U.S. patent application number 15/628550 was filed with the patent office on 2018-12-20 for blanket with frustum shaped foot pocket.
The applicant listed for this patent is Katherin McClellan-Miller. Invention is credited to Katherin McClellan-Miller.
Application Number | 20180360241 15/628550 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 64656576 |
Filed Date | 2018-12-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180360241 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
McClellan-Miller; Katherin |
December 20, 2018 |
Blanket with Frustum Shaped Foot Pocket
Abstract
The invention comprises a blanket having a frustum shaped foot
pocket and method of making said blanket and further means for
securing the upper left corner of the blanket to the upper right
corner and around a user's neck for maintaining secure attachment
of the blanket to a user.
Inventors: |
McClellan-Miller; Katherin;
(Vestavia Hills, AL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
McClellan-Miller; Katherin |
Vestavia Hills |
AL |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
64656576 |
Appl. No.: |
15/628550 |
Filed: |
June 20, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 9/0207 20130101;
A47G 9/06 20130101; A47G 9/064 20130101; A47G 9/066 20130101; A47G
9/0223 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A47G 9/06 20060101
A47G009/06; A47G 9/02 20060101 A47G009/02 |
Claims
1. A blanket, comprising; a fabric rectangular in shape having a
top edge, a left edge parallel with a right edge, a right diagonal
edge, a left diagonal edge and a bottom edge; a frustoconical
shaped foot pocket in the bottom region of the blanket; and means
for securing an upper right corner of the blanket with an upper
left corner of the blanket located on interior side of the
blanket.
2. The blanket of claim 1 wherein the where the width of said
fabric is 70 percent of the length of said rectangular fabric.
3. The blanket of claim 1 wherein the means for securing an upper
right corner of the blanket with the upper left corner of the
blanket is located on the upper left interior side of the blanket
and the upper right interior side of the blanket.
4. A method for forming a blanket comprising: providing a fabric
rectangular in shape whose width is shorter than its length; sewing
a hem along the fabric left edge, top edge and right edge; folding
said fabric lengthwise by taking said right edge and aligning it
with said left edge where the width of said fabric has been reduced
by 50 percent and the right half of the fabric is resting upon the
left half of the fabric; sewing a hem along the bottom edge such
that the right half and left half of the fabric are joined on their
bottom edge; spreading the right edge apart from the left edge such
that the fabric has an upper portion rectangular in shape and a
lower portion that is triangular in shape whereby the blanket has a
left diagonal edge adjacent to the left edge and a right diagonal
edge adjacent to the right edge; sewing a horizontal hem on the
triangular lower portion a distance upward from the lower point of
the triangular lower portion; making a horizontal cut directly
below and parallel to the horizontal hem; reversing the rectangular
upper portion and triangular lower portion of the fabric such that
a blanket with a frustoconical shaped foot pocket is revealed; and
providing means for securing an upper right corner with the upper
left corner of the blanket around a person's upper torso and neck
area.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the width of the fabric is 70
percent of the length of said fabric.
6. The method claim of claim 4 wherein the means for securing an
upper right corner of the blanket with the upper left corner of the
blanket is located on the upper left interior side of the blanket
and the upper right interior side of the blanket.
7. A method for using a blanket, comprising; providing a blanket
with a frustoconical shaped foot pocket on its bottom end and
having means for securing an upper right corner of the blanket to
an upper left corner of the blanket located on the interior upper
right corner and upper left corner of the blanket; inserting a
user's legs and feet into the foot pocket such that they reside at
the bottom of the foot pocket; securing the blanket upper right
corner to the upper left corner wherein a top edge of the blanket
is in close proximity to a user's neck and shoulders and the upper
left corner and upper right corner are attached using said means
for securing behind a user's neck and shoulders such that the
blanket shrouds the upper body; and inserting a user's arms
underneath the blanket or deploying a user's arms outside of the
blanket while still maintaining secure blanket position on a user's
body.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] None
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
[0002] None
SEQUENCE LISTING
[0003] None
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The invention relates to a blanket and more particularly a
blanket that promotes foot warmth and maintains position on a
user's body and a method for forming said blanket.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Blankets in a general have a flat planar shape have been
used for many years. However, one downfall of commonly used
blankets is that they cannot prevent a person's legs and feet from
exiting from the blanket's perimeter. There are many blankets on
the market, but very few if any blankets that employ a foot pocket
formed into the blanket. While there are blankets with foot pockets
in the art, these foot pockets do not promote a central location
placement for the feet such that when a person inserts their feet
they are directed to one area of the pocket such that their feet
are maintained in relative close proximity.
[0006] Blankets in the art that have foot pockets are generally
wide in nature and span the width of the blanket. These designs do
not promote keeping a person's feet close to each other. Having a
person's feet and legs in close proximity to each other aids in
maintaining warmth in the pocket and also avoids large spans of
fabric on a foot pocket from binding a person's feet and causing
difficulty for a user to remove their feet from the blanket.
Relatedly, foot pockets that span the width of the blanket can
cause additional binding on the foot pocket fabric if a person's
feet are spaced wide apart in the foot pocket but they want to
bring them closer together. No such blanket in the art enables a
person's calves, legs and feet to maintain contact with the blanket
in close proximity by surrounding and nestling a person's feet and
legs. Further, many methods of making blankets require that
multiple pieces of material be used to form a blanket. What is
needed in the art is a blanket that promotes central foot placement
in a foot pocket and is easy to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Specific advantages and features of the present invention
will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and the description
of several illustrative embodiments of the present invention.
