U.S. patent number 3,903,554 [Application Number 05/428,647] was granted by the patent office on 1975-09-09 for seating unit with removable life preserver section.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Universal Oil Products Company. Invention is credited to Malcolm J. Dodd.
United States Patent |
3,903,554 |
Dodd |
September 9, 1975 |
Seating unit with removable life preserver section
Abstract
A removable closed-cell foam life preserver with relatively flat
surfaces is used as a portion of the seat cushion base material in
a seating unit. Additional closed-cell foam pieces are used in and
around the removable life preserver to provide a complete seat base
portion of uniform thickness and resiliency and to define a space
for the placement and storage of the life preserver section. These
additional foam base pieces may be attached to a seat base or
support pan or, alternatively, they may be attached at least in
part to a liftable seat cover section. Preferably, the latter will
incorporate a layer of open-cell foam so as to give seating comfort
over the less deformable closed-cell foam life preserver and the
other base pieces in the seating unit.
Inventors: |
Dodd; Malcolm J. (Litchfield,
CT) |
Assignee: |
Universal Oil Products Company
(Des Plaines, IL)
|
Family
ID: |
23699788 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/428,647 |
Filed: |
December 19, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
441/126;
297/188.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B63C
9/28 (20130101); B63B 29/04 (20130101); B64D
11/06 (20130101); B64D 11/0629 (20141201) |
Current International
Class: |
B63C
9/00 (20060101); B63C 9/28 (20060101); B63B
29/04 (20060101); B63B 29/00 (20060101); B63B
029/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;9/7,12,312 ;244/122R
;5/355 ;297/192,193,335 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Blix; Trygve M.
Assistant Examiner: Goldstein; Stuart M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hoatson, Jr.; James R. Liggett;
Philip T. Page, II; William H.
Claims
I claim as my invention:
1. In combination with a vehicle seat structure having a seat base
section, a seating unit incorporating a separate removable life
preserver member as a part of the seat cushion base material to be
supported from the seat base section which comprises, a removable,
closed-cell foam life preserver section sized and shaped to be of
smaller dimensions than the boundary of the seat cushion portion of
the seating unit, additional closed-cell foam sections being of a
size to fill in void portions of said life preserver section with
respect to said boundary of said seat cushion portion of the
seating unit, said closed-cell sections being of substantially
uniform thickness, and providing resiliency for a resulting
complete closed-cell foam seat cushion base of said seating unit,
with said additional closed-cell foam sections on said seat base
section bounding and forming an upwardly facing opening
complementary in size to said life preserver section, and providing
for its non-attached placement therein on the seat base section,
and a liftably attached seat cushion covering portion for said
seating unit positioned over said additional closed-cell foam
sections and said life preserver section and being non-attached to
the latter, said liftable seat cushion covering portion having a
layer of open-cell foam to provide improved seating comfort and
being provided with a hinged attachment in interconnection with
said seat to provide a resulting hingedly-movable cover portion
over the life preserver section resting on said seat base section,
whereby said life preserver section is readily liftable from its
defined stored positioning on said seat base section.
2. The seating unit of claim 1 further characterized in that said
liftable cushion covering portion has attachment means in
association therewith as the means holding at least a portion of
the additional closed-cell foam sections that fit in and around
said life preserver section.
3. The seating unit of claim 1 still further characterized in that
said liftable covering portion is removably attached at the rear
thereof.
4. The seating unit of claim 1 still further characterized in that
said liftable covering portion is removably attached at the front
thereof.
Description
This invention relates to a seating unit which utilizes a removable
closed-cell foam life preserver as a part of the seat base portion
and, in addition, has a liftable seat covering portion which will
be positioned over and in part supported by the life preserver
section.
More particularly, there is a defined space provided in the base
portion of a seating unit such that a life preserver section may be
readily lifted and replaced within the seat and, preferably, the
life preserver will have generally flat surfaces such that it can
rest on a seating unit support pan, or whatever, and will also
provide an even surface for the underside of a liftable seat
covering section.
As is now generally known, it is customary, or required, that
aircraft flying over water, as well as passenger carrying
water-craft, shall make provisions for supplying a life preserver
or some auxiliary floatation device for each passenger or seat of
the carrier. Even for small pleasure boats, it is generally
required that each passenger shall carry a life preserver or
floatable seat cushion as a safety measure.
