Patent Application
20240366002
The disclosure relates generally to a system and device that facilitates the incorporation and attachment of a bedding insert into a bedding cover. The bedding insert is inserted into the bedding cover and connected together in a simple efficient manner that securely attaches the bedding insert to the bedding cover.
Bedding has been used since antiquity for a variety of purposes. For example, bedding has been used to soften a sleeping surface, to keep the user clean from the sleeping surface, to keep the sleeping surface clean from the user, and to keep the user warm during cold nights. The early Egyptians were known to use cotton bedding that was placed on raised beds. Later, in the 14th century, blankets, used for warmth, were woven out of wool. Subsequently, Vikings in the 16th century were known to use bedding stuffed with down, wool, or silk. This bedding is still used today and may also be known as a duvet. Duvet comes from the French word meaning down and in the United States is often referred to as a comforter.
Different materials have been used throughout the years to create bedding (i.e., wool, cotton, silk, and more modernly, flannel, lyocell, polyester, microfiber, bamboo) because clean bedding promotes a healthy lifestyle. Historically many pathogens have been found to accumulate in unwashed bedding. Given that, on average, people spend a third of their lives in bed it is important that bedding remains clean to facilitate general health. However, cleaning bedding can be complicated because each different material, used to create bedding, requires a different method of cleaning.
To ease the arduous cleaning process a bedding shell was invented to encapsulate a duvet. This bedding shell protected the duvet from being soiled and could be removed to be washed keeping the duvet clean. This also allowed the user to change styles or designs of the bedding shell without having to replace the duvet itself. However, the bedding shell did have some limitations. For example, once the duvet was placed within the bedding shell the duvet would slide around inside the bedding shell and would end up lumping at one end or another, causing discomfort to many sleepers. To try and provide a solution, fabric ties were placed at every corner of the bedding cover and loops or ties were placed on the duvet to facilitate the attachment of the duvet to the bedding shell. Unfortunately, this solution was inadequate because large portions of the duvet are not attached to the bedding shell and as a result the portion of the duvet not attached to bedding shell still may bunch up or cause a lump within the bedding shell.
Another difficulty that comes from using bedding shells is the process of inserting, or in many cases wrestling, the duvet into the bedding shell. Generally, bedding shells are open at one end and since duvets are typically soft and supple they are hard to control. As a result, stuffing a duvet into a bedding shell is difficult. Frequently, the process is done on top of the bed to allow the user to stand while inserting the duvet. In this circumstance, the bedding shell is placed on the bed and the duvet is either on the ground or on the bed next to the bedding shell. Since the bedding shell only opens up on one end the user has to hold open the shell with one hand and then insert the duvet into the opening with the other hand. During this process, one incorrect movement with the user's hand or arm may cause the duvet to fall to the floor. In other words, if the majority of the weight of the duvet is outside the cover, the user must rely on a single arm or hand to insert the duvet into the bedding shell. If the majority of the weight is on the inside of the bedding shell, the duvet tends to fall down into the bedding shell, causing bunching and lumps. In another potentially simpler method, users turn the bedding shell inside out allowing the user to attach the duvet to the corners of the bedding shell on the inside of the bedding shell. As the user tries to maneuver the bedding shell under and over the duvet to encapsulate the duvet this process still requires one hand to hold open the bedding shell and the other to attempt to stuff in the duvet. In this manner, the user must stuff the duvet into the shell and pull on the shell preferably simultaneously to aid in the insertion of the duvet into the bedding shell. However, in any case, inserting a duvet into a bedding shell is a difficult process which may be physically taxing for many people to the point where those people are not comfortable removing the bedding shell or cleaning the bedding shell, which can in turn lead to a decrease in health as the bedding shell is less and less clean.
Disclosed herein is a bedding system comprising a bedding insert and a bedding cover. The bedding insert includes a first portion of a zipper that corresponds to a second portion of a zipper found in the bedding cover. The second zipper portion is disposed on an inside portion of the bedding cover near an edge of the bedding cover. The bedding cover further includes a front panel that is connected to a back panel
Further disclosed herein is a bedding cover comprising one or more zipper portions disposed on an inside portion near one or more edges of the bedding cover. The bedding cover also includes a front panel and a back panel that is connected to the front panel.
