U.S. patent number 3,795,019 [Application Number 05/135,057] was granted by the patent office on 1974-03-05 for bed sheet or other bed covering having two head portions.
Invention is credited to Restituto R. Fragas.
United States Patent |
3,795,019 |
Fragas |
March 5, 1974 |
BED SHEET OR OTHER BED COVERING HAVING TWO HEAD PORTIONS
Abstract
A sheet or other covering for a mattress, box spring, or the
like, with the covering having a main portion which extends across
the entire width of the bed toward its foot end, and having two
narrower head portions for covering two separately elevatable
halves or sections of the mattress or spring at its head end.
Inventors: |
Fragas; Restituto R.
(Huntington Park, CA) |
Family
ID: |
22466325 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/135,057 |
Filed: |
April 19, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/486; 5/497;
5/722 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C
27/002 (20130101); A47G 9/0246 (20130101); A47C
31/105 (20130101); A47C 27/001 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
21/00 (20060101); A47C 21/06 (20060101); A47C
27/00 (20060101); A47G 9/02 (20060101); A47g
009/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;297/220,232,219,229
;5/90,91,63,64,65,66,67,68,334,352,357,334C,335 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: McCall; James T.
Assistant Examiner: Calvert; Andrew M.
Claims
I claim:
1. A fitted covering for a mattress having a main section and at
least two head sections mounted to swing upwardly to an inclined
position relative to said main section, said mattress having
generally curved corners, said covering including a single sheet of
material adapted to extend across the upper side of said mattress
and the head sections thereof, said sheet having elongated edge
panels turned downwardly at the periphery thereof to fit each of
the peripheral edges of the mattress, said panels having terminal
transverse spaced apart ends, with the edges of said sheet between
said spaced apart ends being arcuately curved to provide corner
areas, at least some of said terminal ends projecting beyond said
corner areas in correspondence therewith and being stitched thereto
whereby said corner areas closely fit the curved corners of said
mattress.
2. A fitted covering as recited in claim 1, including elastic at
two head corner areas of each head portion of the covering for
retaining the covering on the mattress at those corners.
3. A fitted covering as recited in claim 1, wherein the edge panels
on the head sections thereof terminate short of the juncture
between said sections, and an additional edge panel extending along
the edges of and between said head sections in the juncture
therebetween and is stitched thereto so as to extend downwardly
therefrom and to be generally coextensive with said other edge
panels.
4. A fitted cover as recited in claim 3, wherein said additional
edge panel is separate from said covering.
5. A fitted covering as recited in claim 1, wherein strap means
extends across the underside of said mattress near the juncture of
said head sections to connect together two portions of said
covering at opposite sides of said mattress sections and thereby
hold the covering tightly down against the mattress near said
juncture during said swinging movement of said head sections.
Description
Cross Reference to Related Application
The mattress which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing has
been disclosed and claimed in my copending application Ser. No.
60,570 filed Aug. 3, 1970 on "Mattress Structure or the Like."
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to improved sheets, mattress pads, and other
coverings for mattresses, or to similar coverings for box springs
or other bed structures.
In my above identified copending application, I have disclosed and
claimed a mattress or other similar bed structure of a type having
two separately elevatable halves or sections at its head end. That
is, the main body of the mattress toward its foot end is relatively
wide to extend across the entire width of the bed, but at the head
end of the mattress it is divided into two halves or sections which
are to be used separately by two different persons occupying
opposite sides of the bed, and which are adapted to swing upwardly
to inclined positions in which the upper portion of the user's body
is supported in a correspondingly inclined position for reading,
viewing television, or the like. The division of the upper portion
of the bed into two such separately adjustable head sections
enables the two users of the bed to adjust their halves of the bed
individually without bothering one another.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the provision of a unique type of
"covering" for a mattress or box spring of the above discussed
type, with the word "covering" being used generally as including
sheets, mattress pads, mattress and spring covers, and the like. A
covering embodying the invention is formed to have a first
relatively wide portion for extension across the main portion of
the mattress or spring toward its foot end, and two head portions
which project from the main portion separately and are adapted to
cover the two head sections respectively of the mattress or spring.
