Chair cushion

A portable cushion to use with a chair having a seat with upwardly extending elements which may be hip supports or arm rests on each side of the seat having a material thickness sufficient to raise the seating area above the plane of the arm rests or hip supports so as to effectively increase the seating area of the seat. The cushion includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a forward wall, a rearward wall, a first side wall and a second side wall, the respective wall defining a material thickness. The first side wall and the second side wall each have an indentation formed therein to accommodate the upwardly extending arm rest or hip support when the cushion is placed upon the seat of the chair. The material thickness of the cushion is such that the upper wall of the cushion extends at least to the height of the upwardly extending elements thereby effectively creating a wider seat, unencumbered by the upwardly extending elements.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
None 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to furniture, more particularly to as 
cushion for use with a chair for use by small children to convert the 
chair to a chair which is comfortable and functional for a larger person, 
either a larger child or adult. 
Classroom or institutional furniture is known in the art. Chairs, for 
example, that are used by small children in the preschool classroom 
traditionally have been downsized replicas of full-sized institutional 
furniture. Quite often these chairs lack aesthetic appeal in that they do 
not blend in well with other preschool type furniture. More importantly, 
these chairs are not designed with safety in mind. For example, such 
furniture is designed to fold for storage, which can create a pinching 
hazard. The furniture also may have gaps in which a small child may catch 
an arm or leg. Further, such prior art furniture may have comers. 
Traditional, downsized furniture also may lack functionality. This type of 
furniture may be heavy and difficult to move about the classroom. The 
furniture may not stack for convenient storage and it may be constructed 
of a material that lacks durability. Such traditional furniture may be 
difficult to assemble and not well adapted to the classroom environment. 
Many of the problems and shortcomings associated with prior art, downsized 
furniture were address by the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 
5,599,068, to Kelly et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated 
by reference. The chair disclosed in the patent is a safe, molded chair 
that is well suited for its intended use in a classroom setting. However, 
since a commercial embodiment of the disclosed chair is dimensioned to 
accommodate small children, it does not easily accommodate a larger 
individual, such as the teacher. For example, chair disclosed in U.S. Pat. 
No. 5,599,068 has a plastic body section and a pair of arch-shaped tubular 
leg element. The apexes of the bows of the arch-shaped legs elements 
extend above the plane of the seat and can function as arm rests are hip 
supports for the smaller user. An adult user of the chair may have 
difficulty fitting between the arch-shaped tubular leg elements so as to 
comfortably rest on the seat. In the classroom setting, if a larger 
person, for example the teacher, desires to sit on a chair next to or 
among the students, he or she must get a larger chair or sit in an 
uncomfortable position on the smaller chair. It would be advantageous, 
therefore, to have a portable or removable, lightweight cushion device 
that can be placed on the seat of a chair having arm rests or hip supports 
that effectively increases the seating area of the chair so as to 
accommodate a larger user. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is among the principal objects of the invention to provide a cushion 
device that can be placed upon a chair to increase the seating area of the 
chair. 
It is another object of the invention to provide a cushion device that can 
be placed on the seat of a chair having arm rests or hip supports to 
effectively elevate the seating area of the seat above the plane of the 
arm rests or hip supports. 
It is still another object of the invention to provide a cushion device 
that is designed to conform to the shape of a chair seat and to 
accommodate arm rests or hip supports positioned on each side of the chair 
seat. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a cushion device that fits 
securely on an existing chair without the necessity of additional securing 
means. 
It is still another object of the invention to provide a cushion device 
that is removable lightweight and portable that can be moved from one 
chair to another. 
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a cushion device that is 
made from durable and resilient materials, that is lightweight and easy to 
transport, supportive, comfortable and well suited for its intended 
purposes. 
Briefly stated, a portable, durable cushion is provided to use with a chair 
having a seat with upwardly extending elements which may be hip supports 
or arm rests on each side of the seat having a material thickness 
sufficient to raise the seating area above the plane of the arm rests or 
hip supports so as to effectively increase the seating area of the seat 
and to secure the cushion between the upwardly extending elements. The 
cushion includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a forward wall, a rearward 
wall, a first side wall and a second side wall, the respective wall 
defining a material thickness. The respective walls can be fashioned from 
a resilient material such as vinyl, leather or so forth. The material 
thickness can be comprised of a supportive foam material. The first side 
wall and the second side wall each have an indentation formed therein to 
accommodate the upwardly extending arm rest or hip support when the 
cushion is placed upon the seat of the chair. The material thickness of 
the cushion is such that the upper wall of the cushion extends at least to 
the height of the upwardly extending elements thereby effectively creating 
a wider seat, unencumbered by the upwardly extending elements. 
The preferred embodiment of the cushion is designed to use with a small 
preschool classroom chair having arch shaped leg elements. The bows of the 
arch-shaped leg elements extend above the chair seat and function as arm 
rests or hip supports when the chair is occupied by a small individual 
such as a child. The cushion has a generally rectangular shape which 
conforms to the general shape of the chair seat. Each side of the cushion 
has a recess which allows the cushion to be placed on the chair seat and 
the bows of the leg elements to fit into the recesses. The recesses 
effectively grip the bows of the leg elements to secure the cushion in 
place without additional securing means. The material thickness of the 
cushion is such that the upper wall or surface is at about the same height 
as the apexes of the bows of the leg elements when the cushion is resting 
on the chair seat. The upper surface of the cushion creates a planar seat 
which extends across the bows and effectively creates a wider seat. An 
alternative embodiment of the cushion includes a waffled lower wall that 
includes less cushion material thereby reducing the weight of the cushion. 
