U.S. patent number 3,572,836 [Application Number 04/774,808] was granted by the patent office on 1971-03-30 for inflatable piece of furniture.
Invention is credited to Nguyen Manh Khanh.
United States Patent |
3,572,836 |
Khanh |
March 30, 1971 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
INFLATABLE PIECE OF FURNITURE
Abstract
Inflatable piece of furniture comprising several gastight
independent and separately dilatable elements, interconnected by
means of a removable attachment device the support of which is
disposed on said elements. Each element is formed of a flexible bag
divided into compartments by inner membranes substantially of
rectangular shape and secured inside the bag on two opposite
longitudinal sides, the small sides of said membranes being free.
The removable attachment device is an open ring, a strip-stud
assembly, a bolt, clip or a T-shaped hook locked by a quarter turn
rotation.
Inventors: |
Khanh; Nguyen Manh (Paris,
Seine, FR) |
Family
ID: |
26180799 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/774,808 |
Filed: |
November 12, 1968 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Nov 15, 1967 [FR] |
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128,215 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
297/452.41;
297/440.1; 297/DIG.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C
4/54 (20130101); Y10S 297/03 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
4/54 (20060101); A47C 4/00 (20060101); A47c
027/08 (); A47c 027/18 () |
Field of
Search: |
;5/337,348--350,352,357
;297/452,456 ;24/202,208,218,221 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Nunberg; Kasmir A.
Claims
I claim:
1. An inflatable piece of furniture comprising at least two
gastight independent and separately dilatable elements,
interconnected by means of a removable attachment device the
support of which is disposed on said elements, each element being
formed of a flexible bag divided into compartments by at least one
inner membrane, substantially of rectangular shape and secured
inside the bag on two opposite longitudinal sides, the small sides
of said membrane being free and their periphery including a
straight central region and two circular concave sections at the
ends, said removable attachment device including an assembly patch
welded over its entire periphery to the assembly positions on the
external surface of said bags of said independent elements.
2. An inflatable piece of furniture according to claim 1 wherein
said removable attachment device is further constituted by an open
ring slid into two adjacent openings disposed inside said assembly
patch.
3. An inflatable piece of furniture according to claim 1 in which
the removable attachment device comprises, on the one hand, a
support comprising a T-shaped hook fixed on the external surface of
one element and, on the other hand, a complementary member fixed on
the external surface of another element and in which engages the
above hook which is locked by a quarter turn rotation, said
complementary member having a chamber with a surface restricting
the entry of said hook to less than the depth of said chamber.
Description
The present invention concerns an inflatable piece of furniture,
and more particularly inflatable pieces of furniture comprising
several elements assembled together by a removable attachment
device.
Inflatable seats are known but the particularly complicated shape
prescribed by their use, an armchair for example, imposes costly
constraints on the manufacturer which considerably slows down the
rate of series production.
Moreover, inflatable units are to a high degree fragile and subject
to punctures. A mere local weakness suffices to put the whole unit
out of use.
The present invention therefore concerns an inflatable piece of
furniture comprising independent elements, connected by removable
attachments, in which the disadvantages of the prior art are
eliminated, the manufacture, upkeep and repair of said furniture
being thus greatly improved.
Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the course of the following description when
read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating
diagrammatically and merely by way of example, an embodiment of the
invention.
In the said drawing:
FIG. 1 shows back view of an inflatable armchair according to the
invention;
FIG. 2 shows a section along II-II of FIG. 1 and
FIG. 3, 4 a, 4 b, 5 a, 5 b, 6 and 7 show detail views of removable
attachment devices.
Referring to FIG. 1, an inflatable piece of furniture 10 according
to the invention is composed of a base 1 forming a seat, of two
elbow-rests 2 and of a back 3. These elements are manufactured
separately, are inflated individually and are interconnected by
rings 12.
Each element comprises a bag 9 of gastight flexible material and is
reinforced inside by membranes 4, 5 and 6. It will be seen that the
membrane 6 seen lengthwise in FIG. 1 does not join up with the bag
9 on the small sides of the back. In fact, as will be seen in FIG.
