Inflatable Sofa

There are various types of sofas available in the markets. Most of these sofas are designed to have framework made of rigid or hard materials and are therefore bulky and heavy. Each such sofa with rigid framework occupies a fixed space and can not be easily moved due to its volume and weight. For these reasons, sofas are generally limited to indoor use. However, people pay more and more attention to their outdoor activities at leisure time and would prefer to have a comfortable sofa which has simple structure and light weight and can be conveniently transported for use indoors and/or outdoors. It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop an inflatable sofa which is simple and light and can be quickly inflated for use or deflated for convenient transporting or storage without occupying too much space.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an inflatable sofa that has simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost, and can be quickly inflated to provide comfortable softness for use indoors or outdoors, or be deflated for convenient storage without occupying too much space. The inflatable sofa according to the present invention is formed from multiple pieces of specially shaped plastic sheets connected to one another by radio heating. The radio heated plastic sheets enclose an inner space into which air can be filled via a valve. I-shaped supporting beams made of plastic material with high tensile strength are radio heated in armrest portions and/or the seat portion of the inflatable sofa for reinforcing purposes. The armrest portions are also provided with accordion containers for holding cups or cans. Recess is formed at the seat portion of the inflatable sofa for accommodating heat-absorbing material therein to cool a cushion positioned on the seat portion.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective of an inflatable sofa of the present invention in a fully inflated state;

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the inflatable sofa of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective of the inflatable sofa of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective of another embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 at the same time. The present invention relates to an inflatable sofa made of multiple pieces of specially shaped plastic sheets connected to one another via radio heating. The inflatable sofa is designed to have a back portion 1, two armrest portions 2, a seat portion 3, and a separate seat cushion 4. A valve 5 is provided at a predetermined suitable position on the sofa for filling air into an inner space enclosed by the radio-heated plastic sheets. The inner space allows air inside the sofa to communicate among different portions of the sofa.

Supporting beams 21, 22 made of plastic material with high tensile strength and having an I-shaped cross section are transversely provided inside the two armrest portions 2 by radio heating their two end surfaces to inner surfaces of the plastic sheets forming the armrest portions 2, so that portions of the inner space in the armrests 2 are reinforced.

Two openings are separately formed on top surfaces of the two armrest portions 2 at predetermined suitable positions. The openings are provided with downward and then radially inward extended frames. A plastic container 23 having an accordion body and a radially outward extended top flange is disposed in each opening with the top flange overlapping the frame of the opening and being connected thereto by radio heating, so that the accordion containers 23 form an integral part of the inflatable sofa. The accordion container 23 each encloses a space suitable for accommodating a cup, a can or the like. Since the containers 23 have an accordion body, they are collapsible and foldable along with the inflatable sofa when the sofa is deflated.

The seat portion 3 is designed to have a downward extended central recess 31. Depending on the need of users, products with heat absorbing ability, such as ice cubes and/or ice bags, may be put in the recess 31 to make the whole seat portion 3 cool and comfortable.

The seat cushion 4 is designed to have wavy surfaces, so that it is comfortably soft for sitting.

FIG. 4 illustrates an inflatable sofa with two seats. This two-seat sofa has generally the same structure as that of the sofa with one seat, except that multiple I-shaped supporting beams 34 are vertically provided in the space below the seat portion 3 to reinforce the seat portion 3. The supporting beams 31 are connected at their end surfaces to inner surfaces of the plastic sheets forming top and bottom surfaces of the seat portion 3 by radio heating.

The inflatable sofa provided by the present invention has simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost. Moreover, it can be quickly inflated for use and can be conveniently stored without occupying too much space after it is deflated. The accordion containers 23 and the recess 31 further increase the convenience and comfortableness of the inflatable sofa in use.