Abstract:
A cover for a chair having wings extending from the back portion of the chair and having exposed legs. The cover may be formed of elastic fabric and is an enclosed structure with an open bottom. The cover is placed over the chair and is secured at the base using a series of binders which attach to one another under the chair. The binders prevent accidental removal of the cover.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/837,369, filed on Aug. 11, 2006, and entitled “Stretch Wing Chair Cover.” U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/837,369 is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The invention generally relates to furniture covers and, more specifically, relates to a cover for a wing chair.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Furniture covers can be used to either protect furniture or as an economical solution to improving the aesthetics of damaged or unsightly furniture without reupholstering. There are furniture cover designs for all types of seating furniture. However, as the design of the chair becomes more complex, so too must the design of a cover adapted for that chair. One such complicated design of a chair is the wing chair, which is characterized by a pair of wings extending from each side of the chair&#39;s back portion. The wings are wider at the top than they are at the bottom.  
         [0004]     Known covers for wing chairs are formed of knit fabric and shaped to include sections for the wings. Some covers include foam tubes which have to be forced into the crevices of the chair to pull the fabric taught over the contours of the chair. Cliplocks are used to secure the bottom of the cover to the chair. Many wing chair covers include a skirt to hide the legs of the chair.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention is a cover for a wing chair that securely attaches to the chair without the need for cliplocks. The cover is adapted to fit chairs that have a base section which either alone, or in combination with a cushion, provides a seating surface. The base is supported by a plurality of legs extending downward therefrom. The chair also includes a back portion extending up from the base with wings on either side of the back portion.  
         [0006]     The cover is formed of a fabric that is designed to form fit the contours of the chair. The cover has a series of panels to cover each side of the base, back portion, and any cushions included in the chair design. Pockets are also provided for the wings and may also be included for arms of the chair if appropriate. The cover is formed of a fabric that may be elastic such that the cover can effectively fit a variety of chairs having the same general design but not the exact same dimensions. The cover has an open bottom and is pulled in place over the top of the chair. The elasticity in the fabric of the cover assists when placing it on the chair by allowing the cover to expand or contract appropriately as it passes over the contours of the chair.  
         [0007]     The open bottom of the slipcover makes removing and placing the cover on the wing chair effortless. However, it also necessitates an attachment to secure the cover on the chair. The present invention uses a series of binders extending from the bottom of the cover at the opening which attach to one another thereby holding the cover securely in place on the chair. The preferred embodiment includes four under-flaps at each side of the bottom of the cover, which may be realized as extensions of seat, side and back panels of the cover. The under-flaps are disposed in spaced apart relation and are adapted to fold under the base of the chair against the bottom surface. Each under-flap has a binder extending from each of its ends. Each binder is secured to a neighboring binder of an adjacent under-flap. The space left between each under-flap provides a leg opening for each of the four legs of the chair. The binders and under-flaps, once secured together, form a ring that is smaller than the base of the chair and thus, retains the cover on the chair. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0008]     These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent by referring to the drawings, in which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a front view of a chair of the type used with the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the cover, in accordance with the invention, as secured on the chair shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a rear perspective view of the chair and cover shown in  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the chair and cover shown in  FIG. 2 ; and  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a bottom view of an alternative embodiment of the cover in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]     The present invention is a cover for a chair such as that shown in shown in  FIG. 1 . The chair  10  is distinguished by wings  30  which project in a forward direction from its back  20 . The base  15  of the chair  10  supports the back  20  and is supported by four exposed legs  50 . The embodiment of chair  10 , shown in  FIG. 1 , also includes arms  35  and a T-cushion  40 . However, these features are not essential; the present invention may be designed for chairs without them.  
         [0015]     The present invention provides a cover  100  shown in  FIG. 2  that fits wing chair  10 . Cover  100  conceals the upholstered portions of wing chair  10  but leaves the legs  50  exposed. Back  20  of chair  10  is covered by front section  120  and rear panel  125 , which also extends over the rear portion of base  15 . A seat section  140  fits over the seat cushion  40  and side-base panels  115  and front-base panels  110  cover the remainder of the base. Cover  100  also includes two wing pockets or sections  130  and arm sections  135 . The embodiment shown excludes a skirt leaving the area under the base  15  open. However, a skirt could be added to cover  100 , concealing legs  50  and the area under base  15 . Additionally, although cover  100  is shown with mid-length arm sections  135 , the arm sections may be shaped to fit arms that reach the front of the chair, or the arm sections may be excluded.  
