Oh, patents! Yogibo bean bag furniture

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Seeking comfort? Consider the endlessly adaptable Yogibo bean bags, ranging in sizes from a mini three-foot pillow, to a maxi six-foot lounger. Designed in 2009 by Eyal Levy, in Nashau, New Hampshire, (originally as seating for his pregnant wife's comfort), the Yogibo Company now has retail stores in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, plus more. The Yogibo bean bags also come in various vibrant colors and patterns, with some fabrics suited specifically for outdoor use.

The video below shows the versatility of the Yogibo furniture, as well as some of the sizes and color options. 

The unique combination of comfort and support designed into the Yogibo bean bag furniture is patented. The US utility patent, US10869558B2, titled Functionally supportive pillows and methods of preparation thereof, was awarded on December 22, 2020, to Giora Liran and Eyal Levy, both inventors and co-founders of the Yogibo furniture company.

Indeed, the patent precisely recites sustained functional support for sitting, lying, or reclining on Yogibo bean bags, while retaining the comfort of a pillow. Such balance between comfort and support is patented as a dynamically responsive relationship between the body-conforming inner core, comprising bead material, and the outer stretchable fabric, when pressure is applied on the pillow. Thus, the Yogibo bean bag comprises: 1. an inner core with polymeric foam beads that are free-flowing in the absence of applied pressure; 2. a first shell shaped to house the foam beads, the first shell made of fabric engineered for durability and elasticity; and 3. a second outer shell shaped to contain the core of polymeric beads housed in the first inner shell, with the outer shell also made of fabric engineered for durability and elasticity.

Accordingly, the patent further recites the exact composition of the inner core, as well as the first and second shell fabric-engineering.  Composition of the inner core such as shape, dimensions and weight. Engineering of both the inner and outer fabric shells, such as thread composition, stitch, added treatments for dying, enhancing softness, repelling water, retarding flames, environmental sustainability, and durability.  

The patent thus further specifies the required dynamic relationship between the bead core and the outer shells, which together determine the patented comfort and support. Patented comfort and support, unlimited to a single piece of bean bag furniture. Indeed, the scope of the invention extends to a whole range of bean bag furniture that includes chairs, couch, loungers, pillows, back supports plus more that are obvious to those skilled in the art of bean bag furniture.

Below the patent Figures 1B and 1C depict respectively 70% and 100% body-conformity of the bean bag lounger, together with corresponding images of the marketed invention in orange and blue. The abstract of the invention is also provided below.

The present invention is directed to a functionally supportive pillow comprising a dynamically responsive combination of an inner core enclosing a bead material and an outer shell, such that the combination of the inner core with the outer shell creates a dynamic response to applied pressure to the pillow for increased functional support of said pillow.  
[Abstract US10869558B2]

Reference
Yogibo (website)
https://yogibo.com/ 

Oh, patents! Israeli (ER) bandage

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Designed, and patented, by an Israeli army medic, the Emergency Bandage—also known as the  Israeli Bandage—is now standard equipment in the United States and International Armed Forces. The Israeli ER Bandage is even also widely used in hospitals, emergency medical services, and first aid kits for factories, offices, homes, and camping.

The Israeli ER Bandage is designed in different sizes to provide pressure on hemorrhaging trauma wounds, occurring on almost any part of the body (limbs, head, neck, chest, and abdomen). The ER bandage comprises four essential, all-in-one, parts: 

• A sterile dressing pad (primary dressing)
• An attached elasticized cloth wrap (secondary dressing)
• An attached patented pressure applicator to apply pressure at the wound site.
• An attached patented closure bar (that can also be used as a tourniquet for extra pressure on the wound).

Because of the versatility of the all-in-one design, packaged in a vacuum sterile pack, the Israeli ER bandage is both cost- and time-efficient. Cost-efficient because separate supplies of 4x4  sterile pads, gauze, fasteners, straps, and sticks are no longer required to treat a hemorrhaging trauma wound, and time-efficient for the same reasons, in situations where every minute counts. Indeed, the all-in-one design also allows the bandage to be self-applied. Elastic snaps are even included to prevent the elasticized cloth wrap from unraveling to the ground before it is wrapped around the wound. Likewise, the sterile vacuum packaging is notched so that it is easy to tear and remove the bandage from the packaging.

