Seat Cushion Or Pillow

Abstract

A seat cushion or pillow including an outer porous covering containing a mass of cushioning material, and with the pillow or cushion being formed at least partially of, or carrying, an odor adsorbent substance, preferably activated charcoal.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to improved cushions or pillows to be used on seat surfaces, as for instance on the seat of a conventional chair, bench, stool, or the seat of an automobile or other vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the invention is to produce a seat cushion or pillow which may be utilized by invalids, small children, or other persons, and which will act to adsorb and remove from the atmosphere any undesirable odors produced by the invalid or other person while seated on the cushion. To achieve this purpose, the cushion is formed partially from, or carries or contains, an odor and gas-adsorbent substance, such as activated carbon, silica gel, alumina or a molecular sieve. The preferred substance for this purpose is activated charcoal.

Structurally, the pillow or cushion desirably includes an outer cover formed of a porous material, preferably a woven fabric, and containing a mass of cushioning material, which for best results is formed of resinous plastic fibers arranged in random unwoven form. In one form of the invention, the adsorbent substance is in the form of a large number of discrete particles, which may be distributed within the cushioning material. Alternatively, the adsorbent substance may itself be produced as a group of fibers, which may be intermingled with the other fibers of the cushioning material. It is also contemplated that, if desired, the adsorbent substance may be woven into or otherwise be carried by the outer covering material itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The above and other features and objects of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the typical embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a chair having on its seat surface a pillow or cushion formed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, partially broken away, showing separately the pillow or cushion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a still further enlarged somewhat diagrammatic representation of one of the layers of cushioning material of the pillow; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing a variational form of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring first to FIG. 1, I have shown at 10 a conventional chair having the usual horizontal seat portion 11 with an upper horizontal seat surface 12 on which there is positioned a pillow 13 formed in accordance with the present invention. The seat portion 11 of the chair is supported on legs 14, and may have a conventional back 15. The pillow 13 may be freely removable from the chair, or may be temporarily or permanently secured to the chair in any convenient manner to serve as a permanent cushion on the chair. Also, as indicated previously, it is contemplated that the pillow or cushion 13 may be placed on any other type of seat structure, such as a seat in an automobile, airplane, or the like.

As seen in FIG. 2, the pillow or cushion 13 may typically be square in horizontal outline, being defined by two parallel first edges 16 and 17, and two additional mutually parallel edges 18 and 19. Within the interior of the pillow, there is provided a mass of cushioning material 20, enclosed within an outer cover 21 which is preferably formed of two similar upper and lower layers 22 and 23 (FIG. 3) of an appropriate woven fabric through which air and gases may pass readily to the interior of the pillow. These two layers 22 and 23 of fabric are secured together peripherally to enclose the cushioning material 20, and for this purpose may be permanently stitched together along three of their edges 16, 17 and 18, as indicated by the stitching represented at 24 in FIG. 3. At their fourth edge 19, the two upper and lower layers 22 and 23 of cover 21 may be secured together temporarily, as by a zipper as illustrated at 25' in FIG. 2, or by snaps or the like, to allow access to the interior of the cover for cleaning of the cushioning material or replenishment of the later-to-be described adsorbent substance.

The cushioning material 20 is compressible, and tends to return resiliently to its FIG. 3 expanded condition when released after compression. Preferably, the cushioning material takes the form of a highly resilient mass of fibers loosely matted together in random unwoven relation to provide relatively large open spaces between the fibers throughout the cushioning material. In FIG. 4, a few of the individual fibers are represented at 25. These fibers are desirably bonded permanently in their discussed loose nonwoven relation, as by a bonding substance represented at 26, to assure essentially permanent retention of the fibers in their illustrated relation, and to maintain the discussed resiliency of the cushion and the desired relatively large open spaces 27 between the different fibers.

In the particular arrangement shown in FIG. 3, the cushioning material 20 is formed as three superimposed layers or mats 28, 29 and 30 of the discussed nonwoven fibrous material. These three layers may initially be of uniform thickness across their entire horizontal extents, but for best results are secured together along their periphery in a reduced thickness condition, as by stitching represented at 31 in FIG. 3. Also, the cushioning material may be temporarily or permanently held in place within cover 21 by appropriate tack stitching extending entirely through both the cover and the cushion material at a number of locations 32 (FIG. 2), or by quilting, or the like. If tack stitching or the equivalent is utilized, this stitching must of course be removed in order to allow withdrawal of the cushioning material past zipper 25' if at any time it becomes necessary or desirable to remove the cushioning material.

