U.S. patent application number 13/021387 was filed with the patent office on 2011-08-11 for outdoor seating.
This patent application is currently assigned to SEBEL FURNITURE LTD. Invention is credited to Gregory Brent WELSH.
Application Number | 20110193393 13/021387 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44353119 |
Filed Date | 2011-08-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110193393 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
WELSH; Gregory Brent |
August 11, 2011 |
OUTDOOR SEATING
Abstract
A backrest for a seat is disclosed having a first plurality of
forwardly facing openings 8 arranged in an array 7 and second
plurality of protrusions 10 arranged in a second array 9. The
arrays are rectangular with substantially equal spacing so that the
openings and protrusions are inter-mingled. The arrangement reduces
solar heating of the unoccupied seat and allows air flow and
perspiration drainage of the occupied seat.
Inventors: |
WELSH; Gregory Brent;
(Padstow, AU) |
Assignee: |
SEBEL FURNITURE LTD
Padstow
AU
|
Family ID: |
44353119 |
Appl. No.: |
13/021387 |
Filed: |
February 4, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/452.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 1/12 20130101; A47C
7/40 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/452.1 |
International
Class: |
A47C 7/40 20060101
A47C007/40 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 9, 2010 |
AU |
2010 900 519 |
Claims
1. A backrest for outdoor chairs including stadium seats, said
backrest comprising a first plurality of forward facing openings
formed in the front of said backrest, and a second plurality of
protrusions formed on the front facing inter-opening portions of
said backrest, said openings reducing the area of said backrest
front on which sunlight can be incident and said protrusions
reducing the area of contact of said backrest with a sitter.
2. The backrest as claimed in claim 1 wherein said openings extend
through said backrest to each define a corresponding passageway
having a rear facing aperture.
3. The backrest as claimed in claim 2 wherein each said passageway
slopes upwardly from rear to front so that the forward facing
opening of each passageways is located above the corresponding rear
facing aperture.
4. The backrest as claimed in claim 3 wherein each said passageway
is of substantially regular cross-sectional shape and each said
rear facing aperture has a lower edge which extends below a bottom
surface of said passageway.
5. The backrest as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said protrusion
is substantially convex and has an upper and a lower edge with a
relatively more gradual curve on said upper edge and a relatively
more pronounced curve on said lower edge.
6. The backrest as claimed in claim 1 wherein said backrest has a
rear surface which is inclined rearwardly.
7. The backrest as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first plurality
of openings and said second plurality of openings each form an
array which is substantially rectangular and has substantially
equal spacings so that each pair of said forward facing openings
has a protrusion located therebetween, and each pair of protrusions
has a forward facing opening located therebetween.
8. The backrest as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said protrusion
has a triple crown formed thereon.
9. A seat having a backrest as claimed in claim 1.
10. A method of cooling a seat having a backrest subjected to solar
radiation, said method comprising: (i) forming a first plurality of
forward facing openings in the front of said backrest, and (ii)
forming a second plurality of protrusions on the front facing
inter-opening portions of said backrest, wherein said openings
reduce the area of said backrest front on which sunlight can be
incident and said protrusions reduce the area of contact of said
backrest with a sitter.
11. The method as claimed in claim 10 including the further step
of: (iii) extending said openings through said backrest to form
corresponding passageways each having a rear facing aperture.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11 including the further step
of: (iv) sloping each of said passageways upwardly from the rear so
that the forward facing opening of each passageway is located above
the corresponding rear facing aperture.
13. The method as claimed in claim 12 including the further step
of: (v) forming each said passageway to be of substantially regular
cross-sectional shape such that each said rear facing aperture has
a lower edge which extends below a bottom surface of said
passageway.
14. The method as claimed in claim 10 including the further step
of: (vi) forming each said protrusion to be substantially convex
such that each said protrusion has an upper edge and a lower edge
with a relatively more gradual curve of said upper-edge and a
relatively more pronounced curve of said lower edge.
