Abstract:
A bedding cover made of pest-impermeable fabric provides a zippered opening for insertion of mattresses, pillows, upholstered cushions and other bedding. At the end of the zipper track, where there may be a small opening when closed, a flap is attached to a plastic collar, which is stitched to the fabric cover at and around the end of the zipper track. The flap is adapted to fold over the end when the zipper is closed, providing a seal that prevents pests, such as bed bugs, from escaping the bedding cover or infesting the bedding.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/734,121, filed on Dec. 6, 2012, which is incorporated by referenced herein in its entirety. 
     
    
       [0002]    The invention relates to an apparatus for preventing bed bugs and other pests from infesting bedding or from escaping the bedding if an infestation has previously occurred. Specifically, the invention relates to a collar and flap structure on a bedding cover that seals the cover, preventing pest escapement or infestation, but that can be optionally opened and resealed to allow insertion and removal of bedding. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Pest invasion is a problem faced by both the hospitality industry and individuals. Fleas, chicken mites, dust mites, ticks, and bed bugs are all common invaders, making their homes in beds and feeding parasitically off of human blood and skin cells. 
         [0004]    Bed bugs, or  Cimex lectularis,  have become a particularly prevalent invader in the last decade because of the wide use of insecticide bait and increased global travel and commerce. Because bed bugs feed on human blood, rather than bait, common insecticidal treatments do not affect them. Bed bug populations have exploded because eggs, young, and adult bed bugs are readily transported in luggage, clothing and bedding, and because bed bugs can infest airplanes, ships, trains, and buses. Bed bugs are most frequently found in dwellings with a high rate of occupant turnover, such as hotels, motels, hostels, dormitories, shelters, apartment complexes, tenements, and prisons. They, as well as other pests, are nocturnal blood-feeders that bite victims while they sleep. 
         [0005]    To protect travelers and individuals in their own homes, strategies have emerged to kill bed bugs by encasing them inside an infested mattress and starving them. Efforts have focused primarily on bed bud infestations, and primarily on mattress encasements. These strategies may problematic for the hospitality industry, however, because the existence of even dead pests inside a mattress may be viewed as unhygienic. In addition, the encasement may not provide a completely pest-impermeable seal, particularly where the encasement has a zipper or other closure that leaves a small opening, or where use of, or movement on, the encased mattress causes a zipper to slide open. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, there exists a need to prevent pest infestation of various types of bedding, and their escapement from encasement systems. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a bedding cover structure that prevents pests from escaping an encasement system through a zipper opening or other imperfect closure. 
         [0008]    It is another object of the invention to provide a method of sealing, and optionally opening and resealing, bedding within a bedding cover such that pests are prevented from entering or exiting the cover through a zipper opening or other imperfect closure. 
         [0009]    These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a bedding cover having a zipper opening for receiving bedding. A collar and flap are disposed at the zipper end of the cover in order to create a pest-impermeable seal, capable of optionally opening and resealing, over any small opening that may form at the zipper end. 
         [0010]    In addition, objects of the invention are achieved in a method for sealing, and optionally opening and resealing, bedding within a bedding cover structure. 
         [0011]    In one example a bedding cover for preventing pest escapement or infestation comprises a bedding cover comprising an opening and a zipper that includes a zipper head and opposing zipper tracks surrounding the perimeter of the opening. The zipper comprises an open position and a closed position. The bedding cover further includes an end location where the zipper head is positioned when the zipper is in the closed position. The bedding cover also includes a closure assembly including a collar and a flap. The collar is mounted on the bedding cover and around and proximate the end location of the zipper. The flap is mounted on one side to the bedding cover proximate the collar and is adapted to cover the end location of the zipper. The collar and the flap comprise a sealing mechanism that attaches the flap to the collar and over the end location of the zipper. The flap may be mounted on one side to the collar. The flap and collar may comprise mating hook-and-loop fasteners on respective surfaces thereof for releasably sealing and unsealing the flap onto the collar and over the end location of the zipper. The flap may be coated with a releasable adhesive or with a pest repellant. The flap may also be coated alternatively with a permanent adhesive. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bedding cover as installed around a mattress. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged top view of the zipper end location of the bedding cover of  FIG. 1  without a flap attached. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a an enlarged cross sectional end view of the zipper end location of  FIG. 4  taken along line  3 / 3  in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged top view of a zipper end location of the bedding cover of  FIG. 1  in which the flap is attached to the collar, but open, and the zipper is not yet closed. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged top view of a zipper end location of the bedding cover of  FIG. 1  in which the flap is attached to the collar, but open, and the zipper is closed. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged top view of a zipper end location of the bedding cover of  FIG. 1  in which the flap is attached to the collar and closed, creating a pest-impermeable seal. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a bedding cover  100  surrounds a conventional mattress  101 . The bedding cover  100  may be constructed of a size and shape so as to completely surround the entire mattress. In other embodiments, the bedding cover may be constructed of a size and shape so as to surround two sides of a pillow or any bedding, mattresses, duvets, pillows, upholstered cushions and futons. Fabric of the bedding cover is woven, knitted, or nonwoven or otherwise engineered so as to be pest-impermeable, such that any pest capable of infesting bedding cannot pass through it. The bedding cover  100  may optionally have one or more textured sides to as to prevent use of, or movement on the bedding, from occurring. Optional textured sides may occur on the interior or the exterior of the bedding cover, but all bedding cover fabric is engineered so as to be pest-impermeable. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an opening  102  is shown as being located at one end of the encasement/bedding cover  100  and extending far enough along one side of the encasement to allow a mattress  101  to be placed into and taken out of the encasement, and to thereby allow installation and occasional laundering of the encasement. In other embodiments, an opening may extend across any or all of the sides  103 ,  104 ,  105  of the encasement/bedding cover  100  such that any bedding may be placed into, and taken out of, the bedding cover. 
