CA1077175A - Body supporting and spacing structure - Google Patents
Body supporting and spacing structureInfo
- Publication number
- CA1077175A CA1077175A CA302,883A CA302883A CA1077175A CA 1077175 A CA1077175 A CA 1077175A CA 302883 A CA302883 A CA 302883A CA 1077175 A CA1077175 A CA 1077175A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- elongated
- sheet
- body support
- protuberances
- elongated protuberances
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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- Blow-Moulding Or Thermoforming Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A body support member for spacing a body above a sup-porting structure which comprises a sheet of resilient plastic material permanently deformed to produce downwardly disposed, laterally spaced, elongated protuberances distributed over a body support area for engaging the supporting surface, adjacent elongated protuberances being complementary in shape with each one having a plurality of reversed direction portions along its length, the reversed direction portions in adjacent protuberances being in overlapping relation in the plane of the body support area looking in the direction the elongated protuberances ex-tend, whereby the body support area of the member will resist flexing along all lines traversing the body support area. Where desired, the resiliency of the plastic material of the body sup-port member can be such that the reversed direction portions of the elongated protuberances incorporate an inherent spring-like action under the weight of a supported body to cushion the same.
Ornamental cover material may be applied over the top and/or bottom of the body support member. The body support member is so designed that it can be vacuum or pressure molded and is there-fore stackable in large numbers for shipment and storage. The body support member may have joined to the lower portions of the elongated protuberances a second sheet of plastic material which is flat or a second sheet of plastic material which has upwardly disposed elongated protuberances which can be complementary in shape to the elongated protuberances of the body support member joined to the lower portions of the downwardly disposed elongated protuberances of the body support member.
A body support member for spacing a body above a sup-porting structure which comprises a sheet of resilient plastic material permanently deformed to produce downwardly disposed, laterally spaced, elongated protuberances distributed over a body support area for engaging the supporting surface, adjacent elongated protuberances being complementary in shape with each one having a plurality of reversed direction portions along its length, the reversed direction portions in adjacent protuberances being in overlapping relation in the plane of the body support area looking in the direction the elongated protuberances ex-tend, whereby the body support area of the member will resist flexing along all lines traversing the body support area. Where desired, the resiliency of the plastic material of the body sup-port member can be such that the reversed direction portions of the elongated protuberances incorporate an inherent spring-like action under the weight of a supported body to cushion the same.
Ornamental cover material may be applied over the top and/or bottom of the body support member. The body support member is so designed that it can be vacuum or pressure molded and is there-fore stackable in large numbers for shipment and storage. The body support member may have joined to the lower portions of the elongated protuberances a second sheet of plastic material which is flat or a second sheet of plastic material which has upwardly disposed elongated protuberances which can be complementary in shape to the elongated protuberances of the body support member joined to the lower portions of the downwardly disposed elongated protuberances of the body support member.
Description
.
1~ 75 ;
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For some time, it has been desirable to have available for various uses, including in ventilated seats and in indus-trial pallets, an economical single sheet member formed from resilient plastic which will support a body in spaced relation to a supporting structure, where the member is formed from a single sheet of plastic which is permanently deformed to pro-duce spacing elements or protuberances which not only will ; space the upper surface of the member above the supporting ;10 structure but will resiliently rigidify the overall member to prevent excessive flexing or any undesirable amount of flexing in use.
In U.S. patents 3,162,487 and 3,162,488 of H. H.
Trotman, a single sheet of plastic is deformed to produce spac-ing elements of protuberances in a ventilated seat cushion.
In these patents, however, the sheet of plastic, although ade-quately performing the spacing function as part of the seat con-, struction, requires additional stiffening members in order to assure that the seat will retain its shape.
U.S. patent 2,948,334 of Goldstein is another ex-ample of a prior art attempt to produce a ventilated seat cushion from a sheet of plastic where the product lacks the necessary combination of rigidity and resilience for a suc-cessful product.
In U.S. patent 3,940,183, a support panel for use as a ventilated body support mat is disclosed having a plurality of integral T-shaped elements arrayed in columns and rows in an attempt to attain the desired combination of rigidity and -1- ~
resilience. Here again the desideratum is not attained as is evidenced by the provision of supplemental stiffening means.
In the past, industrial pallets have been designed to be picked up by fork trucks thereby requiring relatively com-plex supporting structures. More recently the concept of a pallet which can be skidded onto a fork truck has been introduced.
The body support member of the present invention constitutes an ideal structure for the latter method of handling palletized loads.
By an ingenious interrelationship of elongated pro-tuberances formed by permanent deformation of a sheet of plas-tic material, the present invention supplies the deficiencies of the prior art. By using a sheet of plastic material which, when shaped in accordance with the present invention is resilient in the realm of the forces exerted by the weight of a human body, the formed sheet of plastic material of the present inven-tion can be used as a member which is rigid enough to retain its ` shape while at the same time exhibiting a springy characteristic ~;
so as to act as a cushion between a human body and a supporting structure. This is especially the case where the sheet of plastic material is superposed on a cushion such as an automobile seat cushion to achieve ventilation between the person supported on the sheet of plastic material and the automobile seat. On the other hand, the body support member of the present inven-tion can perform the functions of an industrial pallet where no cushioning action is desired but rather the desideratum is a flat supporting surface of sufficient rigidity to act as a skiddable base for a stack of industrial products, this being . . . .
attained by utilizing a heavier gage of plastic sheet material with greater rigidity and strength.
Although from the foregoing and as description of the present invention proceeds, it will be apparent that the body support member of the present invention is applicable to fields other than seat cushions, the invention will be described in the seat cushion environment where the resilience of the thin sheet of plastic material, taken in conjunction with the con-figuration of the sheet, can be utilized to great advantage.
