U.S. patent application number 12/470495 was filed with the patent office on 2010-11-25 for air-conditioned seat cushion.
This patent application is currently assigned to DAVID S.K. SIU. Invention is credited to DAVID S.K. SIU.
Application Number | 20100295339 12/470495 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43124097 |
Filed Date | 2010-11-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100295339 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SIU; DAVID S.K. |
November 25, 2010 |
AIR-CONDITIONED SEAT CUSHION
Abstract
An air-conditioned seat cushion includes a flexible seat cushion
body bendable to fit a car seat and having a flexible flat fan
mount forwardly extended from the front open side thereof and
multiple air channels and air holes for ventilation, a fan affixed
to the flexible flat fan mount, a hard fan cowl fixedly mounted in
the seat cushion body and having shunt passages arranged in air
communication between the air channels of the seat cushion body and
the air output port of the fan, and a flow guide pivoted to the fan
cowl and coupled to the air output port of the fan for biasing with
the fan relative to the fan cowl when the flexible flat fan mount
is bent relative to the fan cowl to fit a car seat and for guiding
currents of air from the air output port of the fan into the shunt
passages and the air channels of the seat cushion body.
Inventors: |
SIU; DAVID S.K.; (LU-CHU
HSIANG, TAOYUAN HSIEN, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DAVID S.K. SIU
P.O. BOX 108-00403
TAIPEI
106
omitted
|
Assignee: |
SIU; DAVID S.K.
LU-CHU HSIANG, TAOYUAN HSIEN
TW
|
Family ID: |
43124097 |
Appl. No.: |
12/470495 |
Filed: |
May 22, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/180.14 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 7/744 20130101;
B60N 2/5635 20130101; A47C 7/021 20130101; A47C 7/0213 20180801;
B60N 2/565 20130101; B60N 2/5657 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/180.14 |
International
Class: |
A47C 7/74 20060101
A47C007/74; A47C 31/00 20060101 A47C031/00 |
Claims
1. An air-conditioned seat cushion, comprising: a seat cushion
body, said seat cushion body comprising a plurality of longitudinal
ribs arranged in parallel, a plurality of air channels defined
between each two adjacent longitudinal ribs, a plurality of air
holes for communication between said air channels and the space
outside said seat cushion body, an accommodation space located on a
front side relative to said longitudinal ribs, said accommodation
space having a front open side, and a flexible flat fan mount
forwardly extended from the front open side of said accommodation
space, said flexible flat fan mount being bendable through
90-degrees relative to said seat cushion body to fit a car seat,
said flexible flat fan mount comprising air vents cut through top
and bottom sides thereof; a fan affixed to said flexible flat fan
mount, said fan comprising a fan motor, an air input port facing
said air vents, and air output port opposite to said air input
port, and a fan blade assembly coupled to and rotatable by said fan
motor for causing outside cooling air to flow through said air
vents and said air input port toward said air output port; a fan
cowl fixedly mounted in said accommodation space inside said seat
cushion body, said fan cowl comprising a plurality of shunt
passages arranged in air communication with said air channels of
said seat cushion body; and a flow guide pivoted to said fan cowl
at a front side of said shunt passages and coupled to said air
output port of said fan for biasing with said fan relative to said
fan cowl when said flexible flat fan mount is bent relative to said
fan cowl to fit a car seat and for guiding currents of air from
said air output port of said fan into said shunt passages and said
air channels of said seat cushion body.
2. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said seat cushion body comprises a bottom cushion pad having formed
therein a first part of said longitudinal ribs, said air channels
and said air holes, a back cushion pad having formed therein a
second part of said longitudinal ribs, said air channels and said
air holes, and a plurality of bellows tubes connected between said
bottom cushion pad and said back cushion pad for enabling said
bottom cushion pad and said back cushion pad to be bent through an
angle relative to each other and for guiding currents of air from
the air channels in said bottom cushion pad to the air channels in
said back cushion pad.
3. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said longitudinal ribs are formed of elastic polymers.
4. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said longitudinal ribs are formed of rubber.
5. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said seat cushion body has a covering layer covered over said
longitudinal ribs.
6. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 5, wherein
said covering layer of said seat cushion body is prepared from an
elastic nonwoven fabric.
7. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 5, wherein
said covering layer of said seat cushion body is prepared from
leather.
8. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said fan further comprises a power cord for connection to an
external power source to provide said fan motor with the necessary
working voltage, and a control switch for controlling on/off status
and operation speed of said fan motor.
9. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said fan is a side flow fan.
10. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said fan is a suction fan.
11. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said fan is an exhaust fan.
12. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said fan cowl is made of metal.
13. The air-conditioned seat cushion as claimed in claim 1, wherein
said fan cowl is made of a hard plastic material.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to seat cushions for car seats
and more particularly, to an air-conditioned seat cushion, which
uses a hard fan cowl to support the air channels in the seat
cushion body of the seat cushion in shape and to guide currents of
air from the fan through the air channels efficiently.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] A sofa chair, car seat or office chair generally has a
flexible or soft cushion member made in a predetermined shape and
supported on the seat or chair frame, and a covering of nonwoven
fabric, genuine leather or synthetic leather covered on the
flexible or soft cushion member. An orthopedically engineered seat
gives an excellent support to the user sitting on it. However,
because the nonwoven fabric, genuine leather or synthetic leather
covering of a seat does not breathe, heat will be accumulated on
the top of the seat after a long sitting during a hot day, causing
the user to feel uncomfortable. Further, accumulation of heat on
the top of the seat or sweating could lead to Eczema or bed sores
in the contact area of the user's body skin. To avoid the aforesaid
problem, a seat cushion prepared from wooden bead strings, bamboo
or rattan weaving materials or the like may be attached to the seat
to reduce body contact area. A seat cushion of this design
facilitates ventilation. However, this kind of seat cushion cannot
eliminate accumulation of heat when a person is sitting on it for a
long time.
[0005] To facilitate ventilation, air-conditioned seat cushions are
developed. FIG. 6 illustrates a conventional ventilation seat
cushion. According to this design, the air-conditioned seat cushion
comprises a flexible plastic board member A, a flexible plastic
covering B, and a fan C. The flexible plastic board member A has
flexible ribs A1 arranged in parallel on the top side thereof, a
plurality of air channels A2 respectively defined in each two
adjacent flexible ribs A1, a plurality of air holes A21 cut through
the top and bottom sides in air communication with the air channels
A2, and a front fan mounting space A3. The fan C is mounted in the
front fan mounting space A3 of the flexible plastic board member A,
having a power cord for connection to an external electric outlet.
The flexible plastic covering B covers the fan C and the flexible
plastic board member A. During operation of the fan C, currents of
air is sent by the fan C into the air channels A2 and then forced
out of the flexible plastic board member A through the air holes
A21 to comfort the user. However, this design of air-conditioned
seat cushion still has drawbacks as follows:
[0006] 1. When a person is sitting on the air-conditioned seat
cushion, the flexible ribs A1 and the air channels A2 will be
forced to deform by the pressure of the user. In consequence, the
height of the front fan mounting space A3 of the flexible plastic
board member A outside the fan C will be lowered, obstructing the
flow of air from the fan through the air channels A2 and lowering
the ventilation performance of the air-conditioned seat
cushion.
[0007] 2. When the air-conditioned seat cushion is placed on a car
seat to keep the front part of the air-conditioned seat cushion in
vertical, the area of the air-conditioned seat cushion that turns
through 90-degrees at the front side of the car seat tends to be
deformed by the pressure of the user sitting on the air-conditioned
seat cushion to block the air passage between the fan C and the air
channels A2, resulting in high wind resistance during operation of
the fan C. Under this situation, the fan C may burn out.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The present invention has been accomplished under the
circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to
provide an air-conditioned seat cushion, which utilizes a hard fan
cowl to provide a good support, keeping the air passage in shape
for smooth flowing of air.
[0009] It is another object of the present invention to provide an
air-conditioned seat cushion, which utilizes a pivoted flow guide
to couple the fan to the fan cowl, allowing the fan to be set
between a horizontal position and a vertical position relative to
the fan cowl.
[0010] To achieve these and other objects of the present invention,
the air-conditioned seat cushion comprises a flexible seat cushion
body, which is bendable to fit a car seat and has a flexible flat
fan mount forwardly extended from the front open side thereof and
multiple air channels and air holes for ventilation, a fan affixed
to the flexible flat fan mount of the flexible seat cushion body, a
hard fan cowl, which is fixedly mounted in the seat cushion body
and has shunt passages arranged in air communication between the
air channels of the seat cushion body and the air output port of
the fan, and a flow guide pivoted to the fan cowl and coupled to
the air output port of the fan. The flow guide is biasable with the
fan relative to the fan cowl when the flexible flat fan mount is
bent relative to the fan cowl to fit a car seat so that the flow
guide guides currents of air from the air output port of the fan
into the shunt passages and the air channels of the seat cushion
body efficiently.