With respect to the present invention and in its simplest
embodiment, the seating unit may be made up in a manner to be a
portable seat cushion unit, without a back, which in turn carries a
removable closed-cell foam life preserver; however, in a more
general aspect the seating unit may comprise the seating portion of
an airplane seat, a hydrofoil seat, or of any other type of
passenger carrying boat or vehicle where it is deemed desirable to
have life preservers for each seat. It is, of course, not novel to
utilize closed-cell foam for life preservers or floatation members.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,268,926 and 3,369,262 set forth
different ways to provide floatation cushions that are composites
of opencell and closed-cell foam which may be lifted out and taken
with the seat occupant as an emergency life preserver. Also
sufficient closed-cell foam will be used to satisfy governmental
standards in providing auxiliary floatation equipment. However,
composite seat cushions with both opencell and closed-cell foam
materials are rather large and bulky and obviously not of an ideal
shape to be carried and strapped onto a person as a life
preserver.
Thus, it is a principal object of the present invention to have a
seating unit that provides for both the use of, and the storage of,
a removable life preserver section that can be entirely of
closed-cell foam except for the necessary strap and buckling means
for the attachment of the life preserver to the person. The use of
a separate removable life preserver section of all closed-cell foam
further permits having a more conventional shape and size for the
life preserver with the generally desired opening to place around
the neck of the wearer, as well as the greater buoyancy.
As heretofore set forth, it is also an object of the present
invention to make use of the thickness of the closed-cell foam of
the life preserver to serve as a resilient portion of the base for
the overall seating unit, while additional surrounding and/or
interiorly positioned closed-cell foam sections can provide the
rest of the base of the unit in a manner to have about the same
compression characteristics and supporting for a top covering
section so as to, in turn, provide for passenger comfort.
In a broad embodiment, the present invention provides a seating
unit incorporating a separate life preserver member as a part of
the seat cushion base material, which comprises, a removable,
closed-cell foam life preserver section sized and shaped to lay
within the boundary of the seat cushion portion of the seating
unit, said section thereby serving as a part of a resilient seat
cushion base, additional closed-cell foam sections sized to fill in
void portions of said life preserver section to provide
substantially uniform thickness and resiliency for a resulting
complete closed-cell foam seat cushion base of the seating unit, a
liftable seat cushion covering portion for said seating unit
adapted to be positioned over and supported by said life preserver
section and said additional closed-cell foam sections, and means
holding at least a portion of such additional sections in proper
placement in said seating unit to thereby provide a defined space
for said life preserver section.
Where desired, the life preserver may be of a generally rectangular
form with a partially split portion and an opening to go around the
neck of the wearer such that it may be worn in the manner of a yoke
and, also, the overall dimensions of the preserver may be
sufficiently large to provide most of the closed-cell foam base
portion of the seating unit. However, generally the life preserver
can be of somewhat smaller dimensions than the area of the seat
cushion or the base for the seat cushion, and it will be of a
non-rectangular, yoke-like configuration such that additional
pieces of closed-cell foam will be required to fit around at least
a portion of the exterior of the life preserver section, as well as
to have an additional portion to fit within any neck opening. As a
result, the life preserver section will generally be fitted within
a space at least partially encompassed by one or more pieces of
base support material.
It may also be pointed out that the additional pieces within or
partially surrounding the life preserver section should be of the
same general thickness as such section and of the same type of
material so as to provide uniform support and resiliency
characteristics for the entire resulting base portion of the
seating unit. The additional pieces within and/or around the life
preserver section may be attached to a lower pan section of a
seating structure or they may be molded and formed to comprise a
part of a unitary section such that there is a void space which
will be filled with the removable life preserver section. In still
another arrangement, the additional closed-cell pieces may be
attached to the upper, liftable seat covering section and thus
liftable therewith separate and apart from the life preserver
section which will be lifted separately from the seating unit or
from a seat support member. In a preferred construction, the top
cover section will embody a layer of open-cell material so as to
give greater seating comfort to an occupant and the additional
pieces that may be attached thereto will be of closed-cell foam.
Attachment may be by an adhesive, thermal bonding, or by suitable
fabric covering, strap means, or other attachment means. Also,
where the additional closed-cell pieces which are utilized in or
around the life preserver section are attached to a support pan or
base section, then such pieces may be sewn, strapped, fastened with
adhesive, or otherwise attached to the particular seat support
piece. In any event, in connection with any of the various
embodiments that may be utilized for the present improved form of
seating unit, the additional pieces used to complete the formation
of a seat base portion along with the life preserver section will
be arranged to define a suitable space for the storing of the
removable life preserver section whereby the latter can be readily
lifted out and accessible for use by the mere lifting of the top
cover section.
In order that a top cover section will not be totally displaced and
lost from a seating unit, the cover section may be in effect
hingedly attached to one edge of the seating unit whereby the
hinged lifting of the cover section will provide access to the life
preserver section. For example, the fabric covering for the top
cover section may have one or more points of attachment along the
rear portion of the seating unit, along a front edge, or even along
one side portion of the seating unit such that the covering portion
may be lifted in the manner of a hinged box top to provide access
to the life preserver section. Also, as heretofore set forth, a
preferred arrangement or design will provide relatively flat
surfaces for the life preserver section so that it will, in turn,
provide uniform even support for the top cover section as well as
effect a relatively flat fitting within the bottom of the seating
unit.
