Seat cover

A seat cover preferably made of washable fabric has flexible foam attachment members and a flexible foam flap and is removably installed on a vehicle's seat. The basic structure of the seat cover consists of a seat portion and a back portion with a flap portion longitudinally extending between the seat and back portions. The flap portion has one or more deformable pad members affixed to the flap portion for insertion of the flap portion into the seat between the back and the seat cushion of the seat. Two or more strap members extend transversely from the opposite comers of the seat cover and have at least one deformable pad affixed to the end of the strap member for insertion of the end of the strap member between the seat and the car body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an improved seat cover that is easily removable 
and, more particularly, to a vehicular seat cover with flexible foam 
attachment members that provide a cover that is easily affixed over a 
seat, easily removable from a seat, and which is comfortable for the user. 
Currently, there exists seat covers with various mechanisms like straps 
with hooks, tails, tubes, and rods as means for attaching a cover to a 
seat. Each of these mechanisms render the seat cover difficult to apply, 
remove and manipulate. For example, covers employing elastic straps with 
hooks are difficult to affix to the seat's understructure, especially if 
there are few, if any, springs or brackets of the understructure in which 
to fixedly engage the hooks. Moreover, hooks are difficult to remove 
easily and quickly. Also, covers employing tubes are difficult to insert 
and difficult to remove as the tubes are not deformable. 
The present invention provides flexible foam attachment members and a 
flexible foam tail, which are easily inserted between the back and seat 
cushions of the seat or between the seat and the car body, because of the 
flexibility of the foam. Additionally, the seat cover is easily removed 
merely by grabbing a portion and pulling it off. The flexible foam deforms 
and releases the seat cover easily while avoiding tearing the fabric of 
the seat cover. There has been a need in the art for a seat cover with 
flexible foam attachment members and flexible foam tails which allow for 
ease of insertion and removal of the seat cover, while also providing a 
seat cover which stays in place while in use. The preferred embodiment of 
this invention is made of a denim fabric which is inexpensive to produce, 
one hundred percent washable and easily personalized with monograms, art 
or decals before or after purchase. Those skilled in the art, however, 
will recognize that just about any material including leather, canvas, 
cotton duct, nylon or Gortex.RTM. brand expanded polytetrafluoroethylene 
(ePTFE) and laminates thereof may be employed to make this seat cover. 
This invention may be used in any kind of vehicle including sedans, vans, 
minivans and sports utility vehicles. It can be appreciated that in an age 
where people are interested in maintaining their vehicles longer by 
reducing wear and tear on the interior, this seat cover has many uses. It 
can be used for the transportation of animals, small children who are 
prone to make a mess and more mature children who participate in athletic 
activities that would bring dirt and dust into a vehicle. It could also be 
used by people whose professions lend themselves to bringing dirt and 
filth into a vehicle like gardeners or construction workers. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One form of the invention provides a seat cover which is easily applied and 
removed and which is well adapted for use with animals, small children, 
and other elements for protection against wear and tear. The basic 
structure of the inventive seat cover consists of a seat portion and a 
back portion with a flap portion longitudinally extending between the seat 
and back portions. The flap portion has one or more deformable pad members 
affixed to the flap portion for insertion of the flap portion into the 
seat between the back and the seat cushion of the seat. Two or more strap 
members extend transversely from the opposite comers of the seat cover and 
have at least one deformable foam pad affixed to the end of the strap 
member for insertion of the end of the strap member between the seat and 
the car body. 
It is therefore a principal objective of the present invention to provide a 
seat cover which is easily applied and removed. 
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a seat cover 
which its position during use. 
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a seat 
cover that may be used with any type of vehicle including sedans, vans, 
minivans, and sport utility vehicles. 
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a seat 
cover that may be constructed with different widths to accommodate 
different sized seats in different sized cars. 
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a seat cover 
that is inexpensive to produce. 
It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide a seat 
cover that is easily and 100% washable. 
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a seat 
cover that is easily personalized with monograms, art, or decals before or 
after purchase. 