In most instances, it is desired that the fibers 25 of the cushioning material be formed of an appropriate suitably deformable but essentially resilient resinous plastic material, such as a suitable polyester fiber, for example that sold by E. I. DuPont de Nemours as "Dacron," or the polyester fiber sold by Eastman Chemical Products, Inc. as "Kodel," or that sold by Celanese Fibers Marketing Company, a division of Celanese Corporation, as "Fortrel." The bonding substance 26 of FIG. 4, for securing together the various fibers at their intersections, may be a suitable acrylic resin, such as that sold by Rohm and Hass Company as acrylic resin formula HA 16, or any other appropriate resinous plastic or other bonding substance.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the odor and gas-adsorbent substance is carried by the pillow 13 in the form of a large number of discrete particles 31 of that substance. These particles may in some instances be located between the different layers of cushioning material 28, 29 and 30, or more advantageously and as shown in FIG. 3, may be carried and confined within the open spaces 27 of the cushioning material, in a position of entrapment within those spaces and between the fibers as seen in FIG. 4. Particles 31 are preferably distributed across the entire horizontal extent of the pillow, and may be effectively held in a fixed distribution pattern by the discussed confinement within spaces 27, to perform this adsorbing function across the entire area of the pillow. Optimally, the adsorbent particles are present in greater quantities near the upper and lower surfaces of the pillow than at a vertically central location, and for this reason, the particles 31 may be carried within the upper and lower layers 28 and 30 of the cushioning material, but typically be omitted from the central layer 29. It is also felt preferable that the adsorbent particles 31 be present in slightly greater quantities near the center of the horizontal area of the cushion (as viewed in elevation) than near the peripheral edges 16, 17, 18 and 19.

The size of the adsorbent particles 31 may vary through a relatively wide range, desirably being large enough to assure effective lodgement and retention within the open spaces in the fibrous cushioning material, while at the same time avoiding an excessively large size which might be large enough to produce a grainy or lumpy feeling when the cushion is in use. It is currently felt most desirable that the granules or particles 31 of the adsorbing material be between about 8 and 24 mesh, though smaller particles may be utilized if other means are provided for retaining the particles in fixed positions within the cushion, as by an electrostatic charge or a suitable adhesive. Ordinarily, between about 2 and 6 ounces of the adsorbent substance may be used in a single pillow or cushion, preferably about 3 ounces.

Particles 31 may be composed of any suitable odor adsorbent substance, such as activated charcoal (or other activated carbon), silica gel, alumina, or a molecular sieve. In the optimum arrangement, the particles are formed of activated charcoal made from coconut shells, such as that sold by Barnebey-Cheney as activated charcoal Grade MI 1.

FIG. 5 represents diagrammatically another way in which the activated charcoal or other adsorbent may be incorporated into the pillow or cushion structure. Specifically, in FIG. 5, the cushioning material which makes up the layers 28, 29 and 30 of FIG. 3 is formed partially of fibers 25a corresponding to the resilient nonadsorptive fibers 25 of FIG. 4, and partially of fibers 25b which are themselves made of a suitable adsorbent material, such as activated charcoal. The various fibers 25a and 25b are arranged in nonwoven loosely matted form as previously discussed in connection with the first form of the invention, and may be bonded in this relationship by an acrylic resin or other bonding agent 26a, to give the cushioning material an increased and more permanent resilience. As an example, the adsorbent fibers 25b of FIG. 5 may typically be formed of a product such as that sold by Barnebey-Cheney as "carbon wool," which product is pure activated carbon in fiber form. Alternatively, some or all of the fibers may be formed of a nonadsorbent substance having activated carbon or another adsorbent substance distributed therein in a manner such as that described in U.S. Pat. No, 2,925,879, issued to J. L. Costa et al. Feb. 23, 1960, on "Filter Medium."

Another variational arrangement which will be apparent without further illustration is one in which the upper and/or lower fabric covering layers 22 and 23 are themselves formed partially or entirely from an odor adsorbent material, such as activated carbon or the like, so that the odors are removed by passage through this covering material itself. More specifically, the activated carbon or other adsorbent material may be provided in fiber form and be woven into the material of the fabric cover layers 22 and 23, or may be bonded to or otherwise secured to or carried by the fibers of the cover in any other convenient manner. In such an arrangement, it is of course unnecessary to provide the adsorptive particles, fibers, or the like within the interior of the cushioning material itself, though it is contemplated that the adsorbent may be present in both the cover and the cushioning material if desired.

While certain specific embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed as typical, the invention is of course not limited to these particular forms, but rather is applicable broadly to all such variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A pillow including a mass of cushioning material and a porous covering extending about said cushioning material and through which gases may flow to the interior of the covering, said pillow being formed at least partially of, or carrying, an odor adsorbent substance positioned to contact and remove odors from said gases which pass through said covering to its interior.

2. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said adsorbent substance is selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, silica gel, alumina and the molecular sieves.

3. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said adsorbent substances is activated charcoal.

4. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said adsorbent substance is activated charcoal made from coconut shells.

5. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said adsorbent substance is contained within said mass of cushioning material.

6. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said adsorbent substance forms a part of said covering.

7. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said cushioning material is formed of a mass of unwoven randomly arranged fibers having said adsorbent substance distributed therein.

8. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said cushioning material is formed of a mass of unwoven randomly arranged fibers bonded together as a mat and having particles of said adsorbent substance distributed within the cushioning material between the fibers.

9. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said cushioning material is formed of a mass of unwoven randomly arranged fibers some of which fibers are formed at least partially of said adsorbent substance.

10. A pillow as recited in claim 1, in which said covering is a woven fabric, said cushioning material including a plurality of layers of unwoven randomly arranged resinous plastic fibers bonded in mat form with open spaces between the fibers, said adsorbent substances including activated charcoal particles distributed within the outer layers of said cushioning material and retained by said fibers at essentially fixed locations within said spaces between the fibers.