BEDDING SYSTEM

A liquid absorbing pad comprising a top layer and a bottom layer and an interior portion therebetween. The interior portion includes a liquid absorbing material. The top layer is made from microfiber bed sheet material. The bottom layer is made from microfiber terry, preferably non-oiled, the top of which is laminated with liquid-impermeable material. The top layer and interior portion are quilted together and glued to the bottom layer. When the pad is laid on a bed sheet made of microfiber bed sheet material extending horizontally, the pad resists horizontal movement relative to the bed sheet. The interior portion preferably may further includes a non-woven polypropylene layer below the liquid absorbing material so that the top layer, the liquid absorbing material and polypropylene layer are quilted together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The bedding system includes a top sheet, a bottom (fitted) sheet, a pillow case, and preferably at least two Sneaky Squares (liquid absorbing pads, or “sheets”). The key element is the liquid absorbing pad100, which is placed on top of the bottom sheet101on a bed, as can be seen inFIGS. 1 and 2. The user of the bed lies on top of the liquid absorbing pad100and bottom sheet, the pad100being placed so that if the user wets the bed the liquid contacts the liquid absorbing pad100rather than the bottom sheet. The liquid absorbing pad100is configured to absorb the liquid, and also to prevent or minimize any transmission of the liquid through the liquid absorbing pad100to the bottom sheet. Thus, after an incident where liquid comes into contact with the pad100(e.g. a bed-wetting incident), the liquid absorbing pad100can be removed and, optionally, replaced by a second, clean, liquid absorbing pad100very quickly, without having to remove and replace the bottom sheet.

The liquid absorbing pad100is shown in an exploded view inFIG. 3. The liquid absorbing pad100has a top layer301made of microfiber bed sheet material, preferably microfiber peach (also called microfiber peach skin and polyester peach skin, a velvet fabric that feels like peach skin). The microfiber bed sheet material of the top layer may have a density of 100 grams per square meter (GSM).

Below the top layer is a liquid absorbing layer302made of a liquid absorbing material. The liquid absorbing material preferably consists of 80% polyester and 20% rayon filling with a density in the range of about 120 and 240 GSM, and preferably about 160 GSM. Laboratory testing was conducted on various padding materials with various densities and absorption ratings. Analyses of test results showed that materials consisting of 80% polyester and 20% rayon filling with a density of 160 GSM provide excellent absorbency, so that such material is preferred. The volume of material is selected so that it can absorb up to about 360 ml (or cc) of liquid. Rather than using a 20% rayon formulation, 20% nylon may alternatively be employed, but this is not preferred.

A third layer303may be employed which is composed of 100 GSM (or greater) 100% polypropylene non-woven material that can be bonded to the bottom layer using glue, since it is generally not feasible to bond the liquid absorbing layer to the bottom layer using glue. The first three layers are quilted together. The use of such a construction results in a pad that can be washed more than 50 times.

The bottom layer comprises a liquid-impermeable coating304laminated on microfiber terry305, which is preferably non-oiled microfiber terry which reduces odor retention. The liquid-impermeable coating304is preferably made from PUL (Polyurethane Laminate), or TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), and is preferably about 0.02 mm in thickness, although various thicknesses are possible.

When the pad100is laid on a bottom bed sheet (typically a fitted sheet) made from microfiber bed sheet material extending horizontally, the pad100resists horizontal movement relative to the bed sheet. That is, in normal use, the pad100tends to stay in the same position despite the fact that the person in the bed may move during use of the bed. This resistance can be observed by attempting to pull the pad100horizontally by gripping one or two points on one side of the pad100. Moving the pad100horizontally requires substantially more force than would be required with a prior art pad.

The bottom microfiber terry layer preferably is made of 80% polyester and 20% nylon micro fiber yarn with a density of 200 GSM. The yarn may be 150DX288F. Polyamide, polypropylene, and polyester blended polyamide are also preferred materials.

