Seating unit with removable life preserver section

Claim 1

In combination with a vehicle seat structure having a seat base section, a seating unit incorporating a separate removable life preserver member as a part of the seat cushion base material to be supported from the seat base section which comprises, a removable, closed-cell foam life preserver section sized and shaped to be of smaller dimensions than the boundary of the seat cushion portion of the seating unit, additional closed-cell foam sections being of a size to fill in void portions of said life preserver section with respect to said boundary of said seat cushion portion of the seating unit, said closed-cell sections being of substantially uniform thickness, and providing resiliency for a resulting complete closed-cell foam seat cushion base of said seating unit, with said additional closed-cell foam sections on said seat base section bounding and forming an upwardly facing opening complementary in size to said life preserver section, and providing for its non-attached placement therein on the seat base section, and a liftably attached seat cushion covering portion for said seating unit positioned over said additional closed-cell foam sections and said life preserver section and being non-attached to the latter, said liftable seat cushion covering portion having a layer of open-cell foam to provide improved seating comfort and being provided with a hinged attachment in interconnection with said seat to provide a resulting hingedly-movable cover portion over the life preserver section resting on said seat base section, whereby said life preserver section is readily liftable from its defined stored positioning on said seat base section.