Bedding with retention pockets

Bedding retention pockets include four pockets attached to the bottom face of a sheet interiorly of the edges of the sheet, each pocket having and elongated band with one longitudinal edge attached to the sheet and curved to form a corner which will receive a corner of the mattress. A triangular bottom panel is attached along the other longitudinal edge of the band, parallel to the sheet, so as to form a pocket. The pocket is formed from a generally non-stretchable material to prevent the pockets from slipping off the corners of the mattress.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates generally to pockets formed to encompass a corner of 
a mattress, and more particularly to pockets which are mounted upon a 
sheet to retain the sheet on a waterbed. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The advent of the waterbed has also caused the rethinking of the manner in 
which bedding is attached thereto. It has long been a problem to maintain 
a sheet or mattress pad reasonably securely to the waterbed. To date, 
efforts have been made mainly in the direction of providing larger sheets, 
such that more material can be tucked between the mattress and the sides 
of the waterbed frame. Other efforts were directed to sheets having 
elastic strips attached thereto to tighten the edges of the sheet around 
the corners of the mattress. 
However, the above described efforts have not met with total success. 
Sheets which extend on the side of the mattress are only held in position 
by the force of the water against the side frames. This force is not great 
enough to hold the sheets securely in position. 
Efforts directed to larger sheets require the purchase of a complete set of 
new sheets. Other efforts have been directed to the use of fasteners to 
hold the sheet in place. However, such fasteners are typically cumbersome 
to operate and are not readily usable by one who does not possess the 
necessary manual dexterity. 
Finally, sheets with elastic strips are inconvenient since the elastic will 
contract when not in use on the bed. This makes the sheet difficult to 
fold, and causes "puckering" along the edges. Furthermore, the biasing 
force of the elastic may cause the sheet to slip off the mattress, rather 
than securing the sheet in position. 
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an 
improved device for securing a sheet to a waterbed. 
Another object is to provide corner pockets for attachment to the bottom of 
a conventional sheet, to retain the sheet in position on a waterbed 
mattress. 
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The bedding retention pockets of this invention include four pockets 
attached to the bottom face of a sheet interiorly of the edges of the 
sheet. Each pocket includes an elongated band having one longitudinal edge 
attached to the sheet and curved to form a corner which will receive a 
corner of the mattress. A triangular bottom panel is attached along the 
other longitudinal edge of the band, parallel to the sheet, so as to form 
a pocket. The corner of the waterbed mattress will fill in the pocket such 
that the triangular panel lies under the mattress, holding the pocket in 
position. A zigzag stitch secures the pocket to the sheet, and prevents 
unraveling. The pocket is formed from a generally non-stretchable material 
to prevent the pockets from slipping off the corners of the mattress, and 
eliminate other problems common to elastic strips and the like in prior 
art devices.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings in which similar or corresponding parts are 
identified by the same reference numeral, and more particularly to FIG. 1, 
a waterbed is indicated generally at 10, and includes a frame 12 having a 
headboard 14, side frames 16 and 18, a footboard 20 and a 
mattress-supporting base 22. A conventional bottom sheet 24 and top sheet 
26 are shown with portions cut away to show one of four retention pockets 
28 of this invention positioned on a mattress 30. While the invention will 
be described with reference to sheets, the invention may similarly be 
utilized on mattress pads or any other bedding which is desired to be 
secured to a waterbed mattress. 
FIG. 3 shows a view of the underside of the mattress 30 with the bed frame 
removed, for clarity. FIGS. 2 and 5 show one of the pockets 28 of the 
invention. Each pocket 28 includes an elongated, and generally rectangular 
band 32 with a small hem 34 along the upper longitudinal edge. Hem 34 is 
attached to the bottom face 24a of bottom sheet 24 with a zigzag stitch 36 
to prevent unraveling. Band 32 is affixed in a generally vertical plane, 
and is curved near its middle 38 to form a corner which will follow the 
curved corners of a mattress 30. A pleat 40 extends downwardly from hem 34 
and is centered in the curved portion 38. This allows the waterbed 
mattress to more naturally fill the pocket 28 and assist in holding the 
pocket 28 in position. 
A triangular bottom panel 42 is attached along the lower longitudinal edge 
of band 32 with its base edge 44 connecting the ends 32a and 32b of band 
32. The "height" of triangular panel 42, as measured perpendicularly from 
the center of the base edge 44 to the apex of the triangle, is preferred 
to be about ten and one-half inches, to form a pocket of sufficient depth 
to securely hold a sheet in position. For larger mattresses, it may be 
necessary to increase the depth of the pocket 28 by extending the length 
of band 32 and the "height" of bottom panel 42. 
As shown in FIG. 3, pockets 28 are affixed to the bottom side 24a of bottom 
sheet 24 inwardly of the edges to fit the mattress 30. The protruding 
edges of bottom sheet 24 are tucked between the frame 12 and mattress 30. 
Thus, a set of four pockets have been provided which are attached to a 
conventional sheet to secure the sheet to a waterbed mattress. The pockets 
28 are formed of a non-stretchable material, such as muslin or cotton, to 
prevent the pockets 28 from slipping off the corners of the mattress, as 
was common with prior art bedding materials which utilized elastic bands 
or the like. Thus, this invention eliminates the need for elastic and the 
problems which go along with its use--replacement, shrinkage, puckering, 
etc. It can be seen that the invention fulfills at least all of the above 
stated objectives.