Abstract:
The securing layer such as a fitted sheet is modified to provide one half of a fastener, such as a zipper, and a separable, absorbent panel as adapted to overlay the top surface of a mattress and to underlay and be in direct contact of the occupant on the mattress. The separable, absorbent panel includes another fastener portion, such as the other side of a zipper, so as to secure the absorbent panel to the securing layer. The first and second fastener portions are to be located on the side surface of the mattress at the top, outer circumference of the mattress when the securing layer is applied to the mattress. In this manner, the fastener cannot be easily accessed by an infant so as to prevent the infant from loosening and becoming entangled in the absorbent panel. However, the absorbent panel is easily removed for quick changes in case the occupant of the mattress, such as a baby, soils the absorbent panel.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to bed clothing with means for facilitating the changing of an absorbent panel thereof.  
         DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART  
         [0002]    As any parent of young children is aware, infants tend to soil sheets on a regular basis. This necessitates the changing of sheets, which for a crib is inconvenient insofar as the end walls and side rails of the crib tend to make this process more difficult. The end walls  12 ,  14  and side rails  16 , 18  of the crib  10 , as illustrated in FIG. 1 restrict the movement of caregiver&#39;s hands adjacent to the mattress  20 . This tight fit between the mattress  10  and the end walls  12 ,  14  and side rails  16 ,  18  is deliberate. A caregiver does not want an infant to inadvertently or through exploration activities, have a limb trapped in the space between the mattress  20  and rails  14 ,  16  insofar as this can cause severe injury to the child. Because of this tight fit, to change a sheet, it is often necessary to completely or halfway lift the mattress out of the crib. The process is inconvenient, sometimes physically uncomfortable, strenuous and aggravating, particularly in the early morning hours. It also disturbs the child insofar as the child must be removed from the crib in order to change the sheets.  
           [0003]    Similar problems occur in any bed and they have adjacent structures, such as the side rails on hospital beds, which makes it inconvenient for the caregivers to change the sheets when a patient for instance soils them. Also, because of the moisture content of the soiling agents, such as vomit, body fluids, fecal matter and urine, that penetrates through to the under sheet, it is also necessary to change the mattress pad that is conventionally placed adjacent to the mattress.  
           [0004]    Many solutions have been proposed to solve this problem but each suffers from one or more perceived defects. For instance, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,922,565 and 5,086,530 to Blake disclose a composite sheet, which includes a first upper panel that has a moisture proof element such as plastic or rubber, and a second panel that is fitted over the mattress. However, the moisture proof upper panel is adhered to the lower panel via a hook and loop fasteners commonly referred to as a Velcro® placed on the topside of the mattress on the lower sheet. The problem with the structure is twofold. First, a child can pull the moisture proof panel off the lower panel and become entangled in it. Children have been known to suffocate when wrapped tightly in a sheet loosened from a crib mattress. While the Blake patents disclose the edge of the waterproof panel as placed underneath bumper pads, a curious infant would nevertheless be able to not only find the edge of the panel, but the edge of the panel provides finger holds so that an child, particularly a toddler, could remove it from its Velcro fasteners.  
           [0005]    Additionally, some attempts have been made to improve upon the Blake structure such as providing Velcro panels that extend down the sides of the mattress. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,895 to Amin. However, this approach leads to the same problem as with conventional sheets insofar as it is likely necessary that the mattress pad be at least partially removed from the crib in order to secure the Velcro to the sides of the mattress, for instance.  
           [0006]    The U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,026 to Allison discloses a baby bed sheet with a removable panel where two zippers are placed on the top surface of the mattress. As with the Velcro embodiment of the Blake patent, a hazard to this structure is that a curious baby could unzip the removable panel. The zipper location also creates a bit of a bump in the mattress surface. Further, as disclosed in the Allison patent, there are two zippers, which requires greater assembly because each zipper has to be started and zipped separately. The Allison patent discloses that an overlay of fabric can be provided with snaps or hooks fasteners to keep the curious hands of the child away from the zipper slider. Because the snaps are not out of the convenient reach of an infant, it is believed that an infant may be able to defeat these measures as well. In any event, the location of the zipper presents the zipper for the curious hands and the fact that the zipper is located on and under the surface of the removable panel means that the panel has finger holds for the child to grasp and tug on, which can cause the inadvertent separation of the zipper, even when the slider is not used. In any event, it is believed that the Allison baby sheet imposes an unacceptable risk and discomfort to the occupant of the bed. A similar structure is used with a continuous zipper in U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,602 to Trader. There are several other examples of bed sheets which use Velcro and the like such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,655 to Kafai, U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,276 to Nicholson et al. and WO01/79867. Additionally, there are a variety of mechanisms for securing sheets, in general, to a bed. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,783 to Herndon et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,508 to Ison, for instance.  
