Abstract:
A seat cushion for an individual stadium seat includes a cushion portion and a pouch on one side of the cushion portion. The pouch receives an end of the seat to secure the cushion to the seat with the cushion portion on the seat. The seat cushion also includes an adjustable length strap that can also secure the cushion to a stadium bench seat or can maintain the cushion in a rolled-up condition for easy carrying or storage.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates generally to seat cushions, and more specifically to seat cushions for use with individual stadium seats or with stadium bench seats. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Many sports stadiums offer individual stadium seats instead of bench seats for fan seating. A conventional stadium seat has a stationary seat back and a folding seat pivotally attached to the seat back. The seat pivots up against the seat back to a raised position when not in use to provide additional aisle space. 
   The seat is made of a hard rigid material such as molded plastic, wood, or metal, and seats for outdoor use are typically not padded or cushioned. Many fans find such hard stadium seats to be uncomfortable and so place seat cushions over the seats. A seat cushion, however, will often slide off the seat when the seat rises up when the fan stands or leaves the seat temporarily during the game. The fan returns to a soiled or dirty cushion. 
   Lombardo U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,840 discloses a seat cushion that has a flap extending from one end of the cushion. The flap folds and extends over one side of the seat cushion, defining a gap between the flap and the one side of the seat cushion. Adjustable straps extend from the flap to the seat cushion and define the size of the gap and prevent the flap from falling away from the seat cushion. The pocket receives an end of the stadium seat and prevents the cushion from falling off the seat when the seat is raised. 
   Although the Lombardo cushion is useful for individual seats or for the ends of bench seats, it cannot be used with interior seating positions along the bench seat. And the construction of some individual seats causes difficulty in extending or fitting straps between the relatively tight spacing between the seat and the sides of the seat that support the arm rests. 
   Some fans use portable stadium seats rather than seat cushions to improve the comfort of uncushioned stadium seats. A portable stadium seat includes its own cushioned seat and a seat back. The portable seat may prevent the seat from rising when the fan is not seated, but the seat can then obstruct the aisle. A portable seat is also awkward to transport to the stadium, and is also awkward to carry within the stadium where walkways are crowded and space is limited. Portable stadium seats are often not usable with bench seats, limiting their use to only seats with seat backs. 
   Keltner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,987 discloses a seat cushion having a strap that extends around the seat to hold the seat cushion in place on the seat. The Keltner cushion can be used on both individual stadium seats and on bench seats. As previously discussed, however, straps can be difficult to use with some individual stadium seats due to the tight fit between seat components. 
   Thus there is a need for an improved seat cushion for use both with individual stadium seats and all seating positions of bench seats. The improved seat cushion should not fall off the seat when the seat is not in use, and should be easy to transport to the stadium and to carry within the stadium. The improved seat cushion should also be attachable to individual stadium seats without using straps. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention is an improved seat cushion for use with stadium seats and with all seating positions of bench seats. The seat cushion of the present invention will not fall off the seat when the seat is not in use. The seat cushion is easy to transport to the stadium, and is easy to carry within the stadium. 
   A seat cushion in accordance with the present invention includes a seat cushion portion, a pouch formed on one side of the cushion portion, and an adjustable length strap attached to the one side or the other side of the cushion. 
   The pouch receives one end of a stadium seat or an end of a bench seat to secure the seat cushion to the seat without the use of straps. The pouch secures the seat cushion to the stadium seat even when the seat is raised. 
   The strap attaches the cushion when used with intermediate seating positions of the bench seat. Advantageously the strap is not used when attaching the cushion to an individual stadium seat and does not have to be used when attaching the cushion to an end of a bench seat. 
   In a preferred embodiment a stretchable fabric forms part of the pouch. The fabric stretches to conform closely to the seat and holds the cushion securely in place on the seat. The fabric enables the seat cushion to be securely held on even curved, “ergonomically designed” seats. 
   In particularly preferred embodiments an additional pouch is located on the other side of the cushion portion. The additional pouch is sized to hold a preferably noncombustable heating source, such as a body warmer used for arthritis pain relief. 
   The seat cushion can be rolled up into a roll when not in use for compact transport or storage. The strap attached to the seat cushion can extend around the roll to retain the seat cushion in its rolled-up condition. The strap can also be used to secure the roll to one&#39;s belt for hands-free carrying. 
   The seat cushion of the present invention provides a light-weight, comfortable cushion for use with either stadium seats or all seating positions of bench seats. The seat cushion can be rolled up for compact transport or storage, and can be easily carried in even crowded stadium conditions. 
   Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying four drawing sheets illustrating an embodiment of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of the stadium seat cushion in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a bottom perspective view of the stadium seat cushion; 
       FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken along lines  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  illustrates stadium seat cushions on two stadium seats, one seat raised and the other seat lowered; 
       FIG. 5  is a partial side view of a stadium seat cushion on the end of a seat; 
       FIG. 6  is a bottom perspective view of a stadium seat cushion on a stadium bench seat; 
       FIG. 7  is a side perspective view of the stadium seat cushion rolled-up for storage or transport; 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a person carrying by hand the rolled-up stadium seat cushion; and 
       FIG. 9  illustrates the rolled-up stadium seat cushion attached to a person&#39;s belt for hands-free carrying of the stadium seat cushion. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIGS. 1-3  illustrate a stadium seat cushion  10  in accordance with the present invention. Seat cushion  10  includes a cushion portion  12  having opposite top and bottom sides  14 ,  16  respectively. A pocket or pouch  18  is formed on the bottom side  16  by a stretchable fabric  20  that extends from a front edge  22  of the cushion portion to a pouch opening  24  accessible from the bottom side of the cushion. A second pocket or pouch  26  is formed on the top side  14  by a fabric piece  28  and has a pouch opening  30  accessible from the upper side of the cushion. A pair of like spaced-apart straps  32  is attached to the bottom side of the cushion portion  12 . A strap handle  33  (not shown in all the figures) is attached to the side of the cushion  10 . 
   The cushion portion  12  is generally rectangular in shape and is sized to fit on a stadium seat. The illustrated cushion portion  12  is about 16 inches wide and about 18 inches long. The cushion portion  12  includes a cushion body  34  made of ⅝-inch thick flexible closed cell foam. A comfortable fleece cover  36  forms the top side  14  of the cushion portion  12  and a sports nylon fabric cover  38  forms the bottom side  16  of the cushion portion  12 . The nylon fabric is preferably waterproof to prevent water absorbing into the cushion if the seat cushion were placed on a wet seat. The thickness of the fabrics used are exaggerated in  FIG. 3  for clarity. 
   Pouch  18  extends the full width of the cushion portion  12  and is formed by stitching three sides of the fabric  20  to the bottom side of the cushion portion  12 . Stitching  39  along the edges of the pouch  18  are shown in  FIG. 3 . The end of the fabric  20  along the pouch opening is hemmed to capture an elastic cord  40  that extends the width of the pouch opening. 
   Pouch  26  is formed by stitching three sides of the fabric piece  28  to the top side of the cushion portion  12 . The illustrated fabric piece  28  is also fleece fabric. The size of the pouch  26  is not critical but is preferably large enough to receive a conventional body warmer packet that can heat the seat cushion. A conventional body warmer packet that has been used with the present invention is about 6 inches by 5 inches in cross section and about an eighth of an inch thick, and generates heat for up to twelve hours. 
   Each strap  32  includes a length of strap webbing  42  and a conventional side release buckle  44 . The webbing  42  is secured to the bottom side of the cushion portion  12  by stitching  46 , with a length of webbing  48  that can extend away from the cushion portion  14 . The female buckle member  44   a  is attached to one end of the webbing  42  and normally is located in the pouch  18  beneath the fabric  22  when not in use. The male buckle member  44   b  is movable along the webbing length  48  to adjust the length of the strap. 
     FIG. 4  illustrates a pair of stadium seat cushions  10  on a raised conventional stadium seat  50   a  and a lowered stadium seat  50   b , each having a foldable seat  52 . The buckles  42   a  are removed from the pouch  18  before using a cushion  10  with a seat  50 . The end of the seat  52  is inserted into the pouch  18  through the pouch opening  24  to secure the cushion  10  to the seat. See  FIG. 5 . The pouch  18  and the pouch opening  24  are preferably sized such that the pouch fabric  20  and the elastic cord  40  elastically expand against the seat to tightly fit the seat between the bottom side  16  of the cushion portion  12  and the pouch fabric  20 . The cushion portion  12  is on top of the seat, and the straps (not shown) dangle below the seat out of the way. The upper pouch  26  is exposed and can be accessed by the user. 
   When the seat  52  is raised as shown in  FIG. 4 , the pouch  18  prevents the seat cushion  10  from sliding off of the seat  52 . The seat cushion  10  remains in place. 
     FIG. 6  illustrates use of the seat cushion  10  on a conventional stadium bench seat  54 . The lower side of the seat cushion  10  is placed on the bench seat, and the straps  32  are used to secure the cushion  10  to the bench seat as shown. The length of the straps can be adjusted as necessary to accommodate variations in bench seat dimensions. 
   The seat cushion  10  can be rolled up to form a compact roll shown in  FIG. 7 . The cushion portion  12  is rolled up with the straps  32  on the outside of the roll. The straps  32  encompass the cushion portion to retain the cushion portion in the rolled-up condition as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     FIGS. 8 and 9  illustrate the convenience of carrying the seat cushion  10  when the seat cushion is rolled up. The illustrated seat cushion  10  weighs about eight ounces, and is easily carried by one hand “umbrella style” as shown in  FIG. 8 . Alternatively the straps  32  can be looped through one&#39;s belt for carrying the roll in a hands-free “fanny-pack” style shown in  FIG. 9 . 
   While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is understood that these are capable of modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.