Patent Application
20200113346
This invention relates generally to fabric for use in outdoor seating products and, more particularly, for use in pocketed spring assemblies used in outdoor seating products.
Outdoor furniture has been continuously growing in popularity over the years. Recent developments have focused primarily on outdoor furniture that more closely resembles indoor furniture. For example, outdoor upholstered furniture has become popular. However, it is difficult to make such furniture as comfortable as indoor upholstered furniture. For example, outdoor seat cushions and back pillows have primarily been constructed of multiple layers of densified polyester fiber batting. When enough fiber is used, the cushion can be supportive of a seating load, but the support has a “dead” feel, resulting from the tightly packed fibers, without any other source of resilience.
In an attempt to address this deficiency, some manufacturers have made outdoor furniture with stainless steel wire coils to provide resilience. These coils are typically contained in fabric pockets constructed of a non-woven polypropylene pocketing material that unitizes the coils into a cushion core. The pocketing material is often treated for water repellency to inhibit water, such as rainwater, from entering the pockets. Nevertheless, rainwater or other liquid invariably enters the pockets and subsequently becomes trapped therein due to the non-woven polypropylene pocketing material and/or water repellant treatment thereof. This trapped water can lead to undesirable mold or mildew in the pockets and degradation of the cushion.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved outdoor cushion with a pocketed spring core that overcomes these and other deficiencies.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an outdoor cushion comprises a pocketed spring assembly comprising a pocketed spring core including a plurality of pockets and a breathable fabric outside the pocketed spring core, wherein the pockets of the pocketed spring core are constructed of warp knit polyester fabric.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an outdoor seating product incorporates a novel pocketed spring assembly. The pocketed spring assembly comprises a plurality of parallel strings of springs joined together. Each string is joined to at least one adjacent string. Each string comprises a plurality of aligned individually pocketed springs. Each string comprises a water permeable fabric folded around multiple springs to create first and second opposed sides of fabric covering opposite surfaces of the springs. The water permeable fabric is joined to itself along a longitudinal seam which may extend along one of the sides of the string of springs. Pockets are formed along the length of the string of springs by transverse or separating seams joining the first and second sides covering opposite surfaces of the springs, at least one spring being positioned in each pocket.
The outdoor seating product may further comprise cushioning material and a covering encasing the pocketed spring assembly and cushioning materials.
In some embodiments, the water permeable fabric used to make at least one of the strings of springs comprises warp knit polyester fabric. However, any water permeable fabric may be used. In some embodiments, plies of the water permeable fabric are ultrasonically welded together. The ultrasonic welds may be located at various locations throughout the piece of fabric.
According to another aspect of the invention, a pocketed spring assembly for use in an outdoor seating product comprises a plurality of parallel strings of springs joined together. Each string comprises a plurality of individually pocketed springs and a water permeable fabric. The water permeable fabric is joined to itself along a longitudinal seam and has first and second opposed sides covering opposite surfaces of the springs. A plurality of pockets is formed along a length of the string of springs by transverse seams joining the first and second sides, at least one spring being positioned in each said pocket.
According to another aspect of the invention, the water permeable fabric used to make a string of springs comprises warp knit polyester fabric. The pocketed spring assembly may further comprise a covering, which may be breathable. In one embodiment, the water permeable fabric used to make a string of springs includes two plies joined together at multiple locations. The plies may be ultrasonically welded together at multiple locations, for example.
According to another aspect, a string of springs for use in a pocketed spring assembly comprises a plurality of individually pocketed springs, and a water permeable fabric joined to itself along a longitudinal seam. First and second opposed plies of the water permeable fabric are on opposite sides of the springs. A plurality of pockets are formed along a length of the string by transverse seams joining the first and second plies of the water permeable fabric. At least one spring is positioned in each of the pockets. The water permeable fabric may comprise warp knit polyester fabric. The water permeable fabric may include two plies joined together at multiple locations. For example, the two plies may be ultrasonically welded together at multiple locations
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the summary of the invention given above, and the detailed description of the drawings given below, explain the principles of the present invention.