[0011] During application, the hard fan cowl gives a good support
to the user sitting on the air-conditioned seat cushion, avoiding
excessive deformation of the air channels and facilitating flowing
of air from the fan through the air channels and the air holes.
Further, the flow guide enables currents of air to be distributed
evenly from the air output port of the fan through the shunt
passages of the fan cowl into the air channels of the seat cushion
body, lowering wind resistance and smoothening operation of the
fan.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air-conditioned seat
cushion in accordance with the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the air-conditioned seat
cushion in accordance with the present invention.
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a fan cowl for air-conditioned
seat cushion in accordance with the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the present invention,
showing the air-conditioned seat cushion set into shape for
mounting on a car seat.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a side view in section of FIG. 4.
[0017] FIG. 6 is an exploded view of an air-conditioned seat
cushion according to the prior art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 1.about.5, an air-conditioned seat
cushion in accordance with the present invention is shown
comprising a seat cushion body 1, a fan 2, and a fan cowl 3.
[0019] The seat cushion body 1 comprises a bottom cushion pad 11, a
back cushion pad 12, and a plurality of bellows tubes 13 connected
between the bottom cushion pad 11 and the back cushion pad 12. The
bottom cushion pad 11 comprises a plurality of longitudinal ribs
111 arranged in parallel, a plurality of air channels 112 defined
between each two adjacent longitudinal ribs 111, a plurality of air
holes 113 vertically cut through the bottom wall thereof in
communication with the air channels 112 and the outside space, an
accommodation space 14 defined in a front side relative to the
longitudinal ribs 111, and a flat fan mount 15 forwardly extended
from the front open side 141 of the accommodation space 14. The
flat fan mount 15 has a plurality of air vents 151 cut through the
top and bottom sides thereof. The back cushion pad 12 comprises a
plurality of longitudinal ribs 121 arranged in parallel, a
plurality of air channels 122 defined between each two adjacent
longitudinal ribs 121, and a plurality of air holes 123 vertically
cut through the bottom wall thereof in communication with the air
channels 112 and the outside space. Further, cover members 16 are
respectively bonded to the bottom cushion pad 11 and the back
cushion pad 12 over the longitudinal ribs 111 and 121.
[0020] The fan 2 is affixed to the flat fan mount 15, comprising a
fan motor 21, a fan blade assembly 22 coupled to and rotatable by
the fan motor 21, an air input port 23 facing the air vents 151,
and air output port 24 remote from the air input port 23, a power
cord 25 for connection to an external power source to provide the
fan motor 21 with the necessary working voltage, and a control
switch 26 for controlling the operation of the fan motor 21.
[0021] The fan cowl 3 is mounted in the accommodation space 14,
comprising a plurality of shunt passages 31, a flow guide 32
pivotally provided at the front side for the connection of the air
output port 24 of the fan 2, a plurality of air inlets 321 defined
in the flow guide 32 for guiding currents of air from the fan 2
into the shunt passages 31, and a plurality of air outlets 311
respectively formed on one end of each of the shunt passages 31
opposite to the flow guide 32 and kept in air communication with
the air channels 112 of the bottom cushion pad 11.
[0022] Further, the longitudinal ribs 111 and 121 of the seat
cushion body 1 are made of a plastically deformable soft material
such as foam, elastic polymers, rubber or silicon rubber, and
bonded to the bottom wall of the top surface of the bottom cushion
pad 11 or back cushion pad 12 with an adhesive. Further, the cover
members 16 can be prepared from nonwoven fabric, plastic sheet
material, synthetic fibers, genuine leather or artificial leather,
and fastened to the bottom cushion pad 11 and the back cushion pad
12 with stitches. Further, the fan cowl 3 is a hard member made of
metal or hard plastics. When a user sits on the seat cushion body
1, the longitudinal ribs 111 and 121 of the seat cushion body 1 are
slightly deformed, however the fan cowl 3 gives a support, avoiding
excessive deformation of the longitudinal ribs 111 and 121 of the
seat cushion body 1 to block the air channels 112 and 122.