The closed-cell foam comprising the separate removable life
preserver section, as well as the encompassing cushion base
sections, may be made of closed-cell vinyl chloride polymer foams,
or equivalent materials and the open-cell foam material which is
preferably used within a liftable cover section may comprise any of
the flexible resilient open-cell materials such as polyurethane
foam, latex foam rubber, and the like. With respect to the
terminology used, it may be further noted that open-cell foam
materials will not necessarily have 100 percent interconnecting
cells in that suitable resilient open-cell materials may have about
75 percent of the cells interconnecting and still provide an
acceptable cushioning material. On the other hand, the closed-cell
material will not necessarily have 100 percent closed-cell but will
have a substantially preponderance of at least about 75 percent of
the cells being closed and still provide suitable buoyant material
suitable for life preserving characteristics.
Reference to the accompanying drawing and the following description
thereof will serve to illustrate the present improved seating unit
which incorporates a removable life preserver section, as well as
assist in setting forth variations and advantages which may be
obtained in the present improved type of construction.
FIG. 1 of the drawing is a diagrammatic isometric view indicating a
removable life preserver section as a major portion of the seat
base material and a removable cover section with projecting
sections to fit in and encompass the life preserver section so as
to provide a complete seating unit.
FIGS. 2 and 2A indicate diagrammatically modified base sections for
the seating unit where separate base support pieces define a space
for the removable life preserver section.
FIG. 3 of the drawing indicates diagrammatically how the liftable
seat cover portion may be hinged along a rear edge of the seating
unit to open in a hinged lid fashion.
FIG. 4 of the drawing indicates diagrammatically how the liftable
seat cover section may be hingedly attached along a front edge
portion of the seating unit to provide access to the removable life
preserver section.
Referring now particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, there is
indicated a life preserver section 1 which is provided with
relatively flat upper and lower faces such that it may be readily
laid upon a suitable support base 2 and in addition provide a top
face 3 suitable to provide a relatively even uniform support for a
removable or liftable cover section 4. The life preserver section 1
is also indicated to have a yoke-like shape with a longitudinal
split at 5 and an opening at 6 such that the life preserver may be
pulled apart and slipped around the neck of the person desiring to
use the life preserver. In addition, the life preserver section 1
will have strap means 7 and buckle means (not shown) which can be
utilized to strap the life preserver to a wearer and prevent the
loss of the life preserver while the person may be struggling in a
body of water.
It is not intended to limit the life preserver 1 to any one
predetermined shape or size although typically it will have
sufficient length, width and depth of the particular closed-cell
foam material to provide the required buoyancy to satisfy any
governmental regulations. Typically, the life preserver section can
have a thickness of 3 to 4 inches and dimensions which will be
somewhat smaller than the length and width of a particular seat
such that additional closed-cell foam base pieces will be required
to complement the life preserver section 1, i.e. to fill in the
voids within and around the life preserver section so as to provide
a complete seat cushion base of uniform thickness and resiliency
to, in turn, support the upper layer of liftable covering 4.
Typically, the liftable top cover portion 4 of the seating unit
will embody at least some open-cell material as a layer over the
seat cushion base material and may for example comprise a layer
such as portion 8 which will extend from front to back over the
entire unit and over all the closed-cell base material. In
accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1, cover section 4 will also
have depending closed-cell sections such as 9 and 10 that can fit
around and encompass the front and back edge portions of life
preserver section 1, as well as have angular pieces at 11 to fit
around the tapered end portions at 12 on life preserver 1. In
addition, a generally circular piece 13 depends from the central
portion of cover section 4 in a position to fit into the opening 6
of life preserver 1 so as to fill in the void caused by such hole.
The depending portions 9, 10, 11 and 13 may be attached to the
open-cell foam layer 8 by suitable adhesives, glues, stitching,
thermal bonding, or whatever, or alternatively may be held in place
by a suitable covering fabric or the like.
In the present embodiment, there is indicated diagrammatically the
placement of a top cover fabric 14, or other suitable covering
material, which will extend at least around the top front and back
edge portions of the liftable cover section 4. Also, where desired,
an encasement fabric or other type of encasement material can
encompass the entire liftable cover section 4.
