Comfortable and durable outdoor seating

Abstract

Comfortable and durable outdoor seating The present invention describes a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which is made of polystyrene engineering plastic using blow moulding technology Due to the lightweight material used for making the seating, it can be easily transported to the site of installation after which it is fixed to the ground and optionally its weight is increased by pouring RCC in the side supports. The polystyrene engineering plastic material can sustain extreme environmental conditions. The design is made according to human contour which provides comfort to the person seating and blow moulding technology gives cushioning effect and aesthetic look to the outdoor seating. As the polystyrene is self-coloured, fading of colour is limited. Single seater, two seater or three seater seatings can be designed. Moreover the outdoor seating can also be converted into a swing.

Description

[0001] TITLE OF THE INVENTION:

[0002] Comfortable and durable outdoor seating

[0003] FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

[0004] The present invention relates to the field of outdoor seating arrangement and provides a comfortable and durable seat / bench, which can be easily installed in gardens, temples, beaches, playgrounds, schools, colleges, airports, railway stations and other such public places.

[0005] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

[0006] Seating is a critical part of daily social life. People visiting any public place, be it gardens, temples, railway stations etc., need a place to sit and relax after a walk, or just sit and enjoy the surroundings, or sit while waiting for someone, or sit for having a talk with someone etc. Benches are provided by the municipality or other concerned authorities for the purpose of such outdoor seating. These benches or outdoor seats are exposed to atmosphere and so should have the capacity to sustain harsh weather conditions like extreme rain, heat, cold, sunrays etc. Conventional public benches are usually made from stone or RCC, both of which are heavy in weight such that no one can steal them. Benches made from steel or MS are also installed at various places.

[0007] Different types of public benches are available in the prior art.

[0008] US 5375914 describes a fixed public seating construction includes welded structural steel frame assemblies, each of which includes a standard, a floor mount plate, a seat support or mounting bracket, a back support or mounting bracket, and an arm rest support, all welded together at the manufacturing plant as a single unit. The public seating construction also incorporates relatively rigid plastic shell type seat and back components which will accommodate (on their "back" or non-use sides) optional inserts of wood, laminate, fabric, etc. Both the back and seat components are comprised of unitized, blow molded shells, fdled with foam. In addition, both have mounting assemblies which include steel mounting inserts fixed in place during the blow molding operation, as well as associated support bars which are fastened to the inserts in overlying relationship, prior to shipping. Both the back and seat components have "drop-in" mounting features, and a free floating hinge is also provided for mounting the seat to the frame.

[0009] RU 2205582 discusses a bench type seat has integrally bent metal carcass in the form of front part of lengthwise curved seat and seat itself, rear part of back welded to front part, and two elbow rest bases welded to carcass side. Carcass is mounted on metal support composed of four poles, which are attached at the bottom to two elbow rest bases and at the side to carcass center by means of two tension members. Bench seats may be readily connected and disconnected. Seat, back and elbow rests are covered with skin combined with foamed plastic, which may be replaced. Bench may be single-seat, two-seat, three seat and multiple-seat and may be employed as armchair in halls or as bench for rest in waiting hall of railway station, as sofa for office reception room etc. EFFECT: improved strength of bench seat by eliminating possibility of shifting center of gravity in working position and by eliminating shifting of seats relative to one another.

[0010] JP 2003010004 gives a bench using concrete to be hardly broken even while keeping the soft texture of wood, for which slag powder and plastic waste can be simultaneously and effectively utilized. A plurality of back plates 1 and a plurality of seat plates 2 are composed of woody composite plates composed by mixing, fusing and molding 5 pts.wt. of dry wood powder and 5 pts.wt. of plastic. A pair of supporting bodies 3 are composed of concrete blocks composed by mixing and molding cement, water, slag fine aggregates, and coarse aggregates. The respective supporting bodies 3 are integrally provided with a leg part 4, a base part 5, and a back plate supporting part 6, respectively. The respective supporting bodies 3 are arranged facing each other at an interval. The respective seat plates 2 are disposed and fixed on the upper surface of the respective base parts 5. The respective back plates 1 are disposed and fixed to the surfaces on the side of the base part 5 of the respective back plate supporting parts 6.

[0011] NL 1024786 provides assembly for a public street bench or seat comprises two beam-shaped construction parts, together with a connection device for connecting the parts to each other. The connecting device is a casing (5) with two open ends (30,31) and the first construction part (2) has a first insert body (14), which is fitted in the first open end (30). The second construction part (3) has a second insert body (15) fitted in the second open end (31). At least one beam-shaped construction part is made of currently used plastic. The beam-shaped construction parts extend in a common surface crossways in relation to each other, whereby the first insert body is formed at the head end of the first construction part and the second insert body is formed on the lateral surface of the second construction part.

