Patent Publication Number: US-2011064911-A1

Title: Soft cushion structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a soft cushion structure substantially consists of a soft foaming resilient supportive body and a soft elastomer. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     A cushion structure is well discussed, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,983 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,792. The &#39;983 patent discloses a sole construction including a shell and a core encapsulated within the shell. The core is made of low density PU or EVA, and the shell is made of high density PU. On the other hand, the &#39;792 patent discloses a shoe sole construction including a shell, made of polyester elastomer, PU or EVE, and a filler, such as air, fluid or synthetic foam, stuffed in the shell. 
     The common features of the above mentioned cushion structure is that the core (or filler) thereof is less supportive than the shell. That is, the core is mainly stuffed in the shell to elevate the property of shock absorption and cushioning. Furthermore, the shell substantially encapsulates the core such that the interaction between different parts of the cushion structure is insufficient so that the increase in cushioning property is limited. Moreover, such constructions are mainly softer in the middle and harder in the periphery, which may not satisfy the consumers&#39; needs. 
     In addition, the shell of such constructions is made of high density PU or polyester elastomer and the filler thereof is made of single material. Therefore, the reduction in total weight of the construction is limited as well. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The main object of the present invention is to provide a cushion structure including a soft foaming resilient supportive body as the main supportive part thereof. 
     The other object of the present invention is to provide a cushion structure with upper and under gel rooms communicated by one or more penetrating holes for a soft elastomer to fill therein. 
     To achieve the above object, a soft cushion structure of the present invention includes a soft foaming resilient supportive body and a soft elastomer. The soft foaming resilient supportive body has one or more penetrating holes which communicate upper and under gel rooms disposed on the soft foaming resilient supportive body. The soft elastomer is filled in the holes and at least a part of the upper and under gel rooms respectively, so as to combine the soft elastomer with the soft foaming resilient supportive body to form a composite structure. 
     Wherein, the soft foaming resilient supportive body is compressible, deformable and elastic recoverable, the soft elastomer is deformable and elastic recoverable, but the soft elastomer is substantially incompressible. 
     As a result, the soft foaming resilient supportive body provides better supporting property and has the property of undergoing a compression strain, while the soft elastomer filled in the upper and under gel rooms has the property of undergoing a slightly flowing strain. Due to the stress-strain compensation mechanisms provided by the soft foaming resilient supportive body and the soft elastomer respectively, the stress applied on the soft cushion structure can be efficiently distributed outward and thus released to resolve the stress concentration problem, so as to further enhance the comfort performance which satisfies the consumer&#39;s need. In comparison to a cushion structure that mainly consists of the soft elastomer, the present soft cushion structure further utilizing the soft foaming resilient supportive body, which has the property of undergoing the compression strain that can co-act with the slightly-flowing-strain property of the soft elastomer, has the elevated stress releasing property. In addition, the consumption of the expensive soft elastomer is significantly decreased because a part of the soft elastomer is replaced by the cheaper and lighter soft foaming resilient supportive body, resulting in the reduction in material cost and total weight of the soft cushion structure. 
     The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiments in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a pictorial drawing showing a soft cushion structure in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of a soft cushion structure in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a pictorial drawing showing a soft foaming resilient supportive body in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a profile of a soft cushion structure in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a profile showing a soft cushion structure under pressure in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a plan view of a soft cushion structure in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a profile of a soft cushion structure in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7A  is a partial enlarged drawing of  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a profile of a soft cushion structure in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a profile showing a soft cushion structure under pressure in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1 to 4  for a first embodiment of the present invention. A soft cushion structure includes a soft foaming resilient supportive body  10  and a soft elastomer  20  which is combined with the supportive body  10  to form a composite structure  30 . 
     The soft foaming resilient supportive body  10  has one or more penetrating holes  11 . More particularly, the holes  11  penetrate the supportive body  10  along the direction of its thickness. The supportive body  10  is formed with an upper gel room  12  and an under gel room  13 , in which the holes  11  communicate the upper and under gel rooms  12  and  13 . The profile of each holes  11  is circular or other geometric shaped to correspond to the stress or strain requirement of the composite structure  30 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the supportive body  10  has a plurality of holes  11  arranged into a honeycomb configuration. The holes  11  include round holes  111  and hexagonal holes  112 . The round holes  111  are spaced arranged to form a matrix in which the distance of two adjacent round holes  111  is substantially the width of a hexagonal hole  112 , such that each round hole  111  is surrounded by six hexagonal holes  112 . In addition, the soft foaming resilient supportive body  10  is compressible, deformable and elastic recoverable, and it is made of PU foaming material, rubber foaming material, EVA foaming material or other material with excellent compressibility and elastic recoverability. 
     The soft elastomer  20  is filled in the holes  11 , and further filled in at least a part of the upper and under gel rooms  12  and  13  respectively. In the present embodiment, the soft elastomer  20  totally encapsulates the supportive body  10 , i.e. the soft elastomer  20  is completely filled in the holes  11  and the gel rooms  12  and  13 . In addition, the soft elastomer  20  is deformable and elastic recoverable yet substantially incompressible. The soft elastomer  20  is preferably made of PU gel or thermal plastic rubber. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 4 . When the soft cushion structure does not load any stress, the soft foaming resilient supportive body  10  is disposed in the soft elastomer  20 , and the soft elastomer  20  is, on the other hand, further stuffed in the holes  11  so as to combine the soft elastomer  20  with the supportive body  10  to form a composite structure  30 . It is to be noted that the supportive body  10  plays an important role to contribute the stickiness to the composite structure  30 , i.e. the supportive body  10  is more supportive than the soft elastomer  20 . 
