Cover For Upholstered Furniture

Abstract

A snug-fitting mattress cover, tailored to fit the dimensions of the mattress, and having an opening at one end through which the mattress can be inserted, and being opened along substantially the entire extent of its underside, the mattress cover being tensioned across and along its open underside by means of a system of intersecting diagonal bands or tapes or strips adapted to provide an increased dimension across the underside of the mattress cover when they lie directly across the mattress, and being arranged so that when the mattress cover is drawn tightly over the mattress, the bands are drawn out into a diagonal formation, and thereby tensioned so as to draw the sides and ends of the mattress together and ensure that the cover makes a snugtight fit over the mattress.

Description

The present invention relates to a snug-fitting protective cover for an article of upholstered furniture, and in particular to a protective cover for a mattress.

It is frequently desirable to apply a rugged protective cover to an article of furniture so as to protect the upholstery from damage or excessive wear. For example, it is usual to apply a protective cover to a mattress, so as to prevent damage to the mattress or in some cases bed wetting or the like, the cover being intended to be removable for washing and sterilizing. Obviously, such covers, in the case of a mattress for example will themselves be covered by under blankets, bed sheets, and the like each time the bed is made. Such covers are not normally removed day to day, but may be removed on a weekly or monthly basis in some cases.

In the past, such mattress covers have usually been constructed in the form of an envelope or case which would slip on around the mattress, or other article of furniture and then could be tied up with tapes at one end. The main problem with such a slip-on cover was that in order to permit ease of handling it had to be made somewhat oversized with relation to the mattress or other article of furniture in order that it could be easily be slipped on and off. This of course meant that it tended to become wrinkled and displaced in use with consequent discomfort to the occupant of the bed. On the other hand, if the cover was tailored so as to fit snugly on the mattress, then it was virtually impossible to pull it on and off. One solution to this problem which met with considerable success has been the use of such a cover which is provided with tailored dependent sidewalls formed with box corners, and an elasticized hem is formed around the sidewalls drawing such sidewalls around the underneath of the mattress. In this way, the elasticized hem would tend to hold the cover firmly in position on the mattress. However, in practice what usually happened was that after one or two launderings the elastic became weakened, and the cover would wrinkle. On the other hand, the alternatives to simple laundering for mattress covers of this kind are excessively costly, and are not economically feasible under the circumstances.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The invention therefore has for its general concept, a solution to these various disadvantages of prior mattress covers of different kinds, by the provision of a snug-fitting mattress cover, tailored to fit the dimensions of the mattress, and having a opening at one end through which the mattress can be inserted, and being opened along substantially the entire extent of its underside, the mattress cover being tensioned across and along its open underside by means of a system of intersecting diagonal bands or tapes or strips adapted to provide an increased dimension across the underside of the mattress cover when they lie directly across the mattress, and being arranged so that when the mattress cover is drawn tightly over the mattress, the bands are drawn out into a diagonal formation, and thereby tensioned so as to draw the sides and ends of the mattress together and ensure that the cover makes a snug tight fit over the mattress. In this way, it is possible to manufacture a mattress cover which is capable of being subjected to heavy duty laundering, without damage, since the use of elastic or other easily damaged tensioning devices can be eliminated.

It is therefore an objective of the invention to provide a snug-fitting mattress cover for a mattress of a predetermined size, having an open back portion, and diagonally arranged tensioning bands extending across the back portion having a dimension greater than the width of such open side, and being adapted to be drawn into a diagonal formation when the cover is drawn over the full extent of the mattress.

More particularly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a mattress cover having the foregoing advantages in which the opening on the underside of the mattress cover defines a peripheral margin around the edge of the mattress cover designed to fit under the underside of the mattress, or other article of furniture so as to provide a neat finished appearance.

More particularly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a cover for mattresses or furniture and the like which is provided with an opening at one end through which the article of furniture may be inserted, the opening being formed across the full extent of the end, and extending partially down either sidewall of the mattress of the cover whereby to facilitate insertion of the article of furniture therein.

It is a further and related objective of the invention to provide a cover having the foregoing advantages which is tailored with boxed corners formed in a rounded manner by a novel arrangement of pleats and seams improving the appearance and snug fit of the cover.

