US20030011233A1

US20030011233A1 - Chaise lounge

Info

Publication number: US20030011233A1
Application number: US09/903,513
Authority: US
Inventors: Lausan Liu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-07-13
Filing date: 2001-07-13
Publication date: 2003-01-16

Abstract

An improved chaise lounge comprises a frame resting on the ground surface for supporting human weight and a pad for people to sit or lie thereon. The frame and pad have respectively at least one fastening section formed at a location matching each other. The fastening sections are coupled by an elastic element. The elastic element provides elastic force to give people of different weights more comfortable feeling when sitting or lying on the pad.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an chaise lounge and particularly a chaise lounge that has elastic elements to couple the frame and the pad for providing desired elastic forces according to people's weights to give people more comfort when sitting or lying thereon.

Conventional chaise lounges (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) generally has a pad A with two ends each encasing a rod B and having a plurality of notches C formed on the encased section. The rod B at the notches C engages with a plurality of anchor hooks D which have another end formed respectively a fastening hook H to engage with an aperture F formed on the frame G (FIG. 2 shows another embodiment which has another end of the anchor hook D formed a fastening section E soldering to the frame G). Through the fastening of the anchor hooks D, the pad A may be secured to the frame G for supporting people, either sitting or lying. However the construction set forth above have disadvantages, notably:

1. People have different weights. The pad A thus receives different loading when different people sitting or lying thereon. As the anchor hook D does not has elasticity but has a fixed length, the pad A is restricted to a fixed inclining angle when subject to a weight. It cannot offer same degree of comfort to people when supporting people of different weights.

2. The assembly of the anchor hook D is difficult. As the frame G, pad A and rod B are made separately, when there is dimensional variation, the fastening of the anchor hook D will become too loose if the tolerance is too small, or unfastenable if the gap between the components is too large. Users generally cannot detect such kinds of problems or defects until after buying and trying to assemble at home. To fix the problems, the vendors or producers have to provide extra or replacement of the anchor hooks D after receiving users' complaints or returns. It incurs additional production costs. As the chain type anchor hook cannot adjust the size based on the actual dimensional variations, it does not offer effective solution to resolve this problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to resolve the foregoing disadvantages. The invention aims at providing elastic elements to couple the lounge frame and pad so that there are elastic forces to support people of different weights and to give people more comfortable feeling when sitting or lying on the chaise lounge. Moreover, the elastic elements may offset the dimensional tolerances easily and make assembly much simpler.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. [0006]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a coupling means for a conventional chaise lounge. [0007]
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another coupling means for a conventional chaise lounge. [0008]
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention. [0009]
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary exploded view of the present invention. [0010]
FIGS. 5A and 5B are fragmentary schematic views of the invention in use. [0011]
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the invention. [0012]
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of yet another embodiment of the invention.[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the chaise lounges may have different types of [0014] frames 1 and pads 2, FIGS. 3 and 7 show two different frames 1, 1′ and pads 2, 2′ as embodiment examples. The chaise lounge according to the invention mainly includes a frame 1 resting on the ground surface for supporting human weight and a pad 2 for people to sit or lie thereon. The frame 1 has at least one first fastening section 11, and the pad 2 has at least one second fastening section 22 corresponding to the first fastening sections 11. The first and second fastening section 11 and 22 are coupled by an elastic element 3 (a spring is used in the embodiments). The elastic force of the elastic element 3 will give people of different weights more comfortable feeling when sitting or lying thereon.
The [0015] frame 1 includes two support legs 12 and two support bars 13 mounting respectively at two ends of the support legs 12. The first fastening section 11 may be a lug integrally formed on the support bar 13, or soldered or screwed to the support bar 13. The pad 2 includes a pad fabric 23 which has two ends each encasing a rod 21. The second fastening section 22 may be integrally formed on the rod 21, or soldered or screwed to the rod 21. The number of the fastening sections 11, 22 and elastic elements 3 may be changed and adjusted based on the required elastic force of the chaise lounge. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the front and rear support bar 13 and rod 21 have respectively two sets of fastening sections 11 and 22 to couple with the elastic elements 3. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the frame 1′ is shaped in a different configuration. It has a front support bar 13 and rod 21′ with two sets of fastening sections 11′ and 22′ extending therefrom for coupling with elastic elements 3. The pad fabric 23′ has another end directly encased a rear support bar 13 of the frame 1′.
Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, when to assemble the [0016] pad 2 and the frame 1, first engage a hook 31 or 32 located at one end of the elastic member 3 with an aperture 111 formed on the first fastening section 11 of the frame 1 or an aperture 221 formed on the second fastening section 22 of the pad 2, then stretch the elastic element 3 slightly to engage the hook 32 or 31 at another end of the elastic element 3 with the aperture 221 or 111 on the fastening section 22 or 11 of the pad 2 or frame 1. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment variation in which the fastening sections 14 and 211 are directly formed on the frame 1 and pad 2 to engage with the hooks 32 and 31 of the elastic element 3 for completing the assembly of the pad 2 and frame 1.
As the [0017] pad 2 is coupled to the frame 1 through the elastic elements 3, when an user sitting or lying on the pad 2, the pad 2 sinks downwards under the weight of the user, and the elastic elements 3 will be stretched to allow the pad 2 to form an angle giving the user more comfortable sitting or lying support (as shown in FIG. 5B). When the user moves away from the pad 2, the restoring force of the elastic elements 3 will return the elastic elements 3 to their original compression positions. Hence when people of different weights sitting or lying on the pad 2, the chaise lounge of the invention will respond with different elastic force and gives people more comfortable support and feeling.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiment thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. [0018]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An improved chaise lounge, comprising:

a frame resting on ground surface for supporting human weight and having at least a first fastening section;

a pad for people to sit or lie thereon having at least a second fastening section matching the first fastening section; and

at least one elastic element coupling the first fastening section and the second fastening section to provide an elastic force for giving people of different weights more comfortable feeling when sitting or lying on the pad.

2. The improved chaise lounge of claim 1, wherein the first and second fastening section are extending lugs integrally formed with the frame and the pad, the fastening sections having respectively an apertures formed thereon for engaging with hooks formed at two ends of the elastic element.

3. The improved chaise lounge of claim 1, wherein the first and second fastening section are matching apertures formed respectively on the frame and the pad for engaging with hooks formed at two ends of the elastic element.