Inflatable Seating Apparatus
Patent No. US12137806 (titled "Inflatable Seating Apparatus") was filed by Eclipse Business Capital Llc on May 19, 2022.
What is this patent about?
’806 is related to the field of inflatable furniture, specifically seating apparatuses designed for both in-water and on-surface use. Traditional inflatable furniture often lacks rigidity and can only withstand low pressures, limiting their comfort and structural integrity. Existing high-pressure inflatables are typically limited to simple shapes like spheres and cylinders. This patent addresses the need for inflatable seating that can maintain its shape under higher pressures, providing both buoyancy and structural support.
The underlying idea behind ’806 is to use drop-stitch construction in an inflatable chair to achieve a rigid, planar structure capable of withstanding higher pressures (5-15 PSI or more). This allows for the creation of inflatable furniture with complex shapes, such as chairs with armrests and seatbacks, that can be used both in and out of the water. The design incorporates inflatable chambers for buoyancy and structural support, enabling a user to sit comfortably with a portion of the chair submerged.
The claims of ’806 focus on a seating apparatus comprising an inflatable seat-back, a seat-bottom, and an inflatable arm-rest assembly. The arm-rest assembly includes two arm-rests connected by a cross-member, where the cross-member supports the seat-back. Claim 1 further specifies a suspension system using forward and rearward suspension elements to connect the seat-bottom to the armrests and seat-back. Claim 15 focuses on the addition of legs extending downward from the armrests to support the seating apparatus on a surface.
In practice, the invention utilizes the drop-stitch construction to create planar surfaces within the inflatable components, allowing for higher inflation pressures and greater rigidity. The arm-rest assembly, seat-back, and seat-bottom are all designed to be inflatable, providing buoyancy and structural support. The suspension elements in claim 1 provide a flexible connection between the seat-bottom and the other components, enhancing comfort. The legs in claim 15 provide stability when the chair is used on a solid surface.
The key differentiation from prior approaches lies in the combination of drop-stitch construction with a specific chair design. Traditional inflatable chairs lack the rigidity and shape of this design. The use of inflatable legs or a suspension system further distinguishes the invention, providing enhanced stability and comfort compared to simple inflatable structures. The optional magnetic attachments for securing items and the ability to interconnect with modular inflatable platforms add further functionality not found in typical inflatable seating.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical landscape at the time
In the early 2020s when ’806 was filed, inflatable structures were increasingly leveraging advanced materials and manufacturing techniques to achieve higher pressures and more complex geometries, at a time when drop-stitch construction was becoming more prevalent for creating planar surfaces in inflatable products, when systems commonly relied on traditional low-pressure inflatables or rigid materials for buoyant furniture, and when hardware or software constraints made achieving both rigidity and buoyancy in inflatable furniture non-trivial.
Novelty and Inventive Step
The examiner allowed the claims because the prior art did not teach a system where the inflatable platform has a recess extending through its top surface, where the recess includes a bottom surface, and where that bottom surface has a membrane connected to the platform's bottom surface. This combination of features, along with the other claim limitations, was not obvious in light of the prior art.
Claims
This patent contains 19 claims, with claims 1 and 15 being independent. The independent claims are directed to seating apparatuses comprising inflatable components like a seat-back, seat-bottom, and arm-rest assembly. The dependent claims generally add specific features, materials, or configurations to the seating apparatuses described in the independent claims.
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Date
Description
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US12137806
- Application Number
- US17664212
- Filing Date
- May 19, 2022
- Status
- Granted
- Expiry Date
- Nov 22, 2040
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO, Google Patents