Back to results
US 2022/0290340 A1Published application
Woven inflatable devices and method of making the same
OwnerThomas G. Bell, Natalie A. Candrianinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Woven inflatable devices and methods for making woven inflatable devices are provided. The woven inflatable devices include a laminated sheet with inflatable regions that when inflated cause the laminated sheet to transform from a planar shape to a three-dimensional shape such as a chair, container, or kiteboard harness.
Claims23
An inflatable chair, comprising:
- a laminated sheet formed in a planar shape and configured to be inflated and folded to transform to a three-dimensional chair shape, wherein the laminated sheet includes:
- a first inflatable region, a first pair of flaps being attached to lateral outside edges of the first inflatable region;
- a second inflatable region, a second pair of flaps being attached to lateral outside edges of the second inflatable region;
- at least one folding seam between the first inflatable region and the second inflatable region;
- a seam-crossing passage positioned across the folding seam that enables fluidic communication between the first inflatable region and the second inflatable region;
- and
- an air inlet positioned in one of the inflatable regions;
- wherein air inlet is configured receive air from an inflator to raise the air pressure inside the first and second inflatable regions, to transform the laminated sheet from the planar shape to the three-dimensional chair shape in an inflated state of between 40 PSI (2.7 bar) and 90 PSI (6.2 bar), and
- wherein in the inflated state,
- the first and second inflatable regions are configurable such that they are substantially orthogonal to each other, the first inflatable region forming a seating surface and the second inflatable region forming a chair back;
- each of the first and second pair of flaps are foldable such to be substantially parallel to each other and such substantially orthogonal to the two inflatable regions;
- a first flap of the first pair of flaps is configured to couple to a first flap of the second pair of flaps and a second flap of the first pair of flaps is configured to couple to a second flap of the second pair of flaps, to thereby secure the first and second inflatable regions in the three-dimensional chair shape;
- a flexural modulus of the first inflatable region in an inflated state in a direction parallel to the folding seam exceeds a first predetermined threshold;
- and
- a flexural modulus of the first inflatable region in an inflated state in a direction perpendicular to the folding seam exceeds a second predetermined threshold.
12 more elements
An inflatable container, comprising:
- a laminated sheet formed in a planar shape and configured to be inflated and folded to transform to a three-dimensional polyhedral shape, wherein the laminated sheet includes:
- multiple inflatable regions, a pair of flaps being attached to lateral outside edges of at least a subset of the inflatable regions;
- a plurality of folding seams between adjacent inflatable regions, each of the plurality of folding seams having a seam-crossing passage positioned across the folding seam that enables fluidic communication between at least two of the multiple inflatable regions;
- an air inlet positioned in one of the inflatable regions;
- and
- a plurality of fasteners, positioned on at least two of the inflatable regions,
- wherein the air inlet is configured to receive air from an inflator to raise the air pressure inside the multiple inflatable regions, to transform the laminated sheet from the planar shape to the three-dimensional polyhedral shape in an inflated state, and
- wherein in the inflated state,
- the multiple inflatable regions are configurable such that each of the multiple inflatable regions form a face of the three-dimensional polyhedral shape;
- the plurality of flaps are foldable such that the flaps overlap with edges of the three-dimensional polyhedral shape that are formed after folding;
- the plurality of flaps are fastened with the plurality of fasteners to secure the multiple inflatable regions in the polyhedral shape;
- and
- a minimum flexural modulus of each of the inflatable regions in an inflated state exceeds a predetermined threshold.
10 more elements
An inflatable kiteboard harness, comprising:
- a laminated sheet formed in a planar shape and configured to be inflated and folded to transform to a three-dimensional kiteboard harness shape, wherein the laminated sheet includes:
- multiple inflatable regions including an inflatable central lumbar region, an inflatable right lumbar region, and an inflatable left lumbar region, a pair of flaps being attached to lateral outside edges of at least the inflatable right lumbar region and inflatable left lumbar region, respectively;
- a first folding seam between the inflatable left lumbar region and the inflatable central lumbar region, and a second folding seam between the inflatable right lumbar region and the inflatable central lumbar region, each of the first and second folding seams having a seam-crossing passage positioned across the corresponding first or second folding seam that enables fluidic communication across the respective seam;
- and
- an air inlet positioned in the inflatable regions,
- wherein the air inlet is configured to receive air from an inflator to raise the air pressure inside the multiple inflatable regions, to transform the laminated sheet from the planar shape to the three-dimensional kiteboard harness shape in an inflated state.
3 more elements
An inflatable kiteboard harness, comprising:
- a laminated sheet formed in a planar shape and configured to be inflated and folded to transform to a three-dimensional kiteboard harness shape, wherein the laminated sheet includes:
- an inflatable lumbar region, a pair of flaps being attached to lateral outside edges of the inflatable lumbar region, respectively;
- wherein the inflatable lumbar region includes an interior pattern of welded connections connecting a front and a back of the laminated sheet;
- and
- an air inlet positioned in the inflatable lumbar region,
- wherein the air inlet is configured to receive air from an inflator to raise the air pressure inside the inflatable lumbar region, to transform the laminated sheet from the planar shape to the three-dimensional kiteboard harness shape in an inflated state.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.