Claims
- 1. A valance for a bed, comprising:
- a ruffled portion; and,
- an unruffled portion attached to said ruffled portion, said unruffled portion comprising a flexible mesh material in combination with fastener means adapted to penetrate the apertures of said flexible mesh material to thereby fasten said valance to portions of said bed, said fastener means including:
- a top surface layer of a substantially rigid material; and,
- a head attached to said top surface layer, said head being capable of penetrating the apertures of said flexible mesh material to fasten said valance to portions of said bed.
- 2. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said flexible mesh material is plastic.
- 3. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said unruffled portion includes a plurality of spheres attachable to said bed whereby said unruffled portion is capable of removable attachment to said bed.
- 4. The valance for a bed according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of spheres is permanently attachable to said bed.
- 5. The valance for a bed according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of spheres is non-permanently attachable to said bed.
- 6. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said unruffled portion includes an anti-sag portion which is more rigid than said flexible mesh material.
- 7. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said head of said fastening means has a conical shape.
- 8. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said head of said fastening means has a substantially spherical shape.
- 9. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said top surface layer of material of said fastening means is made of a plastic material.
- 10. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said top surface layer of material is an upper layer and said fastening means further comprises a lower layer of material having an adhesive for fastening said fastening means to said bed.
- 11. The valance for a bed according to claim 10, further comprising a foam layer intermediate between said top surface layer of material and said lower layer.
- 12. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said fastening means includes means for attachment to a bed via a plurality of pins.
- 13. The valance for a bed according to claim 12, wherein said plurality of pins are inserted through preformed openings.
- 14. The valance for a bed according to claim 13, wherein said plurality of pins are inserted through preformed openings which are shaped for an interference fit with said plurality of pins.
- 15. The valance for a bed according to claim 1, wherein said head of said fastening means has a substantially oval shape.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 114,628, filed Oct. 28, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,317.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved fastening system for decorative ruffles for a bed. More particularly, the invention relates to a valance, or dust ruffle, for a bed,, wherein the dust ruffle is adjustable to any size bed, and without the need of removing the top mattress or otherwise specifically tailoring a particular sized dust ruffle to a particular bed, in which the inventive dust ruffle includes novel fastening means for attachment of the dust ruffle to the bed, e.g., the box spring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, the placement of bed dust ruffles around three sides of a box spring, lying beneath a conventional mattress, normally required the complete removal or displacement of the top mattress from the box spring. The dust ruffles of the prior art were affixed to the perimeter of a sheet. This sheet, of a fixed length and width, had to be properly placed over the box spring. A set of dust ruffles in the prior art device was adaptable to only a mattress of a particular length and width. This is because the length and width of the sheet with the dust ruffles had to match the dimensions of the box spring. Even with a properly sized sheet, the placement of the dust ruffles around the box spring was often quite time consuming and tedious.
Other methods used include a ruffle skirt with an elastic top edge that is held in place by the pressing weight of the mattress. Additionally, the use of safety pins, snaps, corkscrew pins and two-point hook-and-loop type fasteners, such as the ones sold under the trademark of Velcro, are used to position a dust ruffle or top edge around the top of the box spring or foundation. After each of these dust ruffle removals and replacements, careful tedious repositioning and fastening is necessary. Another two-part system in the prior art is disclosed by Gardiner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,683, issued May 13, 1986, which uses one part of a zipper along the top edge of the dust ruffle and another around the perimeter of a sized mattress pad. Such zipper systems are very expensive because they require numerous sizes to adjust to the different bed sizes and mattress thickness. Of all the aforesaid prior art devices for the fitting of dust ruffles around a bed, no prior art device offers both an easy and inexpensive method for accomplishing the same.
Representative of the prior art include the patents to Mayent, U.S. Pat. No. 524,834, issued Aug. 21, 1894; Dennison, U.S. Pat. No. 1,147,616, issued July 20, 1915; Hoit, U.S. Pat. No. 1,270,414, issued June 25, 1918; Weinberg, U.S. Pat. No. 2,619,658, issued Dec. 2, 1952; Piontkowski, U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,875, issued Sept. 25, 1956; and, Gardiner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,683, issued May 13, 1986.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide bed dust ruffles which are capable of placement along the perimeter of a box spring which may be set in place quickly and conveniently without the need to remove the top mattress from the box spring.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide dust ruffles for a bed which are adjustable to fit box springs or mattresses of greatly varying sizes.
It is, yet, an additional object of the invention to an improved fastening system for attachment of the dust ruffles of the present invention to a bed or box spring.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a set of bed dust ruffles which is economical to manufacture.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide decorative dust ruffles which overcome the disadvantages inherent in the prior art.
The foregoing and related objects are accomplished by a set of bed dust ruffles, preferably made of cloth, which has along its upper, unruffled border, i.e., perimeter, a mesh or screen. The mesh is, preferably, made of a durable, but flexible plastic. The mesh affixed to the ruffles is to be releasably attached to attachment, or fastening, means located on the box spring. Such attachment means, or fastening means, preferably include a sphere or conical head which may be affixed to the box spring or mattress of the bed. The fastening means preferably includes an adhesive layer which contacts the box spring or mattress of the bed, an intermediate foam layer, and an upper layer of, preferably, plastic or other material. The upper layer is to be attached to the head which is to releasably engaged to the flexible mesh of the unruffled portion of the invention. The preferred fastening means also should include means for permitting the additional engagement of fastening pins, which would penetrate the upper layer, the intermediate foam layer, and the lower adhesive layer. The pins, preferably two pins, are opposed to one another relative to the head of the fastening means, would then penetrate the box spring or mattress of the invention. The pins would be well secured by the necessary penetration through up to three layers of the fastening means and the penetration into the box spring or mattress of the bed. The pins are, further, used in conjunction with the fastening means of the present invention by a diagonal insertion of said pins in conjunction with the present invention.
When a user wishes to decorate a bed with the dust ruffles of the present invention, a user need simply lift a portion of a top mattress and affix the mesh, having the dust ruffles, to the attachment means which would have been previously secured to the box spring. The mesh would be affixed around, usually, three sides of the perimeter of the box spring. When turning a corner of the box spring, as the user continues to attach the mesh to the means for attachment, the user need only fold-over the mesh, pleating the corner, before continuing to attach the mesh to the box spring in its new 90-degree direction. Alternatively, a new section of the dust ruffle of the present invention may be affixed to another portion of the bed. The precise means for attaching the mesh to a box spring will be explained in greater detail hereinafter by reference to the drawing.
The openings of the mesh, which are preferably attached to the attachment or fastening means of the invention by an interference fit, may exist in rows or columns, which may be diagonally arranged. By preferably, having a plurality of openings in the width of the mesh, it is possible to adjust and re-adjust the height of the dust ruffles to a bed of any height. Of course, a plurality of openings along the width of the mesh is not required if one wishes to design the bed dust ruffles of the invention to a specific height.
The present invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference being made to the accompanying drawing. It should, however, be pointed out that the drawing, while illustrative of the invention, does not define the scope and limitations of the invention.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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114628 |
Oct 1987 |
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Patent Grant
4897891
