Patent Publication Number: US-6209156-B1

Title: Pillow case pad

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     A pillow case is a covering to encase a pillow to prevent soiling of the pillow. Pillow cases are widely used in the medical field due the large use of pillows to comfort patients. One type of pillow case that is being used currently is of a disposable variety. Current disposable pillow cases are usually made using a paper material and find wide use in examining rooms. These disposable pillow cases are disposed of immediately after each patient use and replaced with a new pillow case for the next patient. This type of use in examining rooms requires additional space in each room to store the disposable pillow cases. There is also a time factor, whereby the staff of a medical facility must find the disposable pillow cases, remove one and move it to the examining table or chair and then place a pillow in it. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide disposable pillow cases with removable sheets that can be stored with the pillow on the examining table or chair in a convenient manner to reduce storage space needed and the time factor involved in changing a pillow case. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a pillow case pad having a plurality of disposable pillow sheets to receive a pillow. The disposable pillow sheets attached together to form the pillow case pad. Each disposable pillow sheet being attached such that a top sheet can be removed and disposed of after use. Each of the disposable pillow sheets include a front face and a rear face attached together to form a pocket for the pillow, whereby the front face faces outward from the pillow case pad and the rear face lays against the next disposable pillow sheet below. Each of the disposable pillow sheets include a flapped opening to receive the pillow into a pocket. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 7 is an perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is an perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention; and 
     FIG. 9 is an perspective top view of a pillow case pad according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention is a pillow case pad  10  which provides a plurality of detachable disposable pillow sheets  12  as shown in FIGS. 1-2. The pillow case pad  10  includes individually attached disposable pillow sheets  12 . Each disposable pillow sheet  12  is shown having a front face  14  and rear face  16 , whereby each face has four sides. Each disposable pillow sheet  12  is shown having the sides of the front and rear faces  14 ,  16  attached together to form four edges including a top  20 , bottom  22  and two sides  24 . The rear face  16  is shown in FIGS. 3-6 with a flapped opening  26 . The attachment of the front and rear faces  14 ,  16  forms a pocket  28  to hold a pillow  30 . Access to insert the pillow  30  in the pocket  28  is provided by the flapped opening  26  of the rear face  16 . It is possible to make each disposable pillow sheet  12  from one sheet of material, whereby the top  20 , bottom  22  and sides  24  are formed by folding the material used. Also, the flapped opening  26  can be replaced by having one of either the top  20 , bottom  22  or sides  24  unattached as shown in FIG. 8 to provide access to insert the pillow  30 . 
     The disposable pillow sheets  12  are attached together at one of either the top  20 , bottom  22 , or sides  24  which is bound to form the pillow case pad  10 . FIGS. 3 and 9 show the disposable pillow sheets  12  attached together at the top  20 , whereby the front face  14  of each disposable pillow sheet  12  faces outward from the pillow case pad  10 . The binding of the disposable pillow sheets  12  to form the pillow case pad  10  can be done using known techniques for binding materials into bound pads or books. The binding of the disposable pillow sheets  12  can range from sewing to gluing them together. Two examples are shown in FIGS. 3 and 9. The example shown in FIG. 9 shows the top  20  of each disposable pillow sheet  12  bound together such that they can be torn off from each other. The example shown in FIG. 3 shows each disposable pillow sheet  12  attached a binding, whereby each disposable pillow sheet  12  is torn away along a perforation  32 . 
     The materials to make the pillow sheet  12  can be of a variety of know materials for making disposable items such as cloth or paper. It is envisioned that a 2 ply quilted paper with a plastic backing such as those used for dental bibs would be an appropriate choice. Whereby the plastic backing would form the inside of each disposable pillow sheet  12  to protect the pillow  30 . The disposable pillow pad  10  can include a cardboard bottom  34  or the like to provide support for the disposable pillow pad  10  to ease handling of the disposable pillow pad  10 , as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     FIGS. 3-7 and  9  show the use of the pillow case pad  10 . FIG. 4 shows one of the disposable pillow sheets  12  is lifted up from the pillow case pad  10  and the flapped opening  26  in an opened position to insert the pillow  30 . FIG. 5 shows the pillow  30  being inserted into one of the disposable pillow sheets  12 . FIG. 6 shows the pillow  30  fully inserted into one of the disposable pillow sheets  12  and the disposable pillow sheet  12  being rotated down onto the pillow case pad  10 . FIG. 7 shows the pillow case pad  10  with a pillow  30  that is ready for use by a patient. FIGS. 3 and 9 show how a used disposable pillow sheet  12  is then removed from the pillow case pad  10 , once used by a patient. 
     Another embodiment envisioned is where only a bottom sheet of the plurality of detachable disposable pillow sheets  12  of the pillow case pad  10  includes the flapped opening  26  or other type of access to insert the pillow  30 , such as an open end of the sheet. All of the sheets  12  above the bottom sheet would not need to contain the pillow  30 , but would cover the bottom sheet. The sheets  12  above the bottom sheet could be made from one piece of material, as they would not be used to form a pocket for the pillow  30 . The bottom sheet could be made from a more sturdy material. This embodiment would be used by placing the pillow  30  in the bottom sheet, whereby the sheets  12  above would lay on the bottom sheet containing the pillow  30 . A patient&#39;s head would be laid on the top sheet  12 , whereby that top sheet  12  would be torn off and disposed of after the patient&#39;s use and the next top sheet  12  would be ready for the next patient. 
     While embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to the embodiments could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements are illustrative only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of any and all equivalents thereof.