US20060255648A1

US20060255648A1 - Breast/storage cavity 1

Info

Publication number: US20060255648A1
Application number: US11/129,726
Authority: US
Inventors: Catalina Fleites
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-05-16
Filing date: 2005-05-16
Publication date: 2006-11-16

Abstract

A portable, foldable or stationary lounger or chair is comprised of a rectangular frame and cover. The frame includes 3 sections, a section for the upper torso, seat and section for legs. The cover is composed of a fabric material firm enough to support the weight of a large person. The section of the lounger or chair that supports the upper torso or the section for legs, alternatively provides a horizontal rectangular opening with a recessed fabric cavity sewn to the seams of said opening. The cavity opening also has a fabric flap sewn to the upper horizontal edge of the cavity opening. The adjacent sides of the flap are secured with any fastener such as Velcro™ and the corresponding edges of the opening of the cavity are also lined with any fastener such as Velcro™. When the flap is open and the cavity is exposed it allows for a woman to lie on her stomach with her breasts resting within the provided cavity. When the flap is closed and secured by the fastener such as Velcro™, it allows for a loose item storage area and a continuous flat surface to lay on ones back.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention related to a breast/storage cavity, a modification to existing loungers. The invention provides a modification which allows a woman or man to lie face down with her/his stomach against the lounger with a woman's breast within the provided cavity. A secondary benefit is a loose item storage cavity and facial support opening for use by male users of the lounger who have no need for a breast cavity.
2. Description of Prior Art
Loungers, including those that are portable or foldable, are known in prior art. More specifically, the modification is a breast/storage cavity provided in the section of the lounger used the support the upper torso or the section that is used to place the lower body or legs, alternatively. This cavity/storage space allows for a woman or man to lie prone with her/his stomach against the lounger and woman's breasts resting within the provided cavity.
A variety of human body supporting apparatus, including maternity cots and mattresses have been described which are formed with recesses, depressions, cavities or openings to accommodate the abdomen of a pregnant woman with facial openings. The disadvantages of some of these cots or mattresses are they don't accommodate solely the breasts and face. It is often difficult for a woman to lie prone on her stomach due to the discomfort caused by having her breasts pressed against her upper body by the rigid surface on which she is resting. The pressure applied to her breasts by a rigid surface may be particularly uncomfortable for women whose breasts are extra sensitive, such as women with breast implants, naturally full breasts, naturally sensitive breasts or mastectomies.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,301 issued May 1990 to Haynes describes a maternity lounger that has an upper panel of elastic stretching material for expandable support of the abdomen. U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,034 issued July 2003 Nations reveal a prone pregnancy lounger allowing a pregnant woman to lie prone providing an expandable cavity for her abdomen. U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,449 issued March 1995 to Satto discloses a prone pregnancy cushion. While these inventions fulfill particular objectives, the aforesaid patents do not describe a cavity allowing a non-pregnant woman to lie prone with her breasts supported or otherwise comfortably accommodated within a cavity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,061 issued on February 1998 discloses a female anatomical mattress comprised of air chambers and a cavity on the mattress to enable woman to lie on her stomach with her breasts in the cavity.
There is an unmet need for a breasts/storage cavity modification to human body supporting apparatus', including loungers and chairs which helps in reducing the compression on a woman's breasts, strained on her back, neck strain and affords a flap to close the opening of the cavity to enable a person to lie on their back, while offering an efficient storage space and functional use of the lounger by a man.
The design of the breast/storage cavity provides a canvas or synthetic material fabric flap cover secured with a hook-and-loop type fastener such as that sold under the trade name Velcro™ or any other type of method used to secure the fabric to cover the cavity which allows for one to lay comfortably on his/her back. The cavity could also be used to store items of the lounger is being used by a man who has no need for the breast cavity which departs substantially from the prior descriptions of the other mentioned inventions.
The breast/storage cavity can be incorporated into any variety of portable, foldable or stationary lounger or chair. The prior art demonstrates the use of the breast/storage cavity on a foldable lounger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, a combination of breast/storage cavity, a modification to the lounger, substantially alleviates the inconvenience and discomfort caused by the compression to the female breasts associated with existing loungers. The said cavity space allows for storage of loose items such as keys, wallet, bottles, lotion etc.
The lounger is comprised of a frame and a fabric cover. The fabric cover consists of sturdy enough material to support the weight of a large person. The breasts/storage cavity is a modification to the portion of the lounger or chair used to support the upper torso or lower portion of the body, alternatively. This section provides a horizontal rectangular opening with a recessed fabric cavity sewn to the seams of said opening. The cavity could be constructed of elastic stretch fabric, netting, canvass or synthetic material fabric. The opening also has a fabric flap sewn to the upper or lower horizontal edge. The adjacent sides of the flap are secured by any fastener such as Velcro™ and the corresponding edges of the opening of the cavity are also secured by any fastener such as Velcro™. When the flap is open and the cavity exposed it allows for a woman to lay on her stomach with her breasts supported or otherwise accommodated in the cavity. When the flap is closed and secured by any fastener such as a Velcro™ closure, it allows for a storage area and a continuous flat surface to lay on ones back. The fabric of the flap would be generally of the same material of the cover fabric of the lounger that would support the weight of a large person.
The primary function of the breast/storage cavity and facial support opening is to reduce or eliminate breast compression while lying face down on the surface of a lounger or chair. As a means of relief women often contort their bodies to try to compensate for the pressure applied to their breasts resulting in stain of the spinal cord. Neck strain could also be alleviated by the facial support opening because it gives a person the ability to maintain spinal alignment. The present invention provides a useful change to the existing invention of the lounger by affording relief to the breasts from the pressure of the body weight and subsequent back strain and relief from the neck strain from having to twist a person's head to lie down. The breast storage cavity provides the comfort to women not previously afforded by the rigid and nonconforming style of the previous designs of loungers. An added benefit is the extra storage space afforded by closing the flap making the invention useful to both women and men.
It is another objective of the breast/storage cavity is to provide a new and improved female friendly lounger made of quality construction.
An added benefit of the combination breast/storage cavity when in the flap closed position it allows a storage area for loose items such as keys, wallets, lotion, bottles etc. for use by men.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1—is a side view of the invention
FIG. 2—is a view of the embodiment with the flap open
FIG. 3—is a side view of the invention with the flap open
FIG. 3 a—is a sectioned side view of the invention with the flap tucked inside the storage cavity
FIG. 4—is a perspective of the invention on a lounger

