GB2330302A - Duvet cover - Google Patents

Abstract

A duvet cover (1) comprises a double-sided fabric shell (4,6) bounded by at least four edges and releasable edge fastening means (18) wherein the edge fastening means (18) extends along one full edge, continuing at least partially along two adjacent edges to so that a side of the shell may be opened as a flap (16) when the edge fastening means (18) is released.

Description

Duvet Cover The present invention relates to a duvet cover, and in particular to a duvet cover for a bed into which a duvet or quilt may more readily be inserted by disabled or elderly persons.

Duvet or quilt covers are normally made to be detachable from the duvet, so that they may be washed, or simply changed for another cover, for example having a different pattern or design on the cover. A conventional type of duvet cover is square or rectangular, with releasable fastening means such as studs or a zipper extending part way along one edge of the double-sided fabric shell of the cover. The fastening means may be released to provide an opening or a slot in this edge.

The slot is usually in a shorter of the edges, and in the case of a duvet cover for a bed, this allows the duvet to be placed on the bed so that the fastening means is at the foot of the bed. Since the fastening means may present a view of a relatively unsightly slot in the cover and otherwise disrupt any pattern on the cover, an advantage of this arrangement is that the size of the opening or slot is kept to a minimum.

A consequence of this, however, is that it is not easy to insert or withdraw the duvet from the cover.

Generally, the duvet must be folded, rolled, or otherwise squeezed through the slot. When inserting the duvet, it can be difficult to align the corners of the duvet correctly within the cover.

Although these difficulties may be minor inconveniences for an able bodied person, a disabled or elderly person may find it very difficult to cope with inserting or withdrawing a duvet from the cover.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a more convenient duvet cover.

Accordingly, the invention provides a duvet cover comprising a double-sided fabric shell bounded by at least four edges4 and releasable edge fastening means so that a duvet may be inserted into the shell, held within the shell, and removed from the shell as required by a user of the duvet, in which the edge fastening means extends along one full edge, continuing at least partially along two adjacent edges so that a side of the shell may be opened as a flap when the edge fastening means is released.

The term duvet cover is intended herein to include also quilt covers.

Because the fastening means extends at least along one side fully and continues at least partly along the length of the two adjacent sides, the opening that is provided by the fastening means is large enough so that it is not necessary for the user to fold, roll or otherwise force the duvet through the opening when it is desired to remove the duvet from, or insert the duvet into the cover.

The releasable edge fastening means may be any convenient means, such as studs, clips, buttons, a zipper or hook and loop fasteners such as those sold under the registered trade mark Velcro.

The shell will normally comprise two sheets of fabric which have been sewn together along a periphery excluding a periphery having the fastening means.

Most commonly, the duvet cover will be square or rectangular, and so there will be four sides. The invention may also be applied to covers with a larger number of sides, for example six sides.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the duvet cover has edge fastening means which only extends approximately mid-way, and most preferably half-way, along said two adjacent edges. In the case of a rectangular or square duvet cover, the size of the flap in the side of the cover is then conveniently about the same size as the remainder of the side, so that when the flap is folded back, it may be arranged to lie substantially over the remainder of the side. An advantage of this embodiment is that the flap may be folded fully back, without extending beyond the boundaries of the side of the cover.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the duvet cover has edge fastening means which extends substantially all the way, and most preferably fully, along said two adjacent edges. An advantage of this embodiment is that this provides an opening with a greater extent, so enabling easier access to the duvet within the cover.

Because the seam formed by the edge fastening means may be visible and unsightly, and may catch or be inadvertently disengaged by contact with objects, it is advantageous if the duvet cover comprising concealing means to conceal the seam along at least the said two adjacent edges.

So that the concealing means is itself perceived to be an integral part of the design of the duvet cover, and also to help prevent the concealing means from interfering with the fastening means, it is preferable if the concealing means extends along said one full edge and fully or substantially fully along the said two adjacent edges including any portions of the two adjacent edges npt having a seam.

The presence of the concealing means may, however, not be desirable along other edges. For example a fourth edge of a square or rectangular duvet cover may in use be near a sleeping person's head or face, and the concealing means could therefore present a distracting contact or otherwise irritate the person. In such cases, a smooth seam is preferable along this fourth edge. Therefore, the concealing means may not extend along the edge or edges not being said one full edge or two adjacent edges.

In a preferred embodiment, the concealing means has a skirt which may be arranged to hang down over the seam.

The skirt may be wide enough (in the direction in which it hangs) so that it is not obviously a device for concealing the seam, and so that the seam remains concealed if the skirt becomes ruffled. Preferably, the skirt is at least as wide as the thickness of a duvet inside the cover. This would imply a width of between 25 mm and 200 mm, and in most cases a width of between 75 mm and 150 mm.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the skirt is wide enough so that the skirt may be arranged to hang down over the edges of a mattress on which the duvet may be placed. This has the advantage that once the duvet is placed on a bed, the skirt may help to retain the duvet on the bed.

The fastening means is provided between the concealing means and a side of the shell. This arrangement may be particularly suitable with hook and loop fasteners, in which the fasteners may need some minimum width (in the direction transverse to the seam) in order to hold securely.

However, in many cases, the fastening means may be provided along the edges of the sides, and therefore not be part of the concealing means or skirt.

The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a duvet cover according to the invention, into which a duvet has been placed; Figure 2 is a view of the duvet cover of Figure 1, with a fastening means released to open a flap over half of the upper side of the duvet; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a duvet cover according to the invention, having a skirt that hangs down from three sides of the cover and over a mattress; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a duvet cover according to the invention, into which a duvet has been placed.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, a duvet cover 1 has been placed over a duvet 2. The duvet cover shown is suitable as a covering for a double bed, and is rectangular with dimensions of approximately 1800 mm by 1600 mm, and may take a duvet with a thickness of up to 100 mm.

