Inflatable article

2,437,602

K.G. HANN

INFLATABLE ARTICLE

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^Kenneth Graeme Ham

ATTORNEYS

March 9, 1948. κ. g. ηανν 2,437,602

INFLATABLE.ARTICLE •Filed July 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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HAHN

Ά/ΐΜΐΥ/'η/Ζΐζ/υ F Ql.

Attorneys

Patented Mar. 9, 1948

2,437,602

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,437,602

INFLATABLE ARTICLE

Kenneth Graeme Hann, Brean, Wales, assignor of one-half to Elliot Equipment Limited, Carr diff,.England, a British company

Application July 12,1945, Serial No, 604,603·

In. Great

Claims.

This Invention relates- to inflatable furniture and other- inflatable articles; especially chairs, for example, of the type· described in applicant’s Patent No. 2,350,679; the chief object of; the invention being to provide- a means for inflating the said articles more conveniently than inflation by, the use of ordinary bellows, which involves the use of external piping and valves.

According to· this-invention bellows are incorporated inside the- chair or other article itself, in the form of, two rigid discs or diaphragms joined around their edges to. the inside of a tube forming a part of the chair or other article and spaced at a convenient distance apart, in_; one or both of which diaphragms is a non-return valve, means being provided to admit air from the atmosphere to the- space between the two diaphragms through a non-return valve and thence to the interior of the article through the valve in the diaphragm. By manual operation one of the- diaphragms- is moved towards and away from the other, or b.ot-h the diaphragms are moved towards and· away from each other in, concertina fashion. Thus on one stroke air is drawn in, from the atmosphere, and on the· stroke in the· reverse direction air is forced through- the non-return valve in one diaphragm into the. interior pf the chair or- other- article, which is thus inflated. The rigid, diaphragms may be fitted with handles.- which·, c.an be grasped¹by the hands of the operator through the casing- of the. article to be inflated-. When the article is almost fully inflated, ifc will no. longer be possible to grasp these handles, as the casing will. then, be under, tension, but by placingthe- internal bellows in: a. suitable position in· the article to be inflated the bellows , can still be· operated, because the expansion stroke of the bellows is effected automatically by means, of the ₄θ resilience of the inflated tubes of the-article, the compression stroke being performed manually by pressing the outsides of the tubes together without- the necessity of gripping the handles. Handle straps such as those used in concer-. ₄₃tinas may be provided, however, on the outsides of the tubes, these handle straps being made of canvas or webbing, either as an alternative or an addition to the handles on the diaphragms themselves. , 50

The expansion str.oke is the last stroke to. be made, by the bellows, as after the article is- inflated above the normal pressure by the last compression stroke the bellows, is flll.ed in. the last expansion, stroke, after which, a leakage of 55 in July; 37,1914 (Cl. 155—179) air takes place into the. bellows to equalize the pressure. For; this, purpose one or both of the diaphragms . .may be provided with a non-r eturn valv.e which is, only, say .99 per cent, efficient, so 5 that air in. the, inflated article will leak , back slightly into, the bellows, thus equalizing the, pressure,. Alternatively, a very small...hole may be made in the diaphragm,and a fully efficient,nonreturn valve used.

Hoops or rings, may be. placed between diaphragms either inside or outside the fabric surface to. hold, the fabric, apart on, the, expansion stroke.

The invention, can be.· applied, to any. inflatable ¹⁵ structure-which, is. of substantially tubular construction. In an armchair the tubes,forming the arms have blocked-off ends, in. which case one diaphragm of the bellows could form the end of a. tube,, and the inlet valve could be in the said ²⁰ diaphragm,

The invention is also applicable to inflatable mattresses. These,, mattresses are sometimes ma,de-in the form,of a number of inflatable tubes placed side by side, in which case the bellows would be placed in? some convenient place in one of these_: tubes.

In, order, that, the,said invention may be clearly understood an,d,readily- carried into effect, the same will now be further described with reference to, the accompanying, drawings, which illustrate two exemplifications·; of the invention applied to inflatable chairs.

Figure I represents in side elevation, a chair in which, the internal,bellows are located in the top of the chair back, the chair· having a fabric cover.

Figure· 2, represents in_; front elevation the chair shown in- Figure- l· with the fabric cover removed.

Figure 3 represents a longitudinal section through, the upper part of the back of a chair of the tyRe, shown in. Figures 1 and 2 but showing a slightly. mpdified, structure.

Figurg; 4- represents in·, section, an alternative arrangement in which the bellows are located in one end of one arm. of an armchair.