Preferably, the two head portions of the sheet or other covering
are "fitted" separately about and thus retained tightly and closely
on the two head sections of the mattress or spring to facilitate
their upward and downward movement therewith. Connector straps or
the like may extend across the undersides of the two head sections
of the mattress or spring and connect together opposite sides of
each head portion of the sheet or other covering to hold that head
portion downwardly against the upper side of the mattress or
spring. The main wider portion of the covering may also be fitted
to or otherwise retained tightly and closely on the mattress.
A particular feature of the invention resides in the provision of a
unique type of fitted corner for a sheet or other bed covering,
which corner is formed in a very simple straightforward manner from
a single piece of material cut and stitched in a novel manner, and
which corner may be very conveniently shaped to curve progressively
about the corner and fit closely a correspondingly rounded contour
on a corner of a mattress.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The above and other features and objects of the invention will be
better understood from the following detailed description of the
typical embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawing in
which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sheet made in accordance
with the invention and applied to a mattress of a type having two
relatively adjustable head sections;
FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the FIG. 1 mattress showing the manner
in which the sheet is secured thereto;
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing in flattened form the two pieces of
cut fabric from which the sheet of FIG. 1 is formed;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the manner in which
one of the corners of the sheet is formed;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view showing the
manner in which the inner sides of the two head portions of the
sheet are formed; and
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing a quilted mattress
pad embodying the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, I have shown at 10 a mattress of a
unique type disclosed in my above identified copending application
and which is divided at its head end into two halves or head
sections 11 and 12 mounted for upward and downward inclining
movement with respect to the main section 13 of the mattress. When
the two head sections 11 and 12 are in their horizontal position of
alignment with the main section 13 of the mattress, the overall
mattress has an essentially conventional rectangular shape, with
the two head sections 11 and 12 both being rectangular and being
approximately in contact at the central vertical longitudinal plane
14 of the mattress. Each of these head sections occupies
essentially one-half of the width of the mattress and of the main
section 13, and is hinged with respect to main section 13 for
upward swinging movement about a horizontal transverse axis 15
disposed perpendicular to plane 14. As described in my copending
application, the mattress contains latching mechanism for
releasably retaining each of the sections 11 and 12 in any of
different upwardly inclined positions, and enabling movement of the
two head sections separately relative to one another to different
settings for use by two different persons using opposite sides of
the bed. The mattress has "edge" walls 16 at its opposite sides 116
and 117 and its head and foot ends 118 and 119, all of which extend
vertically in the horizontal full line condition of the mattress.
In addition, the two head sections 11 and 12 have at their inner
sides two parallel closely adjacent vertical inner edge walls 17
lying parallel to and closely adjacent the vertical central
longitudinal plane 14 of the mattress.
The sheet 18 embodying the invention is shaped to fit closely about
the top and edges or sides of the entire mattress 10, including all
three of its sections 11, 12, and 13. More particularly this sheet
may be considered as including a first or main portion 19 which
covers the main section 13 of the mattress (up to the vertical
plane of hinge line 15) and two head portions 20 and 21 (beyond
hinge line 15) which fit separately about and cover the two head
sections 11 and 12 respectively of the mattress.
Preferably, the entire top and all of the downwardly extending edge
portions of the sheet are formed of a single piece of cloth, with
the exception of two vertical panels or edge walls 30 and 31
received adjacent one another at the inner sides of the head
sections of the mattress. In FIG. 3, the main piece of cloth from
which the sheet is formed is illustrated at 38 in its flattened
condition as cut and before stitching. A second smaller strip of
cloth for forming the side walls 30 and 31 of the head portions
takes the form illustrated at 39, consisting merely of an elongated
rectangular piece of material. The large piece of cloth 38 may be
considered as having a main portion 40 which is rectangular and has
a length dimension d and width dimension w to extend horizontally
over the top of the entire mattress and form individual "tops"
covering all three of the sections 11, 12, and 13 of the mattress.
