AU679930B2 - A detachable valance - Google Patents

Description

APR 03 '97 04:23PM SPRUSON FERGUSON 26154 6 P.4 1 A Detachable Valance The present invention relates to valances which are used to decorate the periphery of a bed along two opposite sides and the foot thereof. In particular, the invention relates to a valance which may be conveniently removed for the purposes of washing and yet which s easily maintains its position during normal use.

Various methods of maintaining valances in position around a bed are known. The most common method is a fabric strap which extends around the entire perimeter of the bed and is located between the mattress base and mattress, The upper edge of the valance is secured by sewing to the fabric strap. When the strap is in position the valance extends along the opposite sides and across the foot of the bed thereby hiding the feet of the mattress base and the mattress base from view, Examples of prior art arrangements for securing valances include US Patent No.

2,763,875 and the specification of PCT/US88/03787 published under No. W089/03650, From Australian Patent Application No. 30990/89 it is known to provide a fitted s1 sheet with various releasable fasteners such as zippers which are used to maintain an upper sheet and/or a quilt in position in relation to a fitted lower sheet. One object of the present invention is to provide a means of releasably securing a valance to such a fitted sheet, It is also known to provide covers for mattress bases, especially for those persons who suffer from dust allergies and like medical complaints. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a means whereby a valance may be releasably secured to such a mattress cover.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a bed sheet and valance system comprising: 3+/q7 a fitte-i lower sheet arranged to substantially envelope a mattress, said sheet Sf .Mg comprising one part of a two part fastener means secured to those "f said sheet which form the opposite sides and a foot portion of said sheet when fitted to said mattress; and a valance having secured thereto the other part of said two part fastener means, wherein said valance is connectable to said mattress by fastening said parts of said fastener, Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred arrangement of releasably as securing a valance to a fitted lower sheet, Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the valance and lower sheet attached, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a valance attached to a mattress cover, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one corner of the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 3, I 'B I ~1 RPR 03 '97 04:24PM SPRUSON FERGUSONl 6261541b6 2 Fig. 5 is an inverted perspective view showing the mattress base cover in position but with the valance not illustrated, Fig, 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but of a mattress base of a further embodiment, and F ig, 7 is a schematic perspective view of a skirt for a mattress or mattress base.

Turning now to Figs, 1 and 2, it is known from the above mentioned Australian Patent Application that a fitted lower sheet 1 can be provided having upto two zipper halves 2, 3 let into the foot of the bed, As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, a valance 4 can be releasably secured to such a fitted sheet 1 by providing a zipper half 5 extending around the upper edge of the valance 4 and providing a corresponding zipper half 6 extending around tlae lower edge of the two sides and foot of the sheet 1.

It will be apparent from Fig, 2 that the valance 4 when located by inter-engaging the two zipper halves 5 and 6, maintains its position in use notwithstanding forces exerted 1 upon the valance by feet moving past, vacuum cleaners, and like everyday occurrences, Furthermore, because of the zipper halves 2 and 3 the upper sheet and a quilt or other similar covering provided for the bed can be easily drawn up into position and thus it is not necessary that these articles be tucked into the opening between the mattress and the mattress base.

Where a bed is provided with a mattress base 10 as illustrated in Fig. 5, many persons desire to provide a cover 11 for the mattress base 10. The reasons for such an arrangement include allergies to dust, dust mites, and the like, As seen in Fig. 5, such a [GAWPUBRML1BVMQ03QtC4jER:MXL mattress cover 11 can be conveniently releasably retained on the mattress base by means of an elastlcised draw string 12 which extends around a channel 13 formed in the cover 11.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the.channel 13 extends around the legs 17 of the mattress base.

As described in the above mentioned Australian Patent Application in relation to fitted lower sheets, the mattress cover 11 can be made in a single size to fit a number of mattress bases sizes because the degree of tucking formed by the draw string 12 can be adjusted by tying the draw string 12 into a knot where it extends through a small opening 1o in the channel 13. Once the correct adjustment for size has been achieved, the elastic nature of the draw string 12 enables the cover 11 to be releasably removed for washing, S. and then replaced without the knot in the draw string 12 being undone.

i •As best seen in Fig. 5, the cover 11 is provided with a zipper half 15 which extends along opposite sides and across the foot of the cover 11i, adjacent its upper edge. As 15is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the valance 14 is essentially as in Figs. 1 and 2 having a corresponding zipper half 16 located along its upper edge. Inter-engagement of the two 0. zipper halves 15, 16 releasably secures the valance 14 to the cover 11.

A particular problem which arises with covers 11 is that some mattress bases include drawers in order to utilise the volume available for storage of blankets, and so on.

One of the advantages of a valance is that it hides the handles of such drawers from view.

However, it is highly desirable that the valance be able to be lifted conveniently in order to enable access to the drawers to be obtained.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention the cover 11 0 0 of Figs. 3-5 is formed from a non-woven fabric sold under the trade mark EVOLUTION by Kimberly Clark of both the USA and Australia. Such a material has a beneficial dust and/or allergy suppressing characteristic. In addition, it can be cut and subsequently repeatedly washed without fraying. As illustrated in Fig. 4, an opening 18 is able to be 0" cut by the purchaser in the side wall of the cover 11 to enable access to be obtained to one or more drawers 19. In this way, the opening(s) can be custom located to suit a wide range of beds. The EVOLUTION material is also sufficiently strong to permit the drawer(s) 19 to be used without the material tearing or fraying.

