Patent ID: 8413276

Claim:
A mattress cover and bed bug barrier combination, comprising: a. a mattress cover having flexible fabric walls that define an enclosure with an elongated opening extending in at least one of said walls, said elongated opening defined by adjacent edges of said opening, b. a zipper attached to said cover for closing said elongated opening, said zipper having a proximal end portion, a distal end portion with a distal end, and a zipper pull movable to said distal portion for closing said zipper, c. said cover having seal regions laterally adjacent said distal portion of said zipper, d. a seal element secured to each of said seal regions, each seal element having an exposed outer surface, an external barrier flap having: i. a first part fixed to said cover, and ii. a second part foldable from an open position where it is spaced apart from said seal elements, and a closed position where it is folded down to overlie and is adapted to releasably seal against said upper surfaces of said seal elements, whereby said external barrier flap in its closed position covers said seal elements and said zipper pull between said seal elements when said zipper is closed, and constitutes a barrier to travel of bed bugs inwardly or outwardly of said cover through said distal portion of said zipper when said zipper is in its closed state, where at least one of said seal elements and said second part of said external barrier flap comprises a layer of adhesive, and where a peel-off protective sheet is releasably secured to each of said adhesive layers.