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[0001] This U.S. utility patent application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 60/332,862, filed Nov. 6, 2001,having the same title and same inventive entity as the present application.
[0002] The present invention relates generally to auto seat covers and more particularly to single use, disposable auto seat covers.
[0003] The normal course of police activities involves apprehending and arresting suspects and placing them in a police car. While seated in the police vehicle and en route to the police station, the suspect frequently becomes incontinent, either urinating, defecating, or both, or becomes sick and vomits. Such occurrences create an unpleasant mess in the vehicle for the officer to clean up. The vehicle is normally cleaned by the officer during or after his shift, which is an activity looked forward to most unfavorably by the officer. Aggravating the clean up is that the stains left by the suspects can be difficult to remove and the residual odor can persist in the vehicle for days or even weeks after the vehicle has been cleaned. Many jurisdictions allow their police officers to use their cruisers when the officer is “off duty,” but it can be undesirable to do so when the seats are stained and the vehicle has become malodorous.
[0004] Seat covers to protect an automobile seat are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,985,222 to J. W. Menhall discloses a temporary paper protective covering that is drawn off a supply roll mounted at the top of the seat back, advanced over the seat back cushion, fed through a guide rod located where the seat back meets the seat cushion, then pulled over the seat cushion. The paper is then taken up by another roller mounted to the front of the seat cushion. One disadvantage of the cover disclosed by the '222 patent is that used and soiled cover material is merely taken up by a roller and kept inside the vehicle rather than being removed from the vehicle and discarded. Another disadvantage is that the disclosed roller system is ungainly.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,431 to Horn discloses a disposable seat cover made from a double-layered piece of plastic film for use by mechanics while servicing a vehicle. The disclosed cover consists of a co-extruded plastic material having a high friction coefficient on the surface which faces the seat and a comparatively low friction coefficient on the opposite surface of the cover on which the mechanic sits. However, the disclosure of this patent does not address a situation wherein fluid, possibly a large volume, is excreted by the occupant.
[0006] What is needed is a disposable seat cover that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and which can be conveniently used by police officers to protect their vehicle seats from suspects who become sick or incontinent.
[0007] The present invention is a disposable, highly absorbent vehicle seat cover and method of using same. The cover can be used by police officers to protect their police car seats from stains and odors left by apprehended suspects who ride in the vehicles. The cover includes a highly absorbent material, such as a super absorbent polymer, so that urine and other substances are quickly absorbed into the cover instead of staining and defiling the vehicle seat. The cover can also be conveniently attached and removed from the vehicle seat by means of hook and loop or other fasteners.
[0008] In one form thereof, the present invention provides a method of protecting a vehicle seat from soiling by an individual. First, a plurality of disposable seat covers made of highly absorbent material is provided, each cover including cover fasteners for attachment to the seat. If needed, the vehicle seat can be configured with seat fasteners that mate with the cover fasteners. In one embodiment, hook and loop fasteners are used. One of the new seat covers is taken from the container and attached to the seat. Once apprehended, the individual is placed on the covered seat. If the individual then becomes incontinent or vomits, the highly absorbent cover will absorb the offending substance, thereby preventing the seat from becoming stained. Once the car arrives at the police station, the individual is removed from the covered seat and the cover is discarded.
[0009] In another form thereof, the invention provides the combination of a vehicle seat and a plurality of disposable seat covers. The covers contain a highlyabsorbent or “super absorbent” material. Each of the covers have fasteners that mate with an attachment means provided on the vehicle seat, whereby each cover is removably attachable to the seat. One advantage of the present invention is that it greatly reduces the clean up of a police vehicle that an officer must conduct after his shift. With the present invention, if a suspect becomes incontinent or vomits on the vehicle seat, the inventive cover will absorb the offending substance and the officer can simply remove the cover and discard it after the suspect is removed from the vehicle. A new cover can be placed over and attached to the seat before another suspect is arrested.
[0010] Another advantage of the present invention is that it reduces the amount of time an officer must spend cleaning his or her vehicle, thereby allowing the officer to focus on other police duties.
[0011] Another advantage of the present invention is that it can be used in applications other than police activities. For example the presentinvention could be used in ambulance gurneys, for pets being transported in cars, and persons confined to wheel chairs and hospital beds, to name just a few applications.
[0012] The above-mentioned and other advantages of the present invention, and the manner of obtaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
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[0020] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
[0021] The embodiments of the present invention described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present invention.
[0022] Referring now to
[0023] Turning to
[0024] Cover
[0025] With reference to
[0026] With reference to FIGS.
[0027] Referring now to
[0028] It can thus be appreciated that by use of disposable cover
[0029] While a preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention has been disclosed hereinabove, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains.