Patent Publication Number: US-2007094801-A1

Title: Cushioning device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a cushioning device, and more particularly to a cushioning device including one or more tubular or longitudinal resilient member engaged therein for increasing the resilience of the cushioning device.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      Typical cushioning devices comprise a planar structure made of soft or resilient plastic or rubber materials, or foamable materials, spongy materials, or other synthetic materials, for forming seat cushions, shoe pads, bed members, or other planar cushioning members for resiliently supporting users thereon. However, the cushioning devices are made of chemical products and will be directly contacted with the users who will feel uncomfortable, and include a decreased resilience that is not good enough for supporting patients thereon.  
      For increasing the resilience or the cushioning forces, some of the cushioning devices may provide a number of air envelopes disposed or arranged side by side, and coupled to an air pump for pumping air into the envelopes in order to inflate the envelopes and for providing a suitable resilience or cushioning force.  
      For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,762 to Wu, U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,949 to Miller, Sr. et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,909 to Lin disclose three of the typical cushioning devices each comprising an air pump coupled to a number of air envelopes for inflating the envelopes and for forming a cushioning structure.  
      However, the air envelopes should be made into an air tight seal for preventing the air from flowing out of the air envelopes, and thus should be made of plastic or rubber or other synthetic materials which will also be directly contacted with the users who will feel uncomfortable.  
      The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional cushioning devices.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a cushioning device including one or more tubular or longitudinal resilient member engaged therein for increasing the resilience of the cushioning device.  
      In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a cushioning device comprising a base member including an upper cloth member and a bottom cloth member, a first longitudinal resilient member disposed between the upper cloth member and the bottom cloth member, and at least one second longitudinal resilient member disposed between the upper cloth member and the bottom cloth member for providing a resilience to the cushioning device.  
      The base member includes a coupling device for coupling the upper and the bottom cloth members together. For example, the coupling device includes a number of coupling members, such as fibers, secured between the upper and the bottom cloth members for coupling the upper and the bottom cloth members together.  
      The base member includes a first longitudinal chamber and at least one second longitudinal chamber formed therein for receiving the longitudinal resilient members respectively. The upper and the bottom cloth members may be made of such as woven cloth materials, or non-woven cloth materials.  
      The longitudinal resilient members include a tubular structure having a longitudinal bore formed therein. The longitudinal resilient members may further include an insert engaged into the longitudinal bore thereof. The insert may be made of gel materials, polyurethane materials or other synthetic materials, and may include a number of particles.  
      A connecting device may further be provided for connecting the longitudinal resilient members together to form an inner cushioning layer. The connecting device includes a cloth member connected between the longitudinal resilient members.  
      Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a partial perspective view of a cushioning device in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a partial plan schematic view of the cushioning device;  
       FIG. 3  is another partial plan schematic view similar to  FIG. 2 , illustrating the other arrangement of the cushioning device;  
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged partial perspective view illustrating the further arrangement of the cushioning device;  
       FIG. 5  is a partial perspective view illustrating the still further arrangement of the cushioning device;  
       FIG. 6  is a partial perspective view illustrating the still further arrangement of the cushioning device;  
       FIG. 7  is a partial perspective view illustrating the inner cushioning member of the cushioning device;  
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged partial perspective view of the cushioning device as shown in  FIG. 7 ;  
       FIG. 9  is a partial perspective view similar to  FIG. 1 , illustrating the still further arrangement of the cushioning device;  
       FIG. 10  is a partial upper plan view of the cushioning device as shown in  FIG. 9 ;  
       FIGS. 11, 12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15  are partial perspective views similar to  FIGS. 1 and 9 , illustrating the still further arrangements of the cushioning device; and  
       FIGS. 16, 17  are partial perspective views illustrating the inner cushioning member of the cushioning device as shown in  FIG. 15 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to the drawings, and initially to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a cushioning device  1  in accordance with the present invention comprises a planar base member  10  including an upper cloth member  11  and a bottom cloth member  12  made of such as woven or non-woven cloth materials and having an excellent air permeating or flowing characteristics, and a coupling means or device  13  having a number of coupling members  14 , such as fibers  14  stitched or coupled or molded or secured or adhered between the cloth members  11 ,  12  for suitably coupling the cloth members  11 ,  12  together, and for forming one or more longitudinal chambers  15  in the planar base member  10  for receiving one ( FIGS. 1-3 ) or more ( FIGS. 5, 6 ) inner cushioning layers  20 .  
