US3318632A - Head rest cover - Google Patents

Description

9, 1967 A. STRUBLE E AL 3,318,632

HEAD REST COVER Filed Sept. 28, 1965 F l G. 4. f f V M 77 3, E

United States Patent 3,318,632 HEAD REST COVER Albert Struble, 508 Irvingion Road, Drexel Hill 19026, and Merritt L. Moflitt, Jr., 9 Weirwood Road, Radnor, Pa. 19087 Filed Sept. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 490,852

2 Claims. (Cl. 297220) The present invention relates to a head rest cover, particularly to a removable sanitary head rest cover adapted for use in public transportation type vehicles.

Conventional head rest covers for seats located in commercial transportation vehicles, such as in aircraft, buses, railway cars and the like, usually comprise a cloth towel secured to the head rest by button-and-eye fasteners, snap fasteners or the like. This type head rest cover is provided with one fastening element on the towel or cover and the other fastening element on the back of the seat. After use, an attendant may remove the cover and it will be laundered for reuse.

Cloth towels are initially relatively expensive, and when the cost of laundering them and the losses due to unauthorized removal are added, the expense of the cloth towel becomes prohibitive as compared to the newer, felted, unglazed paper type. Thus the latter type of head rest cover has become increasingly popular. In the Struble Patent No. 3,113,803, a felted body, unglazed paper head rest cover is illustrated in which a Velcro type fastener is attached to the head rest cushion and the cover contains a plurality of holes which permit, when used with a special tool, the projection of the velcro books through the holes and thus provide securing of the cover thereto. However, the tools are easily misplaced or lost, and it is difiicult to properly secure the head rest cover to the fastener absent the tool. Without proper fastening of the cover to the head rest vertical and lateral displacement of the cover results.

In view of the above, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive cover having fastening means thereon which permit quick attachment and disengagement from the fastener located on the head rest cover, without any special tools, but which when in use will resist displacement by lateral or vertical movement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide novel fastening means on the rear of a head rest cover, which fastening means is inexpensive and permits the cover to be discarded after each use and replaced by a clean cover.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following specification and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a seat back having secured thereto a head rest cover constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG, 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the reverse side of the head rest cover illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and illustrating novel fastening means utilized in conjunction with a fastener on the head rest;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the portion of the fastening means illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the fastening means illustrated in FIG. 3 and as shown in the dot-dash circle of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of another embodiment of fastening means which may be secured "ice to the back of the head rest cover to form a part of the fastening means.

Referring now to the drawing, and especially FIG. 1 thereof, a seat back 10 having a head rest portion 11 has secured thereto astrip 12 of Velcrotype pile fabric 13. Thepile fabric 13 permits attachment thereto of a ering of the seat whereby the hooks are aligned longitudinally of the seat back 10. For reasons which will become evident hereinafter, when thepile fabric 13 hashooks 16 which are oriented in the same direction, it is preferable that the hooks be directed upwardly. Of course as is well-known, some of the hook pile material presently available has hooks of random orientation and in the event that this type of pile fabric is used on a strip secured to the head rest portion of a seat, there is no need to take note of the orientation of the hooks. When using a pile fabric of either of the aforementioned types, i.e. fixed or random orientation hooks, thestrip 12 may be secured to the seat back upholstery in any suitable manner as by sewing, gluing etc.

Thehead rest cover 14 may be formed of any inexpensive and yet'relatively durable material, preferably however, it is formed of a strong, thin, flexible material such as a soft, felted unglazed paper or a non-woven fabric.

In accordance with the invention, novel attachment means 15 is connected at or near the upper edge along the back of thehead rest cover 14, which attachment means insures easy connection of thehead rest cover 14 to thestrip 12 on the head rest portion 11 of theseat 10. To this end, the attachment means 15 comprise-s a nonwoven fabric, formed of either a natural or synthetic material, and including raised pile portions having a cross sectional depth sufficient to ensnare thehooks 16 associated with thepile fabric 13.

