Abstract:
A seat or seat cover having an integral or detachable upwardly extending wall subassembly particularly advantageous for use on a vehicle seat to prevent items from falling into the gap defined by the seat and console of a vehicle and the gap defined by the seat and door of the vehicle. The seat preferably has a flap installed thereon to which the wall assembly may be attached and detached. In another embodiment, the flap may conceal an area on the seat adapted to secure to the wall assembly. A seat cover may have an integral wall subassembly on one or both sides secured to its seams. In another embodiment, a conversion kit for seats which do not have flaps is provided wherein a securement means may be attached to one or both sides of a vehicle seat and said wall assembly attached thereto.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 61/637,251, filed Apr. 23, 2012. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to the field of seat covers and seat accessories, particularly for vehicles. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Most passenger vehicles provide individual front seats for the driver and passenger, and such seats have a medial side (near the midline of the vehicle) and a door side. The vehicle often includes a console between the passenger and driver seats, and the console is adjacent the respective medial sides of the passenger and driver seats. The console may include the gear shift of the car, audio means, and storage areas. 
     The interior of the car door and the door side of the vehicle seat define a first gap, and the console and the medial side of the vehicle seat define a second gap. These gaps generally extend downwardly to the floor of the passenger vehicle. 
     Objects carried into the vehicle often fall into the first or second gaps, making them difficult to retrieve. The objects may become wedged between the seat and another structure in the car or roll under the seat. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective exploded view of an embodiment of the invention in use with a typical automobile seat. 
         FIG. 2A  is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the invention with a portion incorporated into a typical automobile seat upholstery 
         FIG. 2B  is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the invention with a portion incorporated into a typical automobile seat upholstery 
         FIG. 2C  is a magnified view of the guard attachment area as indicated by the circled portion. 
         FIG. 3A  is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the invention with a portion incorporated into a typical automobile seat upholstery 
         FIG. 3B  is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the invention with a portion incorporated into a typical automobile seat upholstery 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Seats or seat covers having integral or removable upwardly extending seat side walls are disclosed. The seat side walls prevent objects from falling into the gaps between the seat and the interior door and the seat and the interior console. 
     The features of the invention may be included in the upholstery of a vehicle seat or embodied in an after-market seat cover. A conversion kit comprising a wall subassembly and attachment means is also disclosed. The features of the invention are detailed in the following paragraphs. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a seat or seat cover embodiment having integral seat side walls/guards  1  is shown. The embodiment shown comprises two walls  50  and  52  and a seat cover portion  3 . Seat cover portion  3  comprises a cover section  31 , middle section  32 , and seat straps  35 . Walls/guards  50  and  52  preferably comprise a soft semi-sturdy material which retains its structure and remains in an essentially upwardly extending configuration during use, but allows for temporary compression if, for example, sat upon by a user. The walls/guards  50  and  52  have an upper edge, a bottom edge, and two side edges therebetween. For a driver&#39;s seat of a vehicle, guard  50  in use is adjacent a first gap defined by the door side of a vehicle driver&#39;s seat and the inside of the passenger door. Guard  52  in use is adjacent a second gap defined by the medial side of a vehicle seat and a console in the car. For a passenger seat, guard  52  is adjacent the first gap defined by the door side of the vehicle and the door side of the vehicle passenger seat and guard  50  is adjacent the second gap defined by the medial side of the passenger seat and the vehicle&#39;s console. 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the wall/guard is permanently secured to a seat cover by sewing, gluing, or otherwise attaching the bottom edge of the guard into a seat cover seam  105 . In such case, an after-market seat cover with integral guards can be placed onto the vehicle seat so as to cover it, and the guards will be in upright position and ready to use. In case of being used in upholstery, the seat as a whole incorporates the walls/guards in a seam of the upholstery similar to the position of seam  105  in the after-market seat cover. 
     Walls/guards  50  and  52  do not interfere with any safety apparatuses of the seat nor cause discomfort to the passenger. When in use, walls/guards  50  and  52  assist in preventing any items (e.g. keys, phone, etc.) that may fall down the first and second gaps defined by the sides of the seat and the passenger door or consoles of the vehicle. 
     Another embodiment may comprise a seat cover having a wall/guard as described above, and further comprising a seat cover portion that covers seat back  101  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIGS. 2A through 2C  and  FIGS. 3A  though  3 B are alternate embodiments of the invention. In these embodiments, the upholstery of the vehicle seat has a medial side flap, a door side flap, or both incorporated into the upholstery. The wall/guard in these embodiments is removably attachable and detachable to the upholstery of a vehicle seat. 