[0012] ES 464031 relates to a bench for outdoor use, in public parks and similar areas. Its seat (1) and back (2) are constructed from separate sections of wood or plastic, fixed side by side to a pair of horizontal tubular lengths (6, 7, 8, 9). The contact surfaces of seat and back are profiled for comfort and are varnished or coloured. Each pair of tubular lengths is fixed to supports (3) which join the seat and back at a suitable angle. These supports are also made from tubular steel and have two additional lengths (4, 5) at each end which provide legs, their lower ends being formed to face forwards and rearwards.

[0013] FR 2747287 refers to a seat (1) which has its base and back (4a, 4b) made in the form of a steel, aluminium or composition material structure (2), covered with a layer (3) of wood or plastic which is stuck to the structure (2) in a vacuum, using an epoxy-type adhesive. The upper surface of the structure (2) and the under-surface of the covering layer are coated with the resin adhesive and joined together on a support covered by a layer of polyethylene sheet, while the air beneath the sheet is extracted by a vacuum pump.

[0014] CN 204015686 describes an SMC moulded fiberglass reinforced plastic bench seat which comprises an independent strip seat surface and a seat frame, wherein the strip seat surface is a sunken slot shell on which inwardly-concave circular arcs and connecting bosses are symmetrically arranged; the seat frame is composed of a vertical frame and a circular horizontal frame; connecting pieces are arranged on the circular horizontal frame. When the fiberglass reinforced plastic bench seat is assembled, the inwardly-concave circular arcs and the connecting bosses on the strip seat surface are respectively and correspondingly assembled and matched with the circular horizontal frame and the connecting pieces. The fiberglass reinforced plastic bench seat disclosed by the utility model is simple in structure and convenient to assemble and maintain; and the fiberglass reinforced plastic bench seats in different lengths can be manufactured by selecting the seat frames in different lengths. The fiberglass reinforced plastic bench seat is suitable for outdoor public places.

[0015] CN 208184146 relates to a waterproof assembly structure of outdoor ground, including supporter and superficial coating part, superficial coating part cladding is at the top of supporter, the supporter be the strip block, be equipped with bench portion in the side of supporter, the casing of superficial coating part for having top surface and two sides, the tip of side is equipped with the portion of inwards buckling, inwards buckle the portion with bench portion block. In the preferred scheme, be equipped with the recess that is used for holding fossil fragments in the bottom of supporter. Superficial coating part material be fine of glass or working of plastics. The supporter material be concrete, working of plastics, galvanized steel pipe or wood -plastic composite spare. Superficial coating part's surface be equipped with woodenly or stone matter texture. Through the integrated configuration that adopts supporter and superficial coating part, when obtaining enough intensity, also can obtain suitable outward appearance as required, and low cost, the security is high.

[0016] Although different kinds of public seating are available in the prior art, most of them get corroded or deteriorated due to continuous exposure to external environment including normal and extreme weather conditions. Vandalism by public is also an issue for public seating as mischievous people tend to damage or steal public property. To prevent stealth, RCC benches are installed at various places for outdoor seating. However these too get corroded due to weather conditions and their transportation to the site of installation is also difficult and expensive. MS, steel or wooden benches are installed at some places but such benches are not comfortable for long seating due to the hard and flat surface. Metal benches get heated in sunlight and may cause bums even when touched. Both metal and wooden benches are affected due to rains as metal benches get corroded and wooden benches get deteriorated. Moreover the paint applied on wooden benches also gets rubbed off due to environmental exposure due to which the benches do not have an aesthetic appeal. Hence a comfortable and durable outdoor seating, which does not corrode or deteriorate due to environmental exposure or harsh environmental conditions, which is comfortable for long seating, which is difficult to be stolen or vandalized, which can be easily transported to the site of installation and which need not be coloured throughout its lifetime, is the need of the day.

[0017] OBJECT OF THE INVENTION:

[0018] The main object of the invention is to provide a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which is made from engineering plastic and RCC. Another object of the invention is to provide a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which can withstand continued and long exposure to normal and extreme environmental conditions including heat, rain, wind etc. without getting deteriorated or corroded or damages at the edges or fading of colour.

[0019] Still another object of the invention is to provide a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which can be easily transported from the manufacturing facility to the site of installation.

[0020] Yet another object of the invention is to provide a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which is designed to provide maximum body comfort to occupants of all age groups.

[0021] A further object of the invention is to provide a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which can be made in single seater, twin seater, three seater etc. variants.

[0022] A still further object of the invention is to provide a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which is economical.

