This disclosure relates generally to foot covers or covers that are positioned at the end of a bed in a showroom. Specifically, the covers are intended to keep beds and bed linens cleans as individuals are testing different mattresses and beds. More specifically, this disclosure relates to covers which are capable of fitting different sizes of mattresses and securing firmly to itself, which may be through a frictional, snug fit on the mattress and may be positioned toward the foot of the mattress.
People who shop for mattresses often visit showrooms where a variety of mattresses are displayed. As part of the process of shopping for a mattress in a mattress showroom, people will try out several of the options that are available in the showroom. Trying out a mattress typically includes sitting on the mattress, bouncing up and down on the mattress, and lying on the mattress.
Typically, visitors to a mattress showroom have worn shoes or other footwear into the showroom. Since they are walking around the showroom, they typically leave their shoes or other footwear on their feet. As the visitors lie on the mattresses, they typically keep their footwear on their feet. Dirt and other substances on the footwear may soil the mattresses, diminishing their appearance and, thus, their appeal to potential purchasers.
Various embodiments of a cover for the foot of a mattress, or a mattress foot cover or simply a cover, are disclosed. A cover for the foot of a mattress according to this disclosure may include a top panel, a base panel, and three side panels. The top panel and the base panel may be connected around a periphery to each of the three side panels. The panels may define a void and an opening that receive a foot portion of a mattress, with the three side panels extending along the vertically oriented foot and sides of a mattress.
A configuration of the cover may enable it to be positioned on or toward a foot of a mattress and to extend a specified distance toward the head of the mattress (e.g., less than halfway up the mattress, etc.).
The cover may be adjustable to enable it to be snugly fitted to and secured in place over the foot of the mattress. The adjustability of the cover may be provided by any of the panels, but may be primarily provided on the bottom panel to hide fasteners and features that enable adjustment of the cover. The base panel of the cover may include portions that may be pulled together and coupled to each other in a manner that allows for extension or retraction of the side panels of the cover to fit mattresses of different widths and/or thicknesses/heights.
The top panel may include a pocket positioned on or within the top panel. The pocket may be configured to allow for reading material to be placed within such pocket. The pocket may be partially securely closed with a fastener, which may be hook and loop fasteners. The pocket may have a two-sided opening or single sided opening with a fastener on at least one of those sides.
Methods for securing a cover to a foot portion of a mattress are also disclosed.
Features and advantages of various aspects of the disclosed subject matter and other aspects of the disclosed subject matter should become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art through consideration of the ensuing description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
In the drawings:
Referring to
The top panel 12, bottom panel 14, and foot panel 16 may be substantially rectangular in shape. Each of the top panel 12, bottom panel 14, and foot panel 16 may have a width (from the left side to right side of each panel in the orientations shown in
The right panel 18 and left panel 20 may also be rectangular in shape. The lengths of the right panel 18 and left panel 20, which extend from foot of the mattress 2 toward the head of the mattress 2, may be the same as the length of the top panel 12.
In some embodiments, the top panel may include a pocket 24. The pocket 24 may include a single opening or it may be a flap of rectangular (or other polygonal shape) material on top of the top panel 12 that is secured along two sides of the periphery of the pocket 24 to the top panel 12 and open on the remaining two sides of the pocket 24. The pocket 24 may be positioned toward one side of the top panel 12 of the cover 10 (e.g., adjacent to the left right panel 18 or left panel 20) to allow for easier access to the pocket 24 from one side of the mattress 2.
In some embodiments, although not shown in
With added reference to
One or both of the first portion 28 and second portion 30 of the bottom panel 14 may include fasteners 26 that enable the first portion 28 and second portion 30 to be reversibly coupled to each other. Each fastener 26 may be positioned and oriented in a manner that facilitates coupling of the first portion 28 and second portion 30 of the bottom panel 14 to each other at any of a variety of different locations. For example, the fastener 26 may extend along a portion of the width of is corresponding portion 28, 30 of the bottom panel 14. The fasteners 26 may enable the first portion 28 and second portion 30 to be pulled together and reversibly coupled to each other in a variety of locations to allow for the cover 10 to be snugly secured to the foot of the mattress 2 (
It will be appreciated that any of a variety of different types of fasteners 26 may be used. Without limitation, the fasteners 26 may include touch fasteners (e.g., hook fasteners (e.g., in embodiments where fasteners 26 are only included on the first portion 28 or the second portion 30 of the bottom panel 14), hook and loop fasteners, hook-hook fasteners, etc.). A first portion (e.g., the hook portion, etc.) of a touch fastener 26 may be secured to the first portion 28 of the bottom panel 14, while a second portion (e.g., the loop portion, etc.) of the touch fastener 26 may be secured to the second portion 30 of the bottom panel 14. Other embodiments of fasteners 26 that may be used include, but are not limited to, snaps, buttons or similar.
