Removable car seat protector

Abstract

An automotive vehicle seat cover includes two flexible and springlike forms interconnected with a flexible sheet member which is water and moisture impermeable as well as non-tearable. Optionally, the forms are bent so as to provide concave surfaces facing the underlying seat and backrest for stability and slippage retardation. A still further option, are the provision of tabs for receipt within a space between the seat and backrest fixedly positioning the seat cover in place. The seat cover is fully collapsible to a fraction of its size by bending the forms in a proscribed manner and securing the cover with an attached elastic loop, advantageous for compact storage when not in use.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/421,612, filed Apr. 23, 2003 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a seat cover, and, more particularly, to a seat cover for an automotive vehicle that is impermeable to moisture passing therethrough and damaging the underlying seat, which cover is readily foldable into a compact package for carrying or storage.

2. Description of Related Art

A number of different approaches have been utilized in the past to prevent or reduce the soiling of seating in an automotive vehicle, all of which are accompanied by one or more disadvantages even if they are capable of accomplishing the basic seating protection function. One approach is to make the seating itself of a material that is resistant to soiling and can be readily cleaned which in a sense adopts the philosophy of assuming the seating will become soiled and facilitating the cleaning operation. Of course, cleaning wears out the item cleaned to a certain extent, therefore, the more cleaning the sooner repair and replacement is required. In both housing seating furniture and seating for automotive vehicles, a customary protective technique is to affix “slipcovers” or “seat covers” onto the underlying seating which are intended to remain in covering relation throughout the life of the slipcovers, and which are themselves both expensive and require cleaning. Another approach is to treat seating with certain chemical materials (e.g., so-called Scotchguarding) that provides an outer surface that can be wiped clean rather easily and the underlying seating is preserved at the same time. Still further, there are informal ways of protecting seating by such means as throwing a blanket or the like over the seating which, of course, shifts around during use and forms lumps that may be unpleasant to sit upon, and, of course, will itself in time require cleaning.

The soiling of seating problem is exacerbated by individuals who have been exercising or engaging in sport and then seat themselves without taking any precautions to protect the seating. In such cases, perspiration transferred to the seating may be considerable and can both physically damage the seating as well as provide it with an unpleasant odor. Certain portable seat cushions and covers are known in the prior art (e.g. Heckethorn U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,671, Crane U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,681 and Wittcoff U.S. Pat. No. 1,927,331) but suffer from one or more design deficiencies, including an inability to fully collapse into a small package for storage, the cushion and backrest portions not being durably connected, the cover not covering the entire conventional vehicle seat, the cover not being configured to prevent sideways shifting relative the cushion and backrest, and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object and aim of the present invention is the provision of an improved removable car seat covering means that is light-weight and prevents fluids passing through to the underlying seat.

Another object as in the previous object is the provision of a car seat covering which is relatively rigid in use and easily foldable into a conveniently small package for storage.

Yet another object as in the previous objects is the provision of a seat cover restingly located on an underlying seat and backrest with means for deterring shifting of the seat cover relative to the seat when the weight of an individual is applied to the seat cover.

Another object is the provision in the car seat covering means of tabs for positively locating the seat covering means with respect to the underlying seat and backrest.

Still other objects of the present invention are to provide a durable cover that will withstand wear and tear by the user and bending of the framework for storage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention shown mounted in place on underlying seating;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of an alternative version of seat cover means shown in unstressed condition;

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict perspective and side elevational views of yet another version of the invention with mounting tabs for positively locating the seat covering means on the underlying seat and backrest; and,

FIGS. 5A and B are sectional views taken through edge portions of the forms and flexible covering showing manner of joining.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 7A-C are sectional views taken through edge portions of the alternate embodiment; and,

FIGS. 8A-D are views of the folding and collapsing of the car seat cover into a small package.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning now to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1, there is shown a first embodiment of a seat cover 10 in accordance with the present invention. In its major parts, the seat cover 10 includes first and second substantially identical flexible and springlike forms 12 and 14 of generally circular shape secured to a flexible sheet member 16, which forms are preferably constructed of metal wire bent shape and end-connected by a clamp 17. More particularly, the member 16 is preferably constructed of a material having good moisture impermeability characteristics as well as being relatively non-tearable as will be discussed later.