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention, breast/storage cavity is demonstrated in FIGS. 1-4. Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 4, there is shown a lounger. The lounger could be of any number of types of loungers and for demonstration purposes is illustrated as being a foldable lounger as such as is frequently utilized for outdoor activities. The lounger provides a frame of several basic structural elements 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. (1) Frame constructed of any rigid material such as plastic, aluminum, wood, steel etc. (2) fabric covering of the frame allowing support of a person laying or sitting on said lounger, (3) arm rest made of rigid material such as plastic, aluminum, wood, steel etc. (4) legs to support the frame of the lounger above the ground, (5) leg support for the arm rests when engaged in the upright position, (6) hinges allowing the illustrated lounger to fold and the legs retract.
The breast/storage cavity consists of a recessed cavity (8) located in the section of the lounger being used to support the upper torso or the section that supports to lower extremities demonstrated in FIG. 1 comprised of a sturdy fabric material surrounded all 4 sides of the cavity with an equally durable fabric cover flap (7). The flap (7) is stitched to the upper horizontal edge of the cavity opening for demonstration purposes but could also be stitched to the lower horizontal edge, alternatively. The adjacent 3 sides are lined with any fastener such as Velcro™ (9) surrounding the outer edge of the flap. The corresponding edges of the opening of the cavity (9 a) are also lined with a fastener such as Velcro™ as demonstrated in FIG. 2. The fastener such as Velcro™ allows for opening and closing of the cavity.
FIG. 3 is a side perspective of the cavity with a view of the flap (7 a) on the open position. FIG. (3 a) is a sectioned side perspective of the cavity with the flap (7 a) tucked on allowing a woman to lie on her stomach with her breasts in the provided cavity.
FIG. 4 is a front full view perspective of a foldable lounger with the breast/storage cavity.

Claims

1. A storage compartment integrated into a chair in the section used to support the upper torso and head, commonly known as the backrest or footrest, if so desired. The section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively, having an opening extending therethrough, the storage compartment comprising:

a main body having a concave interior surface and a periphery attached to a rear surface of the section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively, about the section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively, opening to define a storage compartment cavity; and

a flap attached to an upper surface of the section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively, at least a portion of the flap incorporating releasable attachment means for enabling selective covering of the storage compartment cavity to form an interior storage space.

2. A storage compartment as recited in claim 1, wherein the main body is particularly sized and shaped to comfortably accommodate a woman's breasts when the flap is in an opened position.

3. A storage compartment as recited in claim 2, wherein the main body has an interior surface generally shaped to complement the corresponding general anatomical shape of a woman's breasts.

4. A storage compartment as recited in claim 1, wherein the main body and flap are constructed from a flexible fabric.

5. A storage compartment as recited in claim 4, wherein said flexible fabric further comprises of one of a natural fiber, a synthetic fiber, and a blended fabric.

6. A storage compartment as recited in claim 4, wherein said flexible fabric further comprises netting.

7. A storage compartment as recited in claim 4, wherein said flexible fabric further comprises a resilient fabric.

8. A storage compartment as recited in claim 1, wherein the periphery of the storage compartment main body is stitched directly to the section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively, of said chair.

9. A storage compartment as recited in claim 1, wherein the storage compartment flap has a portion of its periphery permanently stitched to the upper surface of the section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively, the flap further comprising releasable attachment means disposed along at least a portion of its periphery for cooperating with corresponding releasable attachment means disposed on the upper surface of said section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively.

10. A storage compartment as recited in claim 9, wherein said releasable attachment means further comprises one half of a hook-and-loop fastener system disposed on said flap and the other half of the hook-and-loop fastener system disposed on the upper surface of the chair section that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the legs, alternatively.

11. A storage compartment as recited in claim 9, wherein said releasable attachment means further comprise mechanical snaps.

12. A storage compartment as recited in claim 1, wherein said flap is configured such that said flap lies substantially flush with the front surface of said section of the lounger that supports the upper torso or lower section that supports the lower extremities, alternatively, when the flap is in a closed position.