This rectangular portion contains a cut 41 extending longitudinally
along the center of an end portion of the sheet 38, at a location
to separate the two head portions 20 and 21 of the sheet. The
various vertical edge panels or portions 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 of
the sheet may initially be formed as elongated rectangular panels
23', 24', 25', 26', and 27' which are foldable downwardly along
lines 42 to vertically extending positions, and are connectible
together at the corners of the various sections in the manner
illustrated in FIG. 4.
The extra piece 39 is stitched at its upper edge 139 (see FIG. 5)
to the main piece of cloth 38 along both sides of the cut 41. That
is, one end of the piece 39 may be stitched to the piece of cloth
38 commencing at the location 43 in FIGS. 3 and 5 and then
advancing along edge 44 at the left side of cut 41 to the location
45, at which the cloth 39 is doubled back to extend along and be
stitched to the return edge 46 up to the location 47 at which the
second end of strip 39 is received. Thus, this single piece of
material forms both of the inner side walls 30 and 31 of head
portions 20 and 21 of the sheet, leaving these walls or panels
secured together at the doubled back location 45 near hinge line
15. At the opposite ends of strip 39, that is, at the locations 43
and 47 of FIG. 3, this strip may be secured to panels 26' and 27'
in a manner forming two corners substantially the same as the
remaining corners of the mattress.
To describe now one of the specially formed corners as shown in
FIG. 4, it is noted that at each of the six corners 32, 33, 34, 35,
36 and 37 of the sheet, the main top panel 40 of the sheet has an
edge 48 which curves arcuately in correspondence with the curvature
of the corners of the mattress itself. One of the edge panels which
meets at that corner (for example panel 23' at corner 32 as seen in
FIGS. 3 and 4) is elongated at 49 to project in the FIG. 3
flattened condition somewhat beyond arcuate corner edge 48, and has
an inner edge 50 initially aligned with fold line 42 which is moved
to a position in which it extends along and is then stitched
arcuately to edge 48 so that the entire projecting portion 49 of
panel 23' curves in correspondence with edge 48 and the mattress
along the entire vertical height of the mattress corner. At its
extremity portion 49 has an initially transverse end edge 51 which
ultimately extends vertically and is stitched to a corresponding
edge 52 of end panel 25' along the vertical seam line 53 of FIG. 4.
Thus a closely fitting corner of the mattress is provided.
Along the lower edge 54 of the vertical side wall of the mattress,
there is provided at each corner an elastic band 55 which is
contained within a bottom seam and is long enough to extend
entirely about the corner and a short distance in each direction
beyond the corner, and which tends to elastically shorten edge 54
under the corner of the mattress in the manner illustrated in FIG.
2 to maintain the corner of the sheet in closely fitted condition
about the mattress. The other three outer corners 33, 34, and 37 of
the mattress may be identical with the corner 32 which has been
discussed in detail above and shown in enlarged form in FIG. 4.
Similarly, the two corners 35 and 36 at the inner sides of head
portions 20 and 21 may be substantially the same as corner 32
except that the ends of the separate strip of material 39 are
utilized to extend about the corners in lieu of the extension 49 of
panel 23' at corner 32.
The elastic 55 which is received in the lower edge of each of the
corner portions of the sheet is supplemented by two elastic straps
56 and 57 (see FIG. 2), which extend across the undersides of the
two head sections 11 and 12 of the mattress at a location beneath
hinge line 15, to hold head portions 20 and 21 of the sheet
downwardly at that location. More particularly, elastic band 56 may
be connected at one of its ends 58 to the side panel 23 of the
sheet, and at its opposite end 59 to the downwardly extending side
panel 31 at the inner side of head section 12 of the mattress. The
elastic pulls on the two downwardly extending side walls at the
connected locations 58 and 59 to hold the sheet tightly against the
top of the mattress at that location. Similarly, elastic 57 is
connected at its opposite ends 60 and 61 to the two downwardly
extending side panels of the sheet at opposite sides of head
section 11 of the mattress.
