979), (2) UDAGAWA Shunichi et al,
Bacteria Encyclopedia, Vol. II, p 1195 ff., Kodansha
Scientific K.K. (1977), and (3) SUDO Ryuichi, Microorganisms
for Environmental Cleaning, Kodansha K.K., (1982).
The far infrared emitting substance-bearing sheet 5 is
preferably a sheet made from synthetic fibers such as
polyester or rayon in which oxide ceramic particles capable
of far infrared emission are incorporated. The oxide
ceramic particles capable of far infrared emission used
herein are prepared, for example, by adding a metal oxide
such as titanium oxide, zirconium oxide and tin oxide to
clay, followed by sintering. Examples include Zr02-Si02
ceramics, A1203-Si02 ceramics, Ti02-Cr203 ceramics, A1203-
(Si,Ti)OZ ceramics, and (Al,Fe,B,Cr)ZO3-Si02-(alkali metal,
alkaline earth metal) oxide ceramics.
The oxide ceramics have far infrared emitting
properties in that, when warmed to a temperature of 35.5 to
36.5°C, which is approximately equal to human body
temperature, they emit electromagnetic radiation having a
peak wavelength of 8 to 14 ~Lm corresponding to the human
body's infrared absorption wavelength.
In the illustrated embodiment, the soil bacteria and
the far infrared emitting substance are borne on separate
carrier sheets, although they can be borne on a common
carrier sheet. Alternatively, the soil bacteria and the far
infrared emitting substance may be directly applied to the
filling 2 or covering 3 without using carrier sheets. In
this sense, it is within the scope of the present invention
to carry the soil bacteria and the far infrared emitting
substance on the covering 3.
Experiment
A sleeping mat of the structure shown in FIG. 1 was
prepared using a filling 2 of wool, a covering 3 of cotton

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fabric, a bacteria-carrying sheet 4, and a far infrared
emitting substance-bearing sheet 5.
The bacteria-carrying sheet 4 was prepared by adding 1
liter of a culture solution containing ammonia-oxidizing
bacteria and nitrate bacteria to 10 liters of water.
Thorough mixing resulted in an impregnating solution, into
which a 150 cm x 100 cm piece of fabric (Estar manufactured
by Asahi Chemicals K.K.) was dipped for 3 minutes. The
fabric was pulled out and dried.
The far infrared emitting substance-bearing sheet 5 was
commercially available as the far infrared emitting fabric
known as "Liteace" manufactured by Unitika K.K. It was cut
to 150 cm x 100 cm.
A number of such mats were offered to elderly patients
who rested on the mats for several days. As to the result
of such use, the patients answered that they fell into a
deeper sleep with these mats than before with conventional
mats. The mats were continuously used for 5 days without
washing whereupon still no odor was perceivable.
There has been described a sleeping mat which has odor-
destroying and masking properties as well as a satisfactory
heat insulating properties so that the user who lies thereon
may feel comfortable and hygienic. The mat is especially
suitable for long term patients.

Representative Drawing