15. The method as claimed in claim 10 including the further step
of: (vii) inclining said backrest rearwardly.
16. The method as claimed in claim 10 including the further step
of: (viii) forming said first plurality of openings into a first
substantially rectangular array, (ix) forming said second plurality
of openings into a second substantially rectangular array, said
first and second arrays having substantially equal spacings so that
each pair of said forward facing openings has a protrusion located
therebetween, and each pair of protrusions has a forward facing
opening located therebetween.
17. The method as claimed in claim 10 including the further step
of: (x) forming a triple crown on each said protrusion.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to outdoor chairs, and
particularly, but not exclusively, stadium seats installed in those
stadia which are not provided with a roof or other covering.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Such open air stadium seats can be subjected to intense
solar radiation making the seat itself very hot when a spectator
arrives at a seat to commence viewing a match, such as a cricket
match, or other performance. As a consequence, the spectator finds
that not only is the general atmosphere hot, but the backrest of
the seat is already hot from being subjected to solar radiation.
Under these conditions of an elevated temperature, the spectator
normally perspires and the perspiration is trapped between the
backrest of the seat and the back of the spectator, thereby leading
to a shirt back which is sodden and damp with perspiration.
GENESIS OF THE INVENTION
[0003] The genesis of the present invention is a desire to provide
an improved backrest which to at least some extent ameliorates the
above described situation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention
there is disclosed a backrest for outdoor chairs including stadium
seats, said backrest comprising a first plurality of forward facing
openings formed in the front of said backrest, and a second
plurality of protrusions formed on the front facing inter-opening
portions of said backrest, said openings reducing the area of said
backrest front on which sunlight can be incident and said
protrusions reducing the area of contact of said backrest with a
sitter.
[0005] In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention
there is disclosed a method of cooling a seat having a backrest
subjected to solar radiation, said method comprising:
[0006] (i) forming a first plurality of forward facing openings in
the front of said backrest, and
[0007] (ii) forming a second plurality of protrusions on the front
facing inter-opening portions of said backrest,
[0008] wherein said openings reduce the area of said backrest front
on which sunlight can be incident and said protrusions reduce the
area of contact of said backrest with a sitter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] Some embodiments of the invention will now be described,
with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front of a stadium seat,
or other outdoor chair, having the backrest of the first
embodiment,
[0011] FIG. 2 is a partly sectional and partly perspective view
showing a substantially vertical section through a part of the
backrest of FIG. 1 and illustrating the front of the backrest in
perspective,
[0012] FIG. 3 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view through
the backrest of the chair of FIG. 1, and
[0013] FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but of a second
embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] As seen in FIG. 1, the outdoor chair 1 has a seat 2 and a
backrest 3. The backrest 3 has a front surface 4 and a rear surface
5 (FIG. 3). The backrest 3 has a first regular rectangular array 7
of forward facing openings 8 and a second regular rectangular array
9 of protrusions 10. As illustrated, the two arrays 7, 8 are
substantially rectangular and substantially equally spaced so that
each pair of protrusions 10 has a forward facing opening 8
therebetween and each pair of openings 8 has a protrusion 10
therebetween. This applies moving both vertically and horizontally
across the back rest 3. However, other array shapes or patterns can
be used to achieve a different appearance from that illustrated in
FIG. 1.
[0015] Turning now to FIG. 2, it will be seen that the openings 8
preferably extend all the way through the backrest 3 and thus
define a passageway 18 having a rear facing aperture 28. As best
seen in FIG. 3, the passageway 18 is inclined downwardly moving
from front to rear so that for each passageway 18 the corresponding
forward facing opening 8 is located above the corresponding rear
facing aperture 28.
[0016] In addition, each of the protrusions 10 preferably has three
dimples, bumps or crowns 12 which may be substantially
hemispherical, but need not be. The protrusions 10 could also have
either two crowns or only a single crown.