The duvet cover 1 has an upper 4 and a lower 6 side each made from a fabric such as cotton or a cotton/polyester blend, and which are permanently joined together along a sewed seam 8. The upper and lower sides 6,8 together form a shell which holds the duvet 2. The sewed seam 8 goes around three edges of the duvet, extending fully along a top edge 10, and continuing half way along two adjacent edges 12,14.

The seam 8 ends at a point on the adjacent edges 12,14 where the remainder of the upper and lower sides 4,6 are releasably secured to each other by releasable fastening means, here a number of studs 18. The studs 18 are positioned at points along a seam 108 which extends fully along a bottom edge 20 of the duvet cover and continuing half way along the two adjacent edges 12,14.

In Figure 1, the studs 18 have been secured, and in Figure 2, the studs have all been released, so that a flap 16 may be folded back in order to reveal part of the duvet 2. Once the studs have been released, the duvet 2 may readily be removed from the cover 1, or inserted back into the cover 1. During these operations, the duvet may be laid flat on a suitable supporting surface, such as a bed, and when the flap 16 is open, the duvet may conveniently be inserted or removed without the need to fold, roll or otherwise force the duvet 2 through the relatively large opening provided by the flap 16.

Because the flap is about half of the upper side 4 of the cover, the flap need not extend beyond the edges of the cover when open, but may be laid open neatly on the remainder of the upper side 4. The flap 16 may therefore be kept out of the way of other objects when the flap is open.

Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the invention, in which the duvet cover 101 has a skirt 102 which extends fully around the bottom edge 20 and which continues along substantially most of the adjacent edges 12,14 to end at skirt ends 110, one of which is visible in the drawing. Although not visible in Figure 3, the duvet cover is otherwise the same as the cover illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

The skirt in this example fully conceals the seams 8,108, and is wide enough to be draped down over the sides of a mattress 104. This arrangement help to keep the covered duvet on the mattress, which may be a particular benefit those who are disabled or infirm and need the duvet to remain on a bed and not slip on to the floor.

Since the ends 110 of the skirt 102 are well clear of the junction between the two seams 8,108, the skirt will tend to remain clear of the releasable seam 108 and not get tucked into this seam. This is because the portion of the skirt 102 covering the permanent seam 8 always remains on the outside of the cover, and this tends to keep the adjacent portions of the skirt 102 covering the releasable seam 102 also outside the cover. This arrangement therefore also helps to keep the skirt from interfering with the studs. If a zipper is used as the releasable fastening means, then this arrangement will help to keep the skirt from fouling with the zipper.

Figure 4 shows a third embodiment of a duvet cover 201, which differs from the above described embodiments in that upper 204 and lower 206 sides of the cover may be joined along a seam 208 which extends fully along three edges 212,214,220. The duvet 2 may be inserted and removed from the cover 201 as described above, the difference being that the flap 216 when open extends beyond the extent of the duvet cover edges. This has the advantage that the duvet may just be lowered or placed down on the inner surface of the lower side 206 when the dut 2 is put together with the cover 201.

Similarly, the duvet may be lifted out of the cover.

The duvet cover according to this embodiment of the invention may therefore be suitable for a user with a higher degree of disability. It would be, however, desirable to retract the flap beyond the edges of the cover, even if the flap is not laid flat as illustrated, but rolled or folded neatly near the edge of the cover.

The duvet cover described above is convenient to use, particularly when inserting or removing a duvet from the cover. The large opening provided by the flap in the cover allows a disabled or elderly person easy access to the duvet within the cover. The seam may, if desired, be concealed, for both aesthetic and practical reasons. The use of a skirt as the concealing means may also help to keep the duvet on a bed.

Claims (13)

1. Claims 1. A duvet cover comprising a double-sided fabric shell bounded by at least four edges, and releasable edge fastening means so that a duvet may be inserted into the shell, held within the shell, and removed from the shell as required by a user of the duvet, in which the edge fastening means extends along one full edge, continuing at least partially along two adjacent edges so that a side of the shell may be opened as a flap when the edge fastening means is released.
2. 2. A duvet cover as claimed in Claim 1, in which the edge fastening means only extends approximately mid-way along said two adjacent edges.
3. 3. A duvet cover as claimed in Claim 1, in which the edge fastening means extends fully along said two adjacent edges.
4. 4. A duvet cover as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the edge fastening means when fastened holds the sides of the shell together along a seam, the duvet cover comprising concealing means to conceal the seam along at least the said two adjacent edges.
5. 5. A duvet cover as claimed in Claim 4, in which the concealing means extends along said one full edge and substantially fully along the said two adjacent edges including any portions of the two adjacent edges not having a seam.
6. 6. A duvet cover as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5, in which the concealing means does not extend along the edge or edges not being said one full edge or two adjacent edges.
7. 7. A duvet cover as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 6, in which the concealing means has a skirt which may be arranged to hang down over the seam.
8. 8. A duvet cover as claimed in Claim 7, in which the skirt is wide enough so that the skirt may be arranged to hang down over the edges of a mattress on which the duvet may be placed.
9. 9. A duvet cover as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 8, in which the fastening means is provided between the concealing means and a side of the shell.
10. 10. A duvet cover as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the fastening means is provided along the edges of the sides.
11. 11. A covered duvet with a cover as claimed in any preceding claim.
12. 12. A duvet cover substantially as herein described, with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.
13. 13. A covered duvet substantially as herein described, with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.