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a seat 
cover which may be made with any material including denim, leather, nylon, 
canvas, cotton duct, or Gortex.RTM. brand expanded polytetrafluoroethylene 
and laminates thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The seat cover 10 of the present invention is illustrated in its fully 
assembled condition in FIGS. 1 and 2 depicted without the seat. The seat 
cover 10 consists generally of a back portion 12 and a seat portion 14 
with a flap portion 22 extending between seat and back portions 12, 14. 
Flap portion 22 is affixed to the second surfaces 12e, 14e of seat and 
back portions 12, 14. Top end 12a of back portion 12 and bottom end 14b of 
seat portion 14 each have a longitudinally placed gathered seam 24. Flap 
portion 22 has one or more deformable pad members 20 placed therein. Four 
strap members 18 are transversely connected to gathered seam 24 and extend 
therefrom. Strap members 18 have pad members 20 affixed to the second end 
18b of each strap member 18. 
The preferred embodiment of seat cover 10 (FIGS. 1 and 2) comprises of two 
pieces of denim fabric, back portion 12 and seat portion 14, sewn together 
at seam 30 with flap portion 22 extending from seat portion 14. Cover 10 
can also be made using the other fabrics stated above or like materials. 
Those skilled in the art will recognize that seat cover 10 may consist of 
one piece of cloth having a back portion 12 and a seat portion 14 with the 
flap portion 22 extending therefrom. If one piece of fabric is used, flap 
portion 22 may be constructed by gathering approximately twelve (12) 
inches of top end 14a of seat portion 14 and sewing the material to seam 
30. 
Alternatively, flap portion 22 may be a separate piece of cloth directly 
affixed between the back and seat portions 12, 14 by conventional means 
such as Velcro.RTM. flexible hook and loop connectors, stitching or the 
like. Thus, back 12, seat 14 and flap 22 portions may be made of one, two 
or three separate pieces of fabric. Cover 10 can alternatively be made of 
leather, canvas, cotton duct, nylon or ePTFE or laminates thereof. 
Back portion 12 is approximately one and one-half (11/2) feet tall and 
approximately four (4) feet wide and seat portion 14 is approximately two 
(2) feet tall and approximately four (4) feet wide in the preferred 
embodiment. Those skilled in the art will recognize that back portion 12 
and seat portion 14 may be any appropriate height and width to cover a 
particular vehicle seat. Back portion 12 has a top end 12a and a bottom 
end 12b. Similarly, seat portion 14 has a top end 14a and a bottom end 
14b. Bottom end 12b of back portion 12 and top end 14a of seat portion 14 
are sewn together to form seam 30 with flap portion 22 extending 
therefrom. Top end 12a of back portion 12 and bottom end 14b of seat 
portion 14 each have approximately one and one-half (11/2) inch gathered 
seams 24. Gathered seams 24 may be made of elastic band or other 
stretchable material. It is noteworthy, that gathered seams 24 reduce the 
width of the seat portion 14 and back portion 12 when gathered seams 24 
are not stretched. Thus, the width of the top end 12a of back portion 12 
with gathered seam 24 is approximately two (2) feet three (3) inches in 
the preferred embodiment, while the width of the bottom end 14b of the 
seat portion 14 with gathered seam 24 is approximately three (3) feet in 
the preferred embodiment. The gathered seams 24 can be stretched to the 
full width of the back portion 12 or the seat portion 14 of approximately 
four (4) feet. Sides 12c, 14c of back portion 12 and seat portion 14 
respectively, have approximately one-half (1/2) inch seams 28 sewn in to 
prevent fraying or tearing of the seat cover 10. 
Back portion 12 may have headrest attachment members 26 sewn into top end 
12a spaced at a predetermined distance corresponding to a vehicle's 
headrests. It is important to point out that headrest attachment members 
26, while not necessary to the operation of seat cover 10, may be provided 
for use in vehicles which have headrests. Headrest attachment members 26 
may be made of any flexible or elastic material and may be made such that 
they are only slightly smaller than the width of the headrest. Thus, 
headrest attachment members 26 can be stretched to loop around the 
headrests and once in place will contract to hold against the headrests 
and keep seat cover 10 more firmly in place while in use. 
Similarly, back portion 12 may also have an elastic loop member 27 having 
two ends, each end affixed to the top end 12a of the back portion 12. 
