DE20014341U1 - Upholstered part - Google Patents

Description

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Dipl.-Ing. Harald Ostriga*
Dipl.-Ing. Bernd Sonnet*
Dipi.-ing. Jochen-Peter Wirths

r ° Stresemannstr. 6-8

* Authorized by the European Patent Office 42275 Wuppertal-B armen

Ostriga, Sonnet & Wirths · PO Box 20 16 53 · D-42216 Wuppertal

R/kö

Applicant: GRAMMER Formteile GmbH

Köfehnger Str. 15

92245 Kümmersbruck
15

Designation

of the invention: upholstery part

The invention relates to a cushioning part comprising a compressible carrier part having a resilience, in particular a foam part, and a cover part for the carrier part, to which a first surface section of a puncture-resistant and/or cut-resistant material is assigned.

Such an upholstered part can be a seat cushion, a back cushion, a backrest cushion, in particular an armrest cushion, or a head cushion, in particular for a seat. The first surface section made of stab-resistant and/or cut-resistant material serves to protect the upholstered parts of a seat installed in public facilities, in particular in trains, buses, airplanes, waiting rooms or the like, from destruction by vandalism. A seat protected by a surface section made of stab-resistant and/or cut-resistant material is thus referred to as an anti-vandalism seat. The same applies to an individual upholstered part.

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Various materials can be used as the material for the puncture-resistant and/or cut-resistant first surface section, for example wire mesh, wire braids, wire mats, but also plastic or ceramic materials.

A cushion part according to the preamble of claim 1 is shown in Fig. 4 of EP 0731 760 B1. This is a seat cushion part, which is shown here as Fig. 1 for the sake of clarity.

This seat cushion part has a protective layer, in particular made of a metal mesh, to protect it from destruction. Such a cushion part is intended to prevent a cover part, for example a cover material, from being cut open by a sharp object, in particular a knife, and the cushion material from escaping.

A problem with such a seat cushion is that the protective layer is relatively stiff, which severely impairs the seating comfort of the cushion, especially in the long term.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved cushion part based on a cushion part according to Fig. 4 of EP 0731 760 B1.

The invention solves this problem with the features of claim 1 and is accordingly characterized in that in the region of curvatures of the carrier part, in particular in the edge region of the carrier part, at least one second surface section made of a more flexible, less pliable material adjoins the first surface section.

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The invention first recognizes that in the seat cushion part according to the prior art, a protective layer made of a relatively stiff, not very flexible material is provided, which extends both over the upper surface of the seat cushion and over large parts of the side surfaces of the seat cushion. Since the material for the protective layer is relatively stiff and remanently deformable, a seat cushion according to the attached Fig. 1 no longer shows the shape shown in Fig. 1 after a long period of use, but will have a seat surface that is strongly curved towards the bottom part of the seat cushion. The support part, which consists in particular of plastic foam, is compressible, and has a certain resilience, is not able to return the upper seat cushion surface to its original position according to Fig. 1 after use, since a permanent deformation has occurred due to the deformation forces.

It is obvious that the seating comfort of such a seat cushion is very limited.

After long use, the protective layer of a seat cushion as shown in Fig. 1 may also break in the area of the curvature of the edges due to a certain degree of material fatigue and brittleness. This means that the broken free wire ends protrude through the actual cover material from the seat cushion part and can endanger the user.

The invention has now recognized that all of the problems described above result from the fact that the protective layer also runs continuously in the curved areas, i.e. in the areas of strong curvature of the upholstery part surface, i.e. in particular in the edge areas. Since deformations that remain permanent occur particularly easily here, the restoring forces of the carrier part can no longer work properly.

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The invention provides for a second surface section made of a more flexible, i.e. softer, stronger and easier to bend material to be provided in these areas of greater curvature.

Starting from a seat cushion part according to Fig. 1, one could imagine, for example, that only the upper seat surface has a first surface section made of a cut-resistant and/or stab-resistant material. All curved areas and the side surfaces of the seat cushion part can be covered with a second surface section made of a more flexible, bend-resistant material. This means that the seating comfort of the seat cushion part is significantly increased because the protective layer arranged on the upper seat surface can now be moved away from the lower seat cushion surface by the restoring forces of the compressible support part.

In addition, the arrangement of the second surface section eliminates any risk of the protective layer breaking in the curved area. This eliminates the risk of injury to the user.

A material that can be used for the second surface section is a woven or knitted fabric made of aramid fibers, such as Twaron or Kevlar. In principle, however, any other flexible, flat, pliable material, such as fleece, can also be used. Threads or fibers with a wire core are also possible.

