Patent Application
20230218022
The present disclosure relates to textile articles which are convertible between two or more article types, including furnishings such as pillows, pads, blankets, and quilts, as well as textiles for recreational use such as sleeping bags, as well as wearable textile garments such as robes, gowns, aprons, and other textile articles.
Textile articles such as pillows and blankets are common household items, but create unsightly clutter when not used. For example, blankets are often folded and stacked on furniture in between uses, or stowed on shelving, or simply wadded up. Therefore, a need exists for textile articles that serve more than one purpose, stow efficiently, and do not create excess clutter in between uses.
According to an aspect, the present disclosure provides an apparatus (a “convertible article”) convertible between a first textile article type and a second textile article type. In some embodiments, the convertible article includes an outer cover portion forming an interior cavity and having an opening therethrough, and an inner textile portion having a free end and an opposite bottom end. In a first configuration, the inner textile portion is stowed within the interior cavity of the outer cover portion, and in a second configuration, the free end of the inner textile portion extends through the opening of the outer cover portion and the bottom end is attached to the interior cavity.
The following features may be combined in any combination in any embodiment:
The bottom end of the inner textile portion is attached at a perimeter of the interior cavity of the outer cover portion. For example, the bottom end of the inner textile portion is attached by permanent or reversible attachment structure at the perimeter of the interior cavity.
The interior cavity is at least partially lined with a napped or piled fabric.
The opening of the outer cover portion includes a closure mechanism configured to selectively close the opening. For example, the closure mechanism includes a cord (such as an elastic cord) and optionally a stop fitted along the cord and configured limit the size of the opening. The closure mechanism may restrict a fully-open diameter of the opening to 6-12 inches, and/or may restrict a fully-open diameter of the opening to 25%-75% of a largest outermost dimension of the outer cover portion.
The outer cover portion is at least partially formed from a first textile, and the inner textile portion is at least partially formed from a different second textile.
The outer cover portion has a face panel and a rear panel adjoined by a perimeter panel, and the opening extends through the rear panel. In some embodiments, the perimeter panel is a gusset.
The inner textile portion and/or the interior cavity is at least partially formed from or lined with a napped or piled fabric.
The inner textile portion includes two opposing outer surface layers and an internal insulation layer disposed between the outer surface layers.
The inner textile portion includes a closure mechanism (such as a reversible closure mechanism) configured to join a plurality of edges of the inner textile portion.
The inner textile portion is a blanket, a quilt, or a sleeping bag.
The outer cover portion is a pillow cover.
The inner textile portion includes a plurality of arm apertures extending therethrough. Each of the plurality of arm apertures may be disposed at least 12 inches from an outer perimeter of the inner textile portion.
The present disclosure will be better understood, and other details, characteristics and advantages will appear more clearly when reading the following description made by way of a non-limitative example and with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
Referring to
For example, in some embodiments, the convertible article 100 is convertible between -on the one hand - a lofted article such as a pillow, cushion, pad, poof, or the like and on the other hand - a covering article such as a blanket, a sleeping bag, a garment, or the like. As used herein, “lofted article” means an article with an outer covering and an internal portion which imparts loft to the outer covering. A “covering article” means an article configured to cover a all or a portion of a person’s body (e.g., legs, torso, and/or arms), for example to provide warmth, comfort, and/or protection. A “garment” refers to an article capable of being worn by a user, such as by inserting a user’s arms through one or more arm apertures of the article.
The convertible article 100 is generally formed from one or more textiles, i.e., materials formed of fibers and/or filaments. Representative fibers include natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, jute, hemp, and the like, as well as synthetic fibers such as nylon, rayon, polyester, and the like. Representative textile structures include woven, non-woven, and knitted textile structures, such as may be formed into a cloth, fabric, or similar material. Representative materials include not only single-material materials, e.g., cotton fabric, but also materials comprised of more than one material, for example natural-and-synthetic blended fabrics, or insulated materials having outer surface layers formed of at least a first material (e.g., cotton or nylon) and a loft-providing internal insulation layer disposed therebetween (e.g., POLARGUARD®, PRIMALOFT®, THERMOLITE®, HOLLOFIL®, down, polyester batting, wadding).
Although the convertible article 100 generally includes one or more textiles, some embodiments include additional non-textile elements, for example, buttons, zippers, magnetic hardware, cord pulls, buckles, snaps, hook and loop fasteners, origami folding structures, clasps, and the like. Additionally, any of the fabrics described herein may have one or more characteristics that provide a soft and enjoyable user experience, such as flapped and/or piled surface characteristics.
Referring to
In the first state (stowed state) shown in
In the second state (unstowed state or deployed state) as shown in
The outer cover portion 104 has one or more textile panels which are folded, sewn, adhered, or otherwise formed to form a case, cover, bag, sack, or the like, the interior of which forms the interior cavity 112. As shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the face panel 120 has a circular shape; however, in other embodiments, the face panel 120 has a different shape, e.g., an ovular or polygonal shape (triangular, rectangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, octagonal, and the like). In some embodiments, the face panel 120 has an area of about 50 square inches to about 500 square inches.
The rear panel 124 generally has the same shape as the face panel 120 in the stowed or closed configuration. Although described as a panel due to its appearance, the rear panel 124 may nevertheless be formed from one or more strips of material adjoined in an end-to-end fashion, thereby forming the opening 116.