SUMMA~Y OF THE INVENTION
A supporting spacing member for use between a sup-porting surface and a body to be supported comprising a sheet of resilient plastic matererial having an upper surface and a lower surface, a body support area provided by the sheet of plastic material, a plurality of spaced elongated protuberances permanently formed in the sheet throughout the body support area and extending downwardly from the upper surface, the elon-gated protuberances being open at the top and having side and bottom walls, the plurality of elongated protuberances being disposed side by side in spaced relation to one another and ex-tending longitudinally along paths which extend across a dimen-sion of the body support area, portions of the sheet of plastic material which extend between the open tops of side by side elongated protuberances coacting to form in the aggregate a generally flat body engaging structure, the lowermost surfaces of the bottom walls of protuberances coacting to form in the aggregate a generally flat support structure for engaging the supporting surface, each of the plurality of elongated protu-1~7'717S
berances incorporating along its longitudinal dimension at leastone direction changing portion and portions connected to the direction changing portion, successive direction changing por-tions of elongated protuberances alternati~ng in the direction of change along the paths across the body support area, alter-nate direction changing portions of adjacent elongated protu-berances along the paths across the body support area being in overlapping relation to each other looking in the direction the paths extend, the disposition of elongated protuberances iO in paths across a dimension of the body support area and the overlapping relationship of the alternate direction changing portions resulting in a body support area in which all planes normal to the generally flat body engaging structure will suc-cessively intersect a plurality of elongated protuberances at spaced points across a dimension of the body support area or will repeatedly intersect alternately disposed portions con-necting direction changing portions of a single elongated pro-tuberance at a plurality of spaced points across a dimension of the body support area.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodi-ment of the present invention in the form of a seat cushion es-pecially suitable for use in an automobile where a ventilated seat is desired;
Figure 2 is a veiw in vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a detail . of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in plan of a portion of the seat of Figure l;
Figure 5 is a view in cross-section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in plan similar to Figure 4 of a modified embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 7 is a still further enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6;
- lO Figure 8 is a view similar to Figures 4 and 6 but inverted of a still further modification of the present in-- vention;
Figure 9 is a view in cross-section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8;
Figure lO is a view in plan with portions removed similar to Figure 4, of a still further modification of the present invention;
Figure 11 is a view in cross-section taken on the line - 11-11 of Figure 10;
Figure 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view of optional reinforcing struts suitable for use in the embodiments of Figures 1 to 11;
Figure 13 is a diagrammatic view of a form of elon-gated protuberances which can be substituted for some or all of those in Figures 1 to 11;
Figure 14 is a diagrammatic view of another form of elongated protuberances which can be substituted for some or all of those shown in Figures 1 to 11; and ,~
1~77175 Figure 15 is a diagrammatic view of another form of elongated protuberances which can be substituted for some or all of those shown in Figures 1 to 11.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As already mentioned, the principles and advantages of the present invention will be described in the environment of a car seat and a preferred form of the same is shown in Figures 1 to 5. The member shown in these figures can be a component of a car seat cushion, as will be evident as this description proceeds, or the member alone can be the entire ` car seat cushion.
The car seat cushion illustrated is made up of a seat member indicated generally by the reference numeral 20 and a back member indicated generally by the reference numeral 22, each member having an ornamental bead or marginal portion 24 circumscribing a body support area indicated generally at 23, 23. Normally the seat member and the back member will be formed integrally from the same material, namely, a thin sheet of re-silient plastic which can be heat formed in a vacuum or pressure ;
mold to give a desired permanent, three dimensional configura~tion to the sheet. An integral hinge section 25 joins the seat and back portions.
Since the body support areas 23, 23 can have the same configuration in the seat member and the back member and are so shown in Figure 1, specific reference is made at this point only to the seat member.
In the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of elongated protuberances 26 are formed . : , -. :' - ~ ' ' ' in a flat sheet of plastic material in a vacuum mold in the inverse position of seat member 20 as shown in Figure 1 so that as the sheet is formed in the mold, the protuberances are di-rected upwardl~. However, for convenience in describing the present invention and without limitation in respect to what is top and what is bottom in the various modifications shown, de-scribed and covered by the appended claims, the surface of the seat member which appears uppermost in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be termed the top surface of the sheet and the opposite side of the sheet will be termed the bottom surface. Thus, in the seat member of these figures, the elongated protuberances 26 depend downwardly and are open upwardly. In the embodiment af Figures 1-5, these elongated protuberances 26 extend con-tinuously from marginal portion 24 on one side of the seat mem-ber to marginal portion 24 on the other side of the seat member, periodically changing direction along their length. Inspection of Figure l shows that in this presently preferred embodiment .~ the plurality of elongated protuberances 26, although incorpor-; ating direction changing portions 27 and portions 28 connecting 20 the direction changing portions 27, nevertheless extend side by side in generally parallel paths between the opposite mar-ginal portions 24 of the seat member. Of course, the general direction of the parallel paths of elongated protuberances 26 could be from the front of the seat to the back or diagonally of the seat member without departing from the principles of the invention.
Each elongated protuberance 26 has a bottom wall 30 and sidewalls 31, 32. The upper surface of the sheet of plas-'75 tic material forming the seat member is formed in contact withthe surfaces of the mold as the hot plastic is drawn or forced down into depressions in the mold and this bottom surface in the mold becomes the upper surface in the finished seat member.
The surface portions 34 of this top surface of the sheet of plastic material made up of the portions of the sheet which ex-tend between the open tops of protuberances 26 constitute in the aggregate a body engaging structure 33 of the seat and preferably, but not necessarily, this structure is flat to form a comfortable surface for contact with the body of the person using the seat. It is also preferable for comfort in respect to the body engaging structure that the area of plastic sheet between the open tops of the protuberance be as large as pos-sible, consistent with requisite strength in the elongated pro-tuberances and therefore the area of body engaging structure 34 can, as shown, constitute more than one-half the area of the body support area, which latter area of course includes the open tops of the elongated protuberances. On the other hand at the sacrifice of some comfort aspects, the aggregate area of surfaces 34 may be less than one-half the body support area 23. Of course, surfaces 34 can vary in size and shape in the same body support area 23.
Where desired, due to the nature of the plastic and the fact that it has some memory, the body engaging structure 33 of the seat member can be slightly contoured, concavely up-wardly, thereby enhancing the seat-like appearance. The bottom walls 30 of the elongated protuberances are shown flat but can be rounded and in either case the lowermost portions of elon-1~7~S
gated protuberances 26 can be coplanar and coact in the aggre-gate to present an overall, generally flat bottom support structure 35 for the member or, if desired, can be slightly contoured as the body engaging structure 33. I~here desired, the constuction of the die can be such as to have the elongated protuberances gradually increase in depth toward their longi-tudinal end portions, while their bottom surfaces remain co-planar to give the body engaging structure 35 more contour.
Since the departure from a flat structure in respect to body engaging structure 33 of the top of the sheet and corresponding ~ -departures from a flat condition in the overall shape of the bottom support structure 35 presented by the bottom walls 30 of the protuberances are not great in any case, the term "gen-erally flat" has been adopted in this specification and in the appended claims to embrace both flat configurations and slight departures from flat configuration for the body engaging struc-ture 33 and the bottom support structure 35.
For example, surface portions 34 can have some cur-vature in going from one open elongated protuberance top to the next while to a person seated on the member the structure 35 supporting the person is for support purposes generally flat.
Each elongated protuberance 26 terminates at its ends in a slightly slanting endwall 36 integrally joined to the side-walls 31, 32 and bottom wall 30 of the elongated protuberance and preferably to the sheet portion entering marginal portion 24. This construction rigidifies the elongated protuberances at their ends.
It will be evident from an inspection of the preferred _g_ form of seat member 20 that the direction changing portions 27 and portions 28 connectina the direction changing portions 27 of adjacent or side by side elongated protuberances generally follow each other along the parallel paths of the protuber-ances across the seat so as to result in the opposed sides of side by side elongated protuberances being complementary in shape or generally complementary in shape in the plane of body support area 35 and the term complementary as used in this specification and appended claims is intended to embrace a complementary relationship in respect to only the opposed sides of protuberances (see Figure 15, to be described, for a ;
different form of complementary relationship).