Turning now to FIG. 5A, which is a sectional view through a wire form in the region at an outer edge of a seat cover 10. The flexible member material is fitted within the wire form and continuously contacting the inner edge of the wire form. An elongated rectangular woven or braided textile strip 18 is folded lengthwise about the enclosed form and member 16. Finally, the strip has its facing edges connected together by sealing and securing means 20 (e.g., continuous line of stitching) that holds the opposed strip edges and member 16 clamped therebetween in a tightly secure manner. This manner of edge securement extends across the opposite outside ends 22, 24 and down the lateral edges 26, 28 to where the respective forms extend laterally and face one another across an extent 30 of the flexible sheet member 16 that is free from the forms and readily bendable along any angular axis.

The strip 18 that has enclosed the outer edge portion of one of the wire forms as just described extends about the edge of the member 16 with sealing and securing means 20 in the extent 30 and beyond to enclose the remaining wire form in the same manner as shown in FIG. 5A. As the forms extend transversely across seat cover spaced from one another by the member extent 30 they are enclosed within the member 16 as shown in FIG. 5B. More particularly, the form is pressed against the flexible member 16 so that the flexible material forms a pocket within which the form rests. Then, a length of strip 18 sandwiches the material 16 about the wire form and the form is secured therewithin by a continuous line of sealing and securing means 20.

The overall dimensions of the seat and adjacent backrest 10 are such as those typically allotted for one person such as driver, for example.

As can be seen best in FIG. 2 and indicated by the curved arrow, the seat cover 10 can be folded onto itself along a fold line 32 extending between and generally parallel to two seat cover portions defined by the two forms forming a smaller overall package for seat cover storage when not in use.

In use, cover 10 is opened up and laid onto the underlying seat 34 and backrest 36 with the extent 30 free from forms being positioned in the so-called biteline of the seat. An individual can now sit on the cover and be assured that the underlying seat and backrest will not be soiled. At the conclusion of use, the cover can be readily lifted off the underlying seat 34 and backrest 36, folded up and stored away in a convenient place. The described invention can be especially advantageously employed by an individual who has just engaged in considerable exercise and desires to protect the underlying seat and backrest from perspiration damage and soiling.

With reference now to FIG. 3, a second embodiment of seat cover 38 is shown which differs from the first embodiment primarily in that the forwardmost side of the form that is typically located under the knees of someone sitting on the seat cover is bent upwardly into a continuous curved configuration when in the unstressed condition with a space D existing between the central lower surface of the seat cover 38 and the underlying vehicle seat 34. When someone sits on the cover, this will tend to flatten the seat out somewhat effecting a gripping action of the underlying vehicle seat to deter relative slippage movement that could require corrective repositioning of the cover 38.

For yet a third embodiment, reference is made to FIGS. 4A and 4B. This embodiment can be applied to either of the first two embodiments already described, and is especially advantageous for use where the underlying seat and backrest are separated by a slight gap. First and second flat and relatively rigid tabs 40 and 42, which can be of identical dimensions and geometry, and preferably with rounded edges 44 to prevent hangup as will made clear, are secured to what is the back outer surface of the flexible sheet member extent 30, one adjacent each opposite side of the cover 10 (or 38). As shown, the tabs in use are inserted between the backrest and underlying seat and serve to hold the described seat cover in place during use.

Turning now to FIG. 5B, the manner of securing the flexible material 16 and braid 18 about a form 12 or 14 immediately adjacent the central extent 30 is shown. More particularly, the flexible material 16 is wrapped completely about the enclosed form and the braid 18 is sandwiched about the material 16 and form 12, 14 and secured by, say, a line of stitching 46. This enclosing method by the braid extends substantially across the full width of the extent 30 for each of the forms 12, 14. The outer peripheral edge of the described seat cover is enclosed by the braid as shown in FIG. 5A.