Another great advantage of this inventive upholstery part

is that due to the greater flexibility of the second surface section in the curvature area, creases or pressure points can no longer occur in any cover part provided, in particular a cover material.

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In addition, by attaching a more elastic, more flexible second surface section, it is now possible to make curvatures more pronounced, ie in particular to achieve curvatures with a smaller radius.
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According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the second surface section is connected to the first surface section. In contrast to a loose arrangement, this ensures that the first and second surface sections are firmly arranged relative to one another. The connection can either be made directly between the two surface sections, with possible connection types being, for example, gluing, sewing, welding, riveting, knitting, foaming, clamping, clipping, crocheting, casting or stapling or the like. Alternatively, the connection between the first and second surface sections can also be made indirectly, for example by attaching the first and second surface sections to the carrier part independently of one another. Alternatively, it can also be provided that an additional covering layer, if required, envelops the two surface sections.

A further advantage of this embodiment is the particularly simple assembly of an upholstery part according to the invention. For example, the first surface section and the second surface section connected to it can be placed on the carrier part and then a further processing step can take place.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the second surface section is designed to be cut-resistant. It should be taken into account that experience has shown that vandals do not attempt to destroy the upholstery part in the curved area with a pointed or sharp object, such as a knife, but that such attacks primarily affect the essentially flat surfaces of the upholstery part. The design of the second surface section as

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In this context, cut-resistant only means additional safety, while making it clear that the second surface section is simultaneously made of a more flexible, less bendable material.

In this context, it must be mentioned that the current

The materials available are always relatively stiff if they are to be cut and stab resistant. Materials that are only cut resistant can also be made more flexible and less bendable.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the first surface section is arranged essentially along a plane of the cushion part. This plane of the cushion part is, for example, the upper seat surface of the seat cushion part shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, the upper surface is essentially flat, whereby it is of course taken into account that a certain curvature of these surfaces is generated due to deformation by a user.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the upholstery part has at least a third surface section of a stab-resistant and/or cut-resistant material, which is arranged essentially along a plane of the upholstery part, with the second surface section being arranged between the first and the third surface section. This enables a design such that an upper seat surface and at least one side surface of a seat upholstery part, for example, are covered with surface sections made of stab-resistant and/or cut-resistant material, thus achieving additional protection of the side surfaces against stabs. Here too, the second surface section connects the first and the third surface section in such a way that the seating comfort of the upholstery part is not impaired in any way.

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According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the second surface section at least partially overlaps the first surface section. This has the advantage that, particularly when using a puncture- and/or cut-resistant material made of wires or wire components, or any other material with sharp edges or edges, the more flexible, softer material covers and covers the sharp-edged areas of the first surface section, so that if an additional covering material is provided, these cannot destroy the covering material.

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the surface section consists of a workpiece which has areas of different flexibility or flexural slackness to form the two surface sections. This enables a particularly elegant form of production such that the first and second surface sections are manufactured in one piece in one manufacturing process, with only special measures during production ensuring that the two surface sections have different flexural slackness or flexibility.

For example, to create these areas of varying flexibility, the material can be partially weakened. This can be achieved, for example, by choosing larger meshes in mesh fabrics, by using thinner wires in wire fabrics, by weaving in wires made from a different, possibly elastic, material in wire fabrics, etc. The above also applies to materials other than wires, for example fibers.

Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of two embodiments shown in the drawings.

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Fig. 1 a seat cushion part according to the prior art according to EP 0731 760 B1,

Fig. 2 shows a first embodiment of the invention, wherein a seat cushion part is shown as the cushion part,

Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of an edge region of the seat cushion part according to Fig. 2 in a flat representation, and

Fig. 4 shows a sectional view of the curvature region of a second embodiment of a seat cushion part according to the invention.

Fig. 1 first shows a seat cushion part 1 of the prior art, which is known from Fig. 4 of EP 0 731 760 B1. In this case, a carrier part 2 is provided, which consists of a plastic foam that is compressible and can form restoring forces.

A cover material 3 is laminated directly onto the cut-resistant protective layer 5 via an insert layer 4. The protective layer 5 made of a cut-resistant and/or stab-resistant material is continuous and extends from the upper surface 6 of the seat cushion 1 over curved areas 7a, 7b to the side areas 8a, 8b. The protective layer 5 is relatively stiff, so that the seating comfort of the seat cushion part 1, i.e. the spring properties and recovery properties of the support part 2, are greatly reduced. In addition, the protective layer 5 can break in the area of the curved areas 7a, 7b, which poses the risk of injury to a user.

