Abstract:
A multi purpose device for use in stadium and outdoor venues. The device is user configurable to a blanket, poncho or coat, and a pillow for use at the venue. The device also configures to a pocketed backpack for transport by the user engaged with shoulder straps to their body. An interior pocket when configured to a backpack affords the device a storage compartment to transport other items such as food and drink.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/096,183 filed on Sep. 11, 2008 and incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to sporting and outdoor event seating. More particularly it relates to a device that provides a combination seating pad, blanket, hooded coat, and is configurable to a backpack for transport to and from a venue, all in a single multi-configurable component. 
         [0004]    2. Prior Art 
         [0005]    Since the Romans, the attendance of spectators at sporting, concert, and theatrical events, held in stadium venues, has been a popular pastime. For just as long, attendees at such events have had to put up with uncomfortable stadium seating, cold weather, and wind, as well as having to carry food and drink and other accouterments to and from the venue. 
         [0006]    While many modern NFL football teams have stadiums which offer individual seats which are indoors and weather protected, and which have seats that are padded, this is not the case in many other stadiums. Colleges, high schools, municipal amphitheaters, and similar outdoor venues, frequently only offer seating on top of concrete benches or the like. Further, even when venturing to covered stadiums, attendees still have to leave in cold or wet weather and generally bring food and drink with them to supplement the expensive fare available at the venue. 
         [0007]    As anyone who may have attended a game or event in a stadium with hard seating will know, such seating, be it plastic chairs or simply a hard concrete bench, can be extremely uncomfortable on the user&#39;s backside after sitting a few hours. Further, if they carry padding for the seating, coats for possible stormy weather, and food or drinks, it can be extremely hard to carry all of the different items in an orderly fashion while trying to walk amongst crowds of people doing the same. 
         [0008]    With regard to the posterior padding problem, over the years pillows and portable chairs have been developed to aid in this uncomfortable problem. However, the need to bring pillows or chairs, in addition to clothing for cold and rainy weather, snacks, drinks, noise makers, signs, binoculars, and other creature comforts loads down the stadium attendee with multiple items to carry which are easily lost or dropped to and from the seating. Further, multiple items are just plain inconvenient to deal with for most people, especially older fans who may have trouble manipulating multiple items being carried to and from the stadium. 
         [0009]    The attendee might bag some of the food and drink, and use straps or attachments to their body to carry pads or binoculars and the like. However, this yields a multiplicity of effort to carry what should be a single load to a single venue by a single person. Such an effort also lends itself to set the attendee up to lose one or more transported items since they are hooked to or carried upon various parts of their body. 
         [0010]    As such, there is an unmet need for an easily configurable multiple-use stadium seating device which provides the user a cushion for their stay at the venue. In addition to a dry and padded seat cushion, such a device should be configured to be easily carried by any user, be they an adult or child. To enhance utility, such a device should be configurable to also provide a shoulder mountable backpack with internal cavities to allow the user to load items into it and thereby alleviate the need to carry other items hooked to various positions on their body. Due to the high potential for inclement weather, at any outdoor venue be it a sporting event or theater, such a device should also be configurable by the user to change from a pillow to a coat or a rain slicker. Finally, such a device should be easily reconfigurable in all of its various forms to its other forms and should provide simple configurations for use in non stadium venues such as a blanket at the park or beach. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The device herein disclosed and described herein provides this multiple-utility and functionality in a manner which overcomes the noted shortcomings of current stadium pillows and the like. To that end, it is easily configurable to a plurality of forms by the user. Each such configuration provides one of a plurality of uses and functions to the user thereby alleviating the need to venture out to a venue carrying multiple items for multiple individual uses. 
         [0012]    The disclosed device, amongst its multiple configurations, has a first mode which forms a comfortable stadium seat cushion which may be easily carried using attached straps on one side surface which are slipped over the users shoulders. In this first configuration, folded to a seat cushion, an exterior surface of the device presents the user with sealable pockets. Each pocket access is sealable and easily viewed. Each access when opened provides a communication with an interior pocket adapted to hold cargo such as food, drink, sunscreen, hats, or other items an individual user may need during their stay at a venue. Thus, while in the seat cushion mode, the device also functions as a shoulder engageable backpack for carrying cargo to and from the destination venue. Each storage pocket is easily accessible through a closure for each opening such as a zipper or hook and loop fabric. 