Now referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, an alternate embodiment 110 is shown including flexible and springlike forms 112, 114 of a rectangular cross section. The short side of the rectangle is preferably along the bottom or aft side of the cover 110 which bears against the top or front surface of the cushion 34 and backrest 36. The rectangular cross section and its orientation are such that bending tends to take place first along the thinner cross section of the form 112, 114 which controls the manner of collapsing the cover 110 for storage as will be described below. The orientation with the short edge of the rectangular cross section along the bottom or back of the cover 110 also tends to keep the cover 110 in place by inhibiting front/back and up/down movement, as well as sideways shifting, as the short side of the rectangle tends to slightly dig into the cushion 34 or backrest 36.

The generally rectangular flexible sheet member 116 is connected to the forms 112, 114 by a strip 18 folded about and secured by a continuous line of stitching 20 or other means of attachment (FIG. 7B). The centrally-located region 130 of the flexible material 116 is free from the forms 112, 114 and foldable without any resistance, and is similarly secured to the forms 112, 114 (FIG. 7A) and about its edges (FIG. 7C) by the strip 18 and preferably continuous stitching 20. These connections hold the two forms 112, 114 and central region 130 of the flexible material (absent the forms 112, 114) durably together, providing a long life for the cover 110 despite the repeated applied loads by the user including repeated bending loads in collapsing the cover 110 for storage and unfolding of the same as described below.

Next referring to FIG. 8 the steps involved and ultimate collapsibility of the alternate embodiment 110 is shown. First the cover 110 is folded in half such that the forms 112, 114 are together (FIG. 8A), then opposite portions of the forms 112, 114 held together and twisted in opposite directions (FIG. 8B), then the folded and twisted cover 110 folded in half again (FIG. 8C), and finally an attached elastic loop 150 secured around the collapsed cover 110 (FIG. 8D). The end result is a small, multi-layer package less than about {fraction (1/16)}^th the overall area of the fully deployed car seat cover 110. Advantageously, this small package is convenient for selling the seat cover 110 without taking up a lot of retail shelf space or for shipping the product in a small box only a fraction of its deployed size. To deploy the cover 110, one merely releases the elastic loop 150 and the cover 112 springs to half its size, and then the cover 112 is unfolded and placed against a vehicle seat and is ready to use.

Although the invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that those skilled in the appertaining arts may make changes coming within the spirit of the invention as described within the ambit of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat cover comprising:

first and second forms each folded upon itself in a closed generally circular path of a first area;

a generally rectangular flexible sheet member constructed of a liquid permeable material and having an area about 2-½ times the first area;

first means for securing the sheet member to the first and second forms including an elongate strip folded onto itself with two facing sides received about the forms; and

second means for securing the first means to the sheet member in enclosing relation about the forms;

the first and second forms being located on the sheet member in a substantially spaced apart relation with a centrally located region of the sheet member being free of the forms;

the forms constructed of a flexible, springlike material such that the forms may be bent into a multi-layered package less than about ⅛th the first area for storage when not in use.

2. The seat cover of claim 1 wherein the forms are of a generally rectangular cross section

3. The seat cover of claim 2 wherein the form is oriented such that a short side of the rectangle is along the bottom side of the seat cover.

4. A seat cover as in claim 1, in which each of the forms includes a first side that extends transversely of a user and which are located respectively approximately under the knees of the user and a second side located opposite the shoulder blades during use, said first and second sides being convexly curved away from the seat and backrest between the user's hips and shoulders when unstressed and substantially flat and uncurved when sat and leaned upon.

5. A seat cover as in claim 1, in which spacer guide means are affixed to the centrally located region of the sheet member facing generally toward the seat and backrest in use for removably positioning the seat cover on the seat and retarding slippage.

6. A seat cover as in claim 4, in which the spacer guide means include first and second tabs that are received in the biteline between the backrest and the seat.

7. A seat cover as in claim 2, in which each of the first and second forms is constructed of a length of spring wire bent into desired shape with the opposite ends thereof brought close together, and a clamp is secured about the end portions of the bent wire holding them unitarily together.