Patent Application
20070240262
This invention is directed a blanket that is used as a bed covering to keep a sleeper or sleepers warm and comfortable while sleeping. The invention is also directed to a fitted covering of that type that facilitates making up the bed and which also avoids having the sleeper inadvertently kick the covers off the bed while sleeping.
Fitted bed sheets, especially fitted bottom sheets, have become quite common to facilitate making up the bed after a night's sleep or when changing the bed covers. A number of proposals have been made also for fitted top sheets, in which a pocket is formed at the foot end of the sheet, and is intended to fit over the foot end of the mattress. Some examples of these are found, for example, in Mitchell U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,258; and McMahon Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,646. Other proposals for fitted combination bed coverings are found in Evanson U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,730; Golden U.S. Pat. No. 3,824,640; and McHorter U.S. Pat. No. 1,865,329. Some of these involve a generally rectangular “pocket” member sewn or otherwise formed at one end of the bed cover, with the pocket fitting around and under the foot end of the mattress to hold the item in place. However, these have all had rather short pocket member, i.e., extending only a few inches from the end of the mattress. If used as a top cover, i.e., a blanket, there is insufficient holding power to keep the sleeper from kicking the cover off the bed if he or she tosses or turns in the night. Also, for tall persons whose feet reach the end or nearly to the end of the bed, these earlier designs do not accommodate the person's feet if he or she attempts to reach the foot end of the bed. In addition, the blanket portion is not fastened or sewn to the pocket portion across the top edge of the pocket, and instead is sewn on an end or bottom panel of the pocket. This does not provide sufficient resistance to pushing the blanket off the bed.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a simple and effective design for a bed cover, i.e., blanket, that fits onto the foot end of the bed and avoids the drawbacks inherent in the prior art.
It is another object to provide a fitted blanket that accommodates the feet of sleepers tall enough to reach the foot of the bed while sleeping, and which does not pull off or kick off due to motion of the sleeper in the bed.
It is a further object to provide a blanket that has a natural appearance when on the bed, and facilitates making up the bed after the person has arisen.
According to one aspect of this invention, a fitted blanket is made of a suitable length and width to fit over a foot end of a standard bed mattress. The mattress has a lengthwise dimension from the head to the foot of the bed, and has a width or transverse dimension extending the left to the right side. The fitted blanket has a generally rectangular blanket portion of a suitable material (e.g., wool, wool blend, or synthetic cloth) its length dimension is sufficiently long to cover a sleeper lying on the mattress and to drape over the foot end of the bed. The blanket portion also is wide enough to cover the sleeper and to drape over the sides of the bed mattress. As means for fitting the blanket onto the mattress, there is a pocket member at the foot end, formed of a durable flexible cloth material (e.g., flannel) and of a generally box shape, i.e., formed of a rectangular top panel, trapezoidal or triangular side panels, a rectangular back panel, and a generally rectangular bottom panel, leaving an open mouth formed at front edges of said top, bottom and side panels. In order to ensure that the blanket does not easily pull off the bed during the night. The top panel has a length dimension of between 12 and 24 inches, preferably about 18 inches. The diagonals of the side panels extend to this line. The bottom panel is deep enough, e.g., about three to six inches, to fig the mattress foot end over the bed sheets plus any other coverings. An elastic member is sewn along the front edges of the left and right side panels and extends along the front edge of the bottom panel. This holds the pocket in place over the foot end of the bed mattress. The pocket member and blanket portion are joined at a seam line, where the seam is sewn at a line adjacent the front edge of the top panel of the pocket member. The seam extends across the top panel and joins the blanket portion to the pocket member.
The elastic member can be an elastic band that extends all the way across the front edge of bottom panel, as well as up the diagonal front edges of the side panels to the top panel. Favorably, the top panel of the pocket member has a width dimension substantially the same as the transverse dimension of the bed mattress.
The above and many other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will present themselves to persons skilled in this art from the ensuing description of preferred embodiments of this invention, as described with reference to the accompanying Drawing.
With reference to the Drawing,
The blanket 10 has a main blanket portion 20, which is generally a rectangular piece of a warm, flexible and comfortable fabric, which may be of any of a number of well known types. The main blanket portion is sufficiently long so that its foot end drapes over the foot end of the mattress and is sufficiently wide so that the edges drape down over the left and right side edges of the bed. The blanket may come in a size appropriate for the particular bed 10 or mattress 16, i.e., child size, twin, double, queen, or king.
A short distance from the foot end of the blanket portion 20, there is a generally box-shaped pocket member 22 that is sewn to the blanket portion 20 along a transverse seam 24. The pocket member 22 has a top panel 26, left and right side panels 28, a bottom panel 30 and a back panel 32. The top and bottom panels have generally rectangular shapes, but the top panel 26 extends significantly farther along the forward direction than does the lower panel. The side panels 28 are then of an angulated shape, e.g., trapezoidal, and each has a diagonal forward edge 29, as shown. The front end of the pocket member 22 is open, and is formed as a mouth surrounded by the front edges of the panels 26, 28, 28, and 30 to fit over the foot end of the mattress 16. The term “panel” is used here as a convenience in explanation, and in practice the pocket member 22 would be made from a single piece of fabric.
As shown here, the seam 24 is positioned about a quarter to a third of the distance from the foot end of the blanket portion 20. It has been found that with the seam at this location, and about one and one half feet from the foot of the mattress, the pocket member 22 is sufficiently deep (at the blanket side) that it can accommodate the sleepers feet, which can slide under the seam into the pocket, and provide normal comfort. At the same time, the pocket member 22 remains in place on the mattress even when the sleeper tosses and turns during the night.
The pocket member 22 should be formed of a durable, comfortable fabric. In a preferred implementation, flannel is used.
While not shown here, there may be a decorative fabric strip across the blanket covering the seam 24.
While the invention has been described and illustrated in respect to a selected preferred embodiment, it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited only to that precise embodiment. Rather, many modifications and variations would present themselves to those of skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.