The foregoing and related objectives will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is given here by way of example only with reference to the following drawings in which like reference devices refer to like parts thereof throughout the various views and diagrams and in which;

FIG. 1 is an upside down perspective illustration of a mattress showing a mattress cover fitted snugly thereon, in accordance with the invention, the illustration showing the underside of the mattress cover, and two of the sideswalls only;

FIG. 2 is an underneath plan view of a portion of the mattress cover and mattress shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial end on perspective view of the mattress cover and mattress of FIG. 1, showing the mattress cover partially withdrawn from the mattress;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective illustration of a box corner of the mattress cover shown in FIG. 1, prior to stitching;

FIG. 5 is a schematic lower plan view of a further embodiment of the invention showing an alternative arrangement of the intersecting bands;

FIG. 6 is a further schematic lower plan view showing a further alternative embodiment of the intersecting bands;

FIG. 7 is a further lower plan schematic view of a further embodiment of the intersecting bands, and,

FIG. 8 is a perspective illustration of a further embodiment of the invention showing the location of the intersecting band portions around the sides of a cover rather than on the underneath.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, it will be understood that all three figures show the mattress and mattress cover upside down for the sake of clarity. It will be understood that the upper surface of the mattress cover, which is not shown, is not in itself relevant to the understanding of the invention, and may be constructed of any appropriate material which may be a heavy duty cloth or a waterproof or rubberized material, or a padded material, these features having been omitted for the sake of clarity. In addition, it will be understood that while the invention is illustrated as applied to the covering of a mattress, the invention has much wider application and will find utility in the covering of various other articles of furniture where it is desired to apply a snug fitting cover over the upholstery, without the inconveniences of prior art covers as discussed above.

From the illustrations, the mattress indicated by the general reference arrow M will be seen to be of conventional boxlike rectangular construction, and requires no further description. The mattress cover is indicated by the general reference arrow 10 and comprises a top surface 11, which is of course concealed from view. The top surface 11 as stated may be constructed of any suitable material, and is provided with dependent sidewalls 12, a closed end wall 13, and a two-part end wall 14, having upper and lower end wall portions 14a and 14b. A slit or opening 15 is formed along the full extend of end wall 14, between upper and lower portions 14a and 14b, and extends around the corners thereof and part way along the adjacent ends of the sidewalls 12 as shown in FIG. 1. The slit 15 is closed by any suitable means such as a zip fastener 16, as shown in this particular case, or alternatively may be closed by other closure means such as tapes. One particularly suitable form of alternative closure means is that shown in my copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 818,668, filed Apr. 23, 1969. The end closure disclosed in my aforesaid patent application, consisting of two interfitting boxlike pockets, which form an end closure without the use of any additional fastening means such as zip fasteners, tapes, buttons or the like, is particularly advantageous in this application since it ensures that the mattress cover 10 will have a long life and be capable of being roughly treated and subjected to heavy duty laundering, without damage.

Attached to the sidewalls 12 and end walls 13, and end wall portion 14b, are the lower side and end panels 17 and 18 which are arranged to fit snugly around the marginal portions of the undersurface of the mattress 10, as shown in FIG. 1.

Preferably, the four corners of the mattress cover 10 are formed substantially as shown in FIG. 4. It will be seen that in order to form a rounded box corner adapted to fit snugly on the contour of the corner of the mattress M, the corners of the cover are formed by cutting out of the upper panel 11, a small crescent-shaped opening 19, and similarly cutting out two small crescent-shaped slots 20 between the sidewalls 12 and 13 and respective side and end panels 17 and 18. The corner is then formed by sewing along the chain dotted line 21. All of the corners of the mattress cover M are formed in the same way. In this way, a neat rounded boxlike corner construction is formed on the mattress cover 10 in each of the four corners, without the intrusion of additional material on the interior of the corner which would otherwise spoil the appearance or fit.

According to the practice of the present invention, it will be seen that the side panels 17 and 18 define an interior open rectangular space through which the mattress M is seen. In order to tension the opposite side panel 17, and the opposite end panel 18 together towards one another, and thus produce a snug tight fit on the mattress M, there are provided the diagonal bands 22, which extend from side to side across the open space between the side panels 17 at an angle of substantially 45.degree. to the longitudinal axis of the mattress, and are spaced apart from one another so as to form an intersecting criss-cross pattern. A central longitudinal band 23 extends from end to end of the mattress cover 10 between the centers of the end under panel 13. In addition, the band 23 is sewn or otherwise fastened to the central intersection of the band 22 as at 24.

It will be noted that the bands 22 are arranged spaced apart from one another a distance equal to approximately one-half of the width of the rectangular space defined by the side and end panels 17 and 18, and further that bands 22 are provided with are attached to the center of the end panels 18 as shown and also further bands 22 are provided which are attached at the corners made between the side panels 17 and the end panels 18. The remainder of the bands 22 are of course attached along the side panels 17 as shown. In this way, an even tensioning of both the side panels 17 and also the end panels 18 is achieved. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the dimension of the bands 22 is shown by the heavy black line reference D and the width dimension of the side panels 17 is shown by the small black line reference d.

