WO2010015023A1

WO2010015023A1 - Shaded seating assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2010015023A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/000990
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nicole Ann Clark; Russell Kevin Clark
Original assignee: Nicole Ann Clark; Russell Kevin Clark
Priority date: 2008-08-04
Filing date: 2009-08-04
Publication date: 2010-02-11

Abstract

A support pouch (11) for an umbrella (22) has a body (12) which is attached to a chair (16), the body including a receptacle (18) for receiving a stem (20) of the umbrella. The receptacle (18) is releasably secured to an upright frame member (26) of the chair (16) when the stem (20) is received therein. This is achieved with a hook and loop fastener arrangement (24) of the pouch (11), in which a first hook and loop strip (28) is releasably secured around an upper portion of the stem (20) when the stem is received in the receptacle (18), and a plurality of other hook and loop strips (30, 32, 34) are releasably secured both around respective lower portions of the stem (20) and around the upright frame member (26). There is so formed a shaded seating assembly (10) of the chair (16), the support pouch (11) attached to the chair, and the umbrella (22), whereby the umbrella (22) provides shade to a person seated in the chair (16).

Description

SHADED SEATING ASSEMBLY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a shaded seating assembly and, in particular, to a chair mounted, support pouch for an umbrella that provides shade to a person seated in the chair.

Although the background, objects and preferred embodiments of the invention will be hereinafter described with reference to a chair mounted, support pouch for an umbrella, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto but has wider application. For example, the support pouch may be mounted to other relaxation items, not just chairs, and may support other structures, not just umbrellas, which are adapted to be located alongside a person seated in the chair or occupying the other relaxation item.

It is to be understood that the terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description only and should not be regarded as limiting. For instance, the terms "comprising" or "comprises" are to be understood as meaning "including", unless otherwise stated.

Also, the term "pouch" is to be understood as including any device, whether or not it is "pouch-like", that can be used to support the weight of an umbrella or other structure and releasably secure that structure to a chair or other relaxation item. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Umbrellas are commonly used to provide protection against the sun and rain. However, there are occasions when a person in need of such protection is seated in a chair and may find it difficult or tiring to hold up an umbrella, particularly when the person is trying to relax or wants to use both hands for some other purpose.

Although the seated person may find someone else to hold up the umbrella for them, this is clearly not ideal. Anchors or weighted devices may be used to plant an umbrella on the ground beside the seated person, but these too are not ideal as it requires a separate device that may eventually be damaged, lost or stolen.

It has been found by the present inventors that a better arrangement would be to have the umbrella held up by the chair itself, in such a way that does not interfere with the use of the chair. For example, an outdoor fold-away chair of the kind used for camping or as a "Director's" chair, should still be relaxing and retain its ease of folding and storage characteristics, despite also being able to hold up an umbrella. Furthermore, such a chair should ideally serve as a weighted device that can provide permanency, for as long as is required, of mounting of the umbrella. As most outdoor chairs have framed structures, at least one upright frame member should be utilized as a mounting counterbalance for a stem of the umbrella, and a receptacle for the stem should be attached to the chair alongside the upright frame member. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a support pouch for an umbrella that can tightly receive the stem of the umbrella and can fasten the so received umbrella to an upright frame member of a chair.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a support pouch for an umbrella that can be permanently attached to a chair, both when the chair is in use and when the chair is not in use, or can be detached from a chair.

It is yet another object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the disadvantages and problems of the aforementioned prior art, or at least provide a useful alternative.

According to the present invention, these and other objects of the invention may be achieved in general by providing a support pouch for an umbrella, comprising a body having attachment means to a chair, receptacle means for receiving a stem of the umbrella, and fastening means for releasably securing the receptacle means to the chair when the stem is received in the receptacle means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shaded seating assembly, comprising a chair, the above described support pouch attached to the chair, and an umbrella having a stem received in the receptacle means which is releasably secured to the chair by the fastening means, the arrangement being such that the umbrella provides shade to a person seated in the chair.

Preferably, the chair includes an upright frame member, and the fastening means releasably secures the receptacle means to the upright frame member.

It is preferred that the fastening means comprise a hook and loop fastener arrangement.

In a preferred form, the attachment means includes an eyelet formed through an upper portion of the body and which is adapted to receive therethrough a shaft of a locking pin assembly.