Although the drawer 19 and opening 18 are illustrated at the head of the bed in Fig.

4 for convenience, the correct position of the openings 18 and their corresponding drawers 19 is illustrated in Fig. Also illustrated in Fig. 4 is a pad 21 of VELCRO material sewn onto the upper edge of the free end of the valance 14. This pad 21 can be engaged with a similar pad 22 sewn on the cover 11 adjacent the end of the zipper half 15. The purpose of the interengagement of the pads 21 and 22 is to prevent any drooping of the free end of the valance 14 caused by length mis-matching or unequal stretching of the zip fastener halves IG:\WPUSERLIBV)00030:CE:ER*TC 4 16 over the long length thereof. The pads 21 and 22 are equally applicable to the embodiment of Figs. I and 2.

Turning now to Fig. 6, it will be appreciated that the mattress base cover 11 of Fig. 5 is particularly suilable for retrofitti.g to existing beds. For new beds yet to be manufactured, it is better to position the zipper half 15 directly into the fabric covering of the mattress base 10. As before the zipper half 15 extends along two opposite side walls and the foot of the mattress base A still further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 7. This is a skirt for a mattress or mattrress base, rather than a cover as illustrated in Figs. 4 and lo The skirt finds particular application for water bed mattresses, which are too heavy to conveniently have a cover or in Fig. 5 applied thereto without removing at least some of the water within the water bed mattress.

So As seen in Fig. 7, the skirt 30 takes the form of a complete strip 31 of material, preferably the abovementioned EVOLUTION material. Both the upper and lower edges 15 of skirt 31 are folded over and sewn to form two channels 32 and 33 within each of which a stretched loop of elastic is placed. The upper channel 32 is illustrated in solid lines in es Fig. 7 and the lower channel 33 in dot dash lines since the lower channel 33 would normally be obscured from view in Fig. 7 by the mattress or mattress base 34 itself. The upper and lower surfaces of the mattress or mattress base 34 are indicated by cross hatching in Fig. 7. Also one corner and two lower edges of the mattress or mattress base are indicated by dashed lines in Fig. 7.

As before, extending around two opposite sides and the foot of the skirt 30 is one zipper half 15 to which the valance (not illustrated in Fig. 7) is releasably secured as before.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the skirt 30 can be easily tucked into place around the mattress of a water bed, in particular, to thereby position the zipper half 15 in its desired location. This can be accomplished without the need for removal of any water from a water bed mattress. Naturally, the skirt 30 can also be used, if desired, with the mattress base 10 of Fig. 5, for example.

The foregoing describes only two embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, a two part hook fabric and eye fabric fastening system such as VELCRO (Registered Trade Mark) and other types of fasteners such as press studs, buttons and the like can be used in place of the zippers as illustrated above. However, generally speaking the zippers are more convenient. In addition a hook and loop arrangement, or stud fasteners, can be used in place of the pads 21 and 22.

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Claims (7)

1. A bed sheet and valance system comprising: a fitted lower sheet arranged to substantially envelope a mattress, said sheet comprising one part of a two part fastener means secured to those surfaces of said sheet which form the opposite sides and a foot portion of said sheet when fitted to said mattress; and a valance having secured thereto the other part of said two part fastener means, wherein said valance is connectable to said mattress by fastening said parts of said fastener.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said fastener means is a zipper and said valance is attached by inter-engaging two parts of said zipper.

3. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein said sheet has a plurality of zippers for attaching further coverings.

4. The system of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said valance further 15 comprises a first attachment part of a two-part attachment means at each of its free ends, and said sheet further comprising a complementary second attachment part of said two-part attachment means arranged on said surfaces and configured to inter-engage o with the corresponding adjacently located first attachment part.

The system of claim 4 wherein said two part attachment means is a hook 20 fabric and eye fabric fastening system.

6. A bed sheet and valance system, substantially as described herein with reference to Figs 1 to 4.

7. A bed sheet and valance system, substantially as described herein with reference to Figs 5 or 6 or 7. Dated 3 April, 1997 Suzanne Marie Etherington Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON ln:\IIbE101060:MXL I A Detachable Valance Abstract A method of releasably attaching a valance 4 to two opposite sides and the foot of a bed, said method comprising the steps of attaching one part 5 of a two part fastener means to the upper edge of said valance 4, and attaching the other part 6 of said fastener means to the lower periphery of a fitted upper sheet 1 on said bed or the upper periphery of a mattress base cover 11 for said bed. A valance 4 the upper edge of which has one part 5 of a releasable two part fastener secured thereto. A fitted lower sheet for a mattress 10, wherein one part of a releasable two part fastener is secured to the lower portion of the opposite sides and foot portion of said sheet. A cover 11 for a mattress base 10 of a bed, said cover 11 being locatable over said mattress base 10 and having one part 15 of a two part fastener means located adjacent the upper edge of said cover adjacent two opposite sides and the foot of said cover. is A mattress base 10 for a bed, said mattress base 10 having one part 15 of a two part fastener means formed in a side wall thereof adjacent the upper surface thereof and extending substantially along both sides and foot of the mattress base A skirt 30 for a mattress or mattress or mattress base 34, said skirt 30 comprising a side wall dimensioned to extend substantially around the periphery of said mattress or mattress base, and having one part 15 of a two part fastener means located adjacent the upper region of said skirt 30 and in a position on said skirt 30 corresponding to the opposite sides and foot of said mattress or mattress base 34. 0 a .o Figure 1 1G:\WPUSERUJBV100030:CE:ER:TCW d -L~