[0023] During application, the bottom cushion pad 11 is kept in
horizontal, and the back cushion pad 12 is turned relative to the
bottom cushion pad 11 to a vertical position. By means of the
flexible material characteristic of the bellows tubes 13, the back
cushion pad 12 can easily be turned relative to the bottom cushion
pad 11 from horizontal to vertical. Thereafter, the seat cushion
body 1 is placed on a car seat (not shown) and secured thereto with
hook rings or fastening belts. At this time, the flat fan mount 15
is bent through 90-degrees relative to the fan cowl 3, and the flow
guide 32 is biased with the fan 2 from a horizontal position to a
vertical position at the front side of the car seat. Further, the
bellows tubes 13 can be curved through 90-degrees without blocking
the air passage so that currents of air can flow smoothly from the
air channels 112 in the bottom cushion pad 11 to the air channels
122 in the back cushion pad 11 via the bellows tubes 13.
[0024] After connection of the power cord 25 of the fan 2 to an
electric outlet or the socket for cigarette lighter in a car, the
user can operate the control switch 26 to turn on the fan 2 and to
control its operation speed. Thus, the fan 2 draws cooling air from
inside space of the car through the shunt passages 31 of the fan
cowl 3 into the seat cushion body 1, enabling intake currents of
cooling air to flow through the air channels 112 and 122 and the
air holes 113 and 123, and therefore the seat cushion body 1 is
cooled to comfort the person sitting on it.
[0025] Further, when the fan 2 is drawing outside cooling air into
the fan cowl 3, the intake flow of air flows through the air inlets
321 of the flow guide 32 into the shunt passages 31 toward the air
outlets 311. Because the fan cowl 3 is a hard member made of metal
or hard plastics, it has a strong structural strength to support
the air inlets 321 and the shunt passages 31 constantly in
shape.
[0026] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 again, the flat fan mount 15 is
bent through 90-degrees relative to the front open side 141 of the
accommodation space 14, and the flow guide 32 is configured to
connect the air output port 24 of the fan 2 to the shunt passages
31 at right angles. Because the flow guide 32 is made of metal or
hard plastics, the pressure from the person sitting on the bottom
cushion pad 11 does not deform the flow guide 32, and intake flow
of air can flow through the air inlets 321, shunt passages 31 and
air outlets 311 of the fan cowl 3 into the inside of the seat
cushion body 1 smoothly without causing noises. Further, because
intake flow of air is evenly distributed through the air inlets
321, shunt passages 31 and air outlets 311 of the fan cowl 3 into
the inside of the seat cushion body 1, cooling air is guided out of
the seat cushion body 1 through the air holes 113 and 123
efficiently, avoiding accumulation of hot air in the seat cushion
body 1. Therefore, the air-conditioned seat cushion of the present
invention is safe and durable in use.
[0027] According to the present preferred embodiment, the fan 2 is
a side flow fan for blowing air through the seat cushion body 1.
Alternative, the fan 2 can be a suction fan for sucking outside
cooling air into the seat cushion body 1, or an ionizer fan that
creates ions which remove microscopic particles from the air.
Further, the installation of the fan 2, power cord 25 and control
switch 26 and their connection, operation and control are of the
known techniques, no further detailed description in this regard is
necessary.
[0028] In conclusion, the invention provides an air-conditioned
seat cushion, which has the following advantages and features:
[0029] 1. During operation of the fan 2, the cooling air inside the
car is circulating through the shunt passages 31 of the fan cowl 3
and the air channels 112 and 122 and air holes 113 and 123 of the
bottom cushion pad 11 and back cushion pad 12 of the seat cushion
body 1, so that the air-conditioned seat cushion imparts comfort to
the user sitting on it.
[0030] 2. The fan cowl 3 is a hard member having a high structural
strength that provides excellent support. When a user is sitting on
the bottom cushion pad 11, the pressure from the user may cause the
bottom cushion pad 11 to deform. However, due to the support of the
fan cowl 3, deformation of the bottom cushion pad 11 will never
block the air channels 112 and the front open side 141 of the
accommodation space 14, assuring smooth circulation of cooling air
through the fan cowl 3 and the seat cushion body 1 and avoiding
noises during circulation of cooling air.
[0031] 3. During operation of the fan 2, cooling air is evenly
distributed through the air inlets 321, shunt passages 31 and air
outlets 311 of the fan cowl 3 into the inside of the seat cushion
body 1 and guided out of the seat cushion body 1 through the air
holes 113 and 123 efficiently, avoiding accumulation of hot air in
the seat cushion body 1. Therefore, the fan 2 provides high
stability and reliability and is safe and durable in use.
[0032] A prototype of air-conditioned seat cushion has been
constructed with the features of FIGS. 1.about.5. The
air-conditioned seat cushion functions smoothly to provide all of
the features disclosed earlier.
[0033] Although particular embodiments of the invention have been
described in detail for purposes of illustration, various
modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention
is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
* * * * *