Cushioning device

Abstract

A cushioning device includes a base member having an upper cloth member and a bottom cloth member, and two or more longitudinal resilient members disposed between the upper cloth member and the bottom cloth member for providing a resilience to the cushioning device. A 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 longitudinal resilient members may include a tubular structure having a longitudinal bore for receiving an insert which may be made of gel materials, polyurethane materials or other synthetic materials.

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.

Claims

1. A cushioning device comprising: a base member including an upper cloth member and a bottom cloth member, and a first longitudinal resilient member disposed between said upper cloth member and said bottom cloth member, and at least one second longitudinal resilient member disposed between said upper cloth member and said bottom cloth member for providing a resilience to said cushioning device.

2. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base member includes a coupling means for coupling said upper and said bottom cloth members together.

3. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said coupling means includes a plurality of coupling members secured between said upper and said bottom cloth members for coupling said upper and said bottom cloth members together.

4. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said coupling members are fibers.

5. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base member includes a first longitudinal chamber and at least one second longitudinal chamber formed therein for receiving said first and said at least one second longitudinal resilient members respectively.

6. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper and said bottom cloth members are made of woven cloth materials.

7. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper and said bottom cloth members are made of non-woven cloth materials.

8. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said at least one second longitudinal resilient members include a tubular structure having a longitudinal bore formed therein.

9. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first and said at least one second longitudinal resilient members each include an insert engaged into said longitudinal bore thereof.

10. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said insert is made of gel materials.

11. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said insert is made of polyurethane materials.

12. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 9, wherein said insert is made of resin materials.

13. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first and said at least one second longitudinal resilient members each include a hose engaged through said longitudinal bores thereof and said hoses are coupled together.

14. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means for connecting said first and said at least one second longitudinal resilient members together to form an inner cushioning layer.

15. The cushioning device as claimed in claim 14, wherein said connecting means includes a cloth member connected between said first and said at least one second longitudinal resilient members.