           [0007]    Other solutions, such as the U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,487 issued to Beer, which is bedclothes designed to make a bed more readily made up and not specifically designed for cribs, includes zippers which apply an under sheet that is in direct contact with the occupant at a location about midway down the mattress. However, this solution does not work well in a crib environment or any bed that has obstructions adjacent to the mattress insofar as the mattress would still have to be lifted above the obstruction. A problem associated with this location of this zipper is that it is difficult for someone changing the sheet to reach past the side walls  12  and  14  and side rails  16  and  18  of a crib, or like a bed with obstructions adjacent with the sides of the mattress. It generally becomes necessary for the person desiring to change the sheet to lift the mattress high enough off the bed to clear any adjacent obstructions in order to unzip it. This is inconvenient, particularly when it is desired that the occupant such as a baby not be woken during the process and more particularly in the early hours of the morning when it often becomes necessary to change the sheets of a baby&#39;s crib. Also, the bed pad is underneath the under or bottom sheet. Therefor, if the bed is sufficiently soiled, it is necessary to remove not only the under sheet, but the mattress pad, leading to greater inconvenience.  
           [0008]    However, it is also equally inconvenient for a zipper to be on the top of the matter such as done in waterbeds since infants are likely to find and play with, perhaps to their detriment, with the zipper, as explained above. Also, the location of the zipper on the top surface of the bed can be inconvenient and uncomfortable particularly in the hospital environment where the patients may be asked to slide across the zipper portion in getting in or out of bed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is an object of the present invention to provide bed clothing which includes a securing layer such as a fitted sheet of material adapted to be in direct contact with the top and side surfaces of a mattress. It further includes a separable absorbent panel adapted to overlay all the top surface of the mattress and to underlay and be in direct contact with an occupant of the bed on the mattress. The present invention further provides a continuous, separable-fastener, such as a zipper, which includes first fastener portion mounted to an outer periphery of the absorbent panel and a second fastener portion mounted to a securing layer being located on the side surfaces of the mattress and a top, outer circumference of the mattress when the securing layer is applied to the mattress. The first and second fastener portions are opposed, elongated and cooperating configured surfaces intended to directly contact and interlock with each other without overlapping. In this manner, movement between the securing layer and the absorbent panel is restricted in the direction forces transmitted between the absorbent panel and the securing layer. The first fastener portion and the second fastener portions are always easily associated and disassociated as is expected with a zipper.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES  
       [0010]    The present invention will now be described by way of exemplary embodiments to which it is not limited with reference to the accompanying drawing figures.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a baby crib illustrating one of the problems being addressed.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention on a mattress.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a detailed view showing the slider of the fastening means. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0015]    As illustrated in FIG. 1, a baby&#39;s crib  10  includes an enclosure defined by fixed sides  12  and  14  and side rails  16  and  18 . A mattress is placed between the fixed walls  12  and  14  and side rails  16  and  18  so as to provide very little gap between the mattress and the walls and rails. A frame (not labeled) supports the mattress. Typically, bumper pads (not labeled) are positioned around the inner surface of the fixed walls  12  and  14  and side rails  16  and  18  above and adjacent to the top surface of the mattress so to reduce the possibility of a baby bumping his or her head.  
         [0016]    As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the present invention includes a securing layer  22  of material adapted to be in directed contact with the top surface and side surfaces of mattress  20 . The securing layer  22  can take the form of a modified fitted sheet which includes at least one corner and preferably four corners which are preformed to surround the corner of a mattress. On the outer edge of the fitted sheet an elastic band is generally provided to provide a smooth and secure fit to a mattress  20 . Hence, securing layer  22  covers all four sides on the top surface of the mattress  20 . As an alternative, an encasement sheet can be used as part of the securing layer  22  in which all four sides, the top and the bottom of the mattress are covered. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the securing layer  22  can be simply a loop of material covering only the four sides of the mattress and secured into location by, for instance, by elastic bands on both sides of the loop of material, such as found on a fitted sheet. It should also be noted that either the surfaces covering the top and bottom of the mattress  20  can have an insert of mesh material to permit greater movement of air and/or can be made out of relatively inexpensive materials insofar as this securing layer  22  does not have to come into contact with the occupant of the bed, as will become apparent in the description below.  
