EP0857445A2

EP0857445A2 - Placement of linking elements for sheets, blankets and other household linen

Info

Publication number: EP0857445A2
Application number: EP98830039A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Luisa Mele
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-01-29
Filing date: 1998-01-28
Publication date: 1998-08-12
Also published as: ITSA970001U1; IT243502Y1

Abstract

This invention refers to a special placement of linking elements, better if press studs, (3), (4) and if the case (5), which makes eider downs (2) and/or blankets integral with sheets placed below and/or bedcovers placed above, or pillow cases for pillows integral with pillow covers placcd above, or normal sofas upholstery integral with sofa covers placed above, which results in a great advantage for the user, both when he is using the bed or pillow case or the sofa itself, and when he is doing the bed or is ironing or folding the bed set.

Description

Technical field

This invention refers to a special placement of linking elements which can make eider-down quilts and/or blankets integral with sheets placed below and bedcovers placed above, as well as pillow cases with pillow covers placed above, or sofas upholstery with sofa covers placed above. This will result in a great advantage for the user, both when he is using the bed, or the cover or the sofa itself, and when he is doing the bed or is ironing or folding the bed linen.

Art state

At present, in a field where there is a great number of patents, the market may propose and advertise consolidated products which, often, do not show any dramatic differences from the old ones, but only important devices which enhance their value and utility.

Even if these well-known products are by now classic and well tried, each of them shows some disadvantages.

Eider-down quilts and blankets are not linked to the sheets below usually called "upper sheets", so, when one is lying in the bed, these move untidily, creating uneasiness or in some cases even a conflict between the persons. This inconvenience makes also difficult to be able to place a bedcover over an eider-down quilt and/or blanket, seen that it, moving uncontrolled from eider-down quilts and sheets placed below, would only increase the aforesaid uneaslness .

When doing the bed, moreover, it isi uneasy and uncomfortable to place first an upper sheet and then an eider down or blanket in such a way to make them fit perfectly together, an operation which, in fact, is not easy to perform if not tried many times; beds, therefore, are often "done" in a quick and rough way, leaving the upper element untidy and not well tended on the lower one, which results in a not pleasant aspect.

The folding and ironing of sheets is not easy to be done; either, in fact, the housewives are often compelled to ask for help to someone of the family, who is not always disposed to do that, so as to be able to put the sheets on the ironing board which is usually much smaller- than the sheet itself.

At present pillow cases are used which wrap the pillows all around, with a notable difficulty when inserting the latter into the former. The cases, above all when they are co-ordinated with the bed-set are substituted only when the whole bed set is changed, thus prejudicing the hygiene of the user.

The sofa covers presently on the market are difficult to place as well, they often do not fit to the shape of the sofa and must be continuously put in order after sitting; also their folding and ironing is often uncomfortable .

Aims and advantages of the invention

The aim of the present invention is to eliminate these inconveniences and to obtain for bed sets, such as eider downs and/or blankets, pillow cases and pillow covers, a series of different performances capable to satisfy the different requirements of a generic buyer. Another aim of this invention is to obtain a better functionality when using a bed set preventing eider downs and/or blankets from getting untidy during the user's rest.

Another aim of the present invention is to allow to do the bed more easily, with fewer movements, in a shorter time and with a greater efficacy.

Another aim of this invention is to make it possible to place, above an eider down or blanket, other bedcovers which will not slide from the ones below, as well as to obtain the advantage not to have an unpleasant aspect when the covering element (eider down, blankets and so on) is not tended enough.

Another aim of the present invention is to make it possible to change eider down cases every day, even if they are not necessarily co-ordinated, in a comfortable and cheap way, with the result to improve the hygienic conditions of the user.

A further aim of the present invention is to make the folding and ironing of sheets and other natural or non natural fabric elements related to bed furniture, easier, thus avoiding to involve many people in the aforesaid operations which would become quicker and easier.

The tasks and aims described before, as well as others which will be better specified in the following pages, are obtained by a particular device aimed to make co-operative and integral bed linen pieces, such as pillow cases and pillow covers, or a sheet with an eider down or a blanket or any bedcover placed above, or a sofa cover with sofa upholstery; in this device the linking elements (press-studs and similar) are placed in a consecutive alternate way (male and female) in correspondence with the corners of the surfaces meant to fit together, of each element forming the pair or set.

Description of the drawings

These characteristics and advantages and others as well, will be made evident by the description which follows and by the drawings enclosed which are supplied only as an approximate and not restrictive example, in them:

Picture 1 shows, schematically, an eider down-blanket set seen from above.

Picture 2 shows, schematically, a pillow case and pillow cover set placed on a pillow, seen from above.

