Abstract:
A protective cover for a comforter has a bottom face and a top face which form a flexible woven fabric envelope. The cover is formed from a single-piece envelope including an edge which is at least partly closed in a permanent manner and three edges having fast opening and closing devices allowing the two faces of the envelope to be partly separated in order for the comforter to be placed on one of the faces of the envelope, so that the comforter is covered by the other face and at least two edges of the faces are joined with the aid of the fast opening and closing devices.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a 371 of PCT/FR2003/001356, filed on Apr. 30, 2003. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     This invention concerns a protective cover for a comforter comprising a bottom face and a top face, which form a flexible woven fabric envelope.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Many covers as defined above are known in the state of the art. It is common practice to use comforter covers to keep comforters clean. By changing the cover, users can change the outer appearance such as the fabric, pattern, and color of a comforter as desired. To date, such covers have been in the form of a parallelepiped-shaped fabric sack with one open side through which the comforter is inserted. This open side can in some cases be closed by means of buttons, snaps, or other closure devices.  
         [0006]     Problems are often encountered when attempting to insert the comforter into these types of covers. At present, to place the comforter in its cover, the user must insert it through one relatively narrow end and try to match up the corners of the cover to achieve as flat a surface as possible. This technique is time-consuming and frustrating because it is very difficult to position the comforter correctly. The problem is even greater for larger comforters.  
         [0007]     Various solutions have been proposed to solve this problem. One solution is to create a central opening in the top face of the cover, as illustrated in particular in patent FR-A-2,799,358 as well as patents GB-A-2,303,062 and DE-A-2,829,873. In this type of cover, certain corners of the cover are still difficult to reach, so the user still wastes time attempting to position at least part of the corners of the comforter so that they match up with the corners of the cover. This operation also requires physical effort on the part of the user.  
         [0008]     Another solution consists of making a comforter cover in the form of individual parts, one of which forms a top, and which can be fastened together and separated. This solution is illustrated in particular in document FR-A-2,649,877. In this case, the user wastes time positioning and matching up the top and bottom pieces. If snaps are used, the edges become pleated, especially the longitudinal edges, which results in an unattractive appearance. If zippers are used, the zippers must be matched up each time on all four sides to close the cover completely. Moreover, this type of comforter cover takes up more space when stored.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     Thus, one object of this invention is to provide a comforter cover that is easy to put on, since the top and bottom faces of this comforter cover are designed to be partially separated and fastened together easily and quickly, without being bulky.  
         [0010]     Another object of this invention is to provide a comforter cover whose appearance is identical to a traditional cover.  
         [0011]     Another object of this invention is to provide a comforter cover designed to be reversible.  
         [0012]     For this purpose, the invention concerns a protective cover for a comforter. Particular methods for creating the invention are described herein.  
         [0013]     The design of this comforter cover, in the form of a single-piece envelope whose top and bottom faces can be partially separated to allow for easy positioning of the comforter without requiring total separation of the faces, facilitates the insertion of a comforter without physical effort for the user. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     The invention will be better understood upon reading the following description and examples made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  represents a top view of a comforter cover in accordance with the invention, with the two faces comprising the envelope of the cover separated;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  represents a partial schematic bottom view of the bottom face of the comforter cover with the two faces fastened together; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  represent a bottom view of the bottom face of the comforter cover, with the faces separated.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]     As mentioned above, the protective comforter cover  1  comprises a bottom face  1 A and a top face  1 B made of flexible fabric so as to form an envelope essentially rectangular or square in shape. This envelope is characterized by the fact that it is in the form of a single-piece envelope comprising a permanently closed edge  2 A and three edges  2 B,  2 C,  2 D provided with fast opening and closing devices that allow for partial separation of the two faces  1 A,  1 B of the envelope such that in the separated state, faces  1 A and  1 B are an extension of one another as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . With the cover in this position, the comforter is simply placed on one of the faces, in this case, the bottom face  1 A of the cover, then other face is brought up to cover the comforter, in this case the top face  1 B of the envelope, and finally the edges  2 B,  2 C,  2 D of the envelope are at least partially closed. In the examples shown, the permanently closed edge of the cover  1  comprises the head edge  2 A of the cover  1 . Each face  1 A,  1 B of the cover  1  is provided on its foot edge  2 C, opposite head edge  2 A of the cover  1 , with a flap  4  that can be folded under the mattress to secure the comforter cover and comforter in place. This flap  4  also constitutes at least a partial fast opening and closing device for edge  2 C of cover  1 . Top face  1 B of the cover is also provided, in two of its corners bordering edge  2 C on the foot side of the face  1 B, with a pocket  5 B essentially triangular in shape, which pocket forms a flap to contain the corner bordering edge  2 C on the foot edge of bottom face  1 A of the cover of the faces  1 A,  1 B. Thus, flap  4  and pocket  5 B constitute the fast opening and closing devices for the edge  2 C on the foot side of the cover.  