The receptacle means may be a pocket fabricated of canvas.

The hook and loop fastener arrangement preferably comprises a first hook and loop strip adapted to releasably secure around an upper portion of the stem when received in the receptacle means, and a plurality of other hook and loop strips adapted to releasably secure both around respective lower portions of the stem and around the upright frame member.

In another preferred form, the upright frame member is an exposed vertical bar that is part of the supporting frame of an outdoor fold-away chair, and the support pouch is attached to the chair alongside the upright frame member. There has been thus outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and put into practical effect, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.

There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which the disclosure is based, may be readily utilized as the basis for designing other assemblies and processes for carrying out the objects of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the broad outline of the invention described above be regarded as including such equivalent constructions in so far as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side perspective view of a shaded seating assembly that includes a support pouch for an umbrella, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the support pouch shown in Figure 1 attached to a chair and supporting a stem of the umbrella against an upright frame member of the chair,

Figure 3 is a front view of the shaded seating assembly shown in Fig. 1,

Figure 4 is a front view of a support pouch according to another embodiment of the invention, when at a first step in its production,

Figure 5 is a rear view of the support pouch shown in Fig. 4, when at a second step in its production,

Figure 6 is a front view of the support pouch shown in Fig. 5, when at a third step in its production,

Figure 7 is a front view of the support pouch shown in Fig. 6, when at a fourth step in its production, and

Figure 8 is another front view of the support pouch shown in Fig. 1, together with components of a locking pin assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference now to the above summarized drawings of Figures 1 to 8, a shaded seating assembly 10 that includes an umbrella support pouch 11 embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention will now be described. The support pouch 11 of the shaded seating assembly 10 has a body 12 with attachment means 14 to an outdoor fold-away chair 16. The assembly also includes receptacle means 18 for receiving a stem 20 of a golf umbrella 22, and fastening means 24 for releasably securing the receptacle means to the chair 16 when the stem is received in the receptacle means.

The shaded seating assembly 10 so formed by the chair 16, the above described support pouch 11 attached to the chair, and the umbrella 22 having its stem 20 received in the receptacle means 18 which is releasably secured to the chair by the fastening means 24, is able to provide shade to a person seated in the chair.

The chair 16 has a metallic frame that includes left and right side upright frame members 25, 26, and, in this embodiment, the fastening means 24 releasably secures the receptacle means 18 to the upright frame member 26 by virtue of the support pouch being attached to the chair alongside that frame member 26. In an alternative embodiment, the support pouch is attached to the chair alongside the other frame member 25, and so the fastening means will releasably secure the receptacle means to the upright frame member 25.

The fastening means 24 comprise a hook and loop fastener arrangement in the form of strips of VELCRO (TM). There is a first hook and loop strip 28 adapted to releasably secure around an upper portion of the stem 20 when received in the receptacle means 18, and a plurality of other hook and loop strips 30, 32, 34 adapted to releasably secure around respective lower portions of the upright frame member and so, in turn, support the stem against the upright frame member 26.

In this embodiment, the attachment means 14 includes a metal rimmed eyelet 36 formed through an upper portion of the body 12 and which is adapted to receive therethrough a shaft of a locking pin assembly 38. In an alternative form, the attachment means may be a clasp pin and closure assembly.

In this embodiment, the receptacle means 18 is a pocket fabricated of canvas, with light weight, medium grade canvas being preferred. Alternatively, the pocket may be made of a plastic, textile or other synthetic or semisynthetic material that is, of course, suitable for such use.

The upright frame member 26 is, in this embodiment, an exposed vertical bar that is part of the supporting frame of an outdoor fold-away chair, and the support pouch is attached to the chair alongside the exposed vertical bar.

In order to attach the support pouch to an outdoor fold-away chair made of canvas, a small nail, pin or other piercing tool is used to penetrate the canvas and form a small hole at the top corner of the back of the chair. A locking pin assembly, the components of one example of which are shown in Fig. 8, is then utilized. A shaft 42 of a wide head pin 44 (which may be made of a suitable plastic material) is pushed through the small hole in a direction from the front to the rear of the chair so that it protrudes from the rear. The eyelet 36 through the upper portion of the support pouch is then located around the protruding shaft, with a front side of the pouch facing away from the rear of the chair. The front side of the pouch has the hook and loop strips connected thereto. A centrally apertured cap 46 of the locking pin assembly is then snap engaged to the free end of the shaft, thereby sandwiching the upper portion of the support pouch between the rear of the chair and the cap of the locking pin assembly so as to attach the support pouch to the chair. In another embodiment, a clasp pin and closure assembly may be used instead, or other known locking pin assemblies may be selected for use.