In operation, the mattress cover 10 is drawn onto the mattress M, by undoing the slide fastening 16 and opening up the opening 15. It will be noted that the dimensions of the entire opening 15 will thus equal the width dimension of the mattress, corresponding to the end panel 18 of the mattress cover 10, together with the depth of the opening 15 as it extends down each of the sidewalls 12 of the cover 10. Thus in fact the opening 15 will be capable of being opened out sufficiently to fit loosely around the mattress M substantially as shown in FIG. 3. At the same time, the width of the entire mattress cover 10 is also expanded, by the action of the bands 22, which while the cover 10 is being drawn onto the mattress M, may be arranged so as to lie from side to side across the mattress M as shown in FIG. 3 thereby expanding the mattress cover 10 sufficient to permit it to be drawn easily over the mattress M as shown in FIG. 3. During this procedure, it will be found advantageous to ensure that cover 10 is drawn entirely over the end of the mattress M and the end of the mattress M should be fitted snugly into the closed end 13, before the remainder of the cover 10 is drawn further along the mattress. When the other end of the mattress M is reached of course, the end wall portions 14a and 14b are drawn by hand around the end of the mattress M and the slide fastener 16 is closed. The closing of the slide fastener 16 will be found to draw the bands 22 out into their extended diagonal position as shown in FIG. 2, and will also be found to tension the central band 23, as stated, the fitting and dimension of the bands 22 and 23 are such that when the slide fastener 16 is closed they are all tensioned and drawn out in their positions as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As stated above it is necessary in the construction of the cover 10, that the opening 15 for the slide fastener 16 should be so arranged that it extends down the sidewalls 12 of the cover 10 to a point where it overlaps by a substantial margin the open rectangular area defined by the side and end panels 17 and 18. Generally speaking, the open mouth 15 should, in this way be capable of being opened out to an extent equal to the expansion of the remainder of the cover 10, when the dimension D is lying directly across the mattress as shown in FIG. 3. If this is not done, then the open mouth 15 will be found to constitute a restriction, and will hinder the fitting of the covers as described above, and will in fact substantially reduce the advantages achieved by the use of the bands 22 and 23.

It will be understood of course that although the bands 22 and 23 have been shown, in a preferred form, constituting a series of intersecting tapes, that more or less such bands 23 may be used, and may be provided in various different fashions without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus additional longitudinal bands, as shown in phantom in FIG. 2, may be used if desired for additional strength.

In addition, the bands 22 and 23 may be provided in various different ways. Thus referring to FIG. 5 it will be seen that in this case, the bands 22 and 23 are replaced by a rectangular panel 30 of material having a plurality of oval openings 31 cut out therefrom in a predetermined pattern. The openings 31 are so arranged that they define diagonal intersecting bands 32 constituted by the portions of material remaining between the openings 31. In addition, the same remaining portions of material will also constitute longitudinal bands 33. The panel 30 may of course be employed by sewing the same into the open rectangular area defined by side panels 17 and end panels 18, in place of the bands 22 and 23 as described.

FIG. 6 shows a further embodiment of the invention in which the number of bands 22 and 23 is reduced. This embodiment of course will provide a much greater degree of expansion in the mattress cover if this should be desired. On the other hand, it will provide a somewhat reduced degree of tensioning to the mattress cover, which in certain cases may still be found to be acceptable.

FIG. 7 shows a still further embodiment of the invention in which the rectangular opening on the underside of the cover 10 is provided with two triangular portions of fabric indicated as 34, arranged at opposite ends of the rectangular open portion. Again, when the cover 10 is being drawn on, this will permit the cover 10 to be expanded so as to slip easily around a mattress end, and, when the cover 10 is drawn tightly around the mattress and fastened at its open end, then the triangular portions 34 will draw the side and end panels towards one another, although admittedly not quite the degree of efficiency as that shown in the embodiment of FIG. 1 or FIG. 5.

Obviously, these various forms of the expandible tensioning means are merely exemplary of different arrangements that can be worked out in particular circumstances.