Referring to, Figures; ! and 2 of the drawings, the, inflatable-chair .therein- shown, and which is of the· type described; in; my Patent No. 2,350,679, cpmp.risesitubnlas sections 10 ;of,a flexible mateTheAubular sections are connected together to, provide-a U -shaped seat portion (2 and a U-shapedback portion 14, the portions, being joined in the manner shown to form the chair-shaped tubular structure.

Theppening. within the seat and back portions

2,437,602 of the chair is covered by means of fabric for supporting the seat and back of the person occupying the chair. The back portion 14 of the chair also is braced with respect to the said portion by means of triangular-shaped members 16 which are suitably connected to the material of the seat and back portions 12 and 14.

The chair shown in Figures 1 and 2 is provided with an internal bellows located in the tubular section forming the top of the chair back. To that end, the tubular section at the top of the back of the chair, as indicated in Figure 2, is formed by panels A, A' and B, of flexible material. The panels A and A', at the inner edges, are fastened to the opposite edges of the panel B by exteriorly-positioned, overlapping strips D and E, and each of the panels A and A' is secured, at their outer edges, to panels I and I' by exteriorly-positioned, overlapping strips F and G. The sections I and I' are similarly secured to the upright tubular sections forming the sides of the chair back. The overlapping strips D, E, F and G, in addition to securing together the several panels, also function to reinforce the bellows section and, thereby, cause it to preserve its cylindrical shape when the chair is collapsed. If desired, reinforcing strip S may extend longitudinally of the tubular sections forming the sides and the top of the back of the chair.

An air inlet C, in communication with the atmosphere and the inside of the bellows, is mounted in the panel B, and provided with a non-return valve to prevent air from being expelled from the bellows on the compression stroke. The air inlet C should be of liberal size to allow air to enter the bellows freely.

The bellows diaphragms preferably are positioned adjacent the outer edges of the panels A and A', inside the tubular back section of the chair and the securing and reinforcing strips F and G.

The structure and arrangement of the bellows is more completely shown In Figure 3, which illustrates a slightly modified form of the upright part of the back of an inflatable chair. In that figure, the bellows is shown as comprising a tubular section !8 made of flexible material. An air inlet tube C, in the section f 8, is provided with a nonreturn valve 20 of well-known type. Rubber or other rings D¹ and E¹ are attached to the interior surface of the material of the tubular section i 8, in spaced relation to each other, to hold the fabric of the tubular section apart on the expansion stroke of the bellows. Diaphragms F' and G' are provided, respectively, on opposite sides of the rings, and are secured around their edges to the interior surface of the material of the tubular section ί 8, as indicated at f and g', respectively. The diaphragms F' and G' are arranged so that they can be caused to approach and recede from the rings D¹ and E¹ by alternately pressing in and drawing back a pair of webbing or plastic handles /² and g².

The diaphragm F' is provided with a rubber flap valve /³ which is adapted to close an air inlet c when the pressure inside the chair proper is greater than that within the bellows section. A small leak hole /⁴ also is provided in the diaphragm F' to permit the pressure in the bellows section of the chair and in the remainder of the chair to equalize after the inflation of the chair has been completed. If the handles f² and g²are omitted, the manipulation of the bellows can be effected by alternately applying and removing manual pressure on the diaphragm through the flexible panels forming the upper section of the chair containing the bellows, or by the use of handle straps 22 of canvas or webbing provided on the outside of the tubes adjacent the diaphragms F' and G'. These straps 22 may be provided as alternative or in addition to the handles /² and g².

Referring to Figure 4, a cylindrical extension H of flexible material is attached to one end of a chair arm M, and terminates in a circular or other wall Λ¹, in which is an air inlet c¹. A rubber flap valve J is provided to close the said air inlet when pressure inside the extension H is greater than atmospheric pressure due to the wall W- being pushed inwardly by the handle h², which may be of any convenient form. At the same time a flap valve in the inner wall K of the extension H is opened due to such increase of air pressure, and admits air to the interior of the chair arm M through opening c². On the reverse stroke of the handle Λ², the valve k¹, closes and the valve J opens, re-charging the interior of the extension H. A small leak hole k² is provided for the purpose already described, also rings or hoops D² and E².

The invention is applicable to inflatable dinghies in the form shown in Figures 1 to 3, the dinghy being inflated in just the same way as a chair. The bellows would normally be placed either at the bow or stern of the dinghy for ease of working.

In dinghies incorporating inflatable seats it may be more convenient to place the bellows in one of these seats. Alternatively it may be found more convenient to employ a bellows in the form shown in Figure 4 in which the bellows forms an end of a tube, which may or may not form part of the structure of the dinghy.