Abstract:
The present disclosure provides at least in part a bed cover comprising a plurality of heat insulating chambers having a first surface and a second surface and at least two sidewalls connecting the first surface and the second surface, the width of said first surface being greater than the width of said second surface; a plurality of heat conduits between the sidewalls of the heat insulating chambers, said heat conduits having an open and a closed position; wherein each heat insulating chamber is hingeably connected to at least one adjacent heat insulating chamber, such that the heat conduits may open and close as adjacent heat insulating chambers flex towards or away from each other.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICAITONS 
     This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/773,017, filed Mar. 5, 2013, the content of which is incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a bed cover. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a bed cover with a warm and a cool orientation. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Bed covers, particularly blankets, duvets and quilts are used to provide comfort, protection, and/or warmth. Typically, such articles create a zone between the body and the surrounding air which impedes an exchange of heat between the body and the surroundings and thereby reduce the radiation and dissipation of heat from the human body. 
     Depending on certain factors such as, for example, the ambient temperature, it may be desired that more or less of the heat produced by the human body escape through a bed cover. 
     If the ambient temperature is low and the heat gradient is thus relatively high then the bed cover might preferably retain more of the heat produced by the body. If, on the other hand, the ambient temperature is relatively high then it may be desired that more heat be carried away from the body. 
     It is known to use different bed covers in the summer compared to those used in the winter. Bed covers for the winter, for example, are designed in such a way that they retain or maintain (sometimes referred to as “thermal maintenance”) the heat of the human body to a higher extent than bed covers for the summer. Bed covers for the winter generally are thicker and or have a more dense filling material than bed covers for the summer. 
     In the summer, a winter bed cover could be too warm and provide more thermal maintenance than is required or desired. Body heat builds up under the bed cover since the heat produced by the body is not carried away due to the low heat conductivity and the relatively low temperature drop from under the bed cover to the ambient environment. Bed covers for the summer are therefore generally lighter and less dense that bed covers for the winter. They also generally have a higher number of thermal bridges that permit the body heat to pass through the bed cover and dissipate. They therefore generally provide a lower degree of thermal maintenance compared to a winter bed cover. 
     In certain circumstances it may be desired to provide a single bed cover with warmer and cooler zones. For example, if one bed partner prefers to be warmer while the other prefers to be cooler it would be advantageous to provide a bed cover which can accommodate both partners. 
     It is known to use a summer bed cover for the summer months and a winter bed cover when it gets colder. In these circumstances, the bed cover not being used must be stored which is inconvenient and uses up storage space. It is also more expensive and consumes more resources to obtain two bed covers rather than just one. 
     It is also known to use a bed cover system where several individual bed covers can be combined into one overall bed cover which is thicker for the winter. For example, duvets are available with specific insulation values. Lower values being suitable for summer use and higher values for winter use, each duvet having only one insulation value and the user combines the two duvets by laying one over the other. This arrangement is inconvenient and the winter bed cover is heavier and less comfortable to sleep under. 
     It is also known to use an adjustable bed cover that involves adjustable straps or cords to adjust the alignment of insulating units in the bed cover to modify the overall thermal insulation of the bed cover. Also known is a reversible bed cover that has a flat sheet with heat insulating panels protruding off from the flat sheet, wherein the thermal insulation of the bed cover can be altered by turning the bed cover over so that the insulating panels face downwards towards the human body. See for example, WO 92/18036, U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,032 and WO 2005/016082 A1. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides at least in part a bed cover comprising a plurality of heat insulating chambers having a first surface and a second surface and at least two sidewalls connecting the first surface and the second surface, the width of said first surface being greater than the width of said second surface; a plurality of heat conduits between the sidewalls of the heat insulating chambers, said heat conduits having an open and a closed position; wherein each heat insulating chamber is hingeably connected to at least one adjacent heat insulating chamber, such that the heat conduits may open and close as adjacent heat insulating chambers flex towards or away from each other. 
     The present disclosure relates to a bed cover with a heat maintaining winter orientation and a summer cooling orientation. 
