U.S. patent application number 11/420489 was filed with the patent office on 2008-01-17 for built-up inflatable sofa.
Invention is credited to Min-Rong Chang.
Application Number | 20080012410 11/420489 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38948557 |
Filed Date | 2008-01-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080012410 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chang; Min-Rong |
January 17, 2008 |
BUILT-UP INFLATABLE SOFA
Abstract
A sofa of the present invention mainly contains a built-up seat
frame which can be easily assembled and disassembled, an inflatable
seat cushion positioned horizontally on the seat frame, and an
inflatable backrest positioned vertically at a side of the seat
cushion. The seat cushion and the backrest are basically air bags
with air faucets. A user can pump air into or release air from the
air bags for an appropriate degree of softness.
Inventors: |
Chang; Min-Rong; (Nan Tou
Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LEONG C LEI
PMB # 1008, 1867 YGNACIO VALLEY ROAD
WALNUT CREEK
CA
94598
US
|
Family ID: |
38948557 |
Appl. No.: |
11/420489 |
Filed: |
May 26, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/284.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 17/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/284.1 |
International
Class: |
A47C 7/14 20060101
A47C007/14; A47C 7/46 20060101 A47C007/46 |
Claims
1. A sofa, comprising: a built-up seat frame; a seat cushion having
an inflatable air bag with an air faucet, said seat cushion being
positioned detachable and horizontally on said seat frame; and a
backrest having an inflatable air bag with an air faucet positioned
vertically on said seat frame at a side of and forming roughly a
right angle to said seat cushion.
2. The sofa according to claim 1, wherein said seat frame
comprises: two side frames positioned in parallel, each of which
has two parallel horizontal beams of equal length and two parallel
vertical beams of different length, said horizontal beams are
interposed at different heights between said vertical beams to form
a d-like shape; two parallel first connecting rods whose two ends
are joined to the two ends of said lower horizontal beams
respectively using bolts and nuts that can be unscrewed; two
parallel second connecting rods threading through two through ducts
of said backrest, the two ends of said second connecting rods are
joined to the appropriate locations along said longer vertical
beams respectively using bolts and nuts that can be unscrewed; two
parallel supporting rods fixedly attached along said upper
horizontal beams respectively; and a supporting plate positioned
horizontally and detachably upon said supporting rods and between
said side frames.
3. The sofa according to claim 1, wherein said air bags of said
seat cushion and said backrest are wrapped inside cover members
respectively.
4. The sofa according to claim 3, wherein each of said cover
members is covered by a cover sheet made of leather or cloth.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] (a) Technical Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention generally relates to sofas, and more
particularly to a built-up sofa whose seat cushion and backrest
have inflatable air bags.
[0003] (b) Description of the Prior Art
[0004] A conventional sofa is mainly constructed by having soft
cushion and backrest attached to a fixed frame. The frame usually
has a sizable volume and weight, whose transportation and storage,
in addition to the inconvenience, both take up quite a lot of
space.
[0005] The conventional sofa also usually has the cushion and
backrest fixedly joined to the frame so that, after a period of
usage and some part of the sofa is aged and damaged, the entire
sofa has to be replaced or discarded. This is not only
cost-ineffective, but also would present an environmental problem
of a large number of junked sofas.
[0006] Furthermore, the degree of softness of the cushion and
backrest is fixed when the sofa is manufactured. A user cannot
adjust the softness based on his or her specific requirement. The
inflexibility would make the sofa less attractive to some people
just because the degree of softness is not right for them.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a
built-up sofa having inflatable cushion and backrest. The parts of
the sofa can be disassembled easily so as to reduce the space
requirement and inconvenience in transporting and storing the sofa.
The individual parts, on the other hand, can be replaced separately
so as to reduce the cost of maintenance and to increase the
recycling efficiency. Additionally, the cushion and backrest are
mainly inflatable air bags whose degree of softness can be easily
adjusted by inflating and deflating the air bags.
[0008] To achieve the foregoing features, a sofa of the present
invention mainly contains a built-up seat frame which can be easily
assembled and disassembled, an inflatable seat cushion positioned
horizontally on the seat frame, and an inflatable backrest
positioned vertically at a side of the seat cushion. The air
faucets of the seat cushion and the backrest allow users to pump
air into or release air from the air bags for an appropriate degree
of softness.