It will be evident that the seat member 20 of the embodiment of Figures 1 to 5 and the other modifications can be used along with or without the back member 22, as a seat cushion in any environment, such as on a stadium bench, on the ground in a picnic, beside a swimming pool or in any other en-vironment where the spacing and cushioning effect are desired.
Where a ventilating function for the seat is a factor, a plurality of ventilating holes 46 are punched through the sheet, preferably in the flat body engaging structure 35, i.e.
in the sheet surface portions 34 between the open tops of the elongated protuberances. Ventilating holes can be punched in other places where desired so long as the structural character-istics of the elongated protuberances is not lessened.
The integral hinge 25 preferably has a weakened bend `
line or "strike" 48 formed across its width adjacent ornamental bead 24 of the seat member so that the hinge will tend to bend readily along this line. Alternatively, bend line 49 can be formed across hinge 25 near the back member 22. Both such bend lines can be used or one or more bend lines anywhere in between.
Figures 6 and 7 show a modification of the present invention in which the body engaging structure of a seat member and/or a back member is covered by an ornamental cover material, which may be reticulated or porous, e.g. a textile, where ventilation is a factor and/or may be padded where superficial cushioning is desired. Referring more specifically to Figures 6 and 7, a sheet of cover material 50 is shown on a seat member which can be similar in all respects to the seat member 20 of Figures 1 to 5 except that ornamental bead 24 had been omitted.
As shown in these figures, instead of the ornamental bead, a marginal portion in the form of a flange 52 can surround the body support area 23. The sheet of cover material 50 can then be connected to flange 52 of the seat component by a welting 53 and stitching 54 or where preferred can be attached by an adhesive at flange 52 or at other surfaces of the seat where sheet 50 is adhered in any desired manner to surface portions 34, wear on the cover material by scrubbing action against the support member is eliminated.
The modification of Figures 8 and 9 again illustrates a member similar to seat member 20 and/or back member 22 of Figures 1 to 5, but in this case the lowermost surfaces of bottom walls 30 of elongated protuberances 26 coincide with and are all or in part attached, as for example by heat fusion, to a second sheet of resilient plastic material 56. Ventilating 1~7~5 ~ holes 57 can be punched through sheet 56 for ventilating pur-poses. Where desired, sheet 56 can have an ornamental upwardly turned flange 58 for connection to endwalls 36 of protuberances 26. In this embodiment, if desired, the seat can be inverted and sheet 56 can present the body support surface and can ac-cordingly be ornamented for aesthetic purposes or covered with ` a cover material 50.
The modification of Figures 10 and ll relates to a form of member in which two components corresponding to seat member 20 and/or back member 22 of Figure l are juxtaposed with the elongated protuberances 26 making contact at spaced points, for example, at the direction changing portions 27 and portions i 28 between the direction changing portions with corresponding portions 59 of elongated protuberances 64 of a similar component 60. The portions of elongated protuberances 26 which contact elongated protuberances 64 of the lower component 60 are the lowermost portions of the bottom walls 30 of elongated protu-berances 26. On the other hand, it is the uppermost surfaces of the top walls of inverted elongated protuberances 64 of com-ponent 60 which do the contacting. The interrelationship of these parts is illustrated in Figure 10 by the omission of a ` portion of the top component on the left hand side of the figure and showing the omitted elongated protuberances 26 in phantom and where they would contact elongated protuberances 64 of lower component 60. The contacting surfaces are connected to-gether in any suitable manner, such as by heat fusion. As in the previously described modifications, ventilating holes 62 can be punched in component 60 similar to ventilating holes 46 :~077175 of components 20 and 22.
Where desired, the position of component 60 of the modification illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 can be reversed relative to member 20 and/or 22 so that the bottom walls 30 of the elongated protuberances 26 match up with and coincide with the top surfaces of elongated protuberances 64 of component 60 along the full lengths of both elongated protuberances 26 and 64.
Again, component 60 can be connected in similar manner to sheet 56 of the Figures 8 and 9 modification, with the tops of elon-- 10 gated protuberances 64 attached to sheet 56.
Figure 12 shows an example of reinforcing struts 63 which can be used where desired between elongated protuberances 26.
The purpose of Figure 13 is to illustrate the fact that the elongated protuberances of a component such as com-ponent 20 can have the continuity along their length periodic-ally terminated with some loss of sheet stiffening and loss of most spring action but otherwise retaining many of the advan-tages of the present invention. In this modification, instead of the elongated protuberances 26 being continuous from margin to margin of the body support area, each elongated protuberance is severed or discontinued at some point or points 65 along its length where in the earlier described modification there is :
a direction changing portion. At the severance points, the ;:
severed elongated protuberances terminate at slightly slanting walls 66 similar to walls 36 closing each end of elongated protuberances 26. In the illustrated embodiment, the severance :~
points 65 alternate with direction changing portions 27 along . ~, ' :: . ' -~ 77~75 - the length of each elongated protuberance and the severed points 65 in adjacent or side by side elongated protuberances alter-nate in location so that a direction changing portion 27 in one elongated protuberance 26 is opposite a severance point 65 in the adjacent elongated protuberance. It will be obvious that every second or third or more illustrated severance 65 can be omitted in some or all elongated protuberances so that the elongated protuberances 26 retain several consecutive direction changing portions 27 between severance points 65.
The elongated protuberances 26 of applicants' Figures 1 to 5 embodiment can be made up of straight sections and angular direction changing portions or, in other words, a zig-zag configuration. The modification of Figure 14 falls in this category but the elongated protuberances 67 in this modification have a sinuous configuration in the portions 68 extending be-tween the direction changing portions 69 to thereby strengthen the sidewalls of the elongated protuberances.
The modification of Figure 15 discloses elongated protuberances with two types of direction changing portions and two types of portions extending between the direction chang-ing portions, the configurations of the protuberances in this modification being such that the degree of change in direction at alternate succeeding direction changing portions along the length of a protuberance varies in alternating manner. There-fore, pairs of side by side protuberances are complementary in shape and the direction changing portions are overlapping look- -ing in the direction of the length of the protuberances. Ap-plicants' advantages are therefore achieved with this modifi .
- ' ' ' . ' .
1~77~75 cation.
Referring in more detail to Figure 15, it will be seen that all the elongated protuberances are the same shape but unlike the previously described elongated protuberances each one is asymmetrical in respect to a straight line extend-ing along the length of the elongated protuberance equidistant from the direction changing portions. However, the elongated protuberances are so shaped that not only can two of them be paired together with opposed sides complementary but the outer sides of this pair of juxtaposed elongated protuberances will fit in complementary relationship with the outer sides of adjacent pairs on each side of the first pair of juxtaposed elongated protuberances. At the same time, the complementary portions of all the elongated protuberances have overlapping relation-ship, looking in the direction of the length of the elongated protuberances.