[0017] As indicated in FIG. 3, solar radiation 14 which is incident
upon the front 4 of the backrest 3 is not incident on the entire
backrest but is only incident on that portion of the backrest which
interconnects the openings 8. As a result, the surface area of the
backrest 3 which actually receives the solar radiation 14 is
substantially reduced relative to an equivalent backrest without
openings 8. As a consequence, the total amount of solar energy
incident upon the backrest 3 is reduced since some of the rays of
the solar radiation 14 pass directly through the backrest 3 and
thus their heating energy is expended elsewhere.
[0018] Furthermore, since the passageways 18 are upwardly inclined,
the heating of the material of the backrest 3 caused by the solar
radiation 14 incident upon it, warms the air in the passageway 18
which thus rises and thereby exits the passageway 18 via the
forward facing openings 8. In this way, a natural convective air
flow is created which cools the entire backrest 3 prior to the
arrival of a spectator.
[0019] Once the spectator does arrive and sits on the seat 3, the
back of the spectator is incident upon the backrest 3. However, the
back of the spectator only comes into contact with the tops of the
crowns 12 so that the surface area of the backrest 3 in contact
with the shirt of the spectator is very much reduced. Furthermore,
the abovementioned convective air flow can continue since the
upwardly flowing air can move out of the forward facing openings 8
and between the protrusions 10 and continue on in an upward path
until it eventually reaches the top of the backrest 3.
[0020] In addition, should the spectator perspire, any perspiration
can enter the forward facing openings 8 and move downwardly through
the passageway 18 and exit the backrest by the rear facing aperture
28 as schematically illustrated by the downwardly directed arrows
in FIG. 3.
[0021] In a similar manner, the passageways 18 enable rain falling
upon the seat when unoccupied, to wash dirt and water into the
passageways 18 and thereby assist in keeping clean the front 4 of
the backrest 3.
[0022] Furthermore, the crowns 12 of the protrusion 10 are
preferably asymmetrical and have a more gradual curve on the upper
portion and a more pronounced curve on the lower portion. This
asymmetry assists gravity induced shedding of water and dirt from
the front 4 of the backrest 3.
[0023] Turning now to FIG. 4, a second embodiment in the form of a
backrest 33 is illustrated in which equivalent portions have their
designation member increased by 30 relative to the corresponding
portion of the first embodiment. The passageways 48 are
approximately frusto-conical in shape to provide an improved draft
angle for extraction from the mould. In addition, the rear facing
apertures 58 are now considerably larger in diameter than the
forward facing openings 38. Also at least the lower rim of the rear
facing apertures 58 is preferably bevelled.
[0024] Furthermore, in the arrangement of FIG. 4 an alternative
flow path for hot air generated either by the sun or by a sitter is
available. The alternative path is into the forward facing openings
38, from front to rear via the passageways 48, and exiting from the
backrest 33 via the top portions of the passageways 48.
[0025] Still further, the passageways 48 are angled more steeply
than the passageways 18 with the consequence that more sunlight is
available to pass directly through the passageways 48 without
striking the backrest 33 at all.
[0026] The foregoing describes only two embodiments of the present
invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the
furniture arts, can be made thereto without departing from the
scope of the present invention. For example, although the invention
had its conception in regard to outdoor furniture, the invention is
not limited to such furniture and can be used for indoor furniture,
especially within non air conditioned buildings in hot climates.
Similarly, the invention is also applicable to seats in addition to
backrest.
[0027] Now that embodiments of the invention have been described
and the invention ascertained, it will be appreciated that the
invention differs from those prior art seats having backrests woven
from cane strips to provide an aesthetically pleasing pattern, or
moulded plastic backrests having openings therein to save material
costs, since neither of these backrests provide the thermodynamic
advantages described above.
[0028] The term "comprising" (and its grammatical variations) as
used herein is used in the inclusive sense of "including" or
"having" and not in the exclusive sense of "consisting only
of".
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