         [0013]    In a second or an unfolded mode, the disclosed device will function for the user as either a blanket which may be worn over the shoulders or lap of the user. Or, this mode allows use by the user as a wearable poncho style coat for warmth should wind or temperature require it. 
         [0014]    For easy transformation between configurations, the device provides the user a means to ascertain the proper folding to form the desired configuration. Currently this visual aid to folding is provided by a plurality of pleats in the fabric making up the device which provide a visual reference for folding from the unfolded mode where it may be worn or used as a blanket, to the first configuration or folded mode where it may be used as a pillow or backpack. Of course those skilled in the art will realize that other visual means to guide the user between configurations might be employed such as silkscreening markings on the fabric. As such, any such means to guide the user as to proper folding to move between configurations as would occur to those skilled in the art are considered within the scope of this invention. However, the pleats are particularly preferred due to their permanency since silkscreen may wear off from use. 
         [0015]    To configure the device to the second or the blanket or poncho mode, fasteners such as zippers are engaged to a top side edge of the device. These fasteners allow the user to fold the device in half secured around the user like a coat or poncho using the zippers to maintain the device in a poncho or coat-like configuration. 
         [0016]    It is well known that due to the high volume of blood flow to the brain, that the head can function as a heat sink in cold weather causing heat loss and rendering a person cold or uncomfortable. The device herein provides additional utility to aid in preventing this heat loss in cold weather or windy weather. This functionality is provided by a deployable hood which is stored in a pocket and accessed through a closure. 
         [0017]    Another extremity which can suffer from cold and windy weather are the hands. In cold and windy weather, hands can actually go numb or become frost bitten, making a person terribly uncomfortable and yielding possible injury. Since many outdoor venues have events in winter, this is an especially vexing problem for attendees. The device herein accommodates and solves this problem by the provision of hand-covering mitts. These mitts are easily accessed by the hands of the user while wearing the device or using it as a shoulder blanket. The mitts are formed by a flap having an access opening on the interior surface and insertion of a user&#39;s hands therein insures hand warmth in cold weather should it be needed. 
         [0018]    As such, the device provides great utility due to its multiple configurations providing multiple accommodations for warmth as well as function. Reconfiguration is easy and is aided by the visual reference formed into the body of the device for users to read should they need it. 
         [0019]    With respect to the above description of the disclosed multiple configurable device, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components in this specification or illustrated in the drawings. The disclosed multi-configurable cushion, blanket, and poncho is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will be obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
         [0020]    As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other multi-configurable devices, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed individualized multi-configurable stadium cushion. It is important, therefore, that the claims and disclosure herein be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology as would occur to those skilled in the art insofar as they do not depart from the spirit of the present invention. 
         [0021]    It is an object of this invention to provide an easily carried stadium cushion. 
         [0022]    It is an additional object of this invention to provide such a stadium cushion that also functions as a shoulder engageable backpack or carrier for other items transported by the user. 
         [0023]    It is a further object of this invention to provide such a device which in a first mode as a cushion will reconfigure to a coat, poncho, or blanket should it be desired. 
         [0024]    It is yet another object of this invention that once configured as a coat or blanket the device provides hand and head warmth components, and is easily returned to function as a backpack to and from the user&#39;s destination. 
         [0025]    These together with other objects and advantages which become subsequently apparent reside in the details of the construction and operation as heretofore described with reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES 
         [0026]      FIG. 1  shows a first side of the device in an unfolded configuration also depicting hand mitts and a deployable hood which may be used while the device functions as a coat or poncho or a blanket. 
           [0027]      FIG. 1   a  shows the device of  FIG. 1 , with two sides folded to the middle to form a backpack with interior pockets and shoulder straps, for carrying to and from a destination. 
           [0028]      FIG. 1   b  depicts the opposite side of  FIG. 1   a  and shows the access top an interior pocket that is available in this backpack mode to carry items with the device. In this mode the device also functions as a seat cushion. 
           [0029]      FIG. 2  shows the opposite side of the device from  FIG. 1  in an unfolded mode, with the two side portions folded away from the middle portion. In this mode it may function as a blanket or may be reconfigured into a coat with a hood or back into a pillow as in  FIG. 1   b.    
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0030]    Referring now to the drawings of  FIGS. 1-2  showing a stadium pillow device  10  which is easily user configurable to any of a plurality of forms thereby providing the user with options for a plurality of uses. 