In Figure 15, each elongated protuberance 80 has less sharply angled direction changing portions 82 along one side and more sharply angled direction changing portions 84 along the other side. Juxtaposed elongated protuberance 86 arranged in side by side relationship to elongated protuber-ance 80 completes one of the pairs just referred to and it will be observed that the opposed sides of the side by side elon-gated protuberances 80 and 86 are complementary in shape with elongated protuberance 86 having less sharply angled direction changing portions 88 and more sharply angled direction changing portions 90, the opposed sides of the more sharply angled di-rection changing portions and the less sharply angled direction -:
- 10771~5 changing portions being complementary and the outer sides of the less sharply angled direction changing portions of adjacent pairs of elongated protuberances being complementary. The desired overlapping relationship of the elongated protuberances 80 and 86, forming one pair of elongated protuberances, with adjacent elongated protuberances of adjacent pairs is achieved by virtue of the fact that the less sharply angled direction changing portions 82 and 88 do have sufficient angularity so as to overlap with the less sharply angled direction changing por-tions 92 of an adjacent elongated protuberance 94 of an adjacentpair of elongated protuberances arranged in the same manner as the pair just described. With these different direction chang-ing angularities but nevertheless overlapping relationship of direction changing portions, applicants' desideratum of combined resilience and rigidity, together with inherent spring action, are attained.
The protuberance arrangement of Figure 15 may be con-sidered more aesthetic than those of the earlier described forms and it will be apparent that other aesthetic forms of protuberances incorporating the principles of applicants' in~
vention can be arrived at in similar manner.
Although the elongated protuberances 26 are shown in all modifications except that of Figure 15 as being serpentine ;
in form with straight connecting portions 28 in between direc-tion changing portions 27, the present invention contemplates the elongated protuberances being made up of widely curved re-versals of sine wave form or the elongated protuberances being made up of straight portions and sharp angle direction changing - . . . - :~ . ' .. ~ - ~ . . .
7~
portions giving a zigzag configuration. The principle which is fundamental to the applicants' form of protuberance is that, despite the fact that the body engaging structure 35 can or need not occupy more than one-half the area of the body support area 23, in every case the direction changing portions of the elongated protuberances in the adjacent or side by side pro-tuberances must overlap each other looking in the direction of the length of the elongated protuberances or in other words in the direction of the generally parallel paths the side by side elongated protuberances follow. From this structure follows the advantage that there is no line of weakness in respect to flexure in any direction throughout body support area 23 of seat member 20 or back member 22. This will be made evident by considering the two lines 40, 40 and 42, 42 as examples. A
plane normal to the plane of body support area 23 containing line 40, 40, or containing any other similar straight line at an angle to the length dimension of the elongated protuberances 26, will pass through a plurality of protuberances 26 and flex-ure along these lines will be resisted by the traversed por-tions of the protuberances acting as beams in bending or intorsion. A plane normal to the plane of the body support area containing line 42, 42, although not passing through a plurality of protuberances 26 will, because of the direction changing portions 27 and portions 28 connecting direction changing por-tions of the protuberance involved, pass a plurality of times through portions 28 connecting the direction changing portions of the protuberance and therefore flexure along line 42, 42 will be resisted by the intercepted portions of the protuberance - . -: ' . . . .
- 107'71~5 involved. It will further be evident that any plane normal to the plane of the body support area passing through the body support area which is parallel to the line 42, 42 will either meet the same conditions as the plane containing line 42, 42 in respect to a single protuberance or will intersect the di-rection changing portions of adjacent protuberances because of the overlapping relationship of the direction changing portions of side by side protuberances.
In addition to the foregoing advantages of the over-lapping direction changing portions of the elongated protuber-ances, is an unexpected advantage which arised from ~his over-lapping direction changing characteristic of the elongated protuberances taken with the structural continuity of the di-rection changing portions with the portions connecting the direction changing portions and the side by side coaction of the elongated protuberances, namely, an inherent spring action present in the body support area 23. This spring action stems from the various portions of the elongated protuberances in-teracting with adjacent elongated protuberances and contiguous portions of the same elongated protuberance because of the physical properties and inherent resilience of the sheet of plastic material and the fact that the various portions of the elongated protuberances are flexed slightly, some in the same and some in different directions, the open tops of protuber-ances 26 spreading in one location and narrowing in another.
The theory behind this spring action is difficult to describe but the effect is as though a number of coiled tension springs extending in all directions were present in body support area . .
.
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~07717~
23. The overall effect is an enhanced cushioning effect for a supported body.
A manufactured sample seat member will now be de-scribed: The body support area measured 17-1/2" in width and 15-1/2" in depth. There were eight complete elongated protu-berances extending across the entire width of the body support area, each protuberance being 1/2" wide at the top and about 1/4" wide at the bottom with a depth of 1/2". The width of sheet extending between the open tops of adjacent protuberances ,~
varied between 1-1/2" and 3/4". 1/2" ventilation holes were spaced about 1" apart in the body support surface between pro-tuberances. The direction changing portions changed the di-rection between portions of each elongated protuberance con-necting direction changing portions by about 90 each time.
The protuberances were rounded at each direction changing por-tion and the portions joining direction changing portions were straight and measured about 3". Where a back member such as member 22 was involved, the parts were hinged through the medium of an integral hinge formed from the same sheet of plas-tic material the hinge being about 7" wide and 1-1/4" long.
The plastic material from which the sample was formed was HERCULES No. 7823 polypropylene copolymer and the gage 45 mils.
Other plastics can be used and the gage and dimensions of the sample were not critical.
.
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1~ 75 ;
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For some time, it has been desirable to have available for various uses, including in ventilated seats and in indus-trial pallets, an economical single sheet member formed from resilient plastic which will support a body in spaced relation to a supporting structure, where the member is formed from a single sheet of plastic which is permanently deformed to pro-duce spacing elements or protuberances which not only will ; space the upper surface of the member above the supporting ;10 structure but will resiliently rigidify the overall member to prevent excessive flexing or any undesirable amount of flexing in use.
In U.S. patents 3,162,487 and 3,162,488 of H. H.
Trotman, a single sheet of plastic is deformed to produce spac-ing elements of protuberances in a ventilated seat cushion.
In these patents, however, the sheet of plastic, although ade-quately performing the spacing function as part of the seat con-, struction, requires additional stiffening members in order to assure that the seat will retain its shape.
U.S. patent 2,948,334 of Goldstein is another ex-ample of a prior art attempt to produce a ventilated seat cushion from a sheet of plastic where the product lacks the necessary combination of rigidity and resilience for a suc-cessful product.
In U.S. patent 3,940,183, a support panel for use as a ventilated body support mat is disclosed having a plurality of integral T-shaped elements arrayed in columns and rows in an attempt to attain the desired combination of rigidity and -1- ~
resilience. Here again the desideratum is not attained as is evidenced by the provision of supplemental stiffening means.
In the past, industrial pallets have been designed to be picked up by fork trucks thereby requiring relatively com-plex supporting structures. More recently the concept of a pallet which can be skidded onto a fork truck has been introduced.
The body support member of the present invention constitutes an ideal structure for the latter method of handling palletized loads.
