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US 6,279,999 B1Granted
Heat shrinkable fabric panels for facilitating seat cover installation
AssigneeCollins & Aikman Products Co.
InventorsRobert Lee, Kent Stephenson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for form-fitting covers to vehicle passenger seats are provided. A cushion is mounted on a seat frame and surrounded by a cover having one or more heat shrinkable fabric panels attached to a peripheral edge thereof. Each heat shrinkable fabric panel is attached to the seat frame and heat is applied. The heat causes each panel to shrink along a predetermined direction, thereby drawing the cover taut around the cushion and frame.
Claims13
A seat comprising:
- a frame;
- a resilient cushion mounted on the frame, wherein the resilient cushion comprises front, side and back surfaces;
- and
- a cover surrounding the front, side, and back surfaces of the resilient cushion, wherein the cover comprises:
- a first fabric portion having a peripheral edge portion that extends around the front, side, and back surfaces of the cushion;
- and
- a second fabric portion attached to substantially the entire peripheral edge portion of the first fabric portion and directly to the frame, wherein the second fabric portion comprises a plurality of panels having heat shrinkable fibers woven substantially throughout an entire length of each panel, and wherein the second fabric portion is configured to shrink and draw the cover taut around the resilient cushion and frame when heat is applied to the second fabric portion.
4 more elements
A passenger seat for a vehicle, comprising:
- a frame;
- a resilient cushion mounted on the frame, wherein the resilient cushion comprises front, side and back surfaces;
- and
- a cover surrounding the front, side, and back surfaces of the resilient cushion, wherein the cover comprises:
- a first fabric portion having a peripheral edge portion that extends around the front, side, and back surfaces of the cushion;
- and
- a second fabric portion comprising opposite first and second edge portions and defining a widthwise direction between the first and second edge portions, wherein the first edge portion is attached to substantially the entire peripheral edge portion of the first fabric portion and the second edge portion is attached to the frame, and wherein the second fabric portion comprises heat shrinkable fabric woven substantially throughout the entire second fabric portion from yarn strands that are configured to shrink along the widthwise direction of the heat shrinkable fabric to draw the cover taut around the resilient cushion and frame when heat is applied to the second fabric portion.
4 more elements
A method of covering a seat comprising the steps of:
- mounting a cushion on a frame, wherein the cushion has front, side, and back surfaces;
- surrounding the cushion with a cover, wherein the cover comprises a first fabric portion having a peripheral edge portion that extends around the front, side, and back surfaces of the cushion, and a second fabric portion attached to substantially the entire peripheral edge portion of the first fabric portion, wherein the second fabric portion comprises heat shrinkable fabric woven substantially throughout the second fabric portion from yarn strands that are configured to shrink along a designated direction;
- attaching the second fabric portion directly to the frame;
- and
- applying heat to the second fabric portion to shrink the second fabric portion along the designated direction and draw the cover taut around the cushion and frame.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.