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive implementations of the present disclosure are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. Advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood with regard to the following description and accompanying drawings:
In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific techniques and embodiments are set forth, such as particular techniques and configurations, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the device disclosed herein. While the techniques and embodiments will primarily be described in context with the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the techniques and embodiments may also be practiced in other similar devices.
Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. It is further noted that elements disclosed with respect to particular embodiments are not restricted to only those embodiments in which they are described. For example, an element described in reference to one embodiment or figure, may be alternatively included in another embodiment or figure regardless of whether or not those elements are shown or described in another embodiment or figure. In other words, elements in the figures may be interchangeable between various embodiments disclosed herein, whether shown or not.
Furthermore, zipper portions 110A, 115A, and 120A may be disposed on the inside portion of the bedding cover 100, adjacent to and/or near the right, bottom, and left edges of bedding cover 100 correspondingly. Zipper portion 105A may be near the top edge of bedding cover 100 but is inserted beneath the buttonholes 140. Alternatively, zipper portions 105A, 110A, 115A, and 120A may all be disposed at equal distances from their corresponding edges on the inside portion of bedding cover 100.
Furthermore, zipper portions 105A, 110A, 115A, and 120A may all uniformly include the same zipper portion either the first zipper portion (including a slider and a box as a bottom stop) or the second zipper portion (including a pin as a bottom stop). Having bedding cover 100 that includes uniform zipper portions allows a user to attach a bedding insert more easily without having to flip around the insert to try and match it with the corresponding zipper. In a distinct embodiment, bedding cover 100 may include at least a first zipper portion and a second zipper portion.
Bedding cover 100 also may include right back panel zipper 125 and left back panel zipper 130 that allows the back panel to be opened up to attach an insert to bedding cover 100. When the back panel is zipped up, the zipper slider, used to zip together zipper 125, can be placed in zipper pocket 145A. Likewise, the zipper slider used to zip together 130, can be placed in zipper pockets 145. Moreover, additional zipper pockets may be used to conceal additional zipper sliders. For example, zipper portions 105A, 110A, 115A, and 120A may include a zipper pocket for their corresponding zipper slider. Furthermore, the remaining portion of the zippers 125 and 130 may be covered and hidden from view by a portion of material from the back side of bedding cover 100.
The front and back panel of bedding cover 100 may be comprised of one large section of material that is folded back on itself. Alternatively, the front panel and the back panel at the bottom may be otherwise connected (i.e., sewn, woven, glued, fused, stitched etc.). A large portion of the back panel may be separated/opened-up using right back panel zipper 125 and left back panel zipper 130. This exposes the inside portion of the front panel allowing access to zipper portions 105A, 110A, 115A, and 120A. This facilitates the attachment of bedding insert 200 (shown in
At the top of bedding cover 100, the back panel may attach to the front panel using buttons 150 that attach to buttonholes 140. The buttonholes 140 may be located on a separate panel 135 that is then attached to bedding cover 100. Separate panel 135 may be attached to the inside portion of the front panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the back panel. Alternatively, separate panel 135 may be attached to the inside portion of the back panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the inside portion of the back panel. The separate panel 135 is used to prevent the buttons 150 from being seen on the outside after being inserted into buttonholes 140. Even though bedding cover 100 depicts five buttonhole 140 and five buttons 150 any number of buttons 150 can be used with corresponding buttonholes 140. Alternatively, many different types of detachable connectors may be implemented in place of buttons 150 and buttonholes 140 (i.e., zipper, snaps, clips, clasps, ties, eyelets and a cord, buckle, hook and loop). The different attachments may include additional panels to hide them from view.
Bedding cover 300 also may include right back panel zipper 325 and left back panel zipper 330 that allows the back panel to be opened up, in essentially a clam shell fashion, to attach an insert. When the back panel is zipped up, a zipper slider used to zip together 325A to 325B can be placed in zipper pocket 345A. Likewise, a zipper slider used to zip together 330A to 330B, can be placed in zipper pocket 345B. Moreover, additional zipper pockets may be used to conceal additional zipper sliders. For example, zipper portions 305, 310, 315, and 320 may include a zipper pocket for their corresponding zipper slider or zipper portions 305, 310, 315 and 320 may include dual zipper pulls which may slide in the same or opposite directions. Furthermore, the remaining portion of the zippers 325 and 330 may be covered and hidden from view by a portion of material from the back side of bedding cover 300.
