Chair heating / cooling attachment

Abstract

A chair attachment for enclosing a source of warm or cool air beneath the chair includes a skirt for surrounding the legs and back of the chair. The skirt includes a front flap, side walls and a rear wall spaced apart from the chair back connected to the back edges of the side walls. The height of the rear wall is greater than that of the side walls for extending upwardly from the bottom of the side walls to the top of the chair back. Vents between the sides of the chair seat and the side walls and between the chair back and the rear wall of the attachment permit hot or cold air to flow from beneath the chair upwardly creating walls of warm or cold air around the sides and back of a person sitting in the chair.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a chair heating/cooling attachment, and in particular to an attachment for a chair for enclosing a source of heat or cold beneath the chair seat and venting hot or cold air around an occupant of the chair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The attachment of the present invention is intended for outdoor use on a patio or deck or close to a campfire. In cool weather, sitting near a source of heat results in warming of the front of the body only. According to one aspect of this invention, the attachment for a chair encloses the entire area beneath the chair seat. A source of heat or cool air is placed in the enclosed area. Ventilating openings between the attachment and the seat and backrest of the chair permit hot air to rise upwardly along each side of the seat and along the backrest for heating the occupant of the chair. At the same time the chair seat is heated by radiant heat. Likewise, a cooling medium such as ice can be placed in the enclosed area beneath the seat to cool the person on the chair, and the attachment will retain cooled air beneath the chair seat and around the back of the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In its simplest form, the attachment of the present invention includes a skirt defined by a pair of side walls for extending between the front and rear legs of a chair; a rear wall connecting the back edges of the side panels, the rear wall having a height sufficient to extend from the ground to proximate the top of the chair back; and a front flap permanently connected to the front edge of one side wall and releasably connected to the front edge of the other side wall, whereby the skirt can enclose an area beneath the chair and, when a source of heat is placed in said area, the heat can rise through vents between the sides and rear of the seat and the side and back walls of the skirt, and between the front of the seat and the flap to warm the occupant of the chair.

In a second embodiment of the attachment, the rear edges of the side walls have the same height as the rear wall and the front edges of the side walls have the same height as the flap. When the attachment is mounted on a chair, the side walls extend upwardly beyond the chair arms to retain the heat around the body of a chair occupant for a longer period of time.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the top free end of the rear side of the attachment is permanently connected to a collapsible chair using rivets or other connectors, and a pair of flaps are connected to the front edge of the seat. The flaps can be folded away from each other to permit access to the area beneath the chair seat. The result is a collapsible chair comprising a skeletal, foldable frame, a flexible, one-piece seat and back mounted on said frame, and an attachment for facilitating heating or cooling of an occupant of the chair including a skirt for extending around the legs of the chair to define an enclosed area beneath the seat, the skirt including a pair of side walls, a rear wall and a front flap permitting access to the area beneath the seat, the rear wall having a height greater than the height of the side walls and flap for extending upwardly to proximate the top of the chair back, whereby, when the side walls are connected to the chair arms and the top of the rear wall is connected to the top of the chair back at spaced apart locations, and a source of heat or cold is placed beneath the chair seat, hot or cold air can flow upwardly through vents between the chair and the attachment to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, and wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are isometric views of an attachment in accordance with the invention mounted on a collapsible chair;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of the attachment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the attachment of FIG. 3 mounted on a collapsible chair;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the attachment and chair of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the attachment of FIG. 3 mounted on a collapsible chair with a vented seat and back; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are schematic, isometric views of the attachment of FIG. 3 mounted on a fixed frame, non-collapsible chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an attachment in accordance with the invention on an off-the-shelf collapsible chair of the type including a frame defined by tubular front and rear legs 1 and 2, respectively and diagonal struts 3, which are pivotally interconnected to each other and to the legs 1 and 2 for rotation between a collapsed condition and the erect condition shown in FIG. 2. Feet 4 are pivotally connected to the bottom ends of the legs 1 and 2, and the struts 3 for supporting the chair in the erect condition. A one-piece combination seat 6 and back 7 are connected to the front struts 3 which extend upwardly through the front corners of the seat 6 to the front ends of the armrests 9. The rear ends of the armrests 9 are connected to the rear legs 2, which extend upwardly above the level of seat 7 in the erect condition of the chair.

In its simplest form, the attachment is a one-piece flexible skirt formed of a fire resistant fabric. The skirt includes side walls 11 and 12, a rear wall 13, and a front flap 14 connected to the front edge of one side wall 11. The top ends of the side walls are connected to the chair armrests by rivets 15. The flap 14, which forms a continuation of the side wall 11 (FIG. 1), can be rotated between a closed position (FIG. 1) and an open position (FIG. 2) permitting access to the area beneath the chair seat. Velcro® strips 17 and 18 on the front end of the side wall 12 and the free end 17 of the flap 14 are used to releasably retain the flap 14 in the closed position. The rear wall 13 has a height approximately equal to that of the chair seat 7. The rear wall 13 is connected to the top of the seat by spaced apart rivets 19.

