Collapsible bolster cushion

A collapsible seat comprising:

• a seat bottom comprising:
• a non-collapsible cushion, wherein a top surface of the non-collapsible cushion forms a seating surface of the seat bottom;
• a plurality of collapsible bolster cushions movable between a first extended position and a second collapsed position, wherein each of the collapsible bolster cushions includes a spring element to resiliently bias the collapsible bolster cushions to the first extended position;
• and
• wherein each spring element comprises a safety-pin spring each having first and second spring legs positioned at an angle relative to each other such that when the spring element is in a first orientation, the first and second spring legs are generally parallel to and adjacent to a first support member and a second support member of the bolster cushion, respectively with the first and second spring legs not parallel to each other, thereby exerting a spring force to bias the bolster cushion to the extended position,
• a release mechanism operatively connected to the plurality of collapsible bolster cushions;
• and
• wherein each of the collapsible bolster cushions has a first height in the first extended position where a top surface of each of the collapsible bolster cushions extends beyond the seating surface of the non-collapsible cushion, and when the release mechanism is actuated each collapsible cushion portion moves to the second collapsed position having a second height less than the first height.

A collapsible seat comprising:

• a seat bottom;
• a seat back movable relative to the seat bottom to collapse the seat to a folded position;
• and
• a bolster cushion disposed on one of the seat back or the seat bottom and movable between an expanded position and a collapsed position, the bolster cushion comprising:
• a bolster panel having first and second support members attached to pivot at an expanded angle relative to each other;
• a spring element defined by a safety-pin spring having at least one spring coil connected between first and second spring legs positioned at an angle relative to each other such that the spring element has a spring force, the spring element disposed between the first support member and the second support member such that the first spring leg is rotatably connected to the first support member and the second spring leg is rotatably connected to the second support member;
• and
• an actuator operatively connected to the spring element for moving the spring element between a first and a second orientations,
• when the spring element biases the bolster cushion to the expanded position, when the spring element is in the first orientation and the first and second spring legs are generally parallel to and adjacent to the first and second support members, respectively with the first and second spring legs not parallel to each other, and the spring force is thereby generally perpendicular to the first and second support members, respectively when the first and second support members are pivoted at the expanded angle, and
• wherein the first support member is permitted to collapse toward the second support member to move the bolster cushion to the collapse position when the actuator moves the spring element to the second orientation, thereby allowing the seat to collapse to the folded position.