Inflatable Furniture

Abstract

The invention is a seatless inflatable chair which is substantially triangular in plan, the chair comprising in combination a base and two inflatable sides, and being such that a person seated therein will be supported by the sides and will have their buttocks situated in space bounded by the base and the sides. The chair may be made from polyvinyl chloride and the two sides of the chair may increase in height towards the apex of the triangle to form a back support from a person seated in the chair.

Description

This invention relates to a seatless inflatable chair which may be used in the home or garden or on the beach or water.

An inflatable chair according to the invention is one which is substantially triangular in plan, the chair comprising in combination a base and two inflatable sides, and being such that a person seated therein will be supported by the sides and will have their buttocks situated in space bounded by the base and the sides.

Preferably the base is also inflatable and in one arrangement of a chair the two sides increase in height towards the apex of the triangle to form a back support for a person seated in the chair. The back support may in some arrangements extend sufficiently high to form a head rest or, alternatively, a head rest may be formed from a separately inflatable bag.

At least the two sides may be ribbed to add rigidity to the chair. Since the chair may be used on water, it may be desirable to form the chair such that at least two parts, for example both sides and the base, are separately inflatable so that loss of air in one part will not cause the chair to sink. In a preferred embodiment, each side is formed from two separately inflatable bags, conveniently by welding together opposing sidewalls of a single bag along a line to form two bags. Obviously, there will be the same number of inflation points in the chair as there are separately inflatable parts.

Each inflation point may comprise a tube closeable by a stopper. Preferably, the stopper will be attached to the tube to ensure that it is always readily available. Also preferably, each inflation point has a flap which normally seats against the inside of the tube and thus provides a means additional to the stopper for preventing air from accidentally escaping from the chair. The flaps will of course be displaced by air pumped into the chair to inflate it, the chair being deflated when desired by distorting the tubes to prevent the flaps seating thereagainst in an airtight manner.

Alternatively, each inflation point may comprise a nonreturn ball-type valve, the inflation point then not protruding substantially above the surface of the chair.

Normally, the chair will be inflated by mouth or a pump. However, the chair can be inflated by compressed air or other gas from an appropriately pressurized container. The pump or pressurized container may or may not be attached to the chair.

The chair may be made from any suitable material which can be welded or otherwise formed into an inflatable container. Of the plastics materials available, polyvinyl chloride is presently preferred. The chair may be made from 0.010--0.020 inch and preferably 0.012 inch thick material although thicker or thinner material may be used if desired. The material may be plain, multitone or patterned, with a smooth or raised surface.

Whilst the chair will normally be such as to have a hole extending completely through its center, the chair may be provided with points for attaching canvas or other suitable material to provide a deformable base to actually sit on or to act as a container. The attachment points, or similar points, may be used to fix two or more chairs together. Appropriately inflated and joined chairs may form a setteelike arrangement for use on land or a canoelike or boatlike arrangement for use on water.

Parts of the chair that are likely to encounter more severe wear than other parts may be reinforced, for example integrally with a double thickness of the material from which the chair is made or separately with a loose outer covering of fabric, rope or nylon cord.

When the chair is inflated it will conform to the shape of the person sitting therein and will thus normally prove equally comfortable to all sizes of persons.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a chair in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the chair shown in FIG. 1 looking from the front and above;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the chair shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the chair shown in FIG. 1 looking from the rear.

Referring to the drawings, a chair 2 comprises two sides 4, 6 and a base 8. The side 4 consists of two separately inflatable bags 10 and 12 and the side 6 consists of two similar separately inflatable bags 14 and 16. The bags 12 and 16 are smaller than the bags 10 and 14 and rest on the ground when the chair is in use where they act as springs or air cushions for the larger bags 10 and 14. The bags 10, 12, 14, and 16 and the base 8 are each separately inflatable from inflation points 18.

The sides 4, 6 and the base 8 are formed from polyvinyl chloride material, there being a surplus of the material at each end of the sides and base for enabling the sides and base to be welded together to form the assembled chair 2. The sides 4 and 6 increase in height (due to appropriately shaped bags 10 and 14) up to a maximum at 22 to form a back support for a person seated in a central aperture 24 bounded by the sides 4, 6 and the base 8.

The inflation points 18 comprise tubes 20 having stoppers 22 attached thereto. Flaps (not shown) are provided at the bottom of the inside of the tubes 20, which flaps are displaced by air pumped into the chair 2 to inflate it. However, when air is not being pumped into the chair, any air inside the chair causes the flaps to seat up against the tubes 20 thereby blocking the tubes and providing a means additional to the stoppers 22 for preventing air from accidentally escaping from the chair. The chair 2 may be intentionally deflated by distorting the tubes 20 so that the flaps cannot seat against the tubes in an airtight manner.

Claims

I claim:

1. A seatless inflatable chair which is substantially triangular in plan, the chair comprising in combination a base and two inflatable sides and being such that a person seated therein will be supported by the sides and will have their buttocks situated in a space bounded by the base and the sides.

2. An inflatable chair according to claim 1, in which the base is inflatable.

3. An inflatable chair according to claim 2 in which the two sides increase in height towards the apex of the triangle to form a back support for a person seated in the chair.

4. An inflatable chair according to claim 3 in which at least the two sides are ribbed.

5. An inflatable chair according to claim 1 in which at least two parts of the chair are separately inflatable.

6. An inflatable chair according to claim 5 in which the sides and the base are separately inflatable.

7. An inflatable chair according to claim 6 in which each side is formed from two separately inflatable bags.

8. An inflatable chair according to claim 1 which is made from polyvinyl chloride.

9. An inflatable chair according to claim 1 having at least one attachment point for enabling two chairs to be retained together.