U.S. patent number 3,897,102 [Application Number 05/459,105] was granted by the patent office on 1975-07-29 for chair or the like.
Invention is credited to Gerald Lemaire.
United States Patent |
3,897,102 |
Lemaire |
July 29, 1975 |
Chair or the like
Abstract
The disclosure relates to a chair, more particularly, to a
lounge chair which is made of a frame and a flexible material, such
as canvas, associated with the frame for supporting the body of a
person. The chair has a back portion which is formed with a first
aperture shaped to enable a person who lies flat on his stomach to
rest his head while being able to see through the first aperture.
The back portion also comprises second and third apertures which
are adapted to permit passing the arms of the person
therethrough.
Inventors: |
Lemaire; Gerald (Montreal 201,
Quebec, CA) |
Family
ID: |
23823425 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/459,105 |
Filed: |
April 8, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/656; D6/361;
5/111; 5/657; 297/391; 297/900; 297/452.13; 5/636; 297/283.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C
17/66 (20130101); A47C 1/143 (20130101); Y10S
297/90 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
1/00 (20060101); A47C 1/14 (20060101); A47c
007/62 (); A47c 031/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;297/188,191,284,217,19.29 ;5/344,124,122,111,86,81,91,327R,327B
;248/441,445 ;128/372,377 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: McCall; James T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Marcoux; Paul Swabey; Alan
Claims
I claim:
1. A chair or the like comprising a frame, a relatively thin
flexible material associated with said frame for supporting the
body of a person, said chair including a pivotally connected back
portion, said back portion formed with a first aperture above said
pivotal connection, said aperture being shaped to enable a person
who lies flat on his stomach to rest his head on a portion of said
flexible material surrounding said first aperture while being able
to see through said first aperture, said pivotally connected back
portion also including second and third apertures adjacent said
pivotal connection adapted to permit passing the arms of the person
therethrough.
2. A chair or the like according to claim 1, wherein said first,
second and third apertures are rectangular.
3. A chair or the like according to claim 1, wherein said flexible
material is a sheet of canvas.
4. A chair or the like according to claim 1, wherein said flexible
material is a body supporting web.
5. A chair or the like according to claim 1, wherein said first
aperture is shaped to enable said person to rest his forehead on a
portion of said flexible material surrounding said first aperture
above said first opening and his chin on a portion of said flexible
material below said first opening while still being able to see
through said first opening.
6. A chair or the like according to claim 1, which comprises a
cushion disposed in said chair, said cushion being movable to serve
as a rest for the stomach when said person is lying on his stomach
and as a rest for the neck and shoulders when said person is in
sitting posture.
7. A chair or the like according to claim 6, which comprises an
adjustable book holder enabling said person while in said sitting
posture to read said book without having to hold it in his
hands.
8. A chair or the like according to claim 7, wherein said book
holder consists of a first arm which is attached to the back of
said chair, a second arm pivotally connected to the end of said
first arm, a U-shaped member pivotally connected to said second arm
and a clear vinyl pouch engaged over said U-shaped member and
capable of holding a book opened.
9. A chair or the like according to claim 6, which comprises a pair
of moving belts mounted to extend between the top of said back and
the lower portion of said back, said cushion being attached to said
moving belts to be movable between a lower position when said
person is lying on his stomach and an upper position when said
person is in said sitting posture.
10. A chair or the like according to claim 9, which comprises
transverse slits formed in the back portion of said flexible
material, said belts slidable through said slits and over the top
of said back, thus enabling free movement of said belts.
11. A chair or the like according to claim 3, which comprises pads
applied to said canvas above and below said first aperture to
respectively support the front and chin of said person.
12. A chair or the like according to claim 3, wherein said first
aperture is longer than the head of said person, and elastic bands
are sewn to cover the upper and lower portions of said first
apertures, said bands to respectively support the forehead and chin
of said person.
13. A chair or the like according to claim 1, wherein said
apertures are only delineated to enable a person to cut said
openings whenever desired.
Description
This invention relates to a chair. More particularly, the present
invention is directed to a lounge chair of the type which will be
mostly used by a person who wishes to read while sun-bathing.
Sun-bathing is very popular. However, because of the fact that the
person who wishes to take a sun bath must not move while exposing
himself to the rays of the sun, it can become quite monotonous. In
most cases, when sitting down or being held reclined while taking a
sun bath, it would seem natural for a person to read a book or
something else. This is all correct when allowing the front part of
the body to bronze. However, when time comes to take the same
treatment on the back part of the body, the book has to be set
aside and this can become quite annoying to a person who is used to
reading, as most people are these days.
In order to overcome the above disadvantages, I have devised a
chair or the like of the type which comprises a frame, and flexible
material associated with the frame for supporting the body of a
person. The chair has a back portion which is formed with a first
aperture which is shaped to enable a person who lies flat on his
stomach to rest his head while being able to see through the first
aperture, the back portion also comprising second and third
apertures adapted to permit passing the arms of the person
therethrough. In this manner, it will be seen that the person
taking a sun bath does not have to put his book aside when taking
the treatment on the back portion of his body.
In the drawings which illustrate the invention,
FIG. 1 is a view from the side of a person taking a sun bath on his
back, in a lounge chair according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a view of the same person, in the same position, taken
from above;
FIG. 3 is a partial view taken from underneath the back portion of
the chair showing the face of the person opposite the aperture and
the two arms passing through their respective apertures;
FIG. 4 is a view from the front end of the chair showing the person
in the same position;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the back portion of the chair showing
a cushion adapted to a pair of moving belts;
FIG. 6 is a cross section taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a view of a sun-bather in sitting posture in a lounge
chair according to the invention, this Figure also showing the back
portion of the chair in fully reclined position;
FIG. 8 is a view of a book-holder mounted on a lounge chair
according to the invention;
FIG. 9 is a view from the rear of a person taking a sun bath in a
chair according to the invention while reading a book;
FIG. 10 is a view from above of the book-holder illustrated in FIG.