Referring first to
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Strings 26 of pocketed springs 28 and any other strings of springs described or shown herein, may be connected in side-by-side relationship as, for example, by gluing the sides of the strings 26 together in an assembly machine, to create an assembly or matrix of springs having multiple rows and columns of pocketed springs 28 bound together as by gluing, welding or any other conventional assembly process commonly used to create pocketed spring cores or assemblies. For example, strings 26 of pocketed springs 28 may be connected to each other by hot melt adhesive.
As shown, the longitudinally extending strings 26 of pocketed spring assembly 12, along with any other strings described or shown herein, may be joined so that the individually pocketed springs 28 are aligned in transversely extending rows 32 (extending from side-to-side) and longitudinally extending columns 34 (extending from end-to-end). Alternatively, the longitudinally extending strings 26 of pocketed spring assembly 12, along with any other strings described or shown herein, may be offset from one another. In such an arrangement, the individually pocketed springs 28 are not aligned in rows and columns; instead the individually pocketed springs 28 fill voids of the adjacent strings. Either alignment of strings may be incorporated into any of the pocketed spring assemblies or cores illustrated or described herein.
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Preferably, a water permeable and breathable fabric 70 is used to create the string 26 of pocketed springs 28. The water permeable fabric 70 is permeable and breathable to waterflow and airflow through the fabric itself due to the nature of the fabric. For example, water can flow into the pocket 38 from above the top surface 60 through the fabric of the top surface 60, and out of the pocket 38 to below the bottom surface 62 through the fabric of the bottom surface 62. Thus, water such as rain water may avoid becoming trapped within a pocket 38. In addition, air may move between adjacent fabric pockets 38 and into and out of the string 26 through the water permeable fabric 70.
The water permeable fabric 70 is folded over onto itself around multiple coil springs 40. As best shown in
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The longitudinal seam 52 may comprise multiple spaced linear weld segments formed using an ultrasonic welding horn and anvil (not shown) as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,943,173 and 9,968,202 which are fully incorporated by reference herein. At least some of the longitudinal seams 52 of a string may not be segmented or be only partially segmented. For example, the longitudinal seam 52 of a string may not be segmented at all. Each transverse or separating seam 54 may comprise multiple spaced linear weld segments 66 formed using an ultrasonic welding horn and anvil (not shown) to join the opposed sides 48, 50 of the water permeable fabric 70 as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,943,173 and 9,968,202. Again, at least some of the transverse or separating seams 54 of a string may not be segmented or may be only partially segmented. For example, one or more transverse seams 54 of a string may be partially segmented or not be segmented at all.
Although the weld segments in the embodiments shown are illustrated as being heat-welded spaced rectangular-shaped segments, any of the seam segments may be other shapes, such as spaced dots, ovals or triangles of any desired sizes.
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In one embodiment, the fabric material 70 may be a warp knit polyester fabric. More specifically, the fabric material 70 may be a warp knit polyester fabric commercially available from Hanes Industries of Conover, N.C. In one embodiment, the fabric material 70 is a mesh material, such as a fine mesh material. For example, a plurality of fine apertures 82 may be provided throughout the fabric material 70. However, any fabric material 70 that is permeable to water or that is modified to be permeable to water may be used. For example, the fabric material 70 may be any other open knit fabric, or may be a perforated nonwoven material having perforations that are sized to provide water permeability. In addition or alternatively, the fabric material 70 may have limited stretch, such as for containing any preload of the pocketed springs 28.
In the embodiment shown, the cushioning layer 14 and covering material 20 are also constructed of water permeable and/or breathable materials for allowing water such as the water droplets 80 to pass therethrough to assist in allowing water to flow freely into and out of the pockets 38. In this manner, water may freely flow through the entire product 10 without becoming trapped therein.
The various embodiments of the invention shown and described are merely for illustrative purposes only, as the drawings and the description are not intended to restrict or limit in any way the scope of the claims. Those skilled in the art will appreciate various changes, modifications, and improvements which can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details and representative apparatus and methods shown and described. Departures may therefore be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept. The invention resides in each individual feature described herein, alone, and in all combinations of those features. Accordingly, the scope of the invention shall be limited only by the following claims and their equivalents.
