WO2022064135A1

WO2022064135A1 - Inflatable piece of furniture in one piece with a drop stitch structure

Info

Publication number: WO2022064135A1
Application number: PCT/FR2021/051620
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johannes FAURE-BRAC
Original assignee: Airmaan
Priority date: 2020-09-24
Filing date: 2021-09-22
Publication date: 2022-03-31
Also published as: FR3114228A1

Abstract

A piece of furniture, such as an armchair, is manufactured in one piece by inflating an envelope closed in a sealed manner at two main walls (1) connected at their periphery to form the envelope with a drop stitch structure (3), from which a region of one of the walls (1) of the envelope is cut to form a bend edge, material is removed from the drop stitch structure (3) at the bent edge such that it is possible to exert bending stress on the envelope when inflated, and the edges (1') are connected at the bent edge to close the envelope in a sealed manner.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Title: Element of inflatable furniture in a single piece of structure with launched point Technical field

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a piece of furniture in one piece by inflating an envelope, and a piece of furniture, such as an armchair or a sofa obtained by the method.

Prior technique

It is known to manufacture inflatable products with a drop-stitch structure, better known by an Anglo-Saxon name “drop-stitch”, such as mattresses, box springs or cushions.

These products consist of a material illustrated in Figure IB, it comprises two main walls 1 connected along their periphery, by a glued or welded attached wall, to form a slice 2 so as to obtain a sealed sealed envelope. Between the two walls 1, threads 3 are woven and are arranged so as to be regularly spaced. A pressurized gas inlet valve 4 is arranged on one of the main walls 1 or on the edge 2 so as to be able to inflate or deflate the product. This material makes it possible, once under air pressure, to create a flat surface limited by the length of the wires 3, which is rigid, very solid and resistant.

Products made with this material can have different thicknesses and have the advantage of being able to be inflated at high pressure.

Documents EP0678263, GB2519528 describe such inflatable mattresses with a launched point structure. FIG. 1B can represent part of a mattress, for example.

These products are interesting for storage or transport because they are particularly light, foldable and not bulky once deflated. In addition, they can be used indoors or outdoors, especially when the envelope is waterproof. It is known that the storage of garden furniture during the winter, for example, is constraining due to a lack of space. Currently, to create complex shapes with this type of material, several independent inflatable elements of a thrown point structure are attached to each other.

The document EP2502780 describes an inflatable car seat for a child with several independent parts: a seat part, a backrest part, two side parts, the independent parts being interconnected to each other by welding for example.

Document US 2020/0107640 describes an element of furniture with several independent inflatable parts having an internal structure with a launched point, the parts being assembled together using “Velcro” type fasteners to form the element of furniture.

Thus, it is not possible to obtain complex shapes from a single inflatable envelope with a throw point structure without exerting considerable stress, such as strong bending / tension to form an angle once the envelope is inflated. , such as for example an armchair with an angle formed between a seat and a backrest.

In order to meet the demand for the development of furniture elements in a single piece by inflating an envelope, manufacturers are seeking to modify the structure of a material with a thrown point structure in order to create a shape with any any desired angle on any location of the envelope so as to reveal a shape with curved or angular volumes once the envelope is inflated.

Disclosure of the Invention

The object of the invention is to propose a new process for manufacturing a piece of furniture in a single piece by inflation of an envelope, and a piece of furniture, such as an armchair obtained by the process.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a method for manufacturing a piece of furniture in a single piece by inflating an envelope, comprising the following steps: -the supply of an inflatable envelope closed in a sealed manner, the casing comprising two main walls interconnected along their peripheral edges by a lateral partition to form the casing with a drop stitch structure arranged between the internal faces opposite the walls so as to interconnect the walls, the cutout of at least one zone of one of the walls of the envelope,

- the removal of material from the drop stitch structure at the level of the at least one cut-out zone, characterized in that the cut is made between two opposite edges of one of the walls to make a folding edge on the envelope, in that the shrinkage of material from the launched point structure consists of a shrinkage at the level of the folding edge so as to be able to exert a folding constraint of the envelope on itself according to a certain angle at the level of the folding edge when the envelope is inflated, and in that a connection of the edges of the wall created by the cutout is made at the level of the folding edge to maintain the folding constraint and close the envelope so waterproof.

According to the method, the connection of the edges created by the cutout at the level of the folding edge can be made by a welding of the wall at the level of the cutout zone or by the application of at least one added strip which is glued or welded to connect the edges created by the cutout at the folding edge and at the side wall to seal the envelope. The method can also comprise the cutting of several zones of one of the walls of the envelope to make several folding edges.

The present invention also relates to a piece of furniture such as an inflatable armchair obtained by the method of the present invention, in which the casing may comprise a valve for the introduction of a pressurized gas, to inflate the armchair.

According to the invention, it is possible to modify the structure of an envelope with a launched point structure by creating one or more folding edges so as to be able to manufacture a piece of furniture in a single piece of complex shape with one or more angles formed with less stress once the piece of furniture is inflated, and so so as to create new structural possibilities.

