U.S. patent number 3,638,255 [Application Number 04/863,245] was granted by the patent office on 1972-02-01 for seat cushion or pillow.
Invention is credited to Eugene L. Sterrett.
United States Patent |
3,638,255 |
Sterrett |
February 1, 1972 |
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.
Inventors: |
Sterrett; Eugene L. (Hacienda
Heights, CA) |
Family
ID: |
25340668 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/863,245 |
Filed: |
October 2, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/641; 5/652;
5/653; 297/180.1; 5/636 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C
7/021 (20130101); A47C 27/15 (20130101); A47G
9/007 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
27/14 (20060101); A47G 9/00 (20060101); A47g
009/00 (); A47c 007/74 () |
Field of
Search: |
;297/180 ;128/140
;5/337,338,355,345,347,339 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gay; Bobby R.
Assistant Examiner: Calvert; Andrew M.
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.
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.
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