By an ingenious interrelationship of elongated pro-tuberances formed by permanent deformation of a sheet of plas-tic material, the present invention supplies the deficiencies of the prior art. By using a sheet of plastic material which, when shaped in accordance with the present invention is resilient in the realm of the forces exerted by the weight of a human body, the formed sheet of plastic material of the present inven-tion can be used as a member which is rigid enough to retain its ` shape while at the same time exhibiting a springy characteristic ~;
so as to act as a cushion between a human body and a supporting structure. This is especially the case where the sheet of plastic material is superposed on a cushion such as an automobile seat cushion to achieve ventilation between the person supported on the sheet of plastic material and the automobile seat. On the other hand, the body support member of the present inven-tion can perform the functions of an industrial pallet where no cushioning action is desired but rather the desideratum is a flat supporting surface of sufficient rigidity to act as a skiddable base for a stack of industrial products, this being . . . .
attained by utilizing a heavier gage of plastic sheet material with greater rigidity and strength.
Although from the foregoing and as description of the present invention proceeds, it will be apparent that the body support member of the present invention is applicable to fields other than seat cushions, the invention will be described in the seat cushion environment where the resilience of the thin sheet of plastic material, taken in conjunction with the con-figuration of the sheet, can be utilized to great advantage.
SUMMA~Y OF THE INVENTION
A supporting spacing member for use between a sup-porting surface and a body to be supported comprising a sheet of resilient plastic matererial having an upper surface and a lower surface, a body support area provided by the sheet of plastic material, a plurality of spaced elongated protuberances permanently formed in the sheet throughout the body support area and extending downwardly from the upper surface, the elon-gated protuberances being open at the top and having side and bottom walls, the plurality of elongated protuberances being disposed side by side in spaced relation to one another and ex-tending longitudinally along paths which extend across a dimen-sion of the body support area, portions of the sheet of plastic material which extend between the open tops of side by side elongated protuberances coacting to form in the aggregate a generally flat body engaging structure, the lowermost surfaces of the bottom walls of protuberances coacting to form in the aggregate a generally flat support structure for engaging the supporting surface, each of the plurality of elongated protu-1~7'717S
berances incorporating along its longitudinal dimension at leastone direction changing portion and portions connected to the direction changing portion, successive direction changing por-tions of elongated protuberances alternati~ng in the direction of change along the paths across the body support area, alter-nate direction changing portions of adjacent elongated protu-berances along the paths across the body support area being in overlapping relation to each other looking in the direction the paths extend, the disposition of elongated protuberances iO in paths across a dimension of the body support area and the overlapping relationship of the alternate direction changing portions resulting in a body support area in which all planes normal to the generally flat body engaging structure will suc-cessively intersect a plurality of elongated protuberances at spaced points across a dimension of the body support area or will repeatedly intersect alternately disposed portions con-necting direction changing portions of a single elongated pro-tuberance at a plurality of spaced points across a dimension of the body support area.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodi-ment of the present invention in the form of a seat cushion es-pecially suitable for use in an automobile where a ventilated seat is desired;
Figure 2 is a veiw in vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a detail . of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in plan of a portion of the seat of Figure l;
Figure 5 is a view in cross-section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in plan similar to Figure 4 of a modified embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 7 is a still further enlarged fragmentary view in section taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6;
- lO Figure 8 is a view similar to Figures 4 and 6 but inverted of a still further modification of the present in-- vention;
Figure 9 is a view in cross-section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8;
Figure lO is a view in plan with portions removed similar to Figure 4, of a still further modification of the present invention;
Figure 11 is a view in cross-section taken on the line - 11-11 of Figure 10;
Figure 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view of optional reinforcing struts suitable for use in the embodiments of Figures 1 to 11;
Figure 13 is a diagrammatic view of a form of elon-gated protuberances which can be substituted for some or all of those in Figures 1 to 11;
Figure 14 is a diagrammatic view of another form of elongated protuberances which can be substituted for some or all of those shown in Figures 1 to 11; and ,~
1~77175 Figure 15 is a diagrammatic view of another form of elongated protuberances which can be substituted for some or all of those shown in Figures 1 to 11.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
As already mentioned, the principles and advantages of the present invention will be described in the environment of a car seat and a preferred form of the same is shown in Figures 1 to 5. The member shown in these figures can be a component of a car seat cushion, as will be evident as this description proceeds, or the member alone can be the entire ` car seat cushion.
The car seat cushion illustrated is made up of a seat member indicated generally by the reference numeral 20 and a back member indicated generally by the reference numeral 22, each member having an ornamental bead or marginal portion 24 circumscribing a body support area indicated generally at 23, 23. Normally the seat member and the back member will be formed integrally from the same material, namely, a thin sheet of re-silient plastic which can be heat formed in a vacuum or pressure ;
mold to give a desired permanent, three dimensional configura~tion to the sheet. An integral hinge section 25 joins the seat and back portions.
Since the body support areas 23, 23 can have the same configuration in the seat member and the back member and are so shown in Figure 1, specific reference is made at this point only to the seat member.
In the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of elongated protuberances 26 are formed . : , -. :' - ~ ' ' ' in a flat sheet of plastic material in a vacuum mold in the inverse position of seat member 20 as shown in Figure 1 so that as the sheet is formed in the mold, the protuberances are di-rected upwardl~. However, for convenience in describing the present invention and without limitation in respect to what is top and what is bottom in the various modifications shown, de-scribed and covered by the appended claims, the surface of the seat member which appears uppermost in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5 will be termed the top surface of the sheet and the opposite side of the sheet will be termed the bottom surface. Thus, in the seat member of these figures, the elongated protuberances 26 depend downwardly and are open upwardly. In the embodiment af Figures 1-5, these elongated protuberances 26 extend con-tinuously from marginal portion 24 on one side of the seat mem-ber to marginal portion 24 on the other side of the seat member, periodically changing direction along their length. Inspection of Figure l shows that in this presently preferred embodiment .~ the plurality of elongated protuberances 26, although incorpor-; ating direction changing portions 27 and portions 28 connecting 20 the direction changing portions 27, nevertheless extend side by side in generally parallel paths between the opposite mar-ginal portions 24 of the seat member. Of course, the general direction of the parallel paths of elongated protuberances 26 could be from the front of the seat to the back or diagonally of the seat member without departing from the principles of the invention.
Each elongated protuberance 26 has a bottom wall 30 and sidewalls 31, 32. The upper surface of the sheet of plas-'75 tic material forming the seat member is formed in contact withthe surfaces of the mold as the hot plastic is drawn or forced down into depressions in the mold and this bottom surface in the mold becomes the upper surface in the finished seat member.
The surface portions 34 of this top surface of the sheet of plastic material made up of the portions of the sheet which ex-tend between the open tops of protuberances 26 constitute in the aggregate a body engaging structure 33 of the seat and preferably, but not necessarily, this structure is flat to form a comfortable surface for contact with the body of the person using the seat. It is also preferable for comfort in respect to the body engaging structure that the area of plastic sheet between the open tops of the protuberance be as large as pos-sible, consistent with requisite strength in the elongated pro-tuberances and therefore the area of body engaging structure 34 can, as shown, constitute more than one-half the area of the body support area, which latter area of course includes the open tops of the elongated protuberances. On the other hand at the sacrifice of some comfort aspects, the aggregate area of surfaces 34 may be less than one-half the body support area 23. Of course, surfaces 34 can vary in size and shape in the same body support area 23.