The video below demonstrates how the Israeli bandage is applied. Essentially, the sterile pad is placed on the wound with the pressure applicator offset from the wound. The cloth wrap is wrapped once around the wound and inserted into the pressure applicator. Then, the cloth wrap is pulled back and wrapped in the opposite direction around the wound, securing the pressure applicator in place on the sterile dressing. At the end of the cloth wrap, a fastener with hooks on each end secures the bandage wrapped around the wound. Alternatively, the end fastener can be twisted and used as a tourniquet to add additional pressure on the wound.  

The Israel ER Bandage, and all of its key components, is a patented invention. The US utility patent US5628723A, titled Emergency Bandage,  was awarded to Bernard Grau (aka Bernard Bar-Natan), on May 13, 1997. The patent Figure 3 is included below, together with an image of the marketed ER bandage. 

The patent Figure 3 is a partial simplified illustration of the bandage 100. The Figure 3 depicts the dressing 102, preferably including one or more absorbent portions made of cotton sandwiched between a non-adherent pad 112 (face down, non visible) and a structural cloth layer 114 (shown, but unindexed). The ER bandage also comprises a pressure enhancement member (applicator) 106, preferably made of flexible, resilient plastic. The pressure enhancement member 106 comprises a bow-shaped portion 120, attached perpendicular to a base 122. The bow-shaped portion 120 has two arcuate wings 124, curving away from the dressing 102. 

The wings 124 are joined to the bow-shaped portion 120 via two rounded junctions 128. Each rounded junction further comprises a stiffening rib 128. Roughening ribs 132 are found on the inside of the wings 124, and one more stiffening rib 127 is found on the bow-shaped portion  120. The stiffening ribs 127 and 128 are together designed to prevent the gap 134 between the bow-shaped portion 120 and the wings 124 from widening, and inadvertently allowing the cloth wrap 104 to be pulled out of the space 134, when the cloth wrap 104 is pulled back against the wings 124, to secure the pressure enhancement member 126 on top on the dressing 102.  Likewise, the roughening ribs 132, on the inside of the wings 124, are designed to increase friction between the cloth wrap 104 and the wings to prevent the cloth wrap 104 from being pulled out of the space 134.  

Between the two wings 124, there is a gap 130 through which the cloth wrap is pushed, onto the space 134, before changing wrapping directions around the wound. The tips 129 of the wings 124 are chamfered to enable the cloth wrap 104 to slip more easily through the gap 130 between the wings 124, into the space 134, before changing wrapping directions. 

The cloth wrap 104 extends on each side of the dressing 102. The short 117 end of the cloth wrap 104 is designed to facilitate grasping the bandage. The other end of the cloth wrap 104  has an attached closure bar 140 with two hooks 144 on each side. Each hook 144 has a covered tip 146. The closure bar 140 with its two hooks 144 is designed to secure the bandage to the wounded body part. Alternatively, the closure bar 140 might be twisted like a tourniquet for added pressure, before the bandage is secured with its hooks 144 to the rest of the wrapped bandage. 

The patent recites other embodiments of the pressure enhancement applicator.  Below, the abstract of the invention is also included.

For use in a bandage comprising a sterile dressing and a web portion attached to and extending from the sterile dressing, a pressure enhancement member comprising a base, and at least one wrapping element generally perpendicular to the base, the at least one wrapping element having a gap, wherein the pressure enhancement member is attached to a non-wound-side surface of the sterile dressing, and the at least one wrapping element is arranged for wrapping therearound by the web portion, wherein when the web portion is wrapped in a first direction around a limb having thereon a wound, and forced through the gap, and the web portion is then wrapped around the at least one wrapping element in a second direction, the pressure enhancement member applies a pressure on the dressing, thereby causing the dressing to apply a local pressure to the wound, and subsequent wrappings of the web portion on the pressure enhancement member, on previous wrappings of the web portion and on the limb, increase the local pressure on the wound. [Abstract US5628723A]

Reference
Amazon - Israeli Ever Ready First Aid Israeli Battle Dressing Compression Bandage, 6"
https://www.amazon.com/Israeli-Dressing-First-Aid-Compression/dp/B003DPVERM