US3004794A - Orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit - Google Patents

Description

. Filed July 14, 1960 Oct. 17, 1961 M. s. YERKOVICH 3,004,794

ORTHOPEDIC CUSHION AND ARM REST UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

MARKO S. YERKOVICHI Oct. 17, 1961 M. s. YERKOVICH 3,004,794

ORTHOPEDIC CUSHION AND ARM REST UNIT Filed July 14, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H15 Hag- United States Patent Filed July 14, 1960, Ser. No. 42,800 1 Claim. (Cl. 297-382) This in'ventionrelates to an orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit. I

More particularly this invention relates to an orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit which is adapted for use in conjunction with beds, chairs, automobile seats, or like places, to enable a patient suffering from spinal or back disorders to rest in a more comfortable position than has been possible heretofore.

Many orthopedic chairs and seats have been devised heretofore for the use of persons having spinal or back injuries but many of these are not satisfactory in that they do not relieve the pressure on the spine which is particularly acute in such cases when a person so afilicted rides in an automobile, boat, or the like, or sits in a chair or in a bed for asubstantial period of time.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit which is particularly adapted for use by patients suffering from spinal injuries and which is adapted to relieve the pressure on the spine when the patient is riding sitting in an automobile, boat or like place, or resting in a sitting position in a bed, or seated in a chair, or the like. A

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit embodying a novel'means for supporting the arms and shoulders and upper body portion of the user in such a manner as to relieve pressure on the spine and thereby lessen the discomfort incidental to the pressure of the weight of the upper portion of the body on the spine when the person is in a sitting position in a chair, vehicle, bed or the like. j

-A further object of the present invention is to provide a new improved orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit embodying the novel features of construction and having the desirable advantages "and characteristics hereinafter described.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best modein which I have con templated applying these principles. ments of thepresent invention embodying the'sam'e or equivalent principles may be used and structurally may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention: :ypa'i. I 'ji In the drawings:

IG. 1 is a perspective view showing a typical use of the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit, with a user resting thereon in a bed;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit, per se, as used in a bed;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view showing the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit as used upon a chair;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view as seen from the right hand side of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the new unit;

FIGJ is a side elevational view of the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional detail view on line 8-8 in FIG. 6, showing the manner in which Other T embodi ice the arm rest member embodied in the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit may be adjusted vertically;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail view on line 9-9 in FIG. 7 showing the construction of the hinge connection between the seat cushion unit and the back rest cushion unit; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional detail view of the hinge connection betweenthe seat cushion and the back rest cushion, as taken on line 10-10 in FIG. 6.

A preferred embodiment of the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit is illustrated in the drawings, where it is generally indicated at 10, and is shown in a typical use thereof, in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein it is shown as being used by a person in a bed 11, wherein it is shown as being arranged on the bed clothing and rested against a pillow 12.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit is shown as being used on a chair 13 which includes a seat 16 and a back rest frame 17.

The new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit 10 includes a seat cushion 14 and a back rest cushion 15, and the seat cushion 14 being adapted to be rested upon a suitable support, such as a bed, as shown in FIG. 1, or upon the seat 16 of a chair as in FIGS. 3 and 4, with the back rest cushion 15 adapted to be rested against a pillow, as 12, in the bed shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or against theback rest portion of a chair 13, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit 10 includes a pair of arm rest members 19, one of which is arranged at each side of the back rest cushion 15. Each of these arm rest members 1% is mounted upon and is supported by a tubular supporting member 23 and each of these tubular supporting members 23 is telescopically and adjustably mounted in a second tubular member 18.

Each of the inner and smaller tubular members 23 has a series of diametrically aligned pairs of holes 24 formed therein and each of these aligned pairs of holes 24 is adapted to be selectively registeredwith a pair of diametrically aligned holes 25 formed in the corresponding outer tubular member 18. A latch element, in the form a of a cotter key 26, carried by a small flexible chain 27, is adapted to be inserted selectively into and through the aligned pairs of registered holes 24-25 so as to latch position relative to the lower tubular supporting member 18. One end portion of each of the flexible chains 27 may be attached, in any suitable maunerto the corre- 1 sponding one of the tubular supporting member l8.

. A hook shaped fastening member 22 is mountedcen trally on the upperportion of the back cushion 15 and is adapted to be engaged over the back rest 17 of a chair, or the like, when the new orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit is used in connection with a chair 13 or the like, as in FIGS. 3 and 4, so as to retain the back rest cushion 15 in upright position on the chair.

The seat cushion 14 and the back rest cushion 15 are interconnected by a flexible web W of canvas, leather or the like, and the arm rest members 19 and their supports 18-23 are hingedly mounted on hinge unit 28 which includes a horizontally extending tubular hinge member 29 which is disposed between the rear end portion of the seat cushion 14 and the lower end portion of the back cushion 15, within the web W. Each end portion of this tubular hinge member 29 has a horizontally extendiug tubular stub shaft 30 hingedly mounted therein and each of these tubular stub shafts 30 has an upwardly extending tubular stub shaft portion 31 attached thereto at each end thereof. Each of these stub shafts 31 extends into the lower portion of a corresponding one of the outer tubular supporting members 18 and terminates Patented Oct. 17, 1961 '3 at. its upper, as at 32, at a point substantially below the vertical center of the corresponding tubular supporting member 18. (FIG.7).

Each of the stub shafts 31 has an. annular latching groove 33 formed in the outer surface thereof and a latching detent 34- is' formed in the wall of'the correspending tubular member 18 and is engageable in the latching groove 33 for the purpose of latching each of the stub shafts 31 to the corresponding lower tubular supporting member 18 (FIG. 9).

A flexible strap extends across the back of the seat cushion 15 (FIG. 6) and has end portions 21 which encircle and are fastened to the upper portion of each of the outer tubular supporting members 18 (FIGS. 6 and In the use of the new combination cushion and arm.

rest unit the same may be used as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, with the seat cushion 14 arranged horizontally on a bed and the back cushion 15 propped against a pillow 12, or the new unit may be used upon a chair 13, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, with the seat cushion 14 rested upon the seat 16 of a chair 13 andand relative to the tubular supporting members 18 and inserting the latch elements or cotter keys 26 through selected pairs of registered holes 24- 25 in the tubular supporting members 23 and 18, respectively. The user may then sit upon the seat cushion 14 with his back rested against the back cushion 15 and with his arms rested over and upon the arm rest members 19, adjusted to a suitable height, so that a substantial portion of the weight of the upper portion of the users body will be carried by and upon the arm rest members 19 and their tubular supporting members 23--18.

The flexible strap member 20-21 enables the arm rest members 19 and their tubular supporting members 23-48 to be flexed forwardly to a limited extent, as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 7, to enable the user to move forwardly without removing the arms from the arm rest members 19, and the flexible elastic members 20-41 serve to return or urge the arm rest members 19 and their tubular supporting members 2318 into their normal position against and parallel to the front of the back cushion 15. p

The arm rest members 19 and their tubular support ing members 23-48 are hingedly mounted at their lower ends in the tubular hinge member 29 by means of the stub shafts 30-31 which extend into and work in the tubular hinge member 20.

The engagement of. the Iatchingdetents 34 in the annular grooves 33 of the stub shafts 31 retains the stub shafts 31 in the tubular hinge member 29 and in assembled relationship with the tubular supporting members 13.

The flexible web .W, holds the seat cushion 14 and back cushion 15 and associated parts together in assembled position. i

It will thus be seen from theforeg'oing description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, that the present invention. provides a/new and improved orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit having the desirable advantages and'characteristics and accomplishing its intended objects, including those hereinbefore pointed out and others which are inherent in the invention.

I claim: I

An orthopedic cushion and arm rest unit comprising a seat cushion and aback. rest cushion, a pair of horizontal, side-by-side fabric pieces interconnecting said seat cushion and back cushion and forming a web, a horizontal tube positioned in said web and extending substantially therethrough, a horizontal stub shaft extending into each end of said horizontal tube and forming a pivot hinge therewith; a vertical arm extending upwardly on each of said stub shafts, a tubular supporting member telescopically mounted on each of said vertical arms by the interlocking of an. annular latching groove in each of said arms and a latching detent in the wall of each of said tubular supporting members, a pair of arm rest members arranged forwardly of the front surface of the back rest cushion and adjacent the sides of the latter, a tube attached to and depending downwardly from each arm test, each tube being in telescopic engagement with one of said tubular supporting members, each of said tubular supporting members having a pair of aligned holes and each of said tubes having a series of pairs of aligned holes along its length, a pin extending through the pair of holes in each of said tubular supporting members and also through a pair of holes in each of said tubes to hold said arm rests at the desired adjusted height position on the respective tubular supporting members, and an elastic band extending across the back of said back cushion and attached at each end to one of said tubular supporting members adjacent the upper end of said tubular supporting members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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