Furniture with inflatable cushion

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a piece of furniture with an inflatable cushion, more particularly to a piece of furniture having a leg assembly removably coupled to an inflatable cushion for supporting the latter stably on a floor surface. The leg assembly can be easily disengaged from the inflatable cushion to facilitate storage.

2. Description of the Related Art

Referring to

FIG. 1

, a conventional inflatable mattress

1

is shown to confine an air inflatable space

11

. The inflatable mattress

1

is provided with a valve member

12

for access of air into the air inflatable space

11

to inflate the inflatable mattress

1

. After the valve member

12

is sealed, the inflatable mattress

11

, which has been inflated, can serve as a bed. When use of the inflatable mattress

11

is not desired, it is only necessary to open the valve member

12

once again to allow escape of air from the air inflatable space

11

so as to deflate the inflatable mattress

1

. The deflated inflatable mattress

1

can then be folded into a compact shape to facilitate storage and carrying.

Although the conventional inflatable mattress

1

is quite convenient in terms of use, storage and carrying, it is not equipped with any means to support the same on a floor surface. That is, the conventional inflatable mattress

1

is generally placed on the floor surface when in use. To prevent dirtying the inflatable mattress

1

, the floor surface has to be cleaned beforehand. Otherwise, the inflatable mattress

1

may be covered with dust or even be pierced by pointed objects left lying on the floor. In addition, the dampness from the floor may be deleterious to the health of the user sleeping on the inflatable mattress

1

that lies directly on the floor surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a piece of furniture with an inflatable cushion which is equipped with a removable leg assembly that can support the inflatable cushion stably on a ground surface.

Accordingly, a piece of furniture of the present invention includes an inflatable cushion body, a leg assembly and a coupling unit. The cushion body confines an air inflatable space therein, is provided with a valve member for inflating and deflating the cushion body, and has a bottom surface. The leg assembly is disposed below the cushion body, and has a lower portion adapted to stand on a ground surface, and an upper portion opposite to the lower portion. The coupling unit couples removably the upper portion of the leg assembly to the bottom surface of the cushion body, and includes first connecting members secured to the bottom surface of the cushion body, and second connecting members secured to the upper portion of the leg assembly to engage removably and respectively the first connecting members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a conventional inflatable mattress;

FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a piece of furniture according to the invention in part;

FIG. 3

is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred embodiment in an assembled state, illustrating how a leg assembly is coupled to a cushion body prior to inflation;

FIG. 4

is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment in an assembled state, illustrating how the leg assembly is coupled to the cushion body prior to inflation; and

FIG. 5

is perspective view of the preferred embodiment in a state of use, illustrating how the cushion body and the leg assembly automatically spread out after inflation of the cushion body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to

FIGS. 2 and 3

, the preferred embodiment of a piece of furniture according to the present invention is shown to include an inflatable cushion body

31

, a leg assembly

33

, and a coupling unit

32

.

The cushion body

31

has an enclosed surrounding wall

311

confining an air inflatable space

312

therein. The cushion body

31

is provided with a valve member

314

for inflating and deflating the cushion body

31

, and has a bottom surface

300

.

The leg assembly

33

is disposed below the cushion body

31

, and has a lower portion adapted to stand on a ground surface, and an upper portion opposite to the lower portion. The leg assembly

33

includes a plurality of upright leg members

331

and a plurality of foldable cross members

332

, each of which is connected pivotally to an adjacent pair of the upright leg members

331

.

The coupling unit

32

couples removably the upper portion of the leg assembly

33

to the bottom surface

300

of the cushion body

31

. The coupling unit

32

includes a number of first connecting members

313

secured to the bottom surface

300

of the cushion body

31

, and a number of second connecting members

320

secured to the upper portion of the leg assembly

33

to engage removably and respectively the first connecting members

313

.

Each of the first connecting members

313

has a securing portion

316

connected to the bottom surface

300

of the cushion body

31

, an annular portion

317

extending downwardly from the securing portion

316

and having a lower rim, and a flexible baffle ring

318

extending radially and inwardly from the lower rim. Furthermore, each of the first connecting members

313

confines a receiving space

319

. The baffle ring

318

defines an opening

310

that is communicated with the receiving space

319

.