         [0019]     In the examples shown, the cover  1  is reversible. Therefore, each face  1 A,  1 B of the cover is provided in its two corners bordering the foot edge  2 C of cover  1  with a respective pocket  5 A,  5 B, generally triangular in shape, whose role is to constitute an at least partial fast opening and closing device for the foot edge  2 C of the cover of faces  1 A,  1 B. When faces  1 A,  1 B of the cover are made of different fabric, each pocket  5 A,  5 B, attached to one face  1 A,  1 B of the cover  1 , is made of the material constituting the other face of the cover  1 . As illustrated in the figures, each pocket  5 A,  5 B is constituted of a triangular piece added to one face  1 A,  1 B of the cover  1 . One of the edges of the piece is attached to foot edge  2 C of the top face or respectively the bottom face, and is attached to the inner wall of this face of the cover. The other edge of the piece is attached to side edge  2 B,  2 D of the face and is inserted between the fast opening and closing device  3  and the inner wall of the face so as not to interfere with the operation of the fast opening and closing device  3 . In the examples shown, side edges  2 B,  2 D of the cover  1  connecting the head edge  2 A and the foot edge  2 B of the cover are provided with a zipper  3  concealed by at least one flap overlapping onto the top face of the envelope when the faces  1 A,  1 B are in the assembled position. In the case of a reversible comforter cover, the element of the zipper on bottom face  1 A of the envelope is also positioned on a flap of the bottom face, with this flap being intended to conceal closing device  3 .  
         [0020]     For this purpose, the top face or respectively the bottom face of the envelope are provided with a fold or a flap to which the zipper is attached. Thus each zipper is sewn to a flap of edge  2 B,  2 D of one of the faces of the envelope. The fastening stitching is preferably located in the immediate vicinity of the fold line of the flap to allow the flap of the face in question to conceal the entire zipper. The flap may also be provided with a snag guard (not shown). This snag guard is designed to prevent the comforter from getting caught in the zipper when the zipper is closed.  
         [0021]     Finally, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , one of the faces, in this case the bottom face  1 A of the cover, can be provided on the inside, in two of its corners bordering the foot edge  2 C of the cover, with an additional pocket  6 , generally triangular in shape, into which the foot edge of the comforter is inserted before the edges  2 B,  2 C,  2 D of the cover are joined. This pocket  6  is an additional triangular piece positioned on the inner side of a face. This piece is attached by one of its edges to a side edge  2 B or  2 D of one face, this edge being covered by the zipper, while another edge of the piece is attached to the foot edge  2 C of the cover. The tip of the piece matches up with the tip of the angle formed by edges  2 B and  2 C or respectively  2 B and  2 D. This pocket  6  is generally larger in size than pockets  5 A or  5 B and extends between pocket  5 A or  5 A and face  1 A or  1 B as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0022]     Finally, the top face or respectively the bottom face of the cover may be provided on the inside in a predetermined location with a self-gripping closing device (not shown). This closing device is positioned to work with an additional closing device positioned on the comforter.  
         [0023]     This comforter cover works as follows: the zippers  3  are opened and faces  1 A and  1 B of the comforter cover are thus separated to extend out into a position in accordance with  FIG. 1 . Bottom face  1 A of the comforter cover is positioned on the bed. The comforter is then positioned flat on the face. When the additional triangular pockets  6  are present, the corners of the comforter may be inserted into the pockets to help hold the comforter in place on the face  1 A. Face  1 B is then brought up to cover the comforter such that the face extends parallel to face  1 A. Triangular pockets  5 B on face  1 B of the comforter cover are then folded back to extend over the outer side of face  1 B. The zippers  3  may be closed until they reach the vicinity of edge  2 C then the triangular pockets  5 B are folded back so as to be positioned on the outer side of face  1 A as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Thus, the corners of bottom face  1 A of the comforter are inserted into this pocket  5 B, which constitutes a fast opening and closing device for the edge  2 C of the cover. When the triangular pockets  5 A are also present on bottom face  1 A of the envelope, these pockets  5 A are also, before the zippers  3  are closed, folded back to extend over the outer side of the top face  1 A. They will thus be covered by the pockets  5 B so as to be entirely concealed. The flaps  4  are then positioned under the mattress so as to ensure closure of the central area of the edge  2 C of the cover. If the comforter cover is reversible, faces  1 A,  1 B constitute in turn a top face or a bottom face. For this purpose, each face is provided with triangular pockets  5 A,  5 B in these corners bordering the foot edge  2 C of the cover. Thus, when face  1 B becomes the bottom face of the comforter, pockets  5 A house the corners of face  1 B bordering the foot edge  2 C of the cover. These pockets  5 A cover, on the outer side of face  1 B, pockets  5 B that have been folded back previously. This is why pockets  5 A, attached to face  1 A of the cover, are made of a material matching the material used on face  1 B of the cover, and likewise, pockets  5 B, attached to face  1 B of the cover, are made of the a material matching the material used on face  1 A of the cover. These pockets  5 A,  5 B thus ensure continuity in the pattern of the face that they cover when the faces are fastened together. Thus, flaps  4  and pockets  5 A or  5 B constitute the fast opening and closing devices for edge  2 C of the cover. This cover thus presents the appearance of a cover in accordance with the state of the art, while its design makes it possible to readily insert the comforter into the cover.