When the attachment is mounted on a chair, the side walls 11 and 12 in combination with the rear wall 13 and the flap 14 surround an area beneath the seat 6. There are two vents 20 between the sides of the seat 6 and the side walls 11 and 12, and vents 21 at the top ends of the chair back 7 and the rear wall 13 between the rivets 19. The vents 20 extend along the sides of the seat 6 and part way up the sides of the chair back 7. When a source of heat is placed in the area surrounded by the skirt, heat rises to form walls of hot air on each side of the seat 6 and in the area between the chair back 7 and the rear wall 13. Heat is also vented through the gap between the front edge of the seat 6 and the top of the flap 14.

There are many possible sources of heat which can be placed beneath the chair including heated rocks or bricks and hot embers. Placing the embers in a cast iron frying pan heats the pan, which retains the heat for a lengthy period of time. When the attachment is used near a source of electricity, a light bulb can be used as a source of heat. A block of ice makes a good source of cool air.

With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, in a second embodiment of the invention, the side walls 11 and 12 include generally triangular top ends 23 extending upwardly beyond the armrests 9 of the chair. The front corners of the side walls 11 and 12 are connected to the front ends of the chair arms 9 by rivets 25. The top ends 23 retain columns of hot air within the confines of the device for a longer period of time. Also, the front flap 14 of the first embodiment is replaced with a pair of flaps 26, which form extensions of the side walls 11 and 12. The flaps 26 are connected to the front of the chair seat 6 by rivets 28.

As shown in FIG. 6 the second embodiment of the device can be used with good results on a chair having vents 29 and 30 in the seat 6 and the back 7, respectively.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate the use of a device similar to the device of FIGS. 1 and 2 on a non-collapsible chair 32 such as a plastic lawn chair. The device is attached to the chair seat 6, back 7 and armrests 9 by any suitable means such as adhesive or adhesive tape.

It is also possible to omit the front flap or flaps, i.e. to use a skirt which includes side walls and a rear wall only when the source of hot or cold air is external. When there is no front flap heat from a campfire or other source enters the area beneath the chair. The chair seat is heated by radiant heat, and hot air flows upwardly through the vents as described above.

Finally, a skirt as defined above can be placed inside of the skeletal frame. In this embodiment of the invention, the side walls and rear walls extend upwardly and out of the frame to the chair arms and back, respectively.

Claims

1. An attachment for facilitating heating or cooling of an occupant of a chair having a seat, back, spaced apart legs extending downwardly from the seat, and arms extending outwardly and downwardly to the front of the seat comprising:

a skirt for defining an at least partially enclosed area beneath the seat, the skirt including a pair of side walls and a rear wall, the rear wall having a height greater than the height of the side walls for extending upwardly to proximate the top of the chair back;

whereby, when the side walls are connected to the chair arms and the top of the rear wall is connected to the top of the chair back at spaced apart locations, and a source of heat or cold is placed beneath the chair seat, hot or cold air can flow upwardly through vents between the chair and the attachment to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.

2. The attachment of claim 1, wherein said skirt includes a front flap for permitting access to the area beneath the seat.

3. The attachment of claim 2, wherein the side walls include triangular upper ends with rear ends having the same height as the rear wall, and front ends having the same height as the flap.

4. An attachment for facilitating heating or cooling of an occupant of a chair having a seat, back, spaced apart legs extending downwardly from the seat, and arms extending outwardly and downwardly to the front of the seat comprising:

a skirt for extending around the legs of the chair to define an enclosed area beneath the seat, the skirt including a pair of side walls, a rear wall, and a front flap permitting access to the area beneath the seat, the rear wall having a height greater than the height of the side walls and flap for extending upwardly to proximate the top of the chair back;

whereby, when the side walls are connected to the chair arms and the top of the rear wall is connected to the top of the chair back at spaced apart locations, and a source of heat or cold is placed beneath the chair seat, hot or cold air can flow upwardly through vents between the chair and the attachment to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.

5. The attachment of claim 4 wherein the side walls include triangular upper ends with rear ends having the same height as the rear wall, and front ends having the same height as the flap.

6. A collapsible chair comprising a skeletal, foldable frame, a flexible, one-piece seat and back mounted on said frame, and an attachment for facilitating heating or cooling of an occupant of the chair including a skirt for extending around the legs of the chair to define an enclosed area beneath the seat, the skirt including:

a pair of side walls connected at front edges to the sides of the chair seat, a rear wall and a front flap permitting access to the area beneath the seat, the rear wall having a height greater than the height of the side walls and the flap for extending upwardly to proximate the top of the chair back and the rear wall having a top edge connected to the seat back at spaced apart locations,

whereby, a source of heat or cold is placed beneath the chair seat, hot or cold air can flow upwardly through vents between the chair and the skirt to heat or cool an occupant of the chair.