         [0031]    In  FIG. 1 , the device is depicted in an unfolded configuration and showing the first side surface  11  of the planar fabric body  13  forming the device  10 . The body  13  is formed of at least two layers of fabric. The first surface  11  of the body  13  would best be formed of sturdy fabric such as rip-stop or canvas and water proof. The body  13  has a second fabric layer  15  forming all or part of a second surface  15  of the body  13 , as in  FIG. 2 , to yield a multiple layered body  13 . The second layer forming the second surface  15  is best formed of soft and warm fabric such as fleece, or wool, or the like so as to be warm and comfortable against the user&#39;s body. The first surface  11  layer would be formed of the second fabric providing a water and wind proof layer. 
         [0032]    A pair of backpack straps  12  are attached to the first surface  11 , at an angle from a widest separation adjacent to an edge to a narrow separation closer to the middle of the body  13 . These straps  12  are employable as shoulder straps when the device  10  folded as in  FIG. 1   a,  with the two side sections  30  folded toward the center  20  on the second surface  15  and the portion of the body  13  above the narrow intersection of the straps  12  multi-folded on the second side  15 . In this configuration, the device  10  will function as a backpack as depicted in  FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b,  with the straps  12  over the user&#39;s shoulders. 
         [0033]    A storage pocket  14 , between the first surface  11  and second surface  15  of the body  13 , is formed either by sewing the rectangular pocket  14  with stitching between the first surface  11  and second surface  15  or other conventional means to form a pocket  14 . The pocket  14 , is accessible through a close able opening  16  which may employ a means for closure such as a zipper  21  or other such closure means such as hook and loop fabric. 
         [0034]    As noted, the body  13  has a center section  20  with two adjoining side sections  30  as defined by pleats  17  formed into the body  13  by sewing or other means to form the pleats  17 . These pleats  17  are most preferred in that they are positioned to provide a visual means to the user to ascertain folding lines for side sections  30  toward the second surface  15  and the center section, to change configurations. In that pleats are sewn or otherwise formed into the body  13 , unlike indica or silkscreening, they will not come off with wear and will work much better than indicia or an instruction manual which might be lost. 
         [0035]    Two zipper half portions  18 , are engaged adjacent to a top side edge of the body  13  as shown in  FIG. 1 . The half portions  18  of the zipper, are so positioned to allow the device  10 , to easily form a poncho for a user with the second surface  15  encircling their back and arms. So positioned, the user, by folding the two half portions  18  adjacent to each other may zip the formed zipper and create a temporary attachment of the two side sections  30  around him and form a coat or poncho and allow their head would stick up from the center section  20  above the straps  12 . 
         [0036]    When configured planar as a blanket, the device  10  has means to secure the body  13  to the ground to prevent movement in the wind. This is provided by grommets  19  which have a hole in their center and communicate through the layered body  13 . Nails or stays may be engaged through the grommets into the ground. 
         [0037]    In the coat or poncho mode, a hood  22  shown in  FIG. 2 , may be deployed from a pocket  24  formed in a flap  26  engaged to the center section  20  of the body  13  adjacent to the top edge. A closure such as a zipper seals the pocket  24  when the hood is not deployed. 
         [0038]    Also on the flap  26  is a piece of hook and loop fabric  28  positioned to engage a mating piece of hook and loop fabric  29  attached to the first side surface  11  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0039]    To fold the device  10  to a pillow or backpack configuration, as in  FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b,  the two side sections  30  are folded in a stacked configuration upon the center portion  30  of the second surface  15  shown in  FIG. 2 . The second edge  31  opposite the top edge where the flap  26  is located, then folded to position about half way between the second edge  31  and the top edge and then folded again. Means to maintain the device in this position is provided by an engagement of the hook and loop fabric  28  on the flap  26  with the hook and loop fabric  29  on the first side surface  11 . The flap  26  will cover the engagement and will thereby provide a means maintain the device in the pillow/backpack form of  FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b.  Also provided are mitts  32  which offer hand cavities accessible through openings  34  for the user to slide their hands into when used as a coat or poncho. The mitts  32  are formed of small fabric sections sewn to the second surface  15  on three sides, thereby yielding an opening  34  for the hands to slide into the mitts  32 . 
         [0040]    While all of the fundamental characteristics and features of the cushion device herein which is reconfigurable to a blanket or coat with hood and mitts herein have been shown and described, with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure and it will be apparent that in some instances, some features of the invention may be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth. It should also be understood that various substitutions, modifications, and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Consequently, all such modifications and variations and substitutions are included within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.