[0008] The present invention is a blanket and a method for forming
a blanket out of a single piece of fabric having a frustum shaped
foot pocket. The blanket has a top edge, a left edge, a right edge,
a diagonal right edge, a diagonal left edge and a bottom edge. The
blanket has an interior side and an exterior side. Further, the
blanket has means for connecting the upper right corner to the
upper left corner to encapsulate a person with the blanket and to
simultaneously allow a user's arms to reside interior in the
blanket or to be deployed exterior to the blanket.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the inner side of the
blanket.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blanket and
frustoconical shape of the foot pocket.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a person wearing the
blanket.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a person wearing the
blanket.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a single piece of rectangular
fabric.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the blanket folder
lengthwise.
[0015] FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the blanket spread out with one
half of the bottom edge sewn to the other bottom edge.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the blanket with a
frustoconical foot pocket.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a blanket 10
having a top edge 12, a left edge 14 parallel with a right edge 16,
a left diagonal edge 18, a right diagonal edge 20 and a bottom edge
22. Shown in FIG. 1 is a frustoconical shaped foot pocket 24. Also
shown are securing means 30 for securing the upper left corner 26
to the upper right corner 28. The securing means 30 in one
embodiment would be hook and loop fasteners but could also be a
button and slot, snap button, or a loop and bar connection among
other common mechanical connecting means available in the art.
[0018] As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, use of the blanket 10 by a
user allows the user at their discretion to attach the upper left
corner 26 to the upper right corner 28 around a user's neck such
that the blanket 10 is in close communication all the way from
their feet to their upper torso in the neck region. This allows a
user to stay warm and to also pull their arms under the blanket or
remove their arms from the blanket 10 such that they can freely
engage in movements of the hands and arms without fear of the
blanket 10 becoming displaced from their upper torso and neck area.
This design and configuration allows the blanket 10 to have the
same benefits as sleeves but without actually having to employ
sleeves on the blanket 10. In addition, a further advantage of the
design allows a user to stand up with the blanket 10 still engaged
around their neck, remove their feet from the foot pocket 24 and
move around without taking the blanket 10 off of their person. For
example, a user watching television wishing to get something to
drink can stand up and walk to the kitchen to retrieve a drink
without taking the blanket 10 off. The blanket can be made of a
number of different fabric choices including cotton, polyester,
silk and other materials and blends of said materials.
[0019] Referring now to FIGS. 5-8, there is shown a sequence and
method by which the present blanket 10 is formed. In one
embodiment, a rectangular piece of fabric is laid flat as shown in
FIG. 5 and then folded in half in a lengthwise fashion as shown in
FIG. 6. A hem is then sewn such as to join the bottom edge 22 of
one side of the blanket 10 to the other bottom edge 22 such that
the blanket on its bottom edge 22 is joined together. FIG. 7 shows
the blanket laid out flat spreading the right edge 16 apart from
the left edge 14 such that the fabric has an upper portion
rectangular in shape and a lower portion that is triangular in
shape whereby the blanket has a left diagonal edge 18 adjacent to
the left edge 14 and a right diagonal edge 20 adjacent to the right
edge 16 and the resulting triangular shaped point 23 that is formed
at the bottom of the blanket 10 when the blanket 10 is spread out.
The next step is to stitch a hem along the left diagonal edge 18
and the right diagonal edge 20 as this provides reinforcement of
the frustum shape of the foot pocket 24. Further a hem 25 is sewn
horizontally across the triangular shaped bottom portion of the
blanket 10. The hem's 25 location in one embodiment is placed such
that 90 percent of the depth of the foot pocket 24 is located above
said hem 25. There is then made a horizontal cut on the triangular
shaped point 23 below the hem 25 as shown in FIG. 8 such that a
blunt frustum shaped or frustoconical foot pocket is formed.
Finally, the foot pocket 24 and blanket 10 is reversed and/or
turned inside out such that the hems and their seams are out of
view and the edges appear uniform and an attractive blanket 10 is
presented. In one embodiment, the rectangular piece of fabric has a
width that is 70 percent of the length of the fabric. The foot
pocket 24 while shown appears flat is actually a three dimensional
cavity that allows for insertion of a user's feet such that they
nest in close together towards the bottom of the foot pocket 24 and
such placement is promoted by the left diagonal edge 18 and the
right diagonal edge 20.
[0020] The principles, embodiments, and modes of operation of the
present invention have been set forth in the foregoing
specification. The embodiments disclosed herein should be
interpreted as illustrating the present invention and not as
restricting it. The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit
the range of equivalent structure available to a person of ordinary
skill in the art in any way, but rather to expand the range of
equivalent structures in ways not previously contemplated. Numerous
variations and changes can be made to the foregoing illustrative
embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the
present invention.
NUMBERED ELEMENTS
[0021] 10 blanket [0022] 12 Top edge [0023] 14 Left edge [0024] 16
Right edge [0025] 18 Left diagonal edge [0026] 20 Right diagonal
edge [0027] 22 bottom edge [0028] 23 point [0029] 24 Foot pocket
[0030] 25 horizontal hem [0031] 26 Upper left corner [0032] 28
Upper right corner [0033] 30 Means for securing upper left corner
to upper right corner
* * * * *