Most people who own an air mattress have used a Team Worldwide invention without knowing it. The built-in pump is the clearest example. Before 1997, inflating a bed meant hunting for a separate pump and a power outlet. The company’s SPS built-in pump system put the pump inside the mattress, and a patented built-in electric pump system followed in 2001.
The patent list is long, and it tracks a fairly consistent set of problems. Roll N’ Fill, a self-inflating mattress, was patented in 1996. Insta-Bed launched in 1998 and passed 5 million units. EZ-Bed, an automatic bed system that raises itself, arrived in 2003. NeverFlat, a dual pump system that quietly tops off pressure overnight so you do not wake up on the floor, came in 2013. EXO Shield brought fabric-wrapped inflatable furniture in 2015, which solved the problem of inflatable seating that looks and feels like a pool toy.
The last decade pushed into harder territory. High-pressure drop-stitch construction in 2018 opened up kayaks that hold their shape under real load. Inflatable fishing systems followed in 2021, then sports and gaming products in 2023.
The company holds more than 200 utility patents worldwide. What is more telling than the number is how ordinary these features now feel. Nobody is impressed by a mattress that inflates itself anymore, which is usually how you know an invention worked.