The front and back panel of bedding cover 300 may be comprised of one large section of material that is folded back on itself. Alternatively, the front panel and the back panel at the bottom may be otherwise connected (i.e., sewn, woven, glued, fused, stitched etc.). A large portion of the back panel may be separated/opened using right back panel zipper 325A-B and left back panel zipper 430A-B. This exposes the inside portion of the front panel allowing access to zipper portions 305, 310, 315, and 320. This facilitates the attachment of bedding insert 360. Both zippers 325 and 330, that open up a portion of the back panel, may have a layer of material that covers zippers 325A and 330A in a way that hides zippers 335A and 330A from view. Alternatively, many different types of detachable connectors may be used in place of one or more zippers and/or zipper portions 305, 310, 315, 320, 325, and 330 (i.e., buttons, snaps, clips, clasps, ties, eyelets and a cord, buckle, hook and loop).
At a top of bedding cover 300, a back panel may attach to a front panel using buttons 350 that attach to buttonholes 340. The buttonholes 340 are located on a separate panel 335 that is then attached to bedding cover 300. Separate panel 335 may be attached to the inside portion of the front panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the back panel. Alternatively, separate panel 335 may be attached to the inside portion of the back panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the inside portion of the back panel. Separate panel 335 is used to prevent the buttons 350 from being seen on the outside after being inserted into buttonholes 340. Even though bedding cover 300 depicts five buttonholes 340 and five buttons 350 any number of buttons 350 can be used with corresponding buttonholes 340. Alternatively, many different types of detachable connectors may be implemented in place of buttons 350 and buttonholes 340 (i.e., zipper, snaps, clips, clasps, ties, eyelets and a cord, buckle, hook and loop). The different attachments may include additional panels to hide them from view.
Bedding cover 455 also may include right back panel zipper 425 and left back panel zipper 430 that allows the back panel to be opened up to attach insert 460. When the back panel is zipped up, the zipper slider, used to zip together zipper 425, can be placed in zipper pocket 445A. Likewise, the zipper slider used to zip together 430, can be placed in zipper pockets 445. Moreover, additional zipper pockets may be used to conceal additional zipper sliders. For example, zipper portions 405, 410, 415, and 420 may include a zipper pocket for their corresponding zipper slider. Furthermore, the remaining portion of the zippers 425 and 430 may be covered and hidden from view by a portion of material from the back side of bedding cover 400.
A front and back panel of bedding cover 455 may be comprised of one large section of material being folded back on itself. Alternatively, the front panel and the back panel at the bottom may be otherwise connected (i.e., sewn, woven, glued, fused, stitched etc.). A large portion of the back panel may be separated/opened-up using right back panel zipper 425 and left back panel zipper 430. This exposes the inside portion of the front panel allowing access to zipper portions 405, 410, 415, and 420. This facilitates the attachment of bedding insert 460. Both zippers 425 and 430, that open up a portion of the back panel, may have a layer of material that covers zippers 425 and 430 in a way that hides zippers 435 and 430 from view. Alternatively, many different types of detachable connectors may be used in place of one or more zippers and/or zipper portions 405, 410, 415, 420, 425, and 430 (i.e., buttons, snaps, clips, clasps, ties, eyelets and a cord, buckle, hook and loop).
At the top of bedding cover 455, the back panel may attach to the front panel using buttons 450 that attach to buttonholes 440. The buttonholes 440 are located on a separate panel 435 that is then attached to bedding cover 400. Separate panel 435 may be attached to the inside portion of the front panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the back panel. Alternatively, separate panel 435 may be attached to the inside portion of the back panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the inside portion of the back panel. The separate panel 435 is used to prevent the buttons 450 from being seen on the outside after being inserted into buttonholes 440. Even though bedding cover 400 depicts five buttonhole 440 and five buttons 450 any number of buttons 450 can be used with corresponding buttonholes 440. Alternatively, many different types of detachable connectors may be implemented in place of buttons 450 and buttonholes 440 (i.e., zipper, snaps, clips, clasps, ties, eyelets and a cord, buckle, hook and loop). The different attachments may include additional panels to hide them from view.