Only one of the main walls of the envelope may be cut into one or more areas and the edges of the cut areas will be connected so as to create one or more folding edges to create curved volumes and maintain less angular stress when inflated and to close the envelope tightly.

Advantageously, such a method makes it possible to obtain complex volumes rapidly inflated from a single envelope, stable and capable of withstanding very high internal pressures.

A piece of furniture, such as an inflatable armchair obtained by the method of the invention will be light. When the chair is deflated, it is easily foldable and space-saving to store. The chair is inflated quickly to be used, it is stable and very resistant.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention will be better understood and other characteristics and advantages will appear on reading the detailed description of the embodiments taken by way of non-limiting examples and illustrated by the appended drawings in which:

- Figure IA is a schematic illustration of a mattress with a launched point structure;

- Figure IB is a schematic illustration of a section of the envelope of the mattress of Figure IA with a launched point structure;

- Figure 2A is a schematic illustration of part of an envelope of an inflatable furniture item according to one embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 2B is a schematic illustration of a portion of the cut envelope of an inflatable furniture element according to one embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 2C is a schematic illustration of a part of the casing connected after cutting an element of inflatable furniture according to one embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 2D is a schematic illustration of a part of the casing with several localized cutouts of a wall of the casing according to one embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 2E is a schematic illustration of a part of the casing connected after several localized cutouts of an element of inflatable furniture according to one embodiment of the invention;

- Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of a chair obtained by the method according to the invention;

- Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of a sofa obtained by the method according to the invention.

Description of embodiments

Figure 1B illustrates an example of a portion of a flat piece of furniture, such as a mattress, which is inflated. It is formed in known manner from a structural envelope to launched stitch, called “drop-stitch”, which comprises two main walls 1 interconnected along their peripheral edges to form a slice 2 or lateral partition between the two walls 1 so as to obtain a tight closed envelope. Between the two walls 1, threads 3 are woven and are arranged between the inner faces facing the walls 1 so as to be substantially orthogonal to the walls 1 and regularly spaced apart, the threads 3 connecting the walls 1 together. A valve 4 of Admission of pressurized gas is arranged on one of the main walls 1 or on the edge 2 so as to be able to inflate or deflate the piece of furniture. The walls 1 and the edge 2 are made of flexible flexible material, so that when the piece of furniture is deflated, the walls 1 can come to bear against one another, the edge 2 being folded up, the whole thus flattened, it can itself be folded or rolled up for easy storage. In the deflated and flattened state, the threads 3 fold up and do not interfere with the coming of the walls 1 against each other.

In the inflated state, the inflation pressure of the piece of furniture is chosen so as to separate the walls 1 by a sufficient distance to put the wires 3 in traction so as to ensure good seating stability, for example between 3 and 25 PSI (between 0.2.10 ⁵ Pa and 1.7.10 ⁵ Pa).

The walls 1 and the wafer 2 can be, without limit of choice of material, for example sheets of polymer and/or airtight fabrics.

The threads 3 can be, without any material choice limit, for example polyester threads.

According to the invention, a method of manufacturing a piece of furniture is partly illustrated in Figures 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E. By this method according to the invention it is possible to manufacture a piece of furniture such as an inflatable armchair in a single piece like that illustrated in FIG. 3 with a seat 5 and a backrest 6 having at their junction 7 an angular zone formed at a folding edge, here with an angle substantially greater than 90°.

To facilitate understanding of the process, it is illustrated from part of a running stitch structure envelope in the inflated state, but is actually uninflated during the process.

According to the invention, for example to manufacture the armchair of FIG. 3, the starting point is a sealed sealed envelope like that illustrated in FIG. 1A and already described.

In Figure 2A there is illustrated a part of the envelope on which it is desired to achieve at the level of the junction 7 of the chair a structural constraint so as to form a folding edge with a particular angle at a well-defined location, with a wall 1 upper and a lower wall 1, connected by the wires 3.

According to the method, at the level of the junction 7, at least one zone of the wall 1, here upper, is cut, generally between two opposite edges of the wall 1, so as to create a slot or as shown here to be removed at least one strip of the material forming the wall 1 to make a folding edge on the envelope. Next, material is removed from the launched stitch structure constituted by the threads 3, at the level of the folding edge. The threads 3 can be partially or totally removed depending on the stability or the reinforcement sought.

In FIG. 2B, an area forming a strip of material extending between the opposite edges of the upper wall 1 is cut out to form a folding edge on the casing. Here it is illustrated that approximately half the length of the threads 3, at the level of the cut strip, is removed.

For example to create the bend edge at junction 7 on which the envelope bend constraint on itself will be exerted between the seat 5 and the backrest 6 of the armchair of figure 3, the zone of the wall 1 to be cut and the length and/or the quantity of threads 3 to be removed will be defined beforehand to define the angle created at the folding edge when the envelope is inflated.