With regard to the preferred proportions and dimensions of the
sheet, it may be noted that the main large portion 19 of the sheet
is rectangular and desirably approximately square, with its
dimension l longitudinally of the mattress typically being
approximately equal to or slightly less than the dimension w
transversely of the mattress. It is further noted that the
dimension l should occupy substantially more than one-half of the
total longitudinal dimension d of the sheet, preferably slightly
more than two-thirds of that dimension. For example, if the overall
mattress is of a size corresponding to a conventional queen size
mattress, having a width w of 60 inches and a length d of 80
inches, the dimension l of portion 19 of the sheet longitudinally
of the mattress may be 55 inches, and the dimension e of the head
portions 20 and 21 in the same longitudinal direction may be 25
inches. The transverse dimension f of each of the two head portions
20 and 21 of the sheet may be approximately equal to or very
slightly greater than the dimension e, and in the case of each of
the two head portions occupies approximately one-half of the
transverse dimension w, the dimension f typically being 30 inches
in a queen size mattress. From the limitations given with respect
to the dimension l of portion 19, it will be apparent that the
dimension e of the head portions 20 and 21 should be less than
one-half of the length of the mattress, and preferably less than
one-third of its length.
In positioning the sheet on the mattress, the two head portions 20
and 21 of the sheet may first be pulled over head sections 11 and
12, with elastic bands 56 and 57 received at the undersides of the
head sections, and with the elastic 55 at the corners 34, 35, 36,
and 37 of the head portions being pulled slightly under the
corresponding corners of the head sections of the mattress to fit
closely thereabout. The main larger portion 19 of the sheet is then
pulled downwardly about the main section 13 of the mattress, and
fitted about its corners 32 and 33. In this condition, the entire
sheet is held tightly about the mattress, and when the head
sections 11 and 12 of the mattress are swung upwardly and
downwardly relative to one another and relative to section 13 to
differently inclined positions, the head portions 20 and 21 of the
sheet will always remain in their closely fitted condition about
the head sections of the mattress.
FIG. 6 shows at 62 a different type of covering for the mattress 10
of FIG. 1, and typically taking form of a mattress pad, having a
main horizontal portion 63 covering the top of main section 13 of
the mattress, and having two head portions 64 and 65 extending over
and about the head sections 11 and 12 of the mattress. Across the
entire upper side of the mattress, the pad 62 may be quilted or
otherwise padded, with the head portions 64 and 65 being adapted to
swing upwardly and downwardly relative to main portion 63 as
discussed in connection with FIG. 1. At all three sides of each of
the head sections 11 and 12 of the mattress, the head portions 64
and 65 of the pad may have downwardly extending side or edge panels
66, which may be formed of an unpadded piece of cloth as in the
first form of the invention. The corners 67, 68, 69, and 70 of the
pad 62 are fitted in the same manner as the corresponding corners
34, 35, 36, and 37 of FIG. 1, and have elastic at their lower edges
as shown in FIG. 4. Also, elastic bands 71 and 72 may be provided
in the same manner illustrated at 56 and 57 in FIG. 2. In the FIG.
6 arrangement, the main portion 63 of the mattress pad,
corresponding to portion 19 of FIG. 1, may extend across only the
upper side of the main section of the mattress, and not have
vertical panels fitting the sides and end of the mattress, but be
retained in position at the foot end of the mattress only by two
elastic bands 73 and 74 each connected at its opposite ends 75 to
two of the edges of the top portion 63 near one of the corners,
with each of the straps 73 extending downwardly at 76 and then
across the underside of the corner portion of the mattress at 77 in
retaining relation.
In addition to the illustrated sheet of FIG. 1 and the mattress pad
of FIG. 6, there may also be formed in accordance with the
invention a mattress cover, which may be provided for reception
under the sheet of FIG. 1, and be of essentially the same
construction as the sheet of FIG. 1. It is also contemplated that a
similar cover may be provided for a box spring having a double head
section structure corresponding to that of the mattress of the
figures.
While certain specific embodiments of the present invention have
been disclosed as typical, the invention is of course not limited
to these particular forms, but rather is applicable broadly to all
such variations as fall within the scope of the appended
claims.
* * * * *