While the reference numerals 1-8 were used in the description of the seat cushion 1 according to the prior art, in the following description of the embodiments of the invention reference numerals are used consecutively from reference numeral 10. This is intended to provide a clear distinction. On the other hand, in the two embodiments

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In exemplary embodiments of the invention, identical or comparable parts or elements are designated by identical reference numerals.

Fig. 2 shows a first embodiment of an upholstery part 10 according to the invention, which is designed as a seat cushion part according to Fig. 2. The seat cushion part 10 is shown in an oblique view from the front. The upholstery part 10 is essentially cuboid-shaped and comprises an upper surface 11 and four side surfaces 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d. In Fig. 2, only the side surfaces 12a and 12b are visible. In the area of the rear side surface 12d, a backrest (not shown) is usually attached to form a complete seat. The backrest can of course also be an upholstery part.

The seat cushion part 10 according to Fig. 2 has a support part 13, not shown there. This support part 13 consists of a cushion foam, preferably PUR (polyurethane). Such a plastic foam ensures the desired return of the seat surface when a user leaves the seat. According to Fig. 2, the support part 13 is assigned a first surface section 14 (bordered on three sides with dashed lines) and two third surface sections 16a, 16b (partially shown with dashed lines).

The seat cushion part 10 shown in Fig. 2 may have a further third surface section 16c on the side 12c (not shown), which, however, is not visible in Fig. 2.

In the area of the rear side surface 12d, no further third surface section is generally provided in the illustrated embodiment, because the back part is usually connected there or a fastening takes place there.

The first surface section 14 is arranged essentially along a plane E _1. The third surface sections 16a, 16b are also arranged essentially along planes. For example,

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For example, the third surface section 16a is arranged essentially along a plane E2. Of course, the term plane E ₁ , E ₂ does not refer to a geometrically exact plane. It is merely intended to express that an upholstered part regularly has areas of lesser curvature, namely, for example, the seat surface and the side surfaces of the upholstered part 10, which are referred to by the term plane, as well as areas of strong curvature, which are referred to in the present application as curvatures 18, 18a, 18b, 18c.

The first surface section 14 and the third surface sections 16a, 16b, 16c of the seat cushion part 10 consist of a cut-resistant and/or stab-resistant material. Suitable materials for this include metal nets, metal knits, metal mats, fabrics, knits, braids or grids or nets made of wires, threads or fibers made of metals, ceramics, carbon or glass, for example also made of spring steel. In any case, it is a relatively stiff, i.e. inflexible, material web.

In the curved areas 18a, 18b, 18c, a second surface section 21a, 21b, 21c made of a more flexible, less bendable material is arranged. This material is designed to be particularly cut-resistant. It is, for example, a knitted fabric made of an aramid fiber, for example Twaron or Kevlar.

Fig. 2 shows that the second surface sections 21a, 21b, 21c are each formed into a narrow, long strip of the above material. The second surface section 21b, which is arranged in the curved region 18b between the first surface section 14 and the third surface section 16b, overlaps both the left, front edge region 22b of the first surface section 14 according to Fig. 2 and the upper edge section 23b of the third surface section 16b according to Fig. 2. In addition, the second surface section 21b is designed to be so elongated that it has its end regions 24, 25

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also partially covers the curved areas 19a, 19b, which are located between the third surface sections 16a and 16b or 16b and 16c. The ends 24 and 25 of the second surface section 21b thus cover the corner areas of the seat cushion part 10.

This covering or overlapping has the advantage that the sharply formed edge areas 22b of the first surface section 14 or 23b of the second surface section 16b are protected by the overlap. This prevents any additional covering material 28 (Fig. 4) from being destroyed and also prevents a user from injuring themselves on sharp-edged protruding elements.

Overall, however, it is already very clear when looking at Fig. 2 that there is a certain distance A between the first surface section 14 and the third surface sections 16a, 16b, 16c, which is covered exclusively by the more flexible, softer, less flexible second surface sections 21a, 21b, 21c. This arrangement according to the invention significantly increases the seating comfort of the upholstered part. Permanent deformation can no longer occur in the curved areas 18a, 18b, 18c, since the more flexible, less flexible material of the second surface sections 21a, 21b, 21c cannot be permanently deformed.

Fig. 3 shows schematically in a flat arrangement the assignment of the first surface section 14, a second surface section 21 and a third surface section 16 to one another. The first surface section 14 and the third surface section 16 consist of a relatively rigid material which is designed to be cut-resistant and/or stab-resistant. However, it should be noted that different materials can also be provided for the surface section 14 and the third surface section 16.

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A second surface section 21 designed as a strip covers the distance A between the edge region 22 of the first surface section 14 and the edge region 23 of the third surface section 16. The material from which the second surface section 21 is made is significantly more flexible, softer and less bendable. This means that no permanent deformation occurs with such a material. In addition, this material is very easy to bend, i.e. it can be bent practically as desired without great effort.