2 in the case of the membrane 4, each substantially rectangular
membrane is made integral with the bag, by welding or gluing for
example, along its two longitudinal sides 13 and 14 and is free on
its two other small sides 15 and 16. It will be seen that the free
sides have a characteristic concave shape constituted by a
practically straight central region and two circular ends of radius
r. This arrangement has for effect to distribute over a wide area
the stresses at the beginning of the weld of the sides 14 and 13
and to prevent tearing at 7 by one end should an abnormal strain
occur locally.
It will be seen that the membranes 4 maintain for example the
surfaces x- y and x' - y' of the seat along two substantially
parallel planes while permitting the seat to crumple freely in the
curved regions 16 and 17.
Referring to FIG. 3, the assembly of the elements 1, 2 and 3 is
realized by means of the rings 12 through the agency of a circular
patch 8 welded at the suitable positions by the annular peripheral
region 18. Two reinforced orifices 11 are provided on said patch,
and since the passage is free in the central region of the patch
between the orifices 11, the open ring 12 may be engaged at will in
the two orifices 11 of a patch 8 integral with the element 1, then
in the two orifices of another patch 8' of the element 2, and the
ring finally closed. A new assembly according to the invention is
thus realized. If need be, for repairs for example, the assembly is
detachable.
Referring to FIG. 4 a to 7, other assembly devices may be realized
according to the invention.
Referring to FIG. 4 a and 4 b, a strip on a hachured part 19 is
welded to the inflatable element 1. The part 20 of the strip which
remains free comprises a stud 21. This stud 21 is secured to the
part 20 by riveting or is integral with the strip should the whole
unit be made of plastic material, manufactured according to the
injection method.
To the element 2 is welded a strip on the hachured part 19'. The
free part 20 comprises a reinforced slot 22. The connection between
the elements 1 and 2 will thus be effected by engagement of the
stud 21 through the slot 22.
Referring to FIG. 5 a and 5 b, the upper part of the attachment
device is welded through its base 23 to the inflatable element 1;
it further comprises a support consisting of two parallel faces 24
each pierced with an orifice 25, centered on the same axis. The
lower part is welded through its base 23' to the inflatable element
2 and comprises a support 26 traversed by an orifice 27. The
connection of the elements 1 and 2 is effected by bringing the
support 26 inside the support 24, the orifices 25 and 27 being
opposite each other. The attachment is effected by a threaded rod
28 held at its end by a nut 29. The washers 30 and 31 serve as
intermediaries and prevent loosening.
Referring to FIG. 6, the threaded rod assembly may be replaced by
the following assembly: a spindle 32 comprises at one end a flat
arresting part 33 of larger diameter and at the other end a groove
34. The other assembly element is a cylindrical surface 35 partly
closed at its two bases; the front base opposite to the element 32
is provided with an orifice 36 of the same diameter. Inside the
cylinder 35 a thin spring 37 bears on the edges of the cylinder 35
and slightly overlaps, symmetrically, the orifice 36; the other
base of the cylinder is entirely or partly closed so as to prevent
displacement of the spring 37. When the two parts are brought
together, the spindle 32 penetrates into the orifice 36 and parts
the spring 37 until the latter engages in the groove 34 and holds
the two elements together. Displacement of the inflatable elements
1 and 2, perpendicularly to the axes of the rods 28 or 32, is thus
prevented.
Referring to FIG. 7, the upper part 38 comprises in its center a
T-shaped support 39, the lower part 40 comprises a cylindrical
support 41 closed on its upper base 42. This base 42 is provided
with a slot 43 the size of which is the same as that of the legs of
the support 39. The connection of the two elements is effected by
wholly engaging the part 39 through the slot 43: by rotating
through 90.degree. one of the elements relative to the other, the
two legs of the T are locked by the base 42. A notch 44 in the
lower part of the base 42, having the same dimension as the two
legs of the support 39, is provided in order to prevent rotation of
the two assembly elements.
* * * * *