GB2237737A - Occasional furniture - Google Patents

Abstract

Occasional furniture, e.g. pouffes and bean bags, comprises a bag (12, 14) and a sleeve (24) provided therein to receive a compressible mass of material (28), e.g. polystyrene beads or foam chips, an opening (30) in the bag to provide access to the sleeve, and wherein, in one aspect, the sleeve is made from an extensible knitted fabric, and, in another aspect, the sleeve is attached to the bag at a position remote from the opening, e.g. by sewing. The bag preferably comprises a circular base part and a body part which comprises a single piece of fabric connected at one end to the base part, the other end of which is gathered and connected together, e.g. by sewing, to provide a closed top for the bag. The sleeve may be a mesh cotton, knitted nylon mesh or synthetic fabric. <IMAGE>

Description

OCCASIONAL FURNITURE The present invention relates to occasional furniture such as pouffes and bean bags.

GB 2156208 describes a pouffe having a shell comprising a circular base part having an opening therein and a circular seat part connected by a generally tubular shell. An inner sock is provided within the shell and is connected thereto by a line of sewing substantially adjacent the opening. The sock contains polystyrene beads which are received in the sock via an opening therein. This arrangement simply provides a pouffe with inner and outer closures.

It is not possible to withdraw the entire sock from the bean bag thus preventing easy removal of all of the beads from the sock if the bean bag is to be cleaned. Also these bags are not particularly cost effective to produce.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided occasional furniture comprising a bag, a sleeve provided in the bag to receive a compressible mass of material, an opening in the bag to provide access to the sleeve, wherein the sleeve is made from an extensible knitted fabric.

The sleeve is preferably attached to the bag substantially remote from and preferably opposite the opening.

The extensible knitted fabric may be capable of adopting the shape of the bag when filled with the compressible mass of material.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the bag comprises a circular base part together with a body part which may comprise a single piece of material such as a length of fabric, one side of which is connected to the periphery of the base part, the free longitudinal ends of which are connected together and the side of the material remote from the base part is gathered and connected together for example by sewing to form a closed top, away from which pieats extend.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided occasional furniture comprising a bag, a sleeve provided in the bag to receive a compressible mass of material, an opening in the bag to allow access to the sleeve, wherein the sleeve is attached to the bag at a position remote from the opening.

The sleeve is preferably attached to the bag substantially opposite the opening.

As the top is gathered and connected together the sock is also connected to the top for example by sewing.

Alternatively the body part may comprise a plurality of lengths of fabric.

The sleeve may comprise any suitable flexible or semi-rigid material such as a fabric, for example a mesh cotton or synthetic fabric, particularly a knitted fabric.

The circular part may comprise a flexible, semi-rigid or rigid material. The body part may comprise a flexible or semi-rigid material such as a fabric.

The compressible mass of material contained within the sock may comprise for example beads which flow readily about one another, for example polystyrene beads, or a mass of resilient material such as foam, for example foam chips.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood a specific embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1. is an item of occasional furniture of the present invention; and Figure 2. is a vertical sectional view of the item of ocassional furniture of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings an item of occasional furniture 10 comprises a bag 11 having a base part 12 made from a circular piece of fabric and a body part 14. The body part 14 comprises a single piece of fabric one side 16 of which is sewn to the periphery of the base part 12. The free longitudinal ends of the body part 14 are sewn together at inwardly extending seam 18. The upper region of body part 14 is gathered and sewn together at summit 20. One end 22 of a knitted nylon mesh sleeve 24 is also sewn to summit 20 in the same sewing operation. A handle 34 may also be provided at summit 20. Pleats 21 are provided at spaced intervals in the upper region of the body part 14 extending downwardly from summit 20.

The knitted nylon mesh sleeve 24 is expandible within the confines of the bag 11, as it is filled with a compressible mass of material 28 such as polystyrene beads, foam or the like. Once the sleeve 24 is filled the free end 26 of the sleeve 24 is knotted so as to prevent any leakage of the compressible mass of material 28.

An aperture 30 is provided in the base part 12 of the bag 10 for gaining access to the sleeve 24 and the material 28 therein. A fastener, for example a sliding clasp fastener, is provided at the opening such that the opening may be opened or closed as desired.

When the bag 10 is to be cleaned it is possible to remove substantially all of the compressible mass of material 28 from sleeve 24 as the sleeve 24 can be completely withdrawn from the bag 10 via aperture 26 thus allowing easy access thereto.

Also as only a relatively small amount of sewing is used to connect the sleeve 24 to the bag 10, and the sleeve 24 is relatively easy to fill with compressible mass of material 28 the bag is exceedingly cost effective to produce.

It is to be understood that the above described embodiment is by way of illustration only and many modifications and variations may be made.

Claims (12)

1. Occasional furniture comprising a bag, a sleeve provided in the bag to receive a compressible mass of material, an opening in the bag to provide access to the sleeve, wherein the sleeve comprises an extensible knitted fabric.

2. Occasional furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sleeve is attached to a part of the bag that is substantially remote from the opening.

3. Occasional furniture comprising a bag, a sleeve provided in the bag to receive a compressible mass of material, an opening in the bag to allow access to the sleeve, wherein the sleeve is attached to a part of the bag that is substantially remote from the opening.

4. Occasional furniture as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sleeve is adapted to be capable of adopting the shape of the bag when the compressible mass of material is located within the sleeve.

5. Occasional furniture as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bag comprises a circular base part and a body part.

6. Occasional furniture as claimed in claim 5, wherein the body part comprises a single piece of fabric.

7. Occasional furniture as claimed in claim 6, wherein one end of said fabric is connected to the base part and the free end of said fabric that is opposite said one end of the fabric is gathered and connected together to provide a closed top for the bag.

8. Occasional furniture as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the free end of the body part is connected together by sewing.

9. Occasional furniture as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the sleeve comprises a mesh cotton or synthetic fabric.

10. Occasional furniture as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the compressible mass of material contained within the sleeve comprises beads which may flow readily about one another.

11. Occasional furniture as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the compressible mass of material comprises foam.

12. Occasional furniture as substantially hereinbefore defined with reference to the accompanying figures 1 and 2.