In use, the stem of the golf umbrella is snugly inserted into the pocket 18, and the first hook and loop strip 28 is then tightened around the nearest part of the stem. The forward ends (say, hook ends) of the other three hook and loop strips 30, 32, 34 are subsequently wrapped around respective nearest parts of the adjacent upright frame member and are then returned to their respective rearward ends (say, loop ends) so as to be tightened around those frame member parts.

The combined effect of the umbrella stem being snugly received in the pocket 18 and being tightly received against the upper portion of the support pouch by the hook and loop strip 28, and the pocket 18 being secured (releasably) to the adjacent upright frame member of the chair by the hook and loop strips 30, 32, 34, is to stably and firmly couple the umbrella to the chair, whereby the chair can serve as a weighted device that can provide permanency, for as long as is required, of mounting of the umbrella. When required, the umbrella can be detached from the chair by releasing the hook and loop strips from their tightly fastened positions around both the umbrella stem and the upright frame member, and then sliding the stem out from the pocket.

It will be readily apparent from the above that there are various advantages of the present invention.

It will also be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in details of design and construction of the embodiments of the shaded seating assembly, and in the steps of the process using the assembly described above without departing from the scope or ambit of the present invention.

The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates before the filing date of this patent application.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A support pouch for an umbrella, comprising a body having attachment means to a chair, receptacle means for receiving a stem of the umbrella, and fastening means for releasably securing the receptacle means to the chair when the stem is received in the receptacle means.

2. The support pouch of claim 1 wherein the chair includes an upright frame member, and the fastening means releasably secures the receptacle means to the upright frame member.

3. The support pouch of claim 2 wherein the fastening means comprise a hook and loop fastener arrangement.

4. The support pouch of claim 3 wherein the attachment means includes an eyelet formed through an upper portion of the body and which is adapted to receive therethrough a shaft of a locking pin assembly.

5. The support pouch of claim 4 wherein the receptacle means is a pocket fabricated of canvas.

6. The support pouch of claim 3 wherein the hook and loop fastener arrangement comprises a first hook and loop strip adapted to releasably secure around an upper portion of the stem when received in the receptacle means, and a plurality of other hook and loop strips adapted to releasably secure both around respective lower portions of the stem and around the upright frame member.

7. The support pouch of claim 3 wherein the upright frame member is an exposed vertical bar that is part of the supporting frame of an outdoor fold-away chair, and the support pouch is attached to the chair alongside the upright frame member.

8. A shaded seating assembly, comprising a chair, a support pouch attached to the chair, and an umbrella having a stem received in the support pouch which is releasably secured to the chair, the arrangement being such that the umbrella provides shade to a person seated in the chair.

9. The shaded seating assembly of claim 8 wherein the support pouch comprises a body having attachment means to the chair, receptacle means for receiving the stem of the umbrella, and fastening means for releasably securing the receptacle means to the chair when the stem is received in the receptacle means.

10. The shaded seating assembly of claim 9 wherein the chair includes an upright frame member, and the fastening means releasably secures the receptacle means to the upright frame member.

11. The shaded seating assembly of claim 10 wherein the fastening means comprise a hook and loop fastener arrangement.

12. The shaded seating assembly of claim 11 wherein the attachment means includes an eyelet formed through an upper portion of the body and which is adapted to receive therethrough a shaft of a locking pin assembly.

13. The shaded seating assembly of claim 12 wherein the receptacle means is a pocket fabricated of canvas.

14. The shaded seating assembly of claim 11 wherein the hook and loop fastener arrangement comprises a first hook and loop strip adapted to releasably secure around an upper portion of the stem when received in the receptacle means, and a plurality of other hook and loop strips adapted to releasably secure both around respective lower portions of the stem and around the upright frame member.

15. The shaded seating assembly of claim 11 wherein the upright frame member is an exposed vertical bar that is part of the supporting frame of an outdoor fold-away chair, and the support pouch is attached to the chair alongside the upright frame member.