Referring now particularly to FIG. 2 of the drawing, there is
indicated a modified design where the seating unit may have a
molded one-piece section 15 which, in turn, provides a relatively
thin bottom section 16, front and rear wall sections 17 and 18, end
portion 19 and a centrally disposed circular section 20. In this
type of construction and arrangement, each of the upwardly
projecting pieces or sections will comprise closed-cell foam
material of substantially the same height as the removable life
preserver section which will fit into the void space provided in
the central portion of the molded unit such that a uniform
thickness and uniform resiliency will result from the entire
complete base portion for the seating unit and be suitable to have
a liftable cover section positioned thereover. In this instance,
the liftable cover section would not have any depending pieces
required to serve as cushion base pieces although suitable
depending edge pieces may be provided around all or a part of the
periphery of a cover section such that it may be lifted and removed
in the manner of a box top to provide access to the removable life
preserver section.
In FIG. 2A of the drawing, there is indicated a modification of the
design and construction of FIG. 2 in that a seat base member 16'
may be provided of different material than the closed-cell foam
pieces filling the void around a life preserver section. In other
words, the additional pieces such as 17', 18', 20' etc., will be
glued or otherwise attached to the separate pan section 16'.
In FIG. 3 of the drawing, there is indicated diagrammatically a
passenger vehicle type of seating unit with a lower support section
21 and a back portion 22, which may be moved for recline
positioning, arm means 23, and a seat pan section 24. Such seating
unit may, for example, comprise a passenger seat such as may be
used in aircraft, a water ferry-boat, hydrofoil or jetfoil craft,
and so forth. In connection with this FIG. 3, there is indicated
diagrammatically the placement of a removable life preserver
section 25 on the seat pan section 24 at a defined position as may
be designated by the placement and attachment of an interior
circular member 26 to seat pan 24 as well as the placement of a
rear member 27. The members 26 and 27 will be of closed-cell foam
to complement and fill in void portions around the life preserver
25 in the seat cushion base portion for the overall seating unit.
There is also indicated diagrammatically the utilization of a
liftable cover section 28 which is hingedly attached at 29 along a
rear edge portion thereof to the back of the seat structure such
that the entire cover section may be lifted in a hinged lid manner.
There is also indicated the utilization of depending closed-cell
foam pieces at 30 and 31 from cover section 28 such that additional
void areas around removable life preserver section 25 will be
filled in to complete the cushion support portion of the seating
unit. An entire upper layer of open-cell foam and suitable fabric
means may be provided as a part of cover section 28 to fit over the
entire seat cushion base material and the life preserver section 25
such that there is uniform support as well as resilient seating
comfort for a seat occupant.
In FIG. 4 of the drawing, there is another modification with
respect to design and configuration in having a front attachment
for a hinged cover section 32 to fit over a removable life
preserver section 33. In this instance, the latter may be held in
place initially by a suitable interiorly positioned circular piece
34 extending from and attached to seat pan section 24 while
remaining portions closed-cell foam pieces filling voids around the
life preserver are attached to liftable cover section 32. In other
wordsk, the words, is provided with front and rear closed-cell
portions at 35 and 36 to provide front and rear pieces to
complement life preserver 33 in effecting the completion of cushion
base material. In some instances, it may be determined that a front
piece 35 could be of open-cell foam. In FIG. 4, there is also an
indication that the liftable cover section 32 will be hinged at 37
along the front edge portion of seat support means 21 such that
there is a front hinging for the cover section to obtain access to
the removable life preserver section 33. The hinging at 37 may be
accomplished through the attachment of fabric or other material
placed over the cover section 32 or it may be accomplished by
separate strap means stitched or otherwise attached between the
seat cover 32 and the seat supporting structure. In other words, it
is not intended to limit the present invention to any one method of
effecting the hinged attachment between a cover section and a seat
support structure as relating to the present improved seating unit.
Although not shown in the drawing, additional cushion base sections
may be provided along sides or end portions of the life preserver
section 33 to fill in any voids of the seat cushion base, as well
as to define the space within base portion for the life
preserver.
It is to be realized that the shape of the life preserver shown in
the various figures of the present drawing is merely diagrammatic
and that various configurations may well be utilized in sizing and
shaping such section. It is, however, a particular feature of the
present invention that the life preserver section will comprise at
least a major portion of the cushion base material and will be
formed of closed-cell foam such that there is buoyancy available
for use as a life preserver device as well as some resiliency in
serving as cushion support material. There may also be variations
in the overall thickness of the seating unit with varying depths,
or thicknesses, for the closed-cell material as well as for
open-cell material as part of the liftable cover section of the
unit. Although the material forming the covering layer of the
liftable cover section may be other than of open-cell foam and may
be of relatively shallow depth, it is to be recognized that the
less depth the greater sacrifice in comfort to a seat occupant.
In another aspect, various types of strapping and buckling
arrangements may also be utilized in combination with the removable
life preserver section and it is not intended to limit the present
invention to any one type of buckling system or strap arrangement.
The strap shown in the drawing is merely diagrammatic to indicate
that strap means can be, or should be, provided in combination with
the life preserver section.
* * * * *