         [0017]    The present invention also includes separable, absorbent panel  24  adapted to overlay all the top surface of the mattress  20  and to underlay and be in direct contact with the occupant on the mattress  20 . The absorbent panel  24  includes a top surface  24   a  and a bottom surface  24   b . The absorbent panel  24  also includes at least one absorbent layer  24   c  and preferably moisture restriction layer  24   d . The moisture restriction layer  24   d  is not always necessary on adult oriented products because cognizant adults can ask that a soiled absorbent panel  24  be replaced quickly. When the absorbent panel  24  is placed on the mattress  20 , an occupant is in direct contact with the absorbent layer  24   c . In an alternative, the absorbent panel  24  can include a second absorbent layer  24   e  positioned on the side opposite to the first absorbent layer  24   c  relative to the moisture restriction layer  24   d.    
         [0018]    The moisture restriction layer  24   d  can in one embodiment resist moisture from passing there through, but not completely block it as far as in some circumstances moisture does not seep through the absorbent layer  24   c  and the moisture resistant layer  24   d  before the absorbent panel  24  is reasonably expected to be replaced. Moisture resistant material can be advantageous insofar as it can permit the passage of minor amounts of moisture out of the mattress or away for the occupant, for instance, which may be desirable.  
         [0019]    Alternatively, the moisture restriction layer  24   d  can prevent moisture from passing there through, thereby providing maximum protection to the mattress. Additionally or alternatively, the moisture restriction layer  24  can permit air to pass there through which may be viewed as healthy for the occupant, e.g., baby, insofar as there is some indication that crib death is caused through some as yet unidentified suffocation mechanism.  
         [0020]    It is preferred that the absorbent panel  24  be washable for reuse, but it is also possible that the absorbent layer be disposable after a single soiling. A disposable absorbent panel  24  might be advantageous in some circumstances such as hospitals or anywhere the soiling agent may constitute a biohazard, for instance. If disposable, it is envisioned that the absorbent panel  24  could be have structure similar to the layered structure of a diaper including a moisture or liquid permeable layer, an absorption layer, and a moisture resistant or impermeable layer, the latter acting as the moisture restriction layer  24   d  as described above.  
         [0021]    Additionally, particularly in the embodiment which uses first and second absorbent layer  24   c ,  24   e  with the moisture restriction layer  24   d  interposed there between, can have applied decorative designs. In a more preferred embodiment, the decorative designs would be different from each other so as to provide the user with the option of which decorative design is exposed for coordination with room decorations, for instance. In this way, the first absorbent layer  24   c  of the two absorbent layer embodiment be in direct contact with the occupant of the mattress when the absorbent panel  24  is oriented one way, whereas the second absorbent layer  24   e  is in direct contact with the occupant on the mattress  20  when the absorbent panel  24  is oriented another way, i.e., flipped over. The moisture restriction layer  24   d  would be interposed between the first absorbent layer  24   c  and the second absorbent layer  24   e . The absorbent panel  24  may be embossed with a pattern on at least one and optionally both sides.  
         [0022]    It is noted at this point that the absorbent panel  24  may be adapted to overlay all of and extend beyond the top surface of the mattress  20 , for reasons which will become apparent in conjunction with the description of the continuous separable-fastener  26 .  
         [0023]    The continuous, separable-fastener  26  can be in the form of a zipper with a slide  26  or similar mechanism (e.g., a Zip Lock fastener). The continuous, separable-fastener  26  includes a first fastener portion  26   b  mounted to an outer periphery of the absorbent panel  24  and a second fastener portion  26   c  mounted to the securing layer  22  such that it is located on the side surfaces of the mattresses  20  at the top, outer circumference of the mattress when the securing layer  22  is applied to the mattress  20 . The location of the continuous, separable-fastener  26  is important to the present invention.  
         [0024]    The continuous separable fastener  26  includes a first and second fastener portions  26   b  and  26   c  which are opposed, elongated cooperating configured surfaces intended to directly contact and interlock with each other without overlapping which is required by Velcro and the like. The movement between the securing layer  22  and the absorbent panel  24  is restricted in the direction of force, by the pulling motion of the fabric, which is transmitted between the securing layer  22  and the absorbent panel  24 . The first fastener portion  26   b  and the second fastener portion  26   c  are always usually associated and disassociated from each other, as it is typical of a zipper, or the like.  
         [0025]    The zipper may be covered by tabs of fabric  22   b  and  24  associated with the securing layer  22  and absorbent panel  24 , respectively to not only reduce the likelihood that an infant will find the zipper, but also provide greater comfort in environments where the bed occupant may be asked to slide across the zippered surface in getting in or out of bed.  
