Origami armrest

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10765221-B2
Application number	US-201816053062-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2018
Priority date	Aug 2, 2018
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

Abstract

A portable armrest is manually convertible between a deployed configuration and a folded configuration and includes a lap portion, an arm portion, and a support portion. The support portion vertically spaces the arm portion from the lap portion when the lap portion is positioned on the lap of a seated user with the armrest in a deployed configuration, and the weight of an extended arm of the user is transferred to the lap when the arm is rested on the arm portion. The armrest is formed as a segmented panel including a plurality of rigid segments interconnected into a unitary piece by flexible joints along the perimeter of each segment. The deployed armrest enables users to relax their extended arms while bringing a handheld device into viewing range without lowering their heads. The armrest can be folded into a small packaging space for portability.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A portable armrest, comprising:
a lap portion, an arm portion, and a support portion that vertically spaces the arm portion from the lap portion when the lap portion is positioned on a lap of a seated user with the armrest in a deployed configuration such that a weight of an extended arm of the seated user is transferred to the lap when the extended arm is rested on the arm portion,
the armrest further comprising a foldable connector connecting the lap portion to the support portion, the foldable connector being folded over on itself and on the lap portion in the deployed configuration,
wherein the support portion includes an end wall and a pair of side walls, the end wall extending between an end of the lap portion and the arm portion, and the side walls extending from opposite ends of the end wall to form respective acute angles with the end wall in the deployed configuration, and
wherein the armrest is manually convertible between the deployed configuration and a folded-flat configuration.

2. A portable armrest as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a segmented panel comprising a plurality of flat segments interconnected by respective hinge joints.

3. A portable armrest as defined in claim 2 , wherein the flat segments are arranged in a plurality of parallel planes and overlap each other in the folded-flat configuration.

4. A portable armrest as defined in claim 2 , wherein at least one of the hinge joints is configured to provide substantially 360 degrees of relative movement about a folding axis between adjacent flat segments of the plurality of flat segments.

5. A portable armrest as defined in claim 2 , wherein at least one of the hinge joints is non-linear so that relative movement between adjacent flat segments of the segmented panel about the non-linear joint is restricted to only a partial rotational degree of freedom.

6. A portable armrest as defined in claim 5 , wherein the non-linear hinge joint connects the arm portion to the support portion.

7. A portable armrest as defined in claim 1 , the foldable connector being flat in the folded-flat configuration.

8. A portable armrest as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a foldable connector connecting the arm portion to the support portion, the foldable connector being folded over on itself in the deployed configuration.

9. A portable armrest as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a foldable connector connecting the support portion to the arm portion or to the lap portion via one or more hinge joints, wherein the foldable connector includes a plurality of flat segments interconnected by additional hinge joints.

10. A portable armrest as defined in claim 9 , wherein the foldable connector is folded in a first direction about one of the hinge joints in the deployed configuration and in an opposite second direction in the folded-flat configuration.

11. A portable armrest as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a reversible fastener that engages to couple the arm portion with the support portion in the deployed configuration and is disengaged in the folded-flat configuration.

12. A portable armrest as defined in claim 1 , further comprising an upholstery layer and a segmented layer, wherein the segmented layer comprises a plurality of plates spaced apart from each other at fixed locations along the upholstery layer, each of the plates having an edge that runs parallel with an edge of an adjacent plate along a gap with the upholstery layer spanning the gap to at least partly define a hinge joint between the adjacent plates.

13. A portable armrest as defined in claim 12 , further comprising a plurality of hinge joints, each hinge joint being located between a respective pair of plates of the plurality of plates, wherein at least one hinge joint of the plurality of hinge joints has a width that is different from a width of another one of the hinge joints of the plurality of hinge joints.

14. A portable armrest as defined in claim 12 , further comprising an additional upholstery layer, wherein the segmented layer is disposed between the upholstery layers and the hinge joint includes a portion of both upholstery layers.

15. A portable armrest as defined in claim 14 , further comprising a cushion layer disposed between the segmented layer and one of the upholstery layers.

16. A portable armrest as defined in claim 15 , wherein the cushion layer is segmented so that the cushion layer does not span the hinge joint.

17. A portable armrest as defined in claim 1 , further comprising an armrest accessory extending from the arm portion when the portable armrest is in the deployed configuration.

18. A portable armrest, comprising:
a lap portion, an arm portion, and a support portion that vertically spaces the arm portion from the lap portion when the lap portion is positioned on a lap of a seated user with the armrest in a deployed configuration such that a weight of an extended arm of the seated user is transferred to the lap when the arm is rested on the extended arm portion,
wherein the armrest is manually convertible between the deployed configuration and a folded configuration,
the armrest further comprising a first foldable connector connecting the arm portion to the support portion, the first foldable connector being folded over on itself in the deployed configuration, and a second foldable connector connecting the lap portion to the support portion, the second foldable connector being folded over on itself and on the lap portion in the deployed configuration.

19. A portable armrest, comprising:
a lap portion, an arm portion, and a support portion that vertically spaces the arm portion from the lap portion when the lap portion is positioned on a lap of a seated user with the armrest in a deployed configuration such that a weight of an extended arm of the seated user is transferred to the lap when the extended arm is rested on the arm portion,
wherein the armrest is manually convertible between the deployed configuration and a folded configuration,
the armrest further comprising a reversible fastener and a foldable connector,
wherein the reversible fastener engages to couple the arm portion with the support portion in the deployed configuration and is disengaged in the folded configuration, and wherein the foldable connector is folded over on itself and on the lap portion in the deployed configuration.

20. A portable armrest as defined in claim 19 , further comprising a segmented panel comprising a plurality of flat segments interconnected by hinge joints.

Assignees

• Faurecia Automotive Seating Llc

Inventors

• Ketels Cedric
• Neyrinck Christian
• Goodrich Rodney S
• Dessapt Thomas
• Chassaing Helene
• Fitzpatrick Robert
• Mace Delphine
• Heiden Sascha

Classifications

• A45C11/003

  for storing portable computing devices, e.g. laptops, tablets or calculators · CPC title

• F16M13/04

  for supporting on, or holding steady relative to, a person, e.g. by chains {, e.g. rifle butt or pistol grip supports, supports attached to the chest or head (apparatus or arrangements for taking photographs or for projecting or viewing them G03B)} · CPC title

• A47C16/00 Primary

  Stand-alone rests or supports for feet, legs, arms, back or head · CPC title

• A47B23/002

  supported only by a person · CPC title

• B32B27/20

  using fillers, pigments, thixotroping agents · CPC title