     This summary does not necessarily describe all features of the invention. Other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the present description of specific embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one or more exemplary embodiments: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a cross-section of part of a bed cover, according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a cross-section of the bed cover of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3A  is a cross-section of the bed cover of  FIG. 1  draped over a human body. 
         FIG. 3B  is a cross-section of the bed cover of  FIG. 1  draped over a human body. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Directional terms such as “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, “front”, and “rear” are used in the following description for the purpose of providing relative reference only, and are not intended to suggest any limitations on how any article is to be positioned during use, or to be mounted in an assembly or relative to an environment. 
     The present disclosure relates to a bed cover with a heat maintaining orientation and a second orientation with reduced heat maintenance. 
     The present disclosure relates to a bed cover such as, for example, a duvet, quilt, comforter, or blanket or any other suitable form of bed cover. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , the present disclosure provides at least in part a bed cover  10  having a first surface  16  and a second surface  18 . The first surface  16  may comprise a single unitary piece or may comprise multiple pieces. The second surface  18  may comprise a single unitary piece or may comprise multiple pieces. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the first surface  16  runs along the upper side of the bed cover  10  and the second surface  18  runs along the lower side of the bed cover  10 . 
     The first surface  16  and the second surface  18  are connected by a plurality of sidewalls  20   a ,  20   b ,  20   c ,  20   d ,  20   e  and  20   f  (altogether side walls  20   a ,  20   b ,  20   c ,  20   d ,  20   e  and  20   f  are referred to as “the sidewalls  20 ”). The first surface  16 , the second surface  18  and the sidewalls  20  partition the bed cover  10  into heat insulating chambers  12   a ,  12   b ,  12   c , and  12   d  (altogether heat insulating chambers  12   a ,  12   b ,  12   c , and  12   d  are referred to as “the heat insulating chambers  12 ”).  FIG. 1  only shows a cross-section of a part of the bed cover  10  and the bed cover  10  can be of any appropriate size for the intended use. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the first surface  16  of each heat insulating chamber  12  is wider than the second surface  18  of the same heat insulating chamber  12 . As a result of the different widths, the sidewalls  20  of different heat insulating chambers  12  slope away from one another. The cross-sectional shape of the heat insulating chambers  12  shown in  FIG. 1  is an isosceles trapezoid. Other shapes are also suitable for the heat insulating chambers  12  including, but not limited to, trapezoids, parallelograms and other suitable three-dimensional rectilinear bodies. 
     The different widths of the first surface  16  and second surface  18  of the heat insulating chambers  12  creates, in the embodiment shown, heat conduits  14   a ,  14   b , and  14   c  (altogether heat conduits  14   a ,  14   b , and  14   c  are referred to as “heat conduits  14 ”) in the bed cover  10 . As will be discussed in more detail below, in the present embodiment, the second surface  18  also covers at least a part of the aperture of the heat conduits  14 . 
     In  FIG. 1 , the first surface  16  is a continuous sheet of material and is divided up into partitions that comprise the upper side or edge of each heat insulating chamber  12 . In  FIG. 1 , seams  22   a ,  22   b  and  22   c  (altogether seams  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c  are referred to as the “seams  22 ”) are orientated along the longitudinal length of the bed cover  10  and seal the edges of the heat insulating chambers  12  of the bed cover  10 . At each seam  22 , the material of the first surface  16  is connected to a sidewall  20  of one heat insulating chamber  12  and a sidewall  20  of an adjacent heat insulating chamber  12 . The connection may be through any suitable means such as, for example, a stitched seam or adhesive or Velcro™ or any other form of connection including clips or plugs. 
     The seams  22  connect the sidewalls  20  to the first surface  16  and form a connection about which the two sidewalls  20  can flex. In  FIG. 1 , the heat conduits  14  are shown in an “open” position. In the open position, as the sidewalls  20  extend away from the seams  22 , they become further apart and form an aperture. As will be discussed later, the heat conduits  14  form an area of the bed cover that has reduced thermal maintenance and permits heat to more freely pass across the bed cover  10  when compared to the passage of heat across the heat insulating chambers  12 . 