8;
FIG. 11 is a view of the back portion of a lounge chair according
to the invention in which the aperture for the head is provided
with pads;
FIG. 11a is a detailed view through the pad;
FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11 in which the aperture has been
enlarged and the pads have been replaced by elastic bands sewn to
the canvas;
FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 11 in which the aperture has been
enlarged and the pads have been replaced by elastic bands which are
adjustable;
FIG. 14 is a detailed view of the openings for hooking the elastic
bands illustrated in FIG. 13, also incorporating sponge pads
slidably engaged over the elastic bands;
FIG. 15 is a section taken through line 15--15 of FIG. 14.
Referring to the drawings, it will first of all be seen that the
lounge chair 1 according to the invention is of standard
construction and comprises a frame 3 with legs 5 and a sheet of
canvas 7 which is attached in a conventional manner by means of the
attachment 9 to the frame 3.
As in all standard lounge chairs which are used for sun-bathing,
the lounge chair 1 according to the invention has a reclining back
portion 11. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings, the back
portion 11 will be seen to comprise three rectangular apertures,
namely apertures 13 which as illustrated is shaped to enable the
person 15 who lies flat on his stomach to rest his head 17 while at
the same time being able to see through the aperture 13. Reference
is particularly made to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 of the drawings. The back
portion 11 also comprises two additional apertures 19 and 21 which
will serve to pass the arms therethrough in order to be able to
hold or handle a book as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 of the
drawings.
It will be seen that the size of the aperture 13 must be adjusted
to enable the person to rest his forehead above the opening 13
while at the same time resting his chin immediately below the
opening while still being able to see through the opening 13. This
will better be seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings.
Turning now to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, for another embodiments of the
invention, it will be realized that for comfort purposes, the
lounge chair 1 according to the invention will preferably be fitted
with a cushion which is movable so as to be adapted to serve as a
rest for the stomach as illustrated in FIG. 1, when the person is
lying over his stomach and as rest for the neck and shoulders, as
illustrated in FIG. 7, when the person is in sitting posture. The
cushion 23 is attached in known manner to a pair of moving belts 25
and 27. As shown in FIG. 5, the back portion 11 of the lounge chair
comprises transverse slit 29, 31 thus enabling the belts to slide
through the slits and over the top of the back 11 all in the manner
illustrated in FIG. 9 of the drawings. This will also be
illustrated in FIG. 6 where it will clearly be shown that the
cushion is movable from the upper position illustrated in full line
in FIG. 6 to the lower position illustrated in dotted lines in FIG.
6 by merely sliding the belts through the slits and over the top of
the back portion of the lounge chair 1.
When a person takes a sun bath in the sitting posture as
illustrated in FIG. 8, he might prefer to have some means for
holding the book in order to enable the rays of the sun to hit the
body without being obstructed. For this purpose, in accordance with
another embodiments of the invention, there is provided a
book-holder 33 which will enable the person to read while in
sitting posture even without holding the book.
The book-holder 33 will be seen to comprise an arm 35 which is
attached to the top portion of the back 11 of the chair, a second
arm 37 which is pivotally mounted at the end of the arm 35, a
U-shaped member 39 which is pivotally mounted at the end of the arm
37 and a clear vinyl pouch 41 which is engated over the U-shaped
member 39 and is capable of receiving a book 43 as illustrated in
FIG. 8 of the drawings.
Referring to FIG. 11, it will be seen that in order to be more
comfortable for the forehead and the chin of the person there are
provided pads 47 and 49 which are applied in known manner to the
canvas 7, at both ends of the aperture 13 such as with "Velcro" or
"snap-type" attachments. This type of support for the chin and
forehead will be seen to be more comfortable and since they are
covered with a washable tissue, they will be more easy to keep
clean.
Referring to FIG. 12, it is possible to provide the canvas with an
enlarged aperture as compared to FIG. 11, that is opening 45, and
to sew elastic bands 51, 53 which will cover the upper and lower
portions of the apertures 45 and will respectively support the
forehead and chin of the person taking a sun bath in prone
position.
If one choses to use the same size of aperture as in FIG. 12, that
is aperture 45, it would still be possible, in accordance with
another embodiments to mount elastic bands 55, 57 and to hook them
to the canvas 7. For this purpose, the bands are first of all
provided with a pair of hooks 59 wrapped at both ends thereof. For
each elastic band 55 or 57, there are two grommets 61 mounted in
known manner in the canvas 7 to provide two openings on the left of
each of the lower and upper portions of the aperture 45. On the
right-hand side of the aperture 45, there are six grommets for the
elastic band 55 and six more for the elastic band 57. This will
enable to adjust the extensibility of the bands which can be hooked
in either of the three pairs of grommets as shown in FIG. 13 of the
drawings.
Sponge pads 56 are mounted in sliding engagement over the bands 55,
57 again for more comfort.
The operation of the chair according to the invention is quite
simple. In sitting posture, the chair will be used as any other
sun-bathing chair. If the sun-bather wishes to subject his back to
the sun rays, while continuing his reading, he will pass his hands
through the apertures 19 and 21 and will rest his head in either of
the openings 13 or 45 which will permit him to continue his reading
while sun-bathing.
This invention is obviously also applicable to lounge chairs of all
kinds, to so called short chairs, chairs which are either folding
or not folding, heavy construction wooden chairs, or the like,
etc.
It is also within the spirit of the present invention to provide
markings on the canvas or the like whereby the buyer would himself
cut the openings for the head and arms.
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