AU2002100888A4 - Bedding cover - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2B

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Brightwater Care Group Inc.

Garden Office Park 355 Scarborough Beach Road Osborne Park, Western Australia, 6017 Australia Rejane BOTHA Griffith Hack, Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, 6th Floor, 256 Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia, 6000.

Complete Specification for the invention entitled: BEDDING COVER The following is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- BEDDING COVER [0001] The present invention relates to a bedding cover, such as for example, a bed sheet or pillow cases, particularly for medical use in hospitals and aged care homes.

Background of the Invention [0002] Bedding covers such as sheets and pillow cases made of cotton or cotton blended with other fibres are widely used as in hospitals and aged care homes. This is mainly due to their relatively low cost and durability including their ability to be laundered a large number of times prior to requiring replacement. However, it is known that lying on such bedding covers for an extended period of time can cause bed sores. In addition, for patients who already have sores or wounds, lying on cotton sheets and pillow cases may cause additional discomfort.

[0003] It is known to occasionally use satin sheets and pillow cases in place of those made of a material containing cotton in order to reduce discomfort and/or the likelihood of developing bed sores. However satin is considerably more expensive than cotton based materials to initially purchase and does not have the durability of cotton materials particularly in relation to laundering.

Summary of the Invention [0004] According to the present invention there is provided a bedding cover composed of a sheet made of a material which includes cotton and provided with one or more panels of low friction material attached to said sheet said panels dimensioned and located so that one or more target portions of the body of a person lying on a bed on which said bedding cover is fitted, lies on said one or more panels.

[0005] Preferably said one or more panels overlie respective areas of said sheet.

[0006] Preferably said one or more panels are made of satin or satin based materials Et~rK msp nDum CO RL.. 2002 p4lL 24Q2/t 0 3 including satin polyester.

[0007] Preferably one or more said panels are stitched to said sheet.

[0008] Preferably in an alternate embodiment said one or more panels are removably attached to said sheet.

Brief Description of the Drawings [0009] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described a way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the bed sheet in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a view of Section 1-1 of the bed sheet shown in Figure 1.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment [0010] Referring to the accompanying drawings, a bedding cover in the form of a bed sheet 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes a sheet 12 made from a material which includes cotton, and provided with a low friction panel 14 which is attached to the sheet 12. The panel 14 is made of satin or a satin based material including satin polyester dimensioned and located so that a substantial portion of the body of a person (not shown) lying on a bed 16 on which the bed sheet 10 is fitted, lies on the panel 14.

[0011] It is envisaged that sheet 12 will be a standard commercially available sheet and can be either a plain rectangular sheet or provided with two or four fitted corners having lengths of elastic material (not shown) to assist in fitting the sheet 12 to the bed 16. The panel 14 overlies the sheet 12 and typically is permanently attached to the sheet 12 by stitching 18. The stitching may be made from the top of the sheet 10 and is about wide. While various configurations of stitching can be used, the stitching 18 would at 4 least extend about the periphery of the panel 14. Additional diagonal stitches (not shown) may be incorporated extending between diagonally opposite corners of the panel 14.

[0012] In use, sheet 10 is laid on the bed 16 so that the panel 14 is directly contacted by a person lying in the bed 16.

[0013] It is mainly envisaged that the sheet 10 would be used as a lower bed sheet and thus in this configuration, sheet 10 would be laid so that the panel 14 is upper most, or on a side of the sheet 10 distant the bed 16.

[0014] Preliminary testing has indicated that the embodiments of the sheet 10 are in substance as hard wearing and endurable as normal cotton sheets while providing reduction in pain and discomfort for patients who have wounds and/or bed sores.

Surprisingly, the panel 14 does not deteriorate anywhere near as quickly as satin sheets per se.

[0015] Now that an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts that numerous modifications and variations may be made without departing from the basic inventive concepts. For example, the size of the panel 14 may be varied. In the present embodiment, the panel 14 is dimensioned to be of a size marginally less than the size of the underlying bed 16.

However panel 14 may be increased in size to be equal to or greater than the size of the bed 16. Indeed, it is envisaged that the portion 14 may be of the same size as the underlying sheet 12. However in such an embodiment, additional costs would be incurred due to the additional area of satin being applied without there being any substantive benefits to the patient. Also while only one panel 14 is depicted a plurality of panels 14 may be provided each dimensioned and located to underlie target areas of the body of a person lying thereon, for example, the hips and elbows. In addition while the bedding cover is depicted as a bed sheet it maybe in the form of a pillow case.

Further, the sheet 12 may be made from synthetic fibres or a blend of cotton and synthetic 5 fibres. In another variation the panel 14 may be removably attached to the sheet 12, for example by use of patches of hook and loop fastener material fixed to the panel 14 and sheet 12.

[00161 All such modifications and variations together with others that would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the above description and the appended claims.

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Claims (4)

1. A bedding cover composed of a sheet made of a material which includes cotton and provided with one or more panels of low friction material attached to said sheet said panels dimensioned and located so that one or more target portions of the body of a person lying on a bed on which said bedding cover is fitted, lies on said one or more panels.

2. The bedding cover according to claim 1, wherein said one or more panels overlie respective areas of said sheet.

3. The bedding cover according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said one or more panels are made of satin or satin based materials including satin polyester.

4. The bedding cover according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said panel is removably attached to said sheet. A bedding cover substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. DATED this 12th day of November 2002 BRIGHTWATER CARE GROUP INC. by its Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia. H' 14-1.1- ul cov 1. Uson sidowlm2