     In  FIG. 1  the distal ends of the sidewalls  20  are connected to the second surface  18 . The connection may be via any suitable means such as, for example, a stitched seam, adhesive or Velcro®. The length of the second surface  18  that covers the aperture of the heat conduits  14  may be used to control the extent to which the aperture of the heat conduits  14  open. When the material of the second surface  18  bridging the heat conduits  14  is stretched to its fullest, the heat conduits  14  cannot open any further. 
     The first surface  16  and the second surface  18  can be continuous along the edge of the bed cover  10  and the bed cover  10  of the present embodiment therefore resembles, in appearance, common bed covers shapes and styles. 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 2 , the lateral edges of the bed cover  10  are defined by heat insulating chambers  12 . The heat insulating chambers  12  at the edges of the bed cover  10  are, because of their position, connected by seams  22  to only one other heat insulating chamber  12 . The heat insulating chambers  12  in the bed cover  10  that are not on the edges are each coupled with a heat insulating chamber  12  on either side of them. 
     In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the bed cover  10  is formed of a repeating series of alternating heat insulating chamber  12 , heat conduit  14  and then heat insulating chamber  12  and so on. The heat insulating chambers  12  are tube-like structures (with the particular rectilinear cross-sections shapes discussed above) and extend along the longitudinal length of the bed cover  10  or substantially the length of the bed cover  10 . In a similar fashion the heat conduits  14  form a series of grooves or channels along the longitudinal length of the bed cover  10 . 
     In certain embodiments, the heat insulating chambers  12  are filled with a filling material such as down, silk, feathers, fibres, beads, clusters or swab or a mixture of these materials or any other suitable filling material. These filling materials can provide a thermal insulating or maintaining property to the heat insulating chambers  12 . The thickness of the heat insulating chambers  12  may vary and will partly determine the extent to which the heat is retained or lost during use. 
     In certain embodiments, the filling material in the heat insulating chambers  12  can be of relatively consistent thickness and density so that the heat insulating chambers  12  in the bed cover  10  provide the same thermal maintenance across the entire bed cover  10 . In other embodiments the filling material may be varied to provide different insulating properties in different areas of the bed cover. As will be described below, the variation in the thermal maintenance of the bed cover  10  may be provided by altering or varying the configuration of the heat conduits  14 . 
     In their open configuration the present heat conduits  14  provide thermal channels that permit heat to escape through the bed cover and into the environment. The heat radiates through the open heat conduits  14  faster than it does through the heat insulating chambers  12 . As the open heat conduits  14  have a lower thermal resistance than the heat insulating chambers  12 , they tend to dissipate heat more quickly from the human body than the heat insulating chambers  12 . 
     As can be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the heat conduits  14  may be bridged by the second surface  18 . The second surface  18  in this embodiment is a thin or lightweight material such as, for example, cotton or silk which has limited thermal maintenance properties but is included to give the bed cover  10  a desirable appearance and to give the bed cover  10  a more comfortable feel to the human body sleeping under it. The material covering the aperture of the heat conduits  14  preferably does not significantly alter the capability of the open conduits to permit heat to escape through the bed cover  10 . 
     In certain embodiments, the orientation and configuration of the heat insulating chambers  12  and the heat conduits  14 , and the cross-sectional shape of the heat insulating chambers  12 , produce a bed cover  10  that has different thermal maintenance capabilities depending on which side of the bed cover  10  is facing the external environment. 
     In  FIG. 3A , there is shown a human body  30  (head, shoulders and nose) lying on a mattress  32 . The human body  30  is facing upwards away from the mattress  32 . Draped over the human body  30  is at least part of a bed cover  10 . Note that  FIG. 3A and 3B  are not necessarily drawn to scale. 