[0023] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

[0024] The present invention is related to a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which is made using polypropylene engineering plastic which can sustain all atmospheric conditions like sun, rain, heat, cold, wind etc. for long periods of time. The polypropylene is blow moulded to make an outdoor seating in a shape as per human contour and provide cushioning effect so that one can sit comfortably for long hours. The outdoor seating can be fixed on the floor with the help of screws at four ends and RCC can be poured in the hollow space of the side support of the outdoor seating such that the self-weight of the support with the seating does not allow the bench to move easily, making it difficult to be stolen. Chrome plated pipes can be used to fix the seats on the support. This blow moulded polypropylene seat can be used as a swing by removing the support and fixing chains on two sides of the seat. The outdoor seating can be made as a single seater, twin seater, three seater etc. This product being self-coloured, fading of colour is prevented.

[0025] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

[0026] Fig. 1(A) gives the complete perspective view of the three seater outdoor seating.

[0027] Fig. 1(B) gives the drawing for the assembling of the three seater outdoor seating.

[0028] Fig. 2(A) gives perspective view of the side support of the outdoor seating.

[0029] Fig. 2(B) gives the diagram of the side support of the outdoor seating.

[0030] Fig. 3 gives the assembling of the various components of the outdoor seating.

[0031] Fig. 4 gives the view of the adjacent side supports with the pipes attached with clamps to assemble the seat of the outdoor seating.

[0032] Fig. 5 gives the back side view of the outdoor seating.

[0033] Fig. 6 gives the bottom view of the outdoor seating.

[0034] Fig. 7 gives the diagram of a two seater outdoor seating.

[0035] Fig. 8 gives the diagram of a three seater outdoor seating.

[0036] Fig. 9(A) gives the complete perspective view of a three seater swing.

[0037] Fig. 9(B) gives the diagram of the assembling of the three seater swing.

[0038] DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

[0039] The nature of the invention and the manner in which it is performed is clearly described in the specification. The invention has various components and they are clearly described in the following pages of the complete specification.

[0040] Public seating is an important part of urban infrastructure and has been widely installed throughout cities. These seating should be designed after taking into consideration environmental variations, continuous exposure to normal and extreme weather conditions, human comfort, vandalism / theft etc. The material used for making such seating should be tough enough to resist deterioration and corrosion and smooth enough to be appealing and provide comfort to the people sitting on it.

[0041] The present invention provides a comfortable and durable outdoor seating which can be easily installed in gardens, parks, railway stations, airports, playgrounds, temples, beaches etc., and can be used by young and old to sit comfortably for long hours. This seating provides ergonomic curvature and gives maximum body contact comfort to the occupants. The material and process of manufacturing makes it light weight when manufactured, so that transportation to the site of installation becomes easier.

[0042] The outdoor seating is made of polystyrene engineering plastic which can sustain all kinds of extreme environment conditions like heat, cold, rain, sun etc. for prolonged periods of time. Blow moulding technology is used to manufacture the main body i.e. the seat of the outdoor seating due to which it comprises of two layers which gives cushioning effect, aesthetic look and low maintenance cost. The side support of the outdoor seating is also made using polystyrene engineering plastic with the help of blow moulding technology. These side supports are fixed to the ground with the help of 4 screws (C) provided at the 4 ends of the seating assembly. Holes (A) are also provided on the side supports in which liquid concrete is poured in, which on solidifying, increases the weight of the seating such that the outdoor seating becomes immovable and so cannot be stolen or tampered with. Sections (B) are provided on the side supports to fix chrome plated pipes (D), on which the seat is fixed with the help of clamps (E).

[0043] The outdoor seating of the present invention is explained in detail with the help of the drawings. Fig. 1(A) gives the complete perspective view clearly displaying the appearance of the three seater outdoor seating made from polystyrene engineering plastic using blow moulding technology.

[0044] Fig. 1(B) gives the drawing for the assembling of the three seater outdoor seating wherein the seat is to be placed on side supports which are fixed on the ground with screws (C) and have chrome plated pipes (D) fixed over clamps (E) within sections (B) provided on the side supports. Concrete is poured in the hole (A) provided on the side support.

[0045] Fig. 2(A) gives the complete perspective view clearly displaying the appearance of the side support of the outdoor seating. As shown in the figure, the side supports are double layered three dimensional structures manufactured using blow moulding technology due to which liquid concrete can be easily poured inside it through the hole, to fill it.

[0046] Fig. 2(B) gives the drawing of the side support which has a hole (A) from which concrete is poured in the side support to make the seating immovable. Three sections (B) are provided on each side support to hold the chrome plated pipes (D). Screws (C) are provided at the bottom of the side support which aid in fixing the side support of the outdoor seating to the ground. Clamps (E) are used to fix the chrome plated pipes and seat on the side support.