Fig. 4 shows a second embodiment of a seat cushion part 10 according to the invention. Here, a first connecting component 26 is located on the carrier part 13 designed as a foam part. On this there is an arrangement of a first, a second and a third surface section, which together form the protective layer. A first surface section 14 is connected directly, i.e. without overlap, to a second surface section 21. This in turn is connected to a third surface section 16. What is shown here is a protective layer that has been manufactured in one piece, in which an area of greater flexibility of the second surface section 21 has been achieved, for example by weakening the material. The more flexible second surface section 21 is again arranged in the area of the curvature 18.

In addition, a layer of a second connecting component 27 is provided here, on which a cover part designed as a layer is finally arranged.

Such a layer-like cover part 28 is of course also conceivable for the bare seat cushion part 10 shown in Fig. 2.

Basically, it is pointed out that the cover part 28 can indeed be provided as an additional layer according to Fig. 4. However, it is also conceivable that threads or fibers are incorporated into the cover part itself in such a way that

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such that the cut-resistant and/or stab-resistant surface sections are formed therefrom, wherein the cover part 28 is formed in one piece and at the same time can have areas of different flexibility, wherein in turn surface sections of higher flexibility are arranged in the area of the curvatures 18 of the cushion part 10.

Of course, additional layers, e.g. flame retardant layers, can also be provided.

The fastening of the first surface section 14 or the second surface sections 21, 21a, 21b, 21c and the third surface sections 16, 16a, 16b, 16c to the carrier part 13 can be achieved in different ways. For example, it is possible to glue these surface sections to the carrier part 13. Alternatively, however, the surface sections can also be glued to the cover part 28.

The upholstery part 10 according to the invention also has particular advantages when it is manufactured. For example, it is conceivable that the different covering layers for the carrier part 13, i.e. for example a cover part 28 and the corresponding first, second and third surface sections, are first placed in a mold. The layers are then foamed from the inside. Since, according to the invention, second surface sections 21, 21a, 21b, 21c are arranged in the curvature areas 18, 18a, 18b, 18c, which allow very small radii of curvature, particularly pronounced curvatures 18, 18a, 18b, 18c, i.e. correspondingly pronounced undercuts in the mold, can be easily achieved in this way when manufacturing an upholstery part according to the invention.

Such pronounced curvatures could not be achieved with the state of the art.

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It should also be noted that the seat cushion parts 10 shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 also have third surface sections 16, 16a, 16b, 16c made of cut-resistant and/or stab-resistant material in their side areas. In the case of particularly flat seats, such third surface sections are of course not necessary.

Claims (8)

1. Upholstery part ( 10 ) comprising a compressible carrier part ( 13 ) having resilience, in particular a foam part, and a cover part ( 28 ) for the carrier part ( 13 ), to which a first surface section ( 14 ) of a puncture-resistant and/or cut-resistant material is assigned, characterized in that in the region of curvatures ( 18 , 18 a, 18 b, 18 c, 19 a, 19 b) of the carrier part ( 13 ), in particular in the edge region of the carrier part ( 13 ), at least one second surface section ( 21 , 21 a, 21 b, 21 c) made of a more flexible, less pliable material adjoins the first surface section ( 14 ). 2. Upholstery part according to claim 1, characterized in that the second surface section ( 21 , 21 a, 21 b, 21 c) is connected to the first surface section ( 14 ). 3. Upholstery part according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the second surface portion ( 21 , 21 a, 21 b, 21 c) is designed to be cut-resistant. 4. Upholstery part according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first surface section ( 14 ) is arranged substantially along a plane (E ₁ ) of the upholstery part ( 10 ). 5. Upholstery part according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the upholstery part ( 10 ) has at least a third surface section ( 16 , 16a , 16b , 16c ) of a stab-resistant and/or cut-resistant material, which is arranged substantially along a plane (E ₂ ) of the upholstery part ( 10 ), and that the second surface section ( 14 ) is arranged between the first and the third surface section ( 16 , 16a , 16b , 16c ). 6. Upholstery part according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second surface section ( 21 , 21a , 21b , 21c ) at least partially overlaps the first surface section ( 14 ). 7. Upholstery part according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first surface section ( 14 ) and the second surface section ( 21 , 21a , 21b , 21c ) consist of a workpiece which has regions of different flexibility or flexural limpness for forming the two surface sections ( 14 , 21 , 21a , 21b , 21c ). 8. Upholstery part according to claim 7, characterized in that the material of the workpiece is partially weakened to create the regions of different flexibility.