In this system, the pad100is simply laid on top of the bottom sheet. Normally such an approach would not work effectively because the pad would move as the user moves in the bed, and would be likely to move sufficiently that the fitted sheet would get wet if the user wets the bed. The applicant has discovered a surprising property of microfiber terry relative to standard bed sheet material. When the pad100is placed on top of the sheet with the microfiber terry touching the micro fiber bed sheet material, the pad100resists horizontal movement relative to the bed sheet. The resistance is sufficiently strong that, under normal use, the bed user will not cause the pad100to move significantly during a typical sleep period.

The pad100is preferably sized to cover all portions of the fitted sheet that would otherwise potentially become wet because of a bed wetting incident. As can be seen inFIG. 2, the pad100preferably also covers a portion of the sides of the bed to prevent the associated portions of the fitted sheet from becoming wet. Generally, the pad100is sized so that it hangs about six inches over each side of the bed. This overhang further enhances the movement resistance property of the pad100, which increases as the amount of microfiber terry touching the micro fiber bed sheet material increases.

Microfiber is a fiber with less than 1 decitex per filament. Decitex is a measure of linear density and is commonly used to describe the size of a fiber or filament. Ten thousand meters of a 1-decitex fiber weighs one gram. While many microfibers are made of polyester, they can also be composed of polyamide or other polymers polypropylene, Polyester blended polyamide quality may be preferred since the hand feeling of 100% polyester may not be of sufficiently high quality.

The bedding system may also include a bag, as shown inFIG. 4, that can hold the other components. The system can be sold with the components in the bag, and the user may subsequently use the bag to store the components. Preferably, the bag is made from100GSM printed micro fiber laminated with TPU. This makes the bag particularly suitable for storing a wet pad after it is removed from the bed. This further facilitates quickly replacing a soiled pad with a clean one as the user can leave the soiled pad in the bag until at least the next morning so that washing of the pad is deferred and the time spent by the user during the sleep period to deal with a bed wetting incident is minimized.

Other approaches have been found to be inferior to the use of microfiber Terry, such as using velcro™ at the sides of the protection sheet. Since velcro™ generally has soft and rough pairs (hook and loop), it unclear how to determine an optimal arrangement to attach the velcro™ to the protection sheet and the bed sheet. In an embodiment that is not preferred, a rough (hook) piece of velcro™ was attached to the protection sheet and a soft (loop) part to the bed sheet. Samples were prepared and washed for 3 cycles. It was determined that the hooks would collect peels and lint in the course of washing, which reduced the effectiveness of the velcro™ in long term. Attaching the soft part of velcro™ to the protection sheet was tried and showed improved results, however openly exposed hooks sewn to the bed sheet were considered to risk irritation of the user's skin. The possibility of introducing two flip over flaps to the sides of the bed sheet to cover the hooks was also considered. Evaluation of prototype samples determined the flaps are in the way and sometimes inaccessible when laying down the protection sheet, especially during the night when lights are off and one side of the bed is next to the wall. Research was conducted to identify alternative and applicable solutions such as using grommets, snaps, buttons, magnets, and zippers avoiding any health and safety hazard. The use of magnets was also assessed. However protection sheets with embedded magnets may be unacceptable when the product is used by people having embedded pacemakers.

Testing of sample protection sheets with standard microfiber Terry backing have shown that an undesired smell may result after about 10 washing cycles. This was determined to be because the oil content in the microfiber terry retains an odor even after washing. It was found that replacing the microfiber Terry with an oil-free Terry fabric resolved this issue.

While specific materials have been described, it would be apparent to skilled persons that variants of the stated compositions would function substantially the same way, although the movement-resistance of the pad relative to the fitted sheet may vary somewhat.

The words “comprises” and “comprising”, when used in this specification and the claims, are to used to specify the presence of stated features, elements, integers, steps or components, and do not preclude, nor imply the necessity for, the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

The scope of the claims that follow is not limited by the embodiments set forth in the description. The claims should be given the broadest purposive construction consistent with the description as a whole.