Picture 3 shows, in perspective, a pillow cover with the linking elements specified in the present invention.

Picture 4 shows, schematically, how to fold a sheet according to the present invention.

With reference to the aforesaid drawings, with (1) a sheet has been shown, with (2) an eider down or blanket or, generally a bedcover are shown, with (3) a linking element, in this case a press stud, placed in each of the four corners of the eider down; with (4) the correspondent linking element (press stud) placed on the sheet.

With reference to the aforesaid drawings, ln picture 1 the arrow shows that a press stud (3) (or any similar device) placed at the intrados of each of the 4 corners of an eider down (or blanket, or bedcover or such), links itself, in correspondence with other press studs, at the extrados of the corners of an upper sheet, so as to make the eider down integral with the sheet placed below, which will allow to do the bed more easily and prevent it from stripping. In its turn, an eider down may have other press studs (5) or similar devices, also at the extrados of the four corners, so that it will be integral also with any bed covers, provided that this last is supplied with the same device. The linking devices are placed alternatively (male-female in the case of press studs) between the consecutive corners of an eider down and, as a consequence, of a sheet placed below, with the advantage to make possible a removable fixing of the edges, making the ironing and folding of both the eider down and sheet much easier. Picture 4 shows the way in which to fold a sheet by linking the press studs (4) placed at the corners of the sheet itself, by juxtaposing male and female elements.

Press studs, or similar devices, if applied at the extrados of the 4 extreme edges (corners) of a pillow case (6), will make this integral with a pillow cover (7) placed only on the side which touches the user's face while he is resting (it is possible, however, to foresee them on both sides).

In this way there will be the advantage to assure a more rapid and cheaper substitution of the pillow cover alone, which will result in a grater hygiene while the use of alternate press studs, as described with reference to an eider down, will result in an easier folding and ironing of the pillow cover. The linking devices provided in this invention may also be applied to large-foulards and sofa covers.

The devices (3) applied at the extrados of the edges of the normal upholstery of sofas, will make any sofa covers integral with them, obviously, only if they are supplied with the same devices (4). This innovation will also allow, in this case too, to substitute sofa covers immediately thus assuring a greater hygiene while the press studs placed alternatively, as in the case of eider downs, will make also the ironing and folding of sofa covers much easier.

How to use the invention

The use of the invention, when applied to beds, is very simple. Once a sheet, better if of the kind with elasticised corners, is linked to the mattress below, the "upper" sheet is laid down after having linked it to the eider down, blanket or bed cover by using the press studs (3) and (4) or, if the case, (6).

The invention, following .the placement previously described, allows to do the bed very quickly and also helps to keep it in order. It also makes sheets co-operate with eider downs, blankets or bedcovers placed above assuring a better covering of the person, particularly important when young children are involved. The same advantages can also be obtained in the case of pillow cases, pillow covers, sofas and such.

A further advantage derives from the use of this invention when one is ironing sheets, bed covers and similar, whose sizes often make them difficult to be handled. In this case, on the contrary, it is enough to couple the male-female press studs or similar linking elements so that the folding may be comfortably carried out even by only one person.

From what described and illustrated above, it is clear that the invention reaches the purposes prefixed.

Formal and structural changes might, however, be brought. This means that all the details, particularly the linking elements, might be substituted with other elements such as buttons, stripping elements, clips, tapes, zip fasteners and so on, which are equivalent from a technical point of view; in short the materials, the sizes and the contingent forms might be different according to the requirements but this does not mean to go out of the dominion of this invention which is summed up in the claims which follow.

Claims

A system aimed to make co-operative and integral, but removable, bed linen, such as pillow cases and pillow covers, or a sheet with an eider down or a blanket or any kind of bedcover placed above, or a sofa cover with sofa upholstery, characterised by a consecutively alternate placement of linking devices (press studs or similar), (male-female), in correspondence with the corners of the surfaces to link of each element forming the aforesaid sets.
Sets eider down-sheet, pillowcase-pillow cover or any other set, as in claim 1) where the distances between the linking elements foreseen in correspondence with the corners of the surfaces to link are equal, specifically the distance between the linking elements on an eider down, which must not be inferior than the distance between the linking elements of a sheet placed below.
Set eider down-sheet, as in claims 1) and 2) where each of the four corners of the surface shown off of the eider down, foresees the presence of the same number of linking elements, better if press studs, using which it is possible to place and remove another bedcover or blanket or such, which is supplied with the same number of linking elements at its intrados and in correspondence with those previously named.
Sheets, blankets and such supplied with consecutively alternate linking elements (male-female), better if press studs, in correspondence with the four corners of one of their surfaces meant to make ironing and folding easier .