Chairs and seats – Simulation; e.g. – animal or vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-16
2002-12-17
Nelson, Jr., Milton (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Simulation; e.g., animal or vehicle
C297S452170
Reexamination Certificate
active
06494532
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to furniture. More particularly, the present invention relates to soft-sculpted furniture which is self-supporting.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various car seats, chairs and chair covers have been proposed in the shape of an animal or fictional character with limbs, such as arms or legs, that wrap around and hug a child while in an upright seated position. Many of the proposed devices fail to provide adequate support and stabilization in supporting the child. In order to add support, other devices have included a rigid internal skeletal frame. However, rigid internal frames present an injury risk for children using these devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,573, issued to Barry et al. discloses a child's chair in the form of an animal. The chair includes a rigid frame covered by a cushion in the form of an animal. The animal cushion has a body with upper and lower limbs in the form of arms and legs. The rigid frame includes structural members extending into the arms. In the preferred embodiment of this patent, the cushion is in the form of a bear with flexible arms that can be wrapped around a child seated in the chair. Velcro patches on hands connected to the arms allow the arms to be connected when encircled around the seated child.
This and other prior art devices use some kind of structural member or frame for stability, so that the device will have some degree of rigidity. The prior art also includes so-called beanbag chairs or the like, which are soft and pliable, but lack support to hold a person in a generally upright seated position.
While the above-mentioned devices may be suited for their intended usage, these devices do not provide a soft-sculpted chair with provides sufficient stabilization to support a user in an upright seated position without the use of an internal frame structure. Thus, there is a need for a soft-sculpted chair which supports a user in an upright seated position without using a rigid internal frame structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides soft-sculpted furniture, such as a chair, which supports a user in an upright seated position without the use of any internal frame structure. The chair comprises an unstructured contoured seat portion, an unstructured contoured back portion and a pair of contoured arm portions. The back portion is connected to the seat portion to form the body of a soft-sculpted figure such as an animal form. The seat contour includes a leg support section for supporting a user's legs when seated in the chair.
The arm portions are contoured to fit the contour of the seat portion and back portion and are connected between the seat portion and the back portion. The arm portions act to support the back portion in an upright manner without the use of a rigid internal support frame. Preferably, the arm portions extend and are connected along at least one-half of the length of the seat portion and at least one-half of the length of the back portion.
The seat portion, the back portion and the arm portions are filled with a soft stuffing material. In a preferred embodiment, the seat and back portions are filled with a polyester fiber material. The arm portions are filled with bonded polyester sheets folded in such a manner that the arm portions are configured to extend outward when the chair is not in use giving the appearance that the soft-sculpted figure is inviting the user to sit in the chair.
The arm portions are configured to be wrapped around the user when the user is seated in the chair giving the appearance that the soft-sculpted figure is hugging the user. The arm portions are wide enough to cover a substantial portion of the user to act as a blanket when wrapped around the user.
The chair includes a base portion in the seat portion for maintaining the chair in an upright position. In a preferred embodiment, the base portion is rectangular in shape to further maintain the shape and structure of the chair.
The back portion of the chair includes a head portion having a figure face. In one embodiment, the figure face is slightly turned to one side so as not to interfere with a user's head or back when seated in the chair. The chair can also include a tail, ears or other ornamental features adding to the aesthetic qualities of the soft-sculpted figure.
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Brosnan Judith J.
Haugh Scott T.
Chuen J. Rhee
Jr. Milton Nelson
Michael Best & Friedrich LLC
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