Where desired, due to the nature of the plastic and the fact that it has some memory, the body engaging structure 33 of the seat member can be slightly contoured, concavely up-wardly, thereby enhancing the seat-like appearance. The bottom walls 30 of the elongated protuberances are shown flat but can be rounded and in either case the lowermost portions of elon-1~7~S
gated protuberances 26 can be coplanar and coact in the aggre-gate to present an overall, generally flat bottom support structure 35 for the member or, if desired, can be slightly contoured as the body engaging structure 33. I~here desired, the constuction of the die can be such as to have the elongated protuberances gradually increase in depth toward their longi-tudinal end portions, while their bottom surfaces remain co-planar to give the body engaging structure 35 more contour.
Since the departure from a flat structure in respect to body engaging structure 33 of the top of the sheet and corresponding ~ -departures from a flat condition in the overall shape of the bottom support structure 35 presented by the bottom walls 30 of the protuberances are not great in any case, the term "gen-erally flat" has been adopted in this specification and in the appended claims to embrace both flat configurations and slight departures from flat configuration for the body engaging struc-ture 33 and the bottom support structure 35.
For example, surface portions 34 can have some cur-vature in going from one open elongated protuberance top to the next while to a person seated on the member the structure 35 supporting the person is for support purposes generally flat.
Each elongated protuberance 26 terminates at its ends in a slightly slanting endwall 36 integrally joined to the side-walls 31, 32 and bottom wall 30 of the elongated protuberance and preferably to the sheet portion entering marginal portion 24. This construction rigidifies the elongated protuberances at their ends.
It will be evident from an inspection of the preferred _g_ form of seat member 20 that the direction changing portions 27 and portions 28 connectina the direction changing portions 27 of adjacent or side by side elongated protuberances generally follow each other along the parallel paths of the protuber-ances across the seat so as to result in the opposed sides of side by side elongated protuberances being complementary in shape or generally complementary in shape in the plane of body support area 35 and the term complementary as used in this specification and appended claims is intended to embrace a complementary relationship in respect to only the opposed sides of protuberances (see Figure 15, to be described, for a ;
different form of complementary relationship).
It will be evident that the seat member 20 of the embodiment of Figures 1 to 5 and the other modifications can be used along with or without the back member 22, as a seat cushion in any environment, such as on a stadium bench, on the ground in a picnic, beside a swimming pool or in any other en-vironment where the spacing and cushioning effect are desired.
Where a ventilating function for the seat is a factor, a plurality of ventilating holes 46 are punched through the sheet, preferably in the flat body engaging structure 35, i.e.
in the sheet surface portions 34 between the open tops of the elongated protuberances. Ventilating holes can be punched in other places where desired so long as the structural character-istics of the elongated protuberances is not lessened.
The integral hinge 25 preferably has a weakened bend `
line or "strike" 48 formed across its width adjacent ornamental bead 24 of the seat member so that the hinge will tend to bend readily along this line. Alternatively, bend line 49 can be formed across hinge 25 near the back member 22. Both such bend lines can be used or one or more bend lines anywhere in between.
Figures 6 and 7 show a modification of the present invention in which the body engaging structure of a seat member and/or a back member is covered by an ornamental cover material, which may be reticulated or porous, e.g. a textile, where ventilation is a factor and/or may be padded where superficial cushioning is desired. Referring more specifically to Figures 6 and 7, a sheet of cover material 50 is shown on a seat member which can be similar in all respects to the seat member 20 of Figures 1 to 5 except that ornamental bead 24 had been omitted.
As shown in these figures, instead of the ornamental bead, a marginal portion in the form of a flange 52 can surround the body support area 23. The sheet of cover material 50 can then be connected to flange 52 of the seat component by a welting 53 and stitching 54 or where preferred can be attached by an adhesive at flange 52 or at other surfaces of the seat where sheet 50 is adhered in any desired manner to surface portions 34, wear on the cover material by scrubbing action against the support member is eliminated.
The modification of Figures 8 and 9 again illustrates a member similar to seat member 20 and/or back member 22 of Figures 1 to 5, but in this case the lowermost surfaces of bottom walls 30 of elongated protuberances 26 coincide with and are all or in part attached, as for example by heat fusion, to a second sheet of resilient plastic material 56. Ventilating 1~7~5 ~ holes 57 can be punched through sheet 56 for ventilating pur-poses. Where desired, sheet 56 can have an ornamental upwardly turned flange 58 for connection to endwalls 36 of protuberances 26. In this embodiment, if desired, the seat can be inverted and sheet 56 can present the body support surface and can ac-cordingly be ornamented for aesthetic purposes or covered with ` a cover material 50.
The modification of Figures 10 and ll relates to a form of member in which two components corresponding to seat member 20 and/or back member 22 of Figure l are juxtaposed with the elongated protuberances 26 making contact at spaced points, for example, at the direction changing portions 27 and portions i 28 between the direction changing portions with corresponding portions 59 of elongated protuberances 64 of a similar component 60. The portions of elongated protuberances 26 which contact elongated protuberances 64 of the lower component 60 are the lowermost portions of the bottom walls 30 of elongated protu-berances 26. On the other hand, it is the uppermost surfaces of the top walls of inverted elongated protuberances 64 of com-ponent 60 which do the contacting. The interrelationship of these parts is illustrated in Figure 10 by the omission of a ` portion of the top component on the left hand side of the figure and showing the omitted elongated protuberances 26 in phantom and where they would contact elongated protuberances 64 of lower component 60. The contacting surfaces are connected to-gether in any suitable manner, such as by heat fusion. As in the previously described modifications, ventilating holes 62 can be punched in component 60 similar to ventilating holes 46 :~077175 of components 20 and 22.
Where desired, the position of component 60 of the modification illustrated in Figures 10 and 11 can be reversed relative to member 20 and/or 22 so that the bottom walls 30 of the elongated protuberances 26 match up with and coincide with the top surfaces of elongated protuberances 64 of component 60 along the full lengths of both elongated protuberances 26 and 64.
Again, component 60 can be connected in similar manner to sheet 56 of the Figures 8 and 9 modification, with the tops of elon-- 10 gated protuberances 64 attached to sheet 56.
Figure 12 shows an example of reinforcing struts 63 which can be used where desired between elongated protuberances 26.
