Fitted Bed Covering

Abstract

A bed covering having a pocket adapted to enclose the foot end of a mattress and to be held in place thereon by the pocket and by an overlying conventional fitted bottom sheet. Decorative indicia adjacent the head end of the covering is provided to facilitate the centering of the covering on the mattress.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fitted bottom bed sheets have enjoyed great commercial success. Such sheets tightly enclose the mattress and, in so doing, cover the top, sides and ends thereof, as well as a sufficient portion of the bottom of the mattress adjacent the ends and sides to insure that the sheet remains in place on the mattress. Bed-making has been greatly facilitated by the use of such fitted bottom sheets since they retain their place on the mattress despite the movement of the person sleeping thereon. An example of this type of fitted bottom bed sheet is illustrated in the Roddey, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,179, issued May 4, 1965.

With the great popularity of the fitted bottom sheets, attempts have been made to further simplify bed-making by providing a mattress enclosing pocket at the foot end of a top sheet leaving the head end thereof free to be turned down. Such top sheets suffer the disadvantage of unduly restricting the foot room of the sleeper adjacent the foot end of the bed since a tight-fitting pocket is necessary to retain the sheet on the bed. To remedy the foot-room deficiency, top sheets have been suggested with larger pockets across the entire width of the bed, as illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,695,414, issued Nov. 30, 1954 to Ford et al., or, alternatively, having a larger pocket only in the center portion thereof, as illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,056, issued May 25, 1954 to Simpson. Top sheets of this general type have proven unsatisfactory in that the larger pocket enables the sheet to be more easily dislodged from engagement with the mattress.

Still more recent efforts to cope with the foot room problem in fitted top sheets has been the utilization of a regular standard size sheet in combination with a shaped pocket stitched to the underside of the sheet along the line corresponding to the junction of the top and foot end of the mattress. While such sheets have constituted a significant improvement over fitted top sheets generally known, there are problems associated with the physical construction thereof. Such sheets are adapted to enclose not only the foot end of the mattress but the fitted bottom sheet in place thereon and may be removed from the mattress by a restless sleeper during the course of the night. The sheet illustrated in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,789, issued July 5, 1966 to Banks is an example of this latter type of bed-covering.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to obviate the deficiencies of the prior art and to provide a novel fitted top sheet, spread or other bed covering which may be held securely in place on the mattress by a conventional fitted bottom sheet.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel bed linen construction which reduces bed making to a simple straightening process.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel bed covering easily centered with respect to the bed.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel bed covering which will stay in place despite the restless sleep of people, especially children, prone to kick the cover off the bed on cold nights.

It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a novel bed covering with increased foot freedom without sacrificing security against the removal of the covering from the bed.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be obvious to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims and from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when read in conjunction with the appended drawings.

THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of one embodiment of the fitted bed covering of the present invention showing the construction thereof;

FIG. 2 is an exploded pictorial view of the fitted bed covering of FIG. 1 illustrating the method of insertion thereof on a mattress;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along the longitudinal axis of the mattress at the foot end thereof illustrating the cooperation of the bed covering of FIG. 1 with the conventional fitted bottom sheet; and

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the longitudinal axis of the mattress at the foot end thereof illustrating the cooperation of a fitted top sheet and fitted spread according to the present invention with conventional fitted bottom sheet.

THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference now to the Figures where like elements have been accorded like numerical designations and with particular reference to FIG. 1, the fitted bed covering of the present invention comprises a top panel 10, a pocket 12, and a foot panel 14 connected therebetween. A pocket 12 has a top portion 16, a foot portion 18, a bottom portion 20, and a pair of side portions 22. The pocket 12 is adapted both in size and construction to closely enclose the periphery of the foot end of a mattress.

In the preferred embodiment, the top panel 10 and foot panel 14 are cut from a single piece of material which may additionally include the bottom panel 20, the foot portion end panel 18 and the top portion 16 of the pocket 12. The various panels of the bed covering may, however, be initially separated and secured in any conventional manner such as by sewing along the lines 24 and elsewhere as desired.

Adjacent the head end 26 of the top panel 10, and centered with respect to the longitudinal axis thereof, the top panel 10 may be provided decorative indicia 28. The spacing between the indicia 28 across the width of the cover is desirably that of the width of the mattress with which the cover is designed to be used. This indicia is useful in centering the cover on the mattress and thus greatly facilitates bed-making.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the pocket 12 of the fitted bed covering, e.g., a top sheet, may be inserted over the foot end 30 of a mattress 32. During the insertion of the pocket 12 over the foot 30 of the mattress 32, the top panel 10 will be at the foot of the mattress 32 with the foot panel 14 of the cover having a part 34 overlying the bottom portion 20 of the pocket 12.