     In  FIG. 3A , the first surface  16  of the bed cover  10  is in contact with the human body  30 . In this orientation, the second surface  18  faces upwards towards the external environment. In this configuration, the second surface  18  has a greater circumference than the first surface  16  and therefore has a larger distance to travel around the human body  30  than the first surface  16 . In this configuration, the heat conduits  14  are pulled “open” by the higher tension on the second surface  18  compared to the first surface  16 . While not wishing to be bound by theory, the heat conduits  14  are opened because the larger circumference of the second surface  18  pulls the second surface  18  more than the material of the first surface  16  is pulled. This causes the distal ends of the sidewalls  20   a  and  20   b  to be pulled apart and flex relative to each other from the seam  22 . As described above, the extent to which the heat conduits  14  may be opened depends to a certain extent on the length of the second surface  18  that covers or bridges the aperture of the heat conduits  14 . The longer the length of material bridging the heat conduits  14 , the further the heat conduits  14  may open up to a maximum opening dimension which is dictated by the contours of the human body  30 . 
     In  FIG. 3A , while the thermal resistance of the heat insulating chambers  12  remains relatively constant, the thermal maintenance of the heat conduits  14  in the open position is much lower. The grooves and channels created by the heat conduits  14  along the longitudinal length of the bed cover  10  permit heat to pass through the bed cover  10  and escape into the external environment. The configuration of the bed cover  10  shown in  FIG. 3A  is therefore referred to as the “summer side” of the bed cover  10 . 
     In  FIG. 3B , the second surface  18  is in contact with the human body  30  while the first surface  16  faces upwards towards the external environment. In  FIG. 3B , the heat conduits  14  are shown in a “closed” position. In this embodiment, the first surface  16  has the greater circumference and the longer distance to travel than the second surface  18 . The first surface  16  is under a greater tension than the second surface  18 . 
     Without wishing to be bound by theory, the closing of the heat conduits  14  in the configuration in  FIG. 3B  occurs because of the larger circumference of the first surface  16  combined with the shape of the heat insulating chambers  12 . The shape of the heat insulating chambers  12  where the first surface  16  is wider than the second surface  18 , in combination with the greater tension on the first surface  16 , pulls the heat conduits  14  into at least a partially closed position. 
     When the heat conduits  14  are at least partially closed or substantially closed the thermal maintenance of the heat conduits  14  is increased compared to when they are open and the heat is less able to escape through the bed cover  10  to the external environment. In this configuration, the bed cover  10  provides an enhanced thermal maintenance compared to the configuration in  FIG. 3A . 
     The overall thermal maintenance of the bed cover  10  will depend at least in part on the fraction of the heat conduits  14  that are open and the degree to which they are open. As the heat conduits  14  provide the lowest thermal maintenance they affect the overall insulation of the bed cover  10  since heat will move across the bed cover  10  in response to the temperature differential between under the bed cover  10  and outside of the bed cover  10 . So the area of heat conduits  14  as a fraction of the overall bed cover  10  area will have an effect on the mean thermal maintenance of the bed cover  10 . 
     The bed cover  10  of a preferred embodiment is capable of providing different degrees of thermal maintenance depending on how the person wishes to use it. When the bed cover  10  is used in either orientation, the thermal maintenance will be higher or lower depending on which side faces outward. Accordingly, the user need only turn over the bed cover  10  to obtain additional or reduced thermal maintenance. 
     The dual season bed cover described above is not restricted to bed covers but can be applied also to other suitable items such as, for example, sleeping bags. For example the upper part or the whole of a sleeping bag may be configured according to the present disclosure. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be used for animals other than humans such as horse blankets and dog blankets. 
     The present invention has been described with regard to preferred embodiments. However, it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that a number of the variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention described herein. Examples of such modifications include the substitution of known equivalents for any aspect of the invention in order to achieve the same result in substantially the same way. It is contemplated that any embodiment or aspect discussed in this specification can be implemented or combined with respect to any other embodiment, method, composition or aspect of the invention, and vice versa. 
     All citations are herein incorporated by reference, as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference herein and as though it were fully set forth herein. Citation of references herein is not to be construed nor considered as an admission that such references are prior art to the present invention.