Bedding cover 500 also may include right back panel zipper 525 and left back panel zipper 530 that allows the back panel to be opened up to attach an insert. When the back panel is zipped up, the zipper slider, used to zip together zipper 525, can be placed in zipper pocket 545A. Likewise, the zipper slider used to zip together 530, can be place in zipper pockets 545. Moreover, additional zipper pockets may be used to conceal additional zipper sliders. For example, zipper portions 505, 510, 515, and 520 may include a zipper pocket for their corresponding zipper slider. Furthermore, zippers 525 and 530 may be covered and hidden from view by a portion of material from the back side of bedding cover 500 that movably lays over zippers 525 and 530.
The front and back panel of bedding cover 500 may be comprised of one large section of material being folded back on itself. Alternatively, the front panel and the back panel at the bottom may be otherwise connected (i.e., sown, weaved, glued, fused, stitched etc.). A large portion of the back panel may be separated/opened-up using right back panel zipper 525 and left back panel zipper 530. This exposes the inside portion of the front panel allowing access to zipper portions 505, 510, 515, and 520. This facilitates the attachment of bedding insert 560. Both zippers 525 and 530, that open up a portion of the back panel, may have a layer of material that covers zippers 525 and 530 in a way that hides zippers 535 and 530 from view. Alternatively, many different types of detachable connectors may be used in place of one or more zippers and/or zipper portions 505, 510, 515, 520, 525, and 530 (i.e., buttons, snaps, clips, clasps, ties, eyelets and a cord, buckle, hook and loop).
At the top of bedding cover 500, a back panel may attach to a front panel using buttons 550 that attach to buttonholes 540. The buttonholes 540 are located on a separate panel 535 that is then attached to bedding cover 500. Separate panel 535 may be attached to the inside portion of the front panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the back panel. Alternatively, separate panel 535 may be attached to the inside portion of the back panel between the inside portion of the front panel and the inside portion of the back panel. Separate panel 535 is used to prevent the buttons 550 from being seen on the outside after being inserted into buttonholes 540. Even though bedding cover 500 depicts five buttonholes 540 and five buttons 550 any number of buttons 550 can be used with corresponding buttonholes 540. Alternatively, many different types of detachable connectors may be implemented in place of buttons 550 and buttonholes 540 (i.e., zipper, snaps, clips, clasps, ties, eyelets and a cord, buckle, hook and loop). The different attachments may include additional panels to hide them from view.
In practice, bedding cover 500 that is unattached to bedding insert 200 is laid face down on a bed or the floor zippers 525 and 530 are unzipped so that the back panel remains attached to the front panel as shown in
To attach the top edge of bedding cover 300 buttons 350 are located on one of the top edges of bedding cover 300. On the corresponding top edge buttonholes 340, which receive buttons 350 are disposed into panel 335 that is separate from an outside portion of bedding cover 300. Panel 335 allows buttons 350 to be placed in buttonholes 340 in a manner that conceals buttons 350 from the outside of bedding cover 300. Once buttons 350 have been placed in buttonholes 340, cover 300 has been closed on all sides. There are no exposed buttons or zippers because a layer of fabric conceals all zippers and all the buttons. As a result, the combined bedding cover 300 and bedding insert 200 is effectively shown in
This application is a continuation of and claims priority to and benefit of U.S. Pat. No. 12,035,831 filed on Sep. 15, 2021, which in turn claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/078,702 filed on Sep. 15, 2020 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, including, but not limited to those portions that specifically appear hereinafter, the incorporation by reference being made with the following exception: In the event that any portion of the above-referenced provisional application is inconsistent with this application, the application supersedes the above referenced provisional application.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63078702 | Sep 2020 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17475668 | Sep 2021 | US |
| Child | 18771615 | US |