The purpose of Figure 13 is to illustrate the fact that the elongated protuberances of a component such as com-ponent 20 can have the continuity along their length periodic-ally terminated with some loss of sheet stiffening and loss of most spring action but otherwise retaining many of the advan-tages of the present invention. In this modification, instead of the elongated protuberances 26 being continuous from margin to margin of the body support area, each elongated protuberance is severed or discontinued at some point or points 65 along its length where in the earlier described modification there is :
a direction changing portion. At the severance points, the ;:
severed elongated protuberances terminate at slightly slanting walls 66 similar to walls 36 closing each end of elongated protuberances 26. In the illustrated embodiment, the severance :~
points 65 alternate with direction changing portions 27 along . ~, ' :: . ' -~ 77~75 - the length of each elongated protuberance and the severed points 65 in adjacent or side by side elongated protuberances alter-nate in location so that a direction changing portion 27 in one elongated protuberance 26 is opposite a severance point 65 in the adjacent elongated protuberance. It will be obvious that every second or third or more illustrated severance 65 can be omitted in some or all elongated protuberances so that the elongated protuberances 26 retain several consecutive direction changing portions 27 between severance points 65.
The elongated protuberances 26 of applicants' Figures 1 to 5 embodiment can be made up of straight sections and angular direction changing portions or, in other words, a zig-zag configuration. The modification of Figure 14 falls in this category but the elongated protuberances 67 in this modification have a sinuous configuration in the portions 68 extending be-tween the direction changing portions 69 to thereby strengthen the sidewalls of the elongated protuberances.
The modification of Figure 15 discloses elongated protuberances with two types of direction changing portions and two types of portions extending between the direction chang-ing portions, the configurations of the protuberances in this modification being such that the degree of change in direction at alternate succeeding direction changing portions along the length of a protuberance varies in alternating manner. There-fore, pairs of side by side protuberances are complementary in shape and the direction changing portions are overlapping look- -ing in the direction of the length of the protuberances. Ap-plicants' advantages are therefore achieved with this modifi .
- ' ' ' . ' .
1~77~75 cation.
Referring in more detail to Figure 15, it will be seen that all the elongated protuberances are the same shape but unlike the previously described elongated protuberances each one is asymmetrical in respect to a straight line extend-ing along the length of the elongated protuberance equidistant from the direction changing portions. However, the elongated protuberances are so shaped that not only can two of them be paired together with opposed sides complementary but the outer sides of this pair of juxtaposed elongated protuberances will fit in complementary relationship with the outer sides of adjacent pairs on each side of the first pair of juxtaposed elongated protuberances. At the same time, the complementary portions of all the elongated protuberances have overlapping relation-ship, looking in the direction of the length of the elongated protuberances.
In Figure 15, each elongated protuberance 80 has less sharply angled direction changing portions 82 along one side and more sharply angled direction changing portions 84 along the other side. Juxtaposed elongated protuberance 86 arranged in side by side relationship to elongated protuber-ance 80 completes one of the pairs just referred to and it will be observed that the opposed sides of the side by side elon-gated protuberances 80 and 86 are complementary in shape with elongated protuberance 86 having less sharply angled direction changing portions 88 and more sharply angled direction changing portions 90, the opposed sides of the more sharply angled di-rection changing portions and the less sharply angled direction -:
- 10771~5 changing portions being complementary and the outer sides of the less sharply angled direction changing portions of adjacent pairs of elongated protuberances being complementary. The desired overlapping relationship of the elongated protuberances 80 and 86, forming one pair of elongated protuberances, with adjacent elongated protuberances of adjacent pairs is achieved by virtue of the fact that the less sharply angled direction changing portions 82 and 88 do have sufficient angularity so as to overlap with the less sharply angled direction changing por-tions 92 of an adjacent elongated protuberance 94 of an adjacentpair of elongated protuberances arranged in the same manner as the pair just described. With these different direction chang-ing angularities but nevertheless overlapping relationship of direction changing portions, applicants' desideratum of combined resilience and rigidity, together with inherent spring action, are attained.
The protuberance arrangement of Figure 15 may be con-sidered more aesthetic than those of the earlier described forms and it will be apparent that other aesthetic forms of protuberances incorporating the principles of applicants' in~
vention can be arrived at in similar manner.
Although the elongated protuberances 26 are shown in all modifications except that of Figure 15 as being serpentine ;
in form with straight connecting portions 28 in between direc-tion changing portions 27, the present invention contemplates the elongated protuberances being made up of widely curved re-versals of sine wave form or the elongated protuberances being made up of straight portions and sharp angle direction changing - . . . - :~ . ' .. ~ - ~ . . .
7~
portions giving a zigzag configuration. The principle which is fundamental to the applicants' form of protuberance is that, despite the fact that the body engaging structure 35 can or need not occupy more than one-half the area of the body support area 23, in every case the direction changing portions of the elongated protuberances in the adjacent or side by side pro-tuberances must overlap each other looking in the direction of the length of the elongated protuberances or in other words in the direction of the generally parallel paths the side by side elongated protuberances follow. From this structure follows the advantage that there is no line of weakness in respect to flexure in any direction throughout body support area 23 of seat member 20 or back member 22. This will be made evident by considering the two lines 40, 40 and 42, 42 as examples. A
plane normal to the plane of body support area 23 containing line 40, 40, or containing any other similar straight line at an angle to the length dimension of the elongated protuberances 26, will pass through a plurality of protuberances 26 and flex-ure along these lines will be resisted by the traversed por-tions of the protuberances acting as beams in bending or intorsion. A plane normal to the plane of the body support area containing line 42, 42, although not passing through a plurality of protuberances 26 will, because of the direction changing portions 27 and portions 28 connecting direction changing por-tions of the protuberance involved, pass a plurality of times through portions 28 connecting the direction changing portions of the protuberance and therefore flexure along line 42, 42 will be resisted by the intercepted portions of the protuberance - . -: ' . . . .
- 107'71~5 involved. It will further be evident that any plane normal to the plane of the body support area passing through the body support area which is parallel to the line 42, 42 will either meet the same conditions as the plane containing line 42, 42 in respect to a single protuberance or will intersect the di-rection changing portions of adjacent protuberances because of the overlapping relationship of the direction changing portions of side by side protuberances.
In addition to the foregoing advantages of the over-lapping direction changing portions of the elongated protuber-ances, is an unexpected advantage which arised from ~his over-lapping direction changing characteristic of the elongated protuberances taken with the structural continuity of the di-rection changing portions with the portions connecting the direction changing portions and the side by side coaction of the elongated protuberances, namely, an inherent spring action present in the body support area 23. This spring action stems from the various portions of the elongated protuberances in-teracting with adjacent elongated protuberances and contiguous portions of the same elongated protuberance because of the physical properties and inherent resilience of the sheet of plastic material and the fact that the various portions of the elongated protuberances are flexed slightly, some in the same and some in different directions, the open tops of protuber-ances 26 spreading in one location and narrowing in another.
The theory behind this spring action is difficult to describe but the effect is as though a number of coiled tension springs extending in all directions were present in body support area . .
.
.