Further, a cushion could be formed from a Styrofoam skeleton with a 
polymer coating and surface padding. The cushion is lightweight, removable 
and portable and can be carried about by a teacher, for example.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The novel cushion of the present invention is indicated generally in the 
drawings by reference numeral 10. Cushion 10, in its preferred embodiment, 
is intended to be used with a chair as indicated by reference numeral 12 
in the drawings, constructed in accordance with the principles disclosed 
in U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,068, which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
In general, chair 12 includes a molded plastic body section 14 having a 
back 15 and a seat 16 and a pair of arch-shaped tubular leg elements 16 
and 18. Leg element 16 and leg element 18, which is essentially a mirror 
image of leg element 16, are arch-shaped, tubular structures with two legs 
20 and 22. Each leg element has a bow 24 formed centrally by the bending 
of the leg element which serves as an arm rest and/or a hip support. It 
will be appreciated that each apex A of each bow 24 extends above the 
plane of seat 16, thus restricting the lateral area of the seat. The 
cushion 10, which is constructed in accordance with the following 
principles, is placed on seat 16 to increase the lateral seating area of 
the chair. 
Cushion 10, as best seen in FIGS. 4-7, includes a top wall 30, a bottom 
wall 32, a front end wall 34, a rear wall 36, a first side wall 38 and a 
second side wall 40. The respective walls can be constructed of a durable, 
resilient material such as vinyl, leather or so forth that is easy to 
fabricate, easy to keep clean, and well suited for its intended purposes. 
Also, it is important to note that any of the aforestated walls can be 
fabricated as separate or integral pieces without departing from the scope 
of the invention. The recited walls define an interior chamber 44 which is 
filled with a material thickness 46. The material thickness 46 can be 
fabricated from a deformable, resilient material such as foam rubber or 
the like. As best seen in FIG. 3, the dimensions of the front, rear, and 
side walls, as well as the thickness of the material thickness 46 is of 
such appropriate dimensions so as to allow the top wall 30 to be elevated 
at least to and preferably, somewhat above, the plane between the apexes A 
of the bows 24 when cushion 10 is resting on seat 16. 
As seen in FIGS. 4 and 7 side wall 38 includes indentation 50 and second 
side wall 40 includes an indentation 52. As will be appreciated, the 
respective indentations 50 and 52 encroach into the material thickness of 
the cushion to reduce the width of the cushion at point W. Further, the 
indentions 50 and 52 are dimension so as to allow the seating of the bows 
24 of the two leg elements, as best seen in FIG. 8. The bows 24 nest 
securely in the indentations so that the cushion fits snugly with a 
friction fit and is secured into place without additional securing means. 
FIGS. 9 through 13 illustrate an alternative embodiment of the cushion of 
the present invention indicated generally by reference numeral 60. Cushion 
60 includes a top wall 62, a front end wall 64, a rear wall 66, a first 
side wall 68 and a second side wall 70. The respective side walls have 
indentions 71 and 72 which function to accommodate the chair leg bows as 
previously described and to secure the cushion in place. The respective 
walls can be constructed of a durable, resilient material such as a 
polymer, foam, vinyl, leather or so forth that is easy to fabricate, easy 
keep clean, and well suited for its intended purposes. Also, it is 
important to note that any of the aforestated walls can be fabricated as 
separate or integral pieces without departing from the scope of the 
invention. The recited walls define an interior chamber 73. Chamber 72 is 
divided by at least one wall 76 extending from front to rear and at least 
two walls 78 and 80 which are perpendicular to wall 76 and which extend 
across the chamber 72 from side wall to side wall. It will be appreciated 
that the various chamber walls 76, 78 and 80 are substantially ridged and 
serve to support the top wall 62 when cushion 60 is placed on a chair. 
Further, the various walls just described cooperated with the front and 
rear walls 64 and 66 respectively to divide the body of cushion into a 
plurality of empty chambers, as at 82. Thus, cushion 60 can be constructed 
having adequate support without a material thickness requiring addition 
support or padding material, thereby reducing the weight of the cushion 
and the material cost. The embodiment of FIGS. 9-13 is best molded as one 
piece from polyurethane material. 
It will be appreciated that another embodiment of the cushion of the 
present invention can be constructed as follows: a STYROFOAM (formed of 
polymer material) skeleton having the same configuration as cushion 60, 
for example, is covered with a soft material such as padded vinyl, leather 
or so forth. The resulting cushion would have the external appearance of 
the previously described cushions but would be considerably lighter in 
weight. 
As will be appreciated from the drawings, and particularly FIGS. 3 and 8, 
when cushion 10 (or 60) is placed upon seat 16 of chair 12, the top wall 
30 functions as the seating surface for a user. The top wall 30 thus is 
elevated at least to, but preferably above the horizontal plane between 
the apexes of the bows of the leg elements. The bows of the legs elements 
are nested in the recesses 50 and 52 and eliminated as restrictions on the 
seating surface of chair 12. Further, the recess hug the legs and secure 
the cushion into place without the need for addition securing means. 
Cushion 10 (or 60) is portable and can be removed from the chair and 
carried about to be placed on another chair, if necessary. 
It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may be made 
in the cushion of the present invention without departing from the scope 
of the appended claims. Therefore, the foregoing description and 
accompanying drawings are intended to be illustrative only and should not 
be viewed in a limiting sense.