Edges l' of the cut wall 1 are created here on either side of the strip of material cut from the casing and must then be connected to seal the casing.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 2C, to connect the two edges l′ of the wall 1 created by the cutout at the level of the folding edge on the casing, a strip 8 of suitable material is added to seal the edges l 'in any known manner, for example by gluing or mechanically welding the strip 8 so as to cover the two edges l' of the cut-out area of the wall 1 and the peripheral edge(s) of the side wall at the level of the cut-out area of the wall 1, and thus seal the envelope.

According to the invention, the joining of the edges l′ of the cut-out zone of the wall 1 can also be carried out directly by gluing or mechanical welding of the edges.

The envelope of the one-piece piece of furniture can then be inflated, by filling the envelope with a gas under pressure via the valve 4, here arranged on the edge, to obtain the armchair of figure 3.

In FIG. 2D, at a bending edge, several strips of material located close to each other can be cut on the same wall 1, as illustrated here by two cutout zones. Wires 3 are partially or totally removed at these two zones and in FIG. 2E the edges l′ at these two cut-out zones are joined and sealed together with the peripheral edges of the side wall by a single strip 8 at the folding edge to form a junction 7 . It will be understood that by making these two close cuts, wires 3 remain between the two cut zones, which advantageously makes it possible to create an angle with a greater arc and with less tension at the level of the bending stress than with a single cutting and thus avoid a bubble effect at the level of the uncut opposite wall 1 .

Due to this process, any angle of the junction 7 between the seat 5 and the backrest 6 can be formed at the level of the folding edge when the envelope 1 is inflated, with less stress than 'A known volume as shown in Figure IA.

It will be understood that according to the invention, several curved volumes or angular shapes can be made on the same envelope by making several folding edges to obtain, for example, a piece of furniture in a single piece by inflation, such as for example the sofa illustrated in the figure. 4 with a backrest 9 and armrests 10 . To manufacture this sofa from a slip stitch structure envelope, the steps of cutting out a main wall and removing material from the slip stitch structure and joining the edges of the cut wall are carried out here in two places. 11 different, illustrated by hatched bands in FIG. 4, on the same envelope to create here respectively two angles separating the backrest 9 from the two armrests 10 . In order to reduce the tension at these angles close to 90°, as seen above, several close cuts of a single main wall 1 can be envisaged with removal of material from the launched stitch structure at the level of each of these cuts and the connection of the edges 1 'of the wall 1 cut at a single bend edge as shown in Figure 2D and Figure 2E.

A bottom 12 can be fixed to the envelope of the sofa by any known means, so as to be able to receive, in the inflated state, a seat 13 of the sofa such as a mattress with a launched point structure, of a size adapted to the bottom of the sofa. . The mattress and the bottom can be attached to each other so as not to come apart when using the sofa, for example by any known means. One could also consider that the sofa seat 13 in the form of an inflatable mattress is a part integrated into the inflatable envelope with several folding edges at the angles, in particular between the backrest 9 and the armrests 10 and the seat 13 .

It goes without saying that the present invention cannot be limited to the embodiment described above, which may be modified without departing from the scope of

1 ¹ invention.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a piece of furniture in one piece by inflating an envelope, comprising the following steps: providing an inflatable envelope closed in a sealed manner, said envelope comprising two main walls (1) interconnected along their peripheral edges by a lateral partition to form said casing with a launched point structure (3) arranged between the internal faces facing said walls (1) so as to connect said walls (1) to each other,

- the cutting of at least one zone of one of said walls (1) of said envelope,

- the removal of material from the said jump stitch structure at the level of the said cut-out zone, characterized in that the said cut-out is made between two opposite edges of one of the said walls (1) to make a folding edge on the said envelope, in that the shrinkage of material of said launched point structure consists of a shrinkage at the level of said folding edge so as to be able to exert a folding constraint of said envelope on itself according to a certain angle at the level of said folding edge when said envelope is inflated, and in that a connection is made between the edges (1') of said wall (1) created by the cutout at the level of said folding edge in order to maintain said folding constraint and close said envelope waterproof way.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said connection of said edges (! ') created by said cutout at said folding edge is made by welding said wall (1) at said cutout zone or by the application of at least one strip (8) added to the level of said cut-out zone.

3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that said strip (8) is glued or welded.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises said cutting of several areas of one of said walls (1) of said casing to make several folding edges.

5. Inflatable armchair in one piece comprising an inflatable envelope closed in a sealed manner, said envelope comprising two main walls (1) interconnected along their peripheral edges by a lateral partition to form said envelope with a launched point structure (3) arranged between the internal faces facing said walls (1) so as to connect said walls together, the inflatable chair having at least one folding constraint at the level of at least one folding edge, characterized in that said folding constraint of said inflatable chair is obtained by the method according to one of claims 1 to 4.

6. Inflatable chair according to claim 5, characterized in that said casing comprises a valve (4) for the introduction of a pressurized gas.