In some embodiments, the cover 10 may also include a flap 36 extending along a bottom edge of the foot panel 16. The flap 36 may be secured to the bottom edge of the foot panel 16 or the flap 36 may comprise an extension of the foot panel 16. The flap 36 may extend partially over the bottom panel 14.
Additional fasteners 32 and 34 may be respectively associated with the flap 36 and the bottom panel 14. For example, as shown in
In some embodiments, the additional fasteners 32 and 34 may comprise complementary touch fasteners (e.g., hood and loop fasteners, hook-hook fasteners, etc.). Without limitation, the additional fasteners 32 on the flap 36 may include the hooks, while the additional fasteners 34 on the bottom panel 14 may comprise the loops. It will be appreciated that either of the additional fasteners 32 with their fastening portions are interchangeable. It will also be appreciated that other embodiments and arrangements of fasteners may also be used as the additional fasteners 32 and 34.
The flap 36 may assist in the ready placement and securement of the cover 10 to the foot of a mattress 2. For example, the flap 36 may effectively adjust the height of the foot panel 16 to accommodate the thickness of the mattress 2 and/or effectively adjust the length of the bottom panel 14 to ensure that the bottom panel 14 is aligned with the top panel 12 on the opposite surface of the mattress 2. By allowing for the flap 36 to effectively shorten the length of the bottom panel 14, the flap 36 may facilitate snug, secure fitting of the cover 10 to the foot of the mattress 2. The flap 36 and the additional fasteners 32 and 34 associated with the flap 36 and the bottom panel 14 may also allow for the ready removal of the cover 10 from the foot of the mattress 2 (e.g., for easy laundering, etc.).
The entire cover 10 may comprise a single type of fabric or material. Alternatively, the bottom panel 14 may be of a different material than each of the other panels 12, 16, 18, and 20 and the flap 36 because the bottom panel 14 will not likely be seen by a consumer. Adjacent features of the cover 10 (e.g., the panels 12, 14 (28, 30), 16, 18, and 20 and the flap 36, if any, may be secured together in any suitable manner (e.g., as seams, which may be sewn, welded, taped, etc.) and/or they may be continuous with each other.
When the cover 10 is assembled in the manner shown in
With more specificity,
As illustrated by
The flap 36 may then be pulled downwardly over the foot 3 of the mattress 2 and secured to the bottom panel 14; for example, by engaging the additional fasteners 32 on the flap 36 and the additional fasteners 34 on the bottom panel 14.
Although the foregoing description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limiting the scopes of the inventions recited by any of the appended claims, but merely as providing information pertinent to some specific embodiments that may fall within the scopes of the appended claims. Features from different embodiments may be employed in combination. In addition, other embodiments may also lie within the scopes of the appended claims. All additions to, deletions from and modifications of the disclosed subject matter that fall within the scopes of the claims are to be embraced by the claims.
A claim for priority to the Oct. 8, 2020 filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/089,282 (“the '282 Provisional Application”), titled MATTRESS FOOT COVERS, is hereby made pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(e). The entire disclosure of the '282 Provisional Application is hereby incorporated herein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2543552 | Leader | Feb 1951 | A |
3090052 | Goldsmith | May 1963 | A |
3803645 | Oliverius | Apr 1974 | A |
4045832 | DiForti | Sep 1977 | A |
4144602 | Fernandes | Mar 1979 | A |
4625352 | Kobayashi | Dec 1986 | A |
4884305 | Blackmon | Dec 1989 | A |
5084929 | Staudinger | Feb 1992 | A |
20040003469 | Gill-Barajas | Jan 2004 | A1 |
20040139547 | Wootten, Jr. | Jul 2004 | A1 |
20080016619 | Chuang | Jan 2008 | A1 |
20080216238 | Tatsuno | Sep 2008 | A1 |
20100269259 | Campbell | Oct 2010 | A1 |
20100281615 | Truex | Nov 2010 | A1 |
20110231994 | Avila-Robinson | Sep 2011 | A1 |
20130152306 | Monaco | Jun 2013 | A1 |
20140208508 | Mikesell | Jul 2014 | A1 |
20150033475 | Khan | Feb 2015 | A1 |
20150305524 | Shilts | Oct 2015 | A1 |
20160143448 | Jackson | May 2016 | A1 |
20180303256 | Sturgeon | Oct 2018 | A1 |
20190099018 | Holt | Apr 2019 | A1 |
20190159611 | Siebuhr | May 2019 | A1 |
20200085200 | Engemann | Mar 2020 | A1 |
20200128967 | Cote | Apr 2020 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20220110454 A1 | Apr 2022 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
63089282 | Oct 2020 | US |