     Refer to  FIG. 5 . As a compression stress f 1  applies on the composite structure  30  along the axial direction of the holes  11 , the soft elastomer  20  provides a stress-strain compensation mechanism due to its property of undergoing a slightly flowing strain. That is to say, the axial strain of the soft elastomer  20  is negative, while the transversal strain thereof is positive. Meanwhile, the soft elastomer  20  which is filled in the hole  11  and the under gel room  13  undergoes a slightly flowing strain S 1  and flows into the adjacent holes  11 . In other words, the stress-strain compensation mechanism, resulting from the slightly-flowing-strain property, of the soft elastomer  20  can distribute the stress laterally to the other parts of the composite structure  30  which do not directly load the stress, so as to release the pressure efficiently. In addition, the supportive body  10  is also pressed by the compression stress f 1  and has a compression strain along the axial direction, and the supportive body  10  also has a sheer strain and a compression strain along the transversal direction due to the lateral pressure distributed by the slightly flowable soft elastomer  20 . That is, the supportive body  10  is a structure having a property of undergoing a compression strain and thus has a stress-strain compensation mechanism resulting from such property. It is to be noted that, the soft elastomer  20  itself would have significant deformation along the transversal direction due to the incompressible property thereof. However, due to the displacement of the supportive body  10  within the soft elastomer  20 , the transversal deformation of the composite structure  30  as a whole can be efficiently mitigated since the supportive body  10  is compressible and thus has compression strain to counteract the lateral expand of the soft elastomer  20 . As a result, even when the soft cushion structure of the present invention is under pressure, the configuration of the composite structure  30  expands just a little. Such characteristic comes in very useful as the soft cushion structure is utilized in a space-limited environment, such as the interior space of a shoe. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 6 and 7  for the second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the soft elastomer  20  substantially corresponds to the configure of the foot, and the supportive body  10  has a thenar portion  14 , a heel portion  15  and a connecting portion  16  which connects the thenar and heel portions  14  and  15 . The thenar portion  14  has several holes  113  corresponding to the toes, and the heel portion  15  has a larger-diametered hole  114  corresponding to the heel. The soft elastomer  20  covers a main part of the upper surface of the supportive body  10 , and the soft elastomer  20  is also completely filled in the holes  113  and  114  and laterally extends into the gel rooms  12  and  13  around the holes  113  and  114 . As such, the soft elastomer  20  tightly combines with the supportive body  10  and has sufficient space to enable the slightly flowing strain while being pressed upon. For example, as the user stands on the soft elastomer  20  of the upper gel room  12 , the weight of the user will make the soft elastomer  20  of the holes  113  and  114  to flow into the under gel room  13 . Meanwhile, lateral pressure is also presented to compress the supportive body  10  to generate a compression strain along the transversal direction. As shown in  FIG. 7A , since the under gel room  13  is not fully filled by the soft elastomer  20 , a part of the soft elastomer  20  will slightly flow into the unfilled under gel room  13  to further increase the stress releasing effect. 
     Because the supportive body  10  is more supportive than the soft elastomer  20 , the toes and heel of the user will therefore slightly sink into the holes  113  and  114 . As such, the upper surface of the soft cushion structure may properly correspond to the curves of the foot. Thus, the arch and heel pain caused by flattening of the foot may be reduced, further minimize the pressure on the spine and strains on the back muscles to relieve lower back pain as well as the stiffness in neck and shoulders. 
     Refer to  FIG. 8  for the third embodiment of the present invention. Only one hole  11  is presented on the soft foaming resilient supportive body  10 , while the soft elastomer  20  is still filled in the hole  11  and the gel rooms  12  and  13  so as to combine the soft elastomer  20  with the supportive body  10  to form a composite structure  30 . The soft elastomer  20 , however, does not fully fill the under gel room  13 , and a semispherical groove  131  (or other geometric or irregular shaped groove) is left unfilled in the under gel room  13 . When the composite structure  30  load a compression stress f 1 , the soft elastomer  20  generates the slightly flowing strain to function the stress-strain compensation mechanism, and a part of the soft elastomer  20  will be pushed into the unfilled semispherical groove  131  to further release the pressure. Meanwhile, the supportive body  10  generates the compression strain as well as sheer strain to function the stress-strain compensation mechanism thereof, in which the compression strain of the supportive body  10  includes an axial compression strain ε axial  caused by the compression stress f 1  and a transversal compression strain caused by the transversal pressure f 2  which results from the slightly flow of the soft elastomer  20 . 
     In light of the foregoing, the soft cushion structure utilizes the supportive body  10  with better supporting property and a soft elastomer  20 , so that the slightly-flowing-strain property of the soft elastomer  20  can co-act with the compression-strain property of the supportive body  10  to enhance the outcome of the stress-strain compensation mechanisms, so as to further elevate the pressure releasing effect. Furthermore, due to the soft elastomer  20  being soft and incompressible and stuffed in the holes that communicate the gel rooms  12  and  13 , the soft cushion structure can efficiently distribute the pressure laterally through the slightly flowing strain. As such, the user standing or sitting on the soft cushion structure will feel less fatigue, and the muscle stiffness and oblique posture are therefore ameliorated. Moreover, the displacement of the cheaper and lighter supportive body  10  can reduce the consumption of the expensive soft elastomer  20  so as to significantly reduce the cost and weight of the soft cushion structure of the present invention. 
     It is to be noted that the soft cushion structure can, besides the above mentioned embodiment, be further used in other fields such as cushion pad of a boxing glove, a sand bag or a saddle. That is, the arrangement of the soft foaming resilient supportive body and the soft elastomer can be varied depending on different needs of the users.