[0047] Fig. 3 gives the assembling of the various components of the outdoor seating. As shown in the figure, the side support with the hole (A) for pouring in the concrete has section (B) for holding the chrome plated pipes. The clamps (E) hold the chrome plated pipes (D) on which the seat (S) is placed.

[0048] Fig. 4 gives the view of the adjacent side supports with the pipes (D) attached with clamps to assemble the seat of the outdoor seating. As shown in the figure, two chrome plated pipes (D) with clamps (E) are fixed in the sections provided on the side supports which helps in attaching the base of the seat to the support and one chrome plated pipe (D) with clamps (E) is provided at the back side (i.e. the upper end of the side support) on which one chrome plated pipe (D) is fixed in the sections of the side support to attach the back of the seat.

[0049] Fig. 5 gives the back side view of the outdoor seating with one pipe (D) horizontally across the centre of the back side, which provides support to the back side of the seat and two pipes (D) horizontally across the bottom of the seat. The pipes are attached to the seat with the help of clamps (E).

[0050] Fig. 6 gives the bottom view of the outdoor seating which shows the bottom surface of the side supports with screws (C) which help in fixing the outdoor seating to the ground. Two chrome plated pipes (D) are fixed on the side supports which support the base of the seat with the help of clamps (E).

[0051] Fig. 7 gives the diagram of a two seater outdoor seating which shows screws at the base of the side support to fix the seat to the ground and chrome plated pipes at the base and back side of the seat.

[0052] Fig. 8 gives the diagram of a three seater outdoor seating which shows screws at the base of the side support to fix the seat to the ground and chrome plated pipes at the base and back side of the seat.

[0053] Fig. 9 (A) gives the complete perspective view clearly displaying the appearance of a three seater swing. A three seater outdoor seating can be converted into a three seater swing by removing the seat from the side support by removing the clamps and fixing chains on two sides to hooks provided at two positions on both the handles, as shown in the figure.

[0054] Fig. 9(B) gives the diagram of the assembling of the three seater swing which shows the seat of the swing which is assembled on the frame of the swing with the clamps and the chrome plated pipes.

[0055] The comfortable and durable outdoor seating of the present invention is highly advantageous as it is made of polystyrene engineering plastic which can sustain extreme environmental conditions like heat, cold, rain, direct sunlight, ice etc. for long. The durability of this material avoids chipping or edge damages and deterioration of surface finish due to aging. The design of the seat is made according to human contour which provides comfort to the person sitting due to which he / she can sit comfortably for long hours. The two layered seat produced due to blow moulding technology gives cushioning effect and aesthetic look to the outdoor seating. The seat and side supports are made using polystyrene engineering plastic, which is light in weight due to which the transportation from the site of manufacturing to the site of installation becomes easy followed by simple installation by fixing the screws of the side support on the ground and pouring liquid concrete in the side support through the hole provided which increases the weight of the outdoor seating preventing easy movement / stealth or tampering of the outdoor seating. The size of the seating can be varied according to the requirement and the seats can be made as a single seater, two seater or three seater, as per requirement. The blow moulded seat can also be used as a swing. The polystyrene engineering plastic used for making the seating is self-coloured due to which extra cost for colouring or colour fading due to deterioration is limited. Thus the outdoor seating of the present invention is easy to manufacture, transport and install, limits atmospheric damage / stealth / vandalism, can be designed in different sizes as per the requirement and is economical.

[0056] Although the preferred embodiment as well as the construction and use have been specifically described, it should be understood that variations in the preferred embodiment could be achieved by a person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. The invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments which are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Claims

im,1. A comfortable and durable outdoor seating which can be easily transported to and installed in public places wherein the outdoor seating is made with polystyrene engineering plastic using blow moulding technology comprising of side supports and seat; wherein the side supports are made with polystyrene engineering plastic using blow moulding technology which are provided with screws (C) at the base to fix the supports on the ground; wherein a hole (A) is provided on each side support in which liquid concrete is poured in to increase the weight of the side support making it difficult to be moved; and wherein sections (B) are provided on the side supports to fix chrome plated pipes (D) on which the seat (S) is fixed with clamps (E).

2. The comfortable and durable outdoor seating as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outdoor seating can be made as any among single seater, two seater or three seater.

3. The comfortable and durable outdoor seating as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outdoor seating can be converted into a swing by removing the polystyrene engineering plastic seat (S) from the side support by removing the clamps and fixing chains on two sides to the hooks provided at two positions on both the handles.

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