Patent Publication Number: US-4317245-A

Title: Water bed sheet

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Anyone who is a regular bed maker will acknowledge the great benefit of contour sheets. However, one disadvantage of contour sheets is that some corners of the mattress are difficult to engage by the corners of the sheet. This is particularly true the closer one gets to the last corner of the mattress, and if one started at the wrong corner and finishes at a hard to get position, it can require a herculean effort to elevate the mattress corner in order to pull the sheet over it. 
     This problem is particularly aggravated with waterbeds because not only is the corner heavy and awkward but one cannot get one&#39;s hand beneath the waterbed because of the typical waterbed frame, making it extremely difficult, especially to accommodate the last corner, at which the sheet is ordinarily rather tight. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention simplifies enormously the task of making a bed with a contour sheet, and is of particular significance when related to waterbeds which are now so popular, especially in the west. By the provision of a variety of different embodiments of openings at one or more of the corners of the sheet, the user can reach through the opening and simultaneously raise the mattress corner by means of the hand reached through the opening and lower the sheet by means of the other hand. There is also the further problem, peculiar to water beds, that as one lifts the corner of the water mattress clear of the frame, the water runs out and the corner literally dissappears, leaving nothing around which to fit the sheet. This is truely a maddening problem. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the principal embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sheet of FIG. 1 in use; 
     FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of a slit detail; 
     FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is an elevation view of a modified form of slit having a flap therebehind; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a zippered slit embodiment; 
     FIG. 8 is a front elevation view of a hook and loop type fastener, such as the one sold under the trademark &#34;Velcro&#34; slit embodiment. 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a mattress with a modified slit orientation. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The main body of a contoured sheet which comprises the environment of the present invention, as well as part of the same, is shown at 10. This illustrates a contour sheet as it would appear in its expanded form, such as engaged over a mattress and having the openings of the present invention at 12 adjacent to corners. The openings 12 are in the generally planar, flat top portion of the sheet. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a waterbed mattress 14 having a frame 16 and illustrates the fashion in which a person reaches through the opening 12, or one of them, to pull up the edge of the waterbed mattress to permit pulling down of the corner of the sheet. Although in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 9 there are four slits corresponding to the corners of the sheet, there could be one, two or three slits only, in anticipation that the user would not have as difficult a time with the first, second or third corner, the difficulty increasing with each corner until the last one is reached. 
     Turning to the details showing the slit itself, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 a simple slit 18 hemmed at 20 would represent the simplest implementation. FIGS. 5 and 6 show a hemmed slit similar to that of FIGS. 3 and 4 with the addition of a flap 22 stitched behind the slit to cover same when the sheet is stretched taut. The flap could of course be made to lie over, as well as under, the slit. 
     FIGS. 7 and 8 both disclose means of closing the slit, the first being a zipper 24 in FIG. 7 and the second being mating strips of hook and loop type fastener, such as the one sold under the trademark &#34;Velcro&#34; 26. Lastly, FIG. 9 illustrates slots 28 oriented across the corner rather than in alignment with them. 
     Regardless of the embodiment used, the sheet of the present invention and the method of utilizing same represents an advance in the art of sheet making which will become quite apparent to the housewife charged with the daily making of a bed, and particularly a waterbed. 
     The scope of the claims appended hereto shall be given the full breadth indicated by the language contained therein and shall not be limited to the particular embodiments shown or other limitations set forth in the specification.