The preferred embodiment of the attachment means 15 comprises anon-woven material 17 having raisedresilient ribs 18 of fiber. It was discovered that when the ribs comprise raised piles of generally unbroken fibers, in the present instance substantially laterally extending, the engagement of the hooks with theribs 18 is assured by simply pressing the attachment means 15 against thepile fabric 13. Intermediate the ribs, and as best shown in FIGS. 3-6 is afiber lattice 19 which connects adjacent ribs to each other.

The orientation of the ribs of the attachment means 15, placed on the back of thehead rest cover 14, is relatively unimportant, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3 theribs 18 extend in the longitudinal direction,

i.e. length wise of the head rest cover 14- which insures better engagement with thehooks 16 when the hook orientation is upwardly, as shown in FIG. 2. A material such as above-described is presently being manufactured by the Chicopee Division of Johnson & Johnson under the tradename Masslinn.

Another embodiment of an attachment means 25 is illustrated in FIG. 7 wherein the attachment means comprises a synthetic fiber including raised pile portions having a cross sectional depth sufiicient to ensnare thehooks 16 associated with thepile fabric 13. In the present instance, the raised synthetic fabric comprises a foamed plastic having an inter-connecting, resilient, lattice network 26 definingsmall apertures 27 therein. In the manner similar to that above-described, pressing the Foam.

Application of the head rest cover to the attachment means may be efiected by a thin film of glue or the like and connection of the cover to thestrip 12 is effected merely by pressing the portion of the head rest cover having the attachment means on the back thereof against the pile fabric. Disengagement of the head rest cover from theattachment strip 12 is effected by grasping one corner of the cover and'by pulling the cover away from the attachment strip.

Thus a novel attachment means'for a head rest cover is provided 'for use in conjunction with a Velcro type fastener, which material is inexpensive, requires no auxiliary attachment tools, and which permits disposal of the head rest cover after it has been used.

- Thus although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be understood that the'present disclosure is only exemplary of the invention, and that numerous changes in the details of construction, and the combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. a

What is claimed is:

1. A head rest cover for connection to a strip secured to the head rest portion of a seat back, said strip having I upstanding hook pile elements with the hook orientation in a first direction; a removable head rest cover of strong, thin, flexible material; attachment means adjacentone edge of said head rest cover; said attachment 'means comprising a non-woven fabric including a plurality of ribs of raised resilient pile portions containing fibers extending in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction, said ribs spaced from one another and extend ing substantially perpendicular to said fibers; and said raised pile portion having a cross-sectional depth sufiicient to ensnare said upstanding hook pile elements.

2. A head rest cover in accordance withclaim 1 wherein said ribs are interconnected by a fiber lattice.

References Cited by the Examiner Makansi 2s 72.2

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Examinerr

Claims (1)

1. A HEAD REST COVER FOR CONNECTION TO A STRIP SECURED TO THE HEAD REST PORTION OF A SEAT BACK, SAID STRIP HAVING UPSTANDING HOOK PILE ELEMENTS WITH THE HOOK ORIENTATION IN A FIRST DIRECTION; A REMOVABLE HEAD REST COVER OF STRONG, THIN, FLEXIBLE MATERIAL; ATTACHMENT MEANS ADJACENT ONE EDGE OF SAID HEAD REST COVER; SAID ATTACHMENT MEANS COMPRISING A NON-WOVEN FABRIC INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF RIBS OF RAISED RESILIENT PILE PORTIONS CONTAINING FIBERS EXTENDING IN A SECOND DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO SAID FIRST DIRECTION, SAID RIBS SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER AND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO SAID FIBERS; AND SAID RAISED PILE PORTION HAVING A CROSS-SECTIONAL DEPTH SUFFICIENT TO ENSNARE SAID UPSTANDING HOOK PILE ELEMENTS.

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