[0009] The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief
introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these
and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention
itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the
art, the following detailed description of the invention and the
claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical
reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
[0010] Many other advantages and features of the present invention
will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making
reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets
of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment
incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by
way of illustrative examples.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded diagram showing the various
components of a sofa according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a sectional diagram showing the sofa of FIG. 1
after its assembly.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram showing the sofa of FIG. 1
after its assembly.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a perspective diagram showing a sofa according to
another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments
only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or
configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following
description provides a convenient illustration for implementing
exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the
described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement
of the elements described without departing from the scope of the
invention as set forth in the appended claims.
[0016] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, an embodiment of the present
invention contains a sofa frame 10, an inflatable seat cushion 20
positioned horizontally (relative to the ground) on the sofa frame
10, and an inflatable backrest 30 positioned vertically on the sofa
frame 10 at a side of and forming roughly a right angle to the seat
cushion 20.
[0017] The sofa frame 10 contains two side frames 11 positioned in
parallel at two sides of the sofa frame 10. Each of the side frames
11 contains two parallel horizontal beams of equal length and two
parallel vertical beams of different length. The two horizontal
beams are fixedly interposed between the two vertical beams so as
to from a d-like shape. The two side frames 11 are erected and
joined together by a pair of parallel first connecting rods 12 and
a pair of parallel second connecting rods 17 in between. The two
ends of the first connecting rods 12 are joined to the two ends of
the lower horizontal beams (not numbered) of side frames 11,
respectively, using bolts and nuts that can be unscrewed.
Similarly, the two ends of the second connecting rods 17 are joined
to appropriate locations along the longer vertical beams (not
numbered) of side frames 11, respectively, using bolts and nuts
that can be unscrewed. On the opposing surfaces of the side frames
11, two parallel supporting rods 15 are fixedly attached along the
upper horizontal beams of the side frames 11, respectively, upon
which a supporting plate 16 can be laid detachable and horizontally
between the side frames 11.
[0018] The inflatable seat cushion 20 mainly contains an air bag 21
having an air faucet 22 wrapped inside a cover member 25. The cover
member 25 is made by foam rubber or similar material, which can be
further wrapped inside a cover sheet 40 (not shown) made of cloth
or leather for protecting and enhancing the appearance of the air
bag 21. The inflatable seat cushion 20 is positioned detachable on
top of the supporting plate 16.
[0019] The inflatable backrest 30 mainly contains an air bag 31
having an air faucet 32 wrapped inside a cover member 35. The cover
member 35 is made by foam rubber or similar material, which can be
further wrapped inside a cover sheet 40 (not shown) made of cloth
or leather for protecting and enhancing the appearance of the air
bag 31. The air bag 31 provides a pair of parallel through ducts 33
allowing the second connecting rods 17 to pass through
respectively. As such, the inflatable backrest 30 is positioned
vertically between the two side frames 11.
[0020] The present invention provides a number of advantages.
First, the seat frame 10, the seat cushion 20, and the backrest 30
can be assembled and disassembled easily as required. Therefore,
the present invention takes up little space during transportation
and when stored. Secondly, both the seat cushion 20 and the
backrest 30 are designed using inflatable air bags, significantly
reducing the weight of the sofa and thereby further making the
assembly and transportation easier. Further, by having standardized
parts, only damaged parts have to be replaced, effectively reducing
the maintenance cost, increasing the recycling efficiency, and
achieving better environmental protection. Last but not least, the
air faucets 22 and 32 provided on the air bags 21 and 31 allow a
user to conduct inflation and deflation to adjust the degree of
softness of the sofa to suit the specific requirement, adding more
value and competitiveness to the product.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of
the present invention. As illustrated, after the sofa of the
present invention is assembled, the entire assembly including the
seat frame 10, the seat cushion 20, and the backrest 30 can be
covered altogether by a single slipcover 40 made of leather, cloth,
suede, or similar material. The outlook of the sofa can be easily
changed by using different slipcovers 40.
[0022] It will be understood that each of the elements described
above, or two or more together may also find a useful application
in other types of methods differing from the type described
above.
[0023] While certain novel features of this invention have been
shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is
not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be
understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and
changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in
its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without
departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
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