         [0016]     Cover  100  comprises a textile material that envelopes the chair and protects and hides its existing upholstery. The textile material or fabric may have some elasticity so that it can stretch to fit a variety of shaped chairs. For example, the fabric may include spandex or another elasticized yarn. Including five percent or more spandex into the fabric of cover  100  provides the fabric with enough stretch to fit tightly on a variety of chair shapes. A preferred embodiment of cover  100  has a stretch standard set at a minimum requirement of 40% fabric stretch in pattern width and 60% fabric stretch in pattern length tested to the ASTM D 2594 testing method. The stretch in the fabric used in cover  100  provides two advantages. Using fabric with elasticity allows the fabric pattern to be smaller than the size of the chairs which cover  100  fits. Cover  100  is stretched over each portion of chair  10  and form fits to the curves of the chair. Including stretch in both the width and length of the fabric allows cover  100  to stretch dynamically and hug the silhouette of chair  10 .  
         [0017]     The stretch fabric used in cover  100  obviates the need for extensive clips and other attachment mechanisms allowing a simpler and more elegant method for securing cover  100  to chair  10 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , cover  100  includes four under-flaps (shown hanging loose in  FIG. 3 ) which fold under base  15  and are attached together and against the bottom surface of the chair. The cover  100  includes a front under-flap  112 , two side under-flaps  117  and a rear under-flap  127  which, in the folded state, prevent cover  100  from slipping up and off chair  10 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , each under-flap  112 ,  117 ,  127  includes two binders  150 , one at each end, to attach to the under-flap to its neighboring under-flaps. The under-flaps fold up under the base  15  of the chair along its side. Each under-flap is positioned in spaced apart relationship from the corner of cover  100 . The separation of the under-flaps from the corner creates a leg opening  154  for each leg  50 . The use of binders  150  to secure cover  100  to chair  10  help achieve a form fit without hardware or accessories that may be visible to the user.  
         [0018]     The shown binders  150  each include an attachment mechanism to attach to the neighboring binder  150 . The attachment mechanism may be hook and loop fastening material, with each alternating binder having the hook or loop portion. Alternatively, the attachment mechanism may be formed of two hooks, clasps, snaps or the like.  
         [0019]     The binders  150  shown in  FIG. 4  are each part of a binding strap  152  (shown in  FIG. 5 ). The binding straps  152  are free floating and may be held in passages  114  as illustrated in  FIG. 4  within the under-flaps. The binders  150  at each end of the respective binding straps  152  extend from the passages and attach to the neighboring strap  152 . The binders  150  and binding straps  152  are formed of elastic and provide a constant tension holding the under-flaps below the base  15  of chair  10 . The loop formed by the connected binding straps  152  holds cover  100  securely on the chair.  
         [0020]     Alternative embodiments for holding cover  100  on the chair in accordance with the invention are shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown, the cover does not need to include an under-flap for each of its sides. In this embodiment, under-flap  127  has been omitted and two of the binders  150  reach across the rear portion of the chair. Alternatively, two of the flaps may be omitted and the binders  150  may reach across two sides of the rear portion of the chair.  
         [0021]     Also shown in  FIG. 5 , the binding straps  152  are attached to the outside of the under-flaps. In another embodiment, each binder  150  may be separate and attached directly to one side of each under-flap  112 ,  117 ,  127 . The binders  150  shown extending from each of the side under-flaps  117  do not have an attachment mechanism, and instead are tied to one another as an alternative embodiment. In addition, in an embodiment in which the under-flaps  112 ,  117 ,  127  are provided with passages  114 , a single strap  152  (“drawstring”) may be routed through the passages  114  and tied as a single point or otherwise bound at a single point with a single binder  250   
         [0022]     Although the preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, many features may be varied, as will readily be apparent to those skilled in this art. Thus, the foregoing description is illustrative and not limiting.