As shown more fully in the section of FIG. 3, once the pocket 12 of the top sheet is in place on the foot end 30 of the mattress 32, a conventional fitted bottom sheet 36 may be installed in the customary manner, enclosing not only the mattress 32 but overlying the pocket 12 of the fitted top sheet of the present invention as well. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the foot panel 14 of the sheet is thus disposed with a part 34 overlying a portion of the fitted bottom sheet between the mattress 32 and the springs 37. The remaining portion 38 of the foot panel 14 of the top sheet may then extend vertically upward overlying the foot end of the mattress. The top panel 10 is thus adapted to cover the mattress, as enclosed by the fitted bottom sheet, in conventional manner.

Foot room is thereafter achieved solely at the expense of a shortening of the free or head end of the top sheet with respect to the head of the bed. In this fashion, the top sheet of the present invention is held in place on the mattress not only by the enclosure of the foot end 30 of the mattress 32 by the pocket 12 of the top sheet, but also by the enclosure of the pocket 12 of the top sheet by the fitted bottom sheet 36. Pulling the top panel 10 toward the head of the bed will tend to press the bottom sheet 36 and the foot portion 18 of the pocket 12 against the foot end of the mattress 32, thus providing an additional force resisting the disengagement of the pocket 12 of the top sheet from the mattress 32.

The bed covering of the present invention may also be embodied in a spread or blanket having a pocket 40, a foot panel including portions 42 and 44 and a top panel 46. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the pocket 40 of a spread is placed on the end 30 of the mattress 32 followed by the pocket 12 of the fitted top sheet and thereafter by the fitted bottom sheet 36. Slight adjustments in the size of the various pockets may be necessary to accommodate the additional thickness in the material. The foot panel of the spread thus overlies the foot panel 14 of the sheet with the portions 34 and 42, respectively, disposed between the mattress 32 and the springs 37 and with the portions 38 and 44, respectively, extending upwardly to the upper surface of the mattress 32. Additional security of the foot end of the bed covering is thus provided by the bottom sheet 36.

In addition to the structure as described above, the spread may be provided with a decorative drape 48 to hide the foot end of the bed. The drape 48 may be secured to the spread at the junction 50 of the top panel 46 and the portion 44 of the foot panel. Alternatively, the drape 48 may comprise a single piece of material with the top panel 46, and the portion 44 of the foot panel may be stitched, glued, or otherwise secured along the line 50.

While the preferred embodiment has been described in the foregoing specification, many modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the intent and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims when accorded a full range of equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A fitted bed covering comprising:

a top panel adapted to cover the top of a mattress;

a pocket having top, bottom and side portions, said pocket being adapted to peripherally enclose the foot end of the mattress with said bottom portion under the mattress; and

a foot panel connected to said top panel along the width of said top panel at the foot end thereof, said foot panel being connected to said pocket along the width of the pocket at the bottom portion thereof on the end of the bottom portion away from the foot end of the mattress but not connected to the side portions of said pocket,

said foot panel having a length approximating the combined length of the thickness of the mattress and the bottom portion of said pocket.

2. The bed covering of claim 1 wherein said top panel, said foot panel and the bottom portion of said pocket comprise a single piece of material.

3. The bed covering of claim 1 wherein said top panel is wider than said pocket whereby a portion of said top panel along the length thereof is adapted to drape the sides of the mattress.

4. The bed covering of claim 3 wherein said top panel is provided with decorative indicia adjacent the head end thereof, said indicia being symmetrical relative to the longitudinal axis of said top panel and spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the width of said pocket, whereby said top panel may be centered on the mattress.

5. The bed covering of claim 4 wherein the said top panel, said foot panel, and the bottom, end and top portions of said pocket comprise a single piece of material.

6. In combination:

a mattress;

a top sheet having a top panel having a pocket with top, bottom, end and side portions and having a foot panel connected to said pocket and said top panel, said pocket enclosing the foot end of said mattress;

a fitted bottom sheet covering the top, ends and sides of said mattress as well as a portion of the bottom of said mattress adjacent the ends and sides thereof; said bottom sheet overlying the pocket of said top sheet enclosing the foot end of said mattress;

the foot panel of said top sheet overlying the portion of said bottom sheet which overlies the end and bottom portions of the pocket of said top sheet, the top panel of said top sheet overlying the portion of said bottom fitted sheet covering the top of said mattress,

whereby the top sheet is held on the foot end of the mattress by the pocket of the top sheet and by the bottom fitted sheet overlying the pocket of the top sheet.

7. The combination of claim 6 including a spread having a top panel, having a pocket, and having a foot panel connected to the pocket and the top panel thereof,

the pocket of said spread enclosing the foot end of said mattress and underlying the pocket of said top sheet, the foot panel of said spread overlying the foot panel of said top sheet, and the top panel of said spread overlying the top panel of said top sheet.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein the top panel of said top sheet and said spread are both provided with decorative indicia adjacent the head end thereof, said indicia being symmetrically disposed relative to the longitudinal axis of said top sheet and said spread and spaced apart a distance approximately equal to the width of said mattress, whereby said top sheet and said spread may be centered on said mattress.

9. The combination of claim 7 wherein said spread includes a drape portion adapted to drape the foot end of said mattress, said drape portion being connected to said spread adjacent the connection of the top and foot panels thereof.