Each of the second connecting members

320

has a wider retaining portion

325

and a narrower trunk portion

327

connected coaxially to the wider retaining portion

325

. The wider retaining portion

325

and the narrower trunk portion

327

may be integrally formed. The opening

310

defined by the baffle ring

318

has a diameter that is smaller than that of the wider retaining portion

325

and larger than that of the narrower trunk portion

327

of the respective one of the second connecting members

320

, thereby enabling the baffle ring

318

to retain the wider retaining portion

325

of the respective one of the second connecting members

320

in the receiving space

319

after the wider retaining portion

325

is squeezed through the opening

310

.

The coupling unit

32

further includes a number of positioning members

322

respectively secured to the upright leg members

331

. Each of the positioning members

322

has a wide base section

3222

mounted on the upper portion of the leg assembly

33

. The narrower trunk portion

327

of a respective one of the second connecting members

320

is anchored to the wide base section

3222

. The wide base section

3222

has a diameter larger than that of the opening

310

in a respective one of the first connecting members

313

.

The coupling unit

32

further includes a supporting fabric

323

overlying the wide base sections

3222

of the positioning members

322

, and formed with a number of through holes

324

that permit the wider retaining portions

325

of the second connecting members

320

to extend there through. The supporting fabric

323

is sandwiched between the positioning members

322

and the first connecting members

313

. In this embodiment, the supporting fabric

323

has an upper surface provided with a number of reinforcing pieces

326

, each of which surrounds a respective one of the through holes

324

.

During assembly, referring to

FIG. 3

, the wider retaining portion

325

of the respective second connecting member

320

is squeezed through the opening

310

defined by the flexible baffle ring

318

of the respective first connecting member

313

such that the wider retaining portion

325

is retained in the receiving space

319

. Thus, the upper portion of the leg assembly

33

is coupled to the bottom surface

300

of the cushion body

31

. At this time, the securing portions

316

of the first connecting members

313

can support relatively large areas of the cushion body

31

so that the cushion body

31

can be stretched out in a relatively flat state. Similarly, the reinforcing pieces

326

on the upper surface of the supporting fabric

323

enable the supporting fabric

323

to be stretched out relatively flat below the cushion body

31

.

With further reference to

FIGS. 4 and 5

, in combination with

FIG. 3

, after each of the second connecting members

320

is coupled to the corresponding one of the first connecting members

313

on the bottom surface

300

of the cushion body

31

in the manner described in the preceding paragraph, air is introduced into the air inflatable space

312

inside the cushion body

31

via the valve member

314

to inflate the cushion body

31

so that the cushion body

31

, together with the leg assembly

33

, spreads out. The valve member

314

is then sealed to keep the cushion body

31

in the inflated state. At the same time, the supporting fabric

323

, which is also stretched out below the cushion body

31

, supports the entire bottom surface

300

of the cushion body

31

. In addition, as shown in

FIG. 3

, the securing portions

316

of the first connecting members

313

and the reinforcing pieces

326

enable a more even contact between the cushion body

31

and the supporting fabric

323

so that the cushion body

31

can be flatly and firmly supported by the leg assembly

33

on the ground surface.

To collapse the furniture of the present invention, it is only necessary to open the valve member

314

to allow the air inside the air inflatable space

312

to escape to thereby deflate the cushion body

31

, as shown in FIG.

4

. Then, the leg assembly

33

along with the second connecting members

320

is removed from the first connecting members

313

on the cushion body

31

. Thus, the cushion body

31

and the leg assembly

33

can be collapsed or folded separately to facilitate storage or carrying.

It is noted that the number of upright leg members

331

depends on the size of the cushion body

31

. Furthermore, the furniture according to the present invention can be in the form of a bed, a chair, etc.

In sum, since the cushion body

31

is supported on the ground surface by means of the leg assembly

33

, it will not come into direct contact with the ground surface. Therefore, the aforesaid problems associated with the conventional inflatable mattress can be eliminated.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.