         [0020]    Referring now to all of the figures, a conventional zipper may close the bedding cover opening  102  so as to completely surround the mattress  101  or other bedding inside. The zipper closure includes a zipper head  106  and a pair of zipper tracks  107 ,  108 . The tracks are attached to the perimeter of the opening by stitching  109  that is sufficiently tight to prevent pests from passing across the stitching. The tracks  107 ,  108  are oriented in a confronting relationship, are zipped together in a conventional fashion, and have meshable, interlocking teeth that, when zipped, are sufficiently tight to prevent pests from passing to the other side. The zipper head  106  connects the two tracks  107 ,  108  and, when pulled towards an end location  110 , causes the tracks  107 ,  108  to interlock. The opening  102  extends between the end location  110  and the zipper head  106 . In other embodiments, the opening may be closed with any slide locking mechanism, such as a plastic zipper. 
         [0021]    A closure assembly includes a collar  111  is disposed proximate the end location  110  and is attached to the surface of the bedding cover  100 . The collar  111  may be attached by stitching  112  that is sufficiently tight to prevent pests from passing across the stitching, by an adhesive, or by any other equivalent means that does not impair the pest-impermeability of the bedding cover  100 . The collar  111  may be made of plastic, hook-and-loop fasteners, or of any material that increases—relative to the efficacy of the bedding cover fabric—the ability of a flap  113  to adhere to it after being repeatedly attached and detached. In one embodiment, the collar  111  surrounds three sides of the end location  110  providing increased surface for a flap  113  to adhere to. In other embodiments, the collar may only surround two sides of the end location. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the zipper head  106  is shown connected to the zipper tracks  107 ,  108  and disposed in a position near the end location  110 . The end location  110  is where the zipper head  106  is stopped from farther movement along the zipper tracks  107 ,  108 . Even when a zipper is fully closed, a small zipper opening  114  is formed in front of the zipper head  106  at the end location  110 . 
         [0023]    In  FIG. 2 , an embodiment of the closure assembly is shown with no flap attached, representing an optional embodiment in which the flap may be completely removed and replaced. For instance, the flap or patch may be used and then disposed of and a fresh flap used to cover the zipper opening. In  FIG. 4 , the embodiment of the closure assembly is shown with the flap  113  attached at one end  115 , with the free end  116  adapted to extend for a distance along the zipper tracks  107 ,  108  and optionally adhere to the collar  111 , creating a pest-impermeable seal over the zipper opening  114  at the end location  110 . In other embodiments, the sealing mechanism including the flap  113  may attach to any portion of the collar  111 , and may be attached permanently or removably, making complete replacement of the flap possible. The sealing mechanism including the flap  113  may be attached by stitching that is sufficiently tight to prevent pests from passing across the stitching, by permanent or releasable adhesive, or by any other equivalent means that does not impair the pest-impermeability of the bedding cover. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the zipper head  106  is shown near the end location  110  between three sides of the collar  111 . The flap  113  is attached to the collar  111  behind the zipper head  106  and sits in a raised position, capable of being folded down over the zipper head and end location  110 , as seen in  FIG. 6 . The flap  113  may alternatively be mounted on the bedding cover proximate the end location. The flap  113  may be made of plastic, hook-and-loop fasteners, or of any material that is capable of carrying a substance that may removably seal or permanently seal to the collar  111 . 
         [0025]    In alternative embodiments, the flap  113  may be coated with a substance that, in addition to sealing the flap  113  to the collar  111 , contains a pest repellant such as an insecticide. Still further alternatively, the flap  113  may be coated with a malleable and tacky adhesive that conforms to the surface of the zipper head  106  when sealed and traps or adheres to pests if they attempt to escape or enter the bedding cover  110 . 
         [0026]    The progression of  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  demonstrate some steps of a method for creating a pest-impermeable seal around bedding with a bedding cover  100 . After the bedding has been placed into the bedding cover  100 , the zipper head  106  may be pulled completely towards the end location  110 , thereby encasing the bedding, and the flap  113  may be folded over and attached to the collar  111  over the end location  110 , thereby creating a pest-impermeable seal around the bedding. 
         [0027]    Still further alternatively, the flap  113  may be coated with an adhesive and other composition that changes color or otherwise signals that a pest has come in contact with it. This could be a signal to a user to dispose of an infested mattress. 
         [0028]    And finally, the flap  113  may be a simple label that offers a display surface for a marketing opportunity or brand logo, There may also be included product information or instructions. 
         [0029]    While the invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or materials to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.