         [0026]    While the tabs  22   b  and  24   f  provide some protection from disassociating the first fastener portion  26   b  from the second fastener portion  26   c , an additional measure can be taken which is the slider  26   a  is secured against movement by a young child occupant. This mechanism can take the form of a lanyard  27   b  with one end secured to the slider  26   a  and the other end including means for securing it to a fixed object. Fir instance, the other end of the lanyard may include Velcro, hooks, loops, buttons, etc. for fastening to either a lower portion of a mattress  20  or to the securing layer  22 , as illustrated in FIG. 2 at location  27   b , or to a side rail  16 ,  18  or end walls  12 ,  14 . It should be noted that a preferred location for the continuous separable fastener to end its movement in a fastened state is at a midpoint at the head or foot of the bed for embodiment intended for adult size beds and at a midpoint of any side for a product intended for a crib mattress  20 , in light of the ease in changing the separable panel  24  while the bed remains occupied, as explained below.  
         [0027]    Alternatively, the continuous separable fastener  26  can include two sliders  26   a , as is known in the zipper art, and the lanyard  27   a  interlock the apertures thereof through a mechanism which is likely to defeat the efforts of an infant disassociating the two fastener portions  26   b  and  26   c . The end of the lanyard  27   a  can take the form of a simple lock, latch or other structure easily released by an adult, not easily released by a child. The lanyard  27   a , as mentioned above, can also simply be fastened to itself by looping it around the spoke in one of the rails  16 ,  18  and back on to itself, again using a mechanism such as a snap, button, Velcro, knotting or other mechanism for securing the lanyard, and therefor the slider, against movement by an infant. For added security, it is best of the securing mechanism at the end of the lanyard  27   a  be out of the convenient reach of the child occupant.  
         [0028]    As an alternative to the lanyard  27   a , the slider  26   a  can include an aperture into which is fit a rotatable clasp head  27   b , such as found on purses and the like, as shown in FIG. 5. Hence, when the zipper is in its fully zipped position, the head can be flipped over such that the clasp head  27   b  projects through the aperture of the slider  26  and can be rotated about a pivot point such that the head  27   b  secures the slider handle in a locked position. The locked position of the clasp head  27   b  can be secured by means of detents in the slider handle adjacent to the aperture, for instance. The clasp head  27   b  can be mounted on the securing layer  22 , or on another slider  26   a  in a two slider  26   a  embodiment (wherein a zipper for instance has two heads rather than the more common head and zipper stop combination) or on a slider stop, for instance.  
         [0029]    It should be noted that the absorbent panel  24  can be sold separately such that a consumer need only purchase one securing layer  22 , but could have a number and variety of absorbent panels  24  so as to reduce the urgency of washing and reusing an individual absorbent panel  24 , or for purely decorative reasons.  
         [0030]    The present invention could also be sold as a crib sheet set, including bumper pads and the absorbent panel or panels  24 , and optionally the securing layer  22 , pillow cases, sconces, canopies, curtains, wall decorations and toys such as mobiles, etc. The bumper pads could have two decorative sides to match the two decorative sides of an absorbent panel  24 , in a two absorbent layer  24   c ,  24   e  embodiment.  
         [0031]    While a crib  10  is shown, it will be apparent that the present invention is useful for other types of beds, particularly any bed that has side rails or structures closely adjacent to the mattress sides. But even without adjacent structures the present invention is useful in that the edges of a mattress do not even have to be lifted to change the absorbent panel  24  because it is not tucked under the mattress  20 . Also, the relatively uniform thickness and lack of elastic bands makes the absorbent panel  24  easier to change than conventional fitted sheets when the bed remains occupied. The occupant is simply rolled to one side of the bed, the absorbent panel  24  unzipped half way around the bed and folded to cover the soiled spot if any and adjacent to the occupant, a new absorbent panel  24  in zippered into the uncovered half of the top surface of the mattress  20 , and then the occupant is rolled over onto the clean side of the bed. Completing the removal and replacement of the soiled absorbent panel  24  completes the process.  
         [0032]    Additionally the present invention is useful even when the absorbent panel  24  is replaced with a sheet of material. While the user would not enjoy the benefit of an absorbent layer, the sheet could still have two, different decorative sides, for example. Even as a single layer of material, the present invention is still be easier to change than conventional sheets because the mattress  20  does not have to be lifted at all to change the sheet, as explained above. Further, the absorbent panel  24  could have a separate function, such as an auxiliary feather mattress, whose primary purpose is to provide greater comfort.  
         [0033]    The present invention has been described by way of exemplary embodiments to which it is not limited. Variations and alterations will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the above disclosure. These alterations and variations are encompassed within the invention, as defined in the claims, appended below.