      For example, each of the inner cushioning layers  20  may include one or more longitudinal resilient members  21  engaged in the longitudinal chambers  15  of the planar base member  10  respectively and made of soft or resilient or cushioning materials, such as plastic or rubber materials, foamable materials, spongy materials, or other synthetic materials, for allowing the planar base member  10  to have an excellent resilience. It is preferable that the longitudinal resilient members  21  include a tubular structure having a longitudinal bore  22  formed therein for receiving a soft or resilient insert  23  therein which may also be made of various cushioning materials, such as plastic or rubber materials, foamable materials, spongy materials, or other synthetic materials.  
      For example, the soft or resilient insert  23  may be engaged into the bores  22  of the longitudinal resilient members  21  respectively, and may include or may be formed by various kinds of polymer materials, such as polyurethane (PU) mixed with an accelerator or linking agent therein, thermo plastic resin (TPR), resin materials or the like, for further providing a suitable resilience to the longitudinal resilient members  21  of the inner cushioning layers  20 . As shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and  5 - 8 , the gel materials of the insert  23  may be formed by a number of particles  24 , or a number segments of particles  24  coupled together with a linking member (not shown), or may be formed into a longitudinal structure having a rectangular cross section as shown in  FIG. 4 , or having other cross sections as shown in  FIGS. 9-17  which will be discussed hereinafter.  
      As also shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and  5 - 8 , the inner cushioning layers  20  each may further include a connecting means or device  25  made of or formed by such as woven or non-woven cloth materials for connecting the longitudinal resilient members  21  together and thus for forming the inner cushioning layers  20  as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . It is to be noted that the longitudinal resilient members  21  may be connected together by the connecting means or device  25  with stitching or weaving processes, and the longitudinal resilient members  21  may also be formed by such as stitching or weaving processes.  
      As shown in  FIGS. 1-2  and  5 , the inner cushioning layers  20  may first be disposed between the cloth members  11 ,  12 , and/or superposed with each other ( FIGS. 5, 6 ), and the fibers or coupling members  14  may then be stitched or coupled or molded or secured or adhered between the cloth members  11 ,  12  for suitably coupling the cloth members  11 ,  12  together, and for forming the planar base member  10 . The fibers or coupling members  14  may be suitably spaced from each other for a suitable distance as shown in  FIGS. 1-2  and  5 , or may be disposed closer to each other for a closer distance as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 6 . The planar base member  10  may be provided or used for forming seat cushions, shoe pads, bed members, or other planar cushioning members for resiliently supporting users thereon.  
      Referring next to  FIGS. 9-12 , another planar base member  30  is disclosed and also includes an upper cloth member  31  and a bottom cloth member  32  made of such as woven or non-woven cloth materials and having an excellent air permeating or flowing characteristics, and a coupling means or device  33  having a number of coupling members  34 , such as resilient fibers  34  randomly stitched or coupled or molded or secured or adhered between the cloth members  31 ,  32  for suitably coupling the cloth members  31 ,  32  together, and for forming one or more longitudinal chambers  35  in the planar base member  30  for receiving one ( FIGS. 9-11 ,  13 ) or more ( FIG. 12 ) inner cushioning layers  40 .  
      For example, each of the inner cushioning layers  40  may include one or more longitudinal resilient members  41  engaged in the longitudinal chambers  35  of the planar base member  30  respectively and made of soft or resilient or cushioning materials, such as plastic or rubber materials, foamable materials, spongy materials, gel materials, or other synthetic materials, for allowing the planar base member  30  to have an excellent resilience. It is preferable that the longitudinal resilient members  41  include a tubular structure having a longitudinal bore  42  formed therein for selectively receiving an insert  43  therein, such as a cable or rope  43  as shown in  FIG. 11 , or a number of enclosed and longitudinal hoses  44  engaged through the longitudinal bores  42  of the longitudinal resilient members  41  and coupled together ( FIG. 10 ) for receiving such as heating or cooling agent therein and for heat exchanging purposes, for example.  
      For example, the longitudinal resilient members  41  of the soft or resilient insert  43  or the insert  23  may be formed into various kinds of shapes, such as the solid circular shape as shown in  FIG. 13 , the tubular shape as shown in  FIGS. 9-12 , or the rectangular shape as shown in  FIGS. 14-17 , or the other geometric shapes. As also shown in  FIGS. 14-15 , the coupling members or resilient fibers  34  may be randomly stitched or coupled or molded or secured or adhered between the cloth members  31 ,  32  for suitably coupling the cloth members  31 ,  32  together, and/or seriously coupled between the cloth members  31 ,  32  as shown in  FIGS. 14 and 16 - 17 .  
      Accordingly, the cushioning device in accordance with the present invention includes one or more tubular or longitudinal resilient member engaged therein for increasing the resilience of the cushioning device, and the other cushioning materials for selectively engaging into the tubular or longitudinal resilient member for further increasing the resilience or the cushioning force of the cushioning device.  
      Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.