According to a still further embodiment of the invention, the expandible tensioning means may be placed in different portions of covering devices for different articles of furniture. Thus in some cases it may not be desirable to provide the bands 22 and 23 on the underside of a cover 10, and instead it may be considered more desirable to provide such tensioning means in the sidewalls of a cover. Referring now to FIG. 8, there is shown an embodiment of a cover which might be employed for example in the covering of a box spring as used in beds and divans. Such box springs in many cases are employed without the use of legs, merely being supported on a metal framework. In this case, in this embodiment a box spring or divan bed B is shown provided with a cover indicated as 40 having a top panel 41, a closed end wall 42 and an open end wall 43, provided with a slit opening, (not shown) closed by a slide fastener 44. The sides of the cover 40 indicated generally as 45 comprise a rectangular open area long each side of top panel 41, and within the rectangular open area are provided a series of intersecting diagonal bands 46, and a longitudinal band 47. It will be noted that the slide fastener 44 extends part way down the longitudinal band 47 so as to permit the end 43 of the cover 40 to be opened up to enable the cover 40 to be slipped on and off easily. If desired, in order to cover up the bands 46 and 47, a dependent skirt portion 48 may be sewn along the perimeter of top panel 41 as shown, to improve the appearance of the cover 40. The underside of the cover 40 is not shown, but may be formed of any suitable sheet material of a size and dimension similar to that of the top panel 41, which will complete the cover 40. The divan B may be used as it stands or may support a mattress M if desired. If legs are to be used on the divan B openings (not shown) may be provided in the underside of the cover 40 where necessary. However, in many cases the divan B will be supported on a frame F of angle iron having legs L and forming part of a bed and headboard combination (not shown) and in this case such openings will not be necessary.

The foregoing is a description of a preferred embodiment which is given here by way of example only. The invention is not to be limited to any of the specific features as described, but comprehends all such variations thereof as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. A fitted top cover for an article of furniture such as a mattress, cushion or the like having top, side and end walls and a bottom of predetermined length, breadth and height and comprising:

a snug-fitting cover envelope having a top panel, a bottom panel, and side and end panels shaped and tailored to fit snugly over respective said walls of said article, the length and breadth of each said panel corresponding to that of its respective said wall of said article, said top panel being formed of material defining wear surface of said cover;

at least one of said other panels of said envelope being formed at least in part of diagonally extending strips of flexible nonstretch material, defining open spaces therebetween, extending a predetermined distance along the length of said cover envelope, said strips being dimensioned to be drawn tight and tensioned from one side to the other of said panel, when said cover is drawn fully over said article and being distortable when said cover is released from one end of said article to permit expansion of said panel;

a slit opening across one end panel of said cover envelope, said opening extending across the full width thereof;

slit openings in each of said side panels constituting endwise extension of said end panel opening to define an open mouth for said envelope, said side panel slit openings extending along said side panels a predetermined distance overlapping the extent of said open spaces in said expandible panel, whereby, when opened, said open mouth defines a breadth and height greater than that of said article and said expandible panel expands by a corresponding amount to permit said article to be readily inserted in and removed from said cover, and closure means for said slit opening.

2. The top cover as claimed in claim 1 wherein said expandible panel defines a rectangular open area of a length and breadth less than that of said panel and wherein said diagonal strips include at least two said strips extending across said open area from side to side thereof from opposite sides in a diagonal manner, intersecting one another at substantially the median of said open area.

3. The top cover as claimed in claim 2 including at least four said diagonal strips intersecting one another in pairs, and a longitudinal strip extending from end to end of said open area and intersecting said diagonal strips and being fastened thereto at such intersections.

4. The top cover as claimed in claim 1 wherein said expandible panel comprises a panel of nonstretch material and a plurality of openings cut in said panel spaced apart from one another leaving intersecting portions of material therebetween said portions defining said diagonal strips as aforesaid.

5. The top cover as claimed in claim 1 wherein said expandible panel includes a marginal portion, extending around the four sides of said expandible panel and defining a rectangular open area within said marginal portion, and wherein said diagonal strips extend from side to side of said rectangular open area being attached to the inner edges of said marginal portion, and intersecting one another substantially at the median of said rectangular open area.

6. The top cover as claimed in claim 1 including two said expandible panels, located along respective sides of said cover, each of said expandible panels comprising a plurality of parallel strips extending from a lower side to an upper side of said sidewall, and a further plurality of parallel strips extending from said upper side to said lower side, arranged diagonal to said first mentioned strips, and intersecting one another substantially along the median of said sidewalls, and including a longitudinal strip attached from end to end of each said expandible panel substantially along the median thereof, and including a slit opening formed along said longitudinal strip, adjacent said slit opening in said one end panel of said cover, and extending half way down each expandible panel.

7. A top cover as claimed in claim 6 including dependent skirt means attached to said top cover around the periphery of said top panel thereof, and adapted to depend downwardly and cover said expandible panels from view.