~07717~
23. The overall effect is an enhanced cushioning effect for a supported body.
A manufactured sample seat member will now be de-scribed: The body support area measured 17-1/2" in width and 15-1/2" in depth. There were eight complete elongated protu-berances extending across the entire width of the body support area, each protuberance being 1/2" wide at the top and about 1/4" wide at the bottom with a depth of 1/2". The width of sheet extending between the open tops of adjacent protuberances ,~
varied between 1-1/2" and 3/4". 1/2" ventilation holes were spaced about 1" apart in the body support surface between pro-tuberances. The direction changing portions changed the di-rection between portions of each elongated protuberance con-necting direction changing portions by about 90 each time.
The protuberances were rounded at each direction changing por-tion and the portions joining direction changing portions were straight and measured about 3". Where a back member such as member 22 was involved, the parts were hinged through the medium of an integral hinge formed from the same sheet of plas-tic material the hinge being about 7" wide and 1-1/4" long.
The plastic material from which the sample was formed was HERCULES No. 7823 polypropylene copolymer and the gage 45 mils.
Other plastics can be used and the gage and dimensions of the sample were not critical.
.
-
Claims (20)
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A supporting spacing member for use between a supporting surface and a body to be supported comprising a sheet of resilient plastic material having an upper surface and a lower surface, a body support area provided by the sheet of plastic material, a plurality of spaced elongated protuberances perma-nently formed in the sheet throughout the body support area and extending downwardly from the upper surface, the elongated pro-tuberances being open at the top and having side and bottom walls, the plurality of elongated protuberances being dis-posed side by side in spaced relation to one another and ex-tending longitudinally along paths which extend across a dimen-sion of the body support area, portions of the sheet of plastic material which ex-tend between the open tops of side by side elongated protuber-ances coacting to form in the aggregate a generally flat body engaging structure, the lowermost surfaces of the bottom walls of pro-tuberances coacting to form in the aggregate a generally flat support structure for engaging the supporting surface, each of the plurality of elongated protuberances in-corporating along its longitudinal dimension at least one direction changing portion and portions connected to the direc-tion changing portion, successive direction changing portions of elongated protuberances alternating in the direction of change along the paths across the body support area, alternate direction changing portions of adjacent elongated protuberances along the paths across the body support area being in overlapping relation to each other looking in the direction the paths extend, the disposition of elongated protuberances in paths across a dimension of the body support area and the overlapping relationship of the alternate direction changing portions re-sulting in a body support area in which all planes normal to the generally flat body engaging structure will successively intersect a plurality of elongated protuberances at spaced points across a dimension of the body support area or will re-peatedly intersect alternately disposed portions connecting direction changing portions of a single elongated protuberance at a plurality of spaced points across a dimension of the body support area.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein adjacent sidewalls of side by side elongated protu-berances are complementary in shape along the length dimension of the elongated protuberances.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein marginal portions on the sheet of plastic material circumscribe the body support area, and elongated protuberances extend uninterrupted from marginal portion to marginal portion.
4. The device of claim 1 wherein a plurality of the elongated protuberances all have the same shape and are all spaced from adjacent elongated pro-tuberances the same distance and are spaced from adjacent elongated protuberances the same distance throughout their lengths.
5. The device of claim 1 wherein there are openings through the sheet of plastic material in the body engaging structure disposed throughout the body engaging structure.
6. The device of claim 1 wherein the direction changing portions of the elongated protuberances are curved and the portions of the elongated protuberances connected to the direction changing portions are straight.
7. The device of claim 1 wherein the paths of the elongated protuberances across a dimension of the body support area are generally parallel.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein the spacing between side by side protuberances is such that the body engaging structure occupies more than one-half the area of the body support area.
9. The device of claim 1 wherein the physical properties of the sheet of plastic material are such that the plurality of elongated protuberances resist extreme and permanent deformation of the body support area under the weight of the body of a human while resiliently deforming sufficiently to cushion the body.
10. The device of claim 1 wherein the physical properties of the sheet of plastic material are such that the plurality of elongated protuberances resist extreme and permanent deformation of the body support area under the weight and impact forces of industrial pallet loads.
11. The device of claim 1 wherein the sheet of plastic material provides a second body support area and an integral connection between the two body support areas acting as a hinge therebetween whereby one body support area can form a seat cushion portion and the other body support area can form a back cushion portion.
12. The device of claim 1 wherein the portions connected to the direction changing por-tions are tortuous in configuration along the length dimension of the portions connected to the direction changing portions.
13. The device of claim 1 wherein a marginal portion of the sheet of plastic material circumscribes the body support area, a textile cover material is disposed over the body support area in contact with the body engaging structure, and fastening means connect the textile cover material to the marginal portion.
14. The device of claim l wherein a second sheet of plastic material is disposed in contact with the lowermost surfaces of the bottom walls of a plurality of elongated protuberances, and means act between lowermost surfaces of the bottom walls of elongated protuberances and the second sheet of plas-tic material to hold the second sheet in bracing relation to the elongated protuberances.
15. The device of claim l including a second sheet of plastic material having a lower surface and an upper surface and having a plurality of elongated protuberances permanently formed in the sheet and extending up-wardly from the lower surface, the elongated protuberances having side and top walls, the uppermost surfaces of the top walls being in contact with the lowermost surfaces of the bottom walls of a plurality of the elongated protuberances of the first claimed sheet of plastic material, and means acting between the lowermost surfaces of the bottom walls of elongated protuberances of the first claimed sheet of plastic material and the uppermost surfaces of the top walls of elongated protuberances of the second sheet where they are in contact to hold the second sheet in bracing relation to the first claimed sheet.
16. The device of claim 15 wherein the second sheet is shaped the same as the first claimed sheet and elongated protuberances in the two sheets coincide along their lengths.
17. The device of claim 15 wherein the second sheet is shaped the same as the first claimed sheet and elongated protuberances in the two sheets are in reversed relation so that the uppermost surfaces of the top walls of elongated protuberances in the second sheet and the lowermost surfaces of bottom walls of elongated protuber-ances in the first claimed sheet are in contact with each other at spaced points where they cross.
18. The device of claim 1 wherein the direction changing portions of a plurality of elongated protuberances are angular and the portions connecting the direction changing portions are straight.
19. The device of claim 18 wherein the portions connected to the direction changing por-tions are tortuous in configuration along the length dimension of the portions connected to the direction changing portions.
20. The device of claim 1 wherein alternate direction changing portions of an elongated protuberance have different angularities, their respective angularities being such that adjacent sidewalls of elongated protuberances within a pair of side by side elongated protu-berances are complementary in shape along their length dimension and adjacent sidewalls of adjacent pairs of the elongated pro-tuberances are complementary along their length dimension.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA302,883A CA1077175A (en) | 1978-05-08 | 1978-05-08 | Body supporting and spacing structure |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA302,883A CA1077175A (en) | 1978-05-08 | 1978-05-08 | Body supporting and spacing structure |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1077175A true CA1077175A (en) | 1980-05-06 |
Family
ID=4111422
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA302,883A Expired CA1077175A (en) | 1978-05-08 | 1978-05-08 | Body supporting and spacing structure |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1077175A (en) |
-
1978
- 1978-05-08 CA CA302,883A patent/CA1077175A/en not_active Expired
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