Elastic loop member 27, while not necessary to the operation of the seat 
cover 10, may be provided for a vehicle with a "bench-style" back seat. 
Elastic loop member 27 may be stretched around the back seat of a vehicle 
with a "bench-style" back seat to keep seat cover 10 in that style vehicle 
in place. Elastic loop member 27 may be made of any flexible or elastic 
material. 
Strap members 18 are made of the same denim or other material as cover 10 
and are sewn into gathered seam 24 and extend transversely from gathered 
seams 24. Strap members 18 can be alternately made of elastic. In the 
preferred embodiment, two strap members 18 extend one from each side of 
top end 12a of back portion 12. Further, two strap members 18 extend one 
from each end of bottom end 14b of seat portion 14. While four strap 
members 18 are preferred, two strap members 18 are sufficient. In the 
preferred embodiment, strap members 18 which attach to back portion 12 are 
approximately one-half (1/2) foot in length, and are shorter than strap 
members 18 which are attached to seat portion 14 which are approximately 
one and one-half (11/2) feet in length. Strap members 18, in the preferred 
embodiment, consist of cloth that is approximately eight (8) inches wide 
that is folded with the open ends sewn together to form a seam 18a. Prior 
to closing and sewing this strap member 18 together, a deformable foam pad 
member 20, approximately three (3) inches long by four (4) inches wide by 
one (1) inch tall is placed in the second end 18b of the strap member 18 
and sewn in using conventional methods. It is contemplated that two or 
more strap members may be used and such strap members 18 may be of various 
widths and sizes. It is preferred, however not necessary, that deformable 
pad members 20 be made of closed cell or open cell polyethylene foam or 
like materials as any deformable material would be suitable. 
Flap member or portion 22 is approximately four (4) feet in length, 
matching the width of back portion 12 and seat portion 14, and is 
approximately twelve (12) inches tall. Three and one-half (31/2) inches of 
the approximately twelve (12) inch section of flap portion 22 is folded 
over to enclose two deformable pad members 20 on either end. These pad 
members 20 are preferably eight (8) inches long by two (2) inches wide by 
one (1) inch tall and may be made of either open cell or closed cell 
polyethylene foam or like materials. Those skilled in the art will 
appreciate that flap portion 22 may comprise several separate segments of 
material containing pad members 20 to accomplish the intended function of 
flap portion 22. 
Finally, seat belt slot 32 may be created by making a hole in the middle of 
the bottom end 12b of the back portion 12 approximately eight (8) inches 
wide. The slot 32 would allow users to use their seat belt while seat 
cover 10 was affixed to the seat. It is readily apparent to those skilled 
with the art that one or more seat belt slots 32 may be created for 
different types of vehicles. 
As illustrated in FIG. 4, flap portion 22 is inserted between the back and 
the seat cushions of the seat keeping the seat cover 10 in place. More 
specifically, pad members 20 on the end of flap portion 22 are pushed 
between the back and the seat cushions. Each pad member 20 deforms to 
allow insertion between the back and the seat cushions and expands upon 
insertion, holding the seat cover 10 in place. Strap members 18 are 
similarly inserted between the seat and the frame of the car. Generally, 
the distance between seat portion 14 and strap 18 in its inserted position 
is about 7.5 inches. Once affixed, seat cover 10 is easily removed by 
grabbing seat cover 10 and pulling it off. Pad members 20 will deform upon 
receiving the pulling force and will detach from their relative positions 
between the seat and the back and the seat and the body frame. 
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, Velcro.RTM. hook and loop fasteners 40, 41 can 
be employed to detachably fasten seat portion 14 to strap portion 18 for 
added stability. Also, a thin elastic strap (not illustrated) could be 
sewn at each end between seat portion 14 and strap portion 18, at 
generally a midpoint of the seat and strap portions, to facilitate a tight 
fit of the cover to the car seat. 
Although the foregoing detailed description of the present invention has 
been described by reference to one embodiment, and the best mode 
contemplated for carrying out the present invention has been herein showed 
and described, it will be understood that modifications or variations in 
the structure and arrangements of this embodiment other than those 
specifically set forth herein may be achieved by those skilled in the art 
and that such modifications are to be considered as well as being within 
the overall scope of the present invention.