     A first alternate embodiment comprises detachable walls/guards  250  and  252 , which are securable to a flap  258  or the vehicle seat side wall. Flap  258  may be installed on one or both sides of the vehicle seat. If guards  250  and  252  are both to be used, a flap  258  is installed on both the medial side and the door side of the seat adjacent the sitting surface  103  and the sides of the vehicle seat. The attachment of wall/guard  252  to flap  258  or vehicle seat side wall is illustrated in  FIG. 2A  (unattached) and  FIG. 2B  (attached). 
     Upholstery sitting area  103  has a seat seam  105 . Flap  258  comprises a top edge  262 , side edges  254  and  264 , a bottom edge  256 , an outer side and an underside. Seat seam  105  secures to said top edge  262  to create a joined seam. Preferably, top edge  262  is sewn into vehicle seam  105  as shown, but other types of attachment may be used such as adhesive. Side edges  254  and  264  of flap  258  are secured to the seat upholstery, preferably sewn into a seam, so that flap  258  is secured on three sides to the vehicle seat and unsecured on the remaining edge  256 . This creates a shallow inverted pocket  257  on the seat to receive bent end of the wall/guard. 
       FIG. 2A  shows an exploded view of wall/guard  252 .  FIG. 2B  shows the walls/guards  250  and  252  temporarily secured to the seat  100 . 
     As best seen in  FIG. 2C , wall/guard  252  (as well as wall/guard  250 ) comprises a bent end  253 . Bent end  253  is structured to allow wall/guard  252  to slide into the shallow inverted pocket formed from the flap as described above. A securing means is attached to either the seat side wall underneath flap  258 , the underside of flap  258 , or both. Bent end  253 , which further comprises a first inner side  253   a  and a second inner side  253   b , provides a securing means on one or both of said inner sides. The securing means of the bent end  253  is complimentary to the securing means on seat side wall or underneath flap  258 . For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 2C , the bent end  253  shows a securing means  260  on the second inner side  253   b  which would be complimentary to a securing means (not shown) on the underside of flap  258 . The securing means may be a hook and loop fasteners, snaps, buttons and button holes, reusable adhesive, or any other means that keeps flap  258  and wall/guard  252  temporary secured. Most preferably, hook and loop fastening tape, such as sold under the trademark Velcro® is employed. 
     Now referring to  FIGS. 3A and 3B , a second alternate embodiment is shown and comprises detachable walls/guards  350  and  352  and a seat having flaps  368  and  370 . Upholstery sitting area  103  has a seat seam  105 . Flap  370  comprises a seam edge  372 , side edges, an outer edge, an outer side and an underside. Seat seam  105  secures to said seam edge  372  to create a joined seam. Preferably, seam edge  372  will be sewed into seam  105  as shown, but it can be joined with adhesive or with other means used in the upholstery art. Side edges and the outer edge of flap  370  are not secured to the upholstery, allowing flap  370  to lift up. Flap  370  and wall/guard  352  interact in the same manner as wall/guard  350  and flap  368  so it may be assumed that guard  350  and flap  368  act as mirror images of wall/guard  352  and flap  370 . 
     Wall/guard  352  further comprises an inner side and an outer side. The inner side comprises securing means  364  and/or  366 . A securing means is also attached to either the seat underneath flap  370  (as depicted by securing means  362 ), the underside of flap  370  (as depicted by securing means  360 ), or both. Securing means  362  is complimentary to securing means  364 . Likewise, securing means  360  is complimentary to securing means  366 . The securing means may be hook and loop fasteners, buttons and button holes, reusable adhesive, snaps, or any other means that keep flap  258  and wall/guard  252  temporarily secured. 
     Alternate versions may be used, for example, one securing means attached to the seat or flap with the corresponding securing means attached to the wall/guard. 
     In still another embodiment not illustrated, walls/guards may be temporarily secured to upholstery by the use of fastening means instead of a flap being stitched into a seam of seat upholstery. Such fastening means include, for example, hook and loop fasteners, snaps, zippers, and tacks. A conversion kit may be provided which has one or more walls/guards having a fastening means, and a complementary fastening means which can be attached to the seat by a user. 
     A seat cover comprising the features described for the seat upholstery may be provided within the bounds of this invention. 
     Other embodiments may have one wall/guard permanently secured to seat upholstery or seat cover with the other wall/guard removably attached. Also, both wall/guards may be permanently secured to the seat upholstery by sewing, gluing, or other means known in the art. 
     The height of the wall/guard extending upwardly above the seating area may be varied according to the preference of the user and the type of objects that the user wishes to prevent from slipping into the gap. The height may be different on the medial side as opposed to the door side of the seat. 
     The walls/guards of the invention may be integrated into the upholstery of any seat, and into seat covers for vehicle seats and similarly dimensioned seats and chairs. While it is envisioned to be particularly useful in the front driver or passenger seat of a vehicle, other seats may benefit by use of the invention such as rear van seats, boat seats, and other seats.