In the representative embodiment shown, the rear panel 124 is formed with excess material which is brought or bunched together when the opening 116 is constricted as shown in
The inner textile portion 108 can have many different shapes, thicknesses, and other features. In some embodiments, the inner textile portion 108 has the form of an article that may be laid flat when pulled out of the outer cover portion 104, such as a blanket, quilt, or sheet. In some embodiments, the inner textile portion 108 is a sleeping bag. In still other embodiments, the inner textile portion 108 is a garment such as a robe, gown, apron, or similar article.
Referring to
In the stowed configuration shown in
As shown most clearly in
In some embodiments, the inner textile portion 108 is formed of an insulated material for warmth, such as a quilted material, a fleece material, or similar material. Similarly, in some embodiments (such as described below with respect to
Referring to
In some embodiments, the opening 116 is provided with a closure mechanism 152 (e.g., an elastic cord or drawstring portion) that enables selective opening 116 and closing of the opening 116. Advantageously, closure mechanism 152 retains the inner textile portion 108 within the outer cover portion 104 in the stowed state. In some embodiments, the fully-open diameter of the opening 116 is limited by the closure mechanism 152 (e.g., limited by a length of the drawstring). For example, in some embodiments, the closure mechanism 152 includes one or more stops 156 disposed along a drawstring 160, the stops 156 being configured to prevent the opening 116 from expanding to a diameter greater than 6-12 inches or 25-75% of the outermost diameter of the outer cover portion 104.
As noted above, the attachment portion 118 of the inner textile portion 108 is attached to the outer cover portion 104. For example, as shown in
Referring still to
In some embodiments, the inner textile portion 108 is attached to the outer cover portion 104 at a perimeter 168 of the interior cavity 112 of the outer cover portion 104. Advantageously, this attachment location maximizes the availability space within of the interior cavity 112 for use as a foot warming pocket when the convertible article 100 is in the unstowed state.
In some embodiments, the closure mechanism 152 restricts the fully-open diameter of the opening 116 even though the outer cover portion 104 is configured to provide a foot pocket. It is unobvious to provide a foot pocket with a restricted opening 116 however, so to ensure user comfort and ease-of-use, in some embodiments the closure mechanism 152 is elastic (e.g., an elastic drawstring) that enables the opening 116 to stretch beyond its resting fully-open diameter (e.g., by an additional 5-10%). Not only does this enable the user to adjust their feet comfortably while using the outer cover portion 104 as a foot pocket, but it also accommodates users with larger feet. In some embodiments, the convertible article 100 includes a handle 172 connected to the outer cover portion, e.g., the rear panel.
Referring again to
According to another aspect, the present disclosure provides methods of converting a first textile article to a second, different, textile article, the method including stowing an inner textile portion 108 in an interior cavity 112 of an outer cover portion 104, wherein the inner textile portion 108 is connected to the interior cavity 112 at one end thereof, and wherein stowing the inner textile portion 108 includes stuffing or pushing the inner textile portion 108 through an opening 116 of the outer cover portion 104, into the interior cavity 112.
The foregoing methods may invoke or employ any one of more of the structural features of the convertible articles described above.
The detailed description set forth above in connection with the appended drawings, where like numerals reference like elements, are intended as a description of various embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to represent the only embodiments. Each embodiment described in this disclosure is provided as an example or illustration and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The illustrative examples provided herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Similarly, any steps described herein may be interchangeable with other steps, or combinations of steps, in order to achieve the same or substantially similar result. Generally, the embodiments disclosed herein are non-limiting, and the inventors contemplate that other embodiments within the scope of this disclosure may include structures and functionalities from more than one specific embodiment shown in the figures and described in the specification. It will be appreciated that variations and changes may be made by others, and equivalents employed, without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is expressly intended that all such variations, changes, and equivalents fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as claimed. For example, the present disclosure includes additional embodiments having combinations of any one or more features described above with respect to the representative embodiments. Restated, features disclosed above with respect to any one embodiment may be combined with any other feature(s) to form additional embodiments.
In the foregoing description, specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that the embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced without embodying all the specific details. In some instances, well-known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure various aspects of the present disclosure.
The present application may include references to directions, such as “first,” “second,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” “front,” “rear,” “left,” “right,” “top,” and “bottom,” etc. These references, and other similar references in the present application, are intended to assist in helping describe and understand the particular embodiment (such as when the embodiment is positioned for use) and are not intended to limit the present disclosure to these directions or locations.
The present application may also reference quantities and numbers. Unless specifically stated, such quantities and numbers are not to be considered restrictive, but exemplary of the possible quantities or numbers associated with the present application. Also in this regard, the present application may use the term “plurality” to reference a quantity or number. In this regard, the term “plurality” is meant to be any number that is more than one, for example, two, three, four, five, etc. The term “about,” “approximately,” etc., means plus or minus 5% of the stated value. The term “based upon” means “based at least partially upon.”
The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/020799, filed May 6th, 2020, and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Application No. 63/071899, filed August 28th, 2020, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in entirety for all purposes.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2021/031128 | 5/6/2021 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63020799 | May 2020 | US | |
| 63071899 | Aug 2020 | US |
