GB2141926A

GB2141926A - Continental quilt

Info

Publication number: GB2141926A
Application number: GB08317171A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Charles Richard Douglas Seddon
Original assignee: Richard Seddon
Current assignee: Richard Seddon
Priority date: 1983-06-24
Filing date: 1983-06-24
Publication date: 1985-01-09
Also published as: GB8317171D0

Abstract

This invention relates to thermal insulation for bedding of the type known as "continental quilts". The continental quilt of the invention comprises a loose filling 22 within an outer cover 20, in which compartments 26, 28 and 30 are formed by walls 24 of a textile fabric, the fabric walls 24 being angled so that compartments 26, 28 and 30 overlap in the direction of thickness of the quilt. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Continental quilt This invention relates to thermal insulation for bedding of the type known as 'continental quilts'.

Continental quilts have become very popular in recent years and have tended to replace the more conventional bedding of a series of sheets and blankets over the top of the bed tucked in under the mattress. A continental quilt, usually with a removable cover, is merely. laid on top of the bed and not tucked in at all. The warmth for the person sleeping is maintained by the high thermal insulation provided by the construction of continental quilt. There are two basic varieties, commonly available, one having a textile fibre filling and the other having a filling of feathers and/or down. The cheaper, and less thermally efficient, contains a bat of textile fibres, for example polyester fibres, within a cover, lines of stitching through both faces of the cover and the sandwiched bat of fibres fixing the position of the fibres in relation to the cover.This form of quilt is cheap to manufacture and typically has thermal insulation, as measured a tog rating, of about 10.

The second, and more expensive quilt construction employs feathers and/or down within a cover. The latter is divided into a number of elongate compartments by internal fabric 'walls' typically of about two inches in height. Thus when the quilt is shaken to fluff up the filling, the filling fills the compartments and the quilt is approximately two inches thick, in line with the internal wall height.

Such quilts, particularly when filled with down, have a thermal insulation tog rating of about 13.

The invention seeks to provide an improved construction of continental quilt which, on a weight for weight basis, exhibit improved thermal insulation properties.

According to the present invention there is provided a continental quilt comprising a loose filling within an outer cover, in which compartments are formed by walls of a textile fabric, the fabric walls being angled so that compartments overlap in the direction of the thickness of the quilt.

The angling of the compartment walls furthermore allows the quilt to be 'fluffed up' to a considerably greater thickness than hitherto available quilts in which the compartment walls set a limit on the maximum quilt thickness.

The loose filling is preferably feathers and/or down although other materials may be used if desired,. Similarly, the quilt cover will normally be a woven cotton fabric although other materials, for example synthetic textile fabrics, may be used if desired. The compartment walls within the quilt cover may be of a lighter and cheaper fabric than that forming the quilt cover since they are less subjected to wear and stress. The preferred construction of the compartments is with the compartment walls in a trellis configuration thus allowing considerable expansion in the thickness direction of a quilt constructed in accordance with the invention, and at the same time providing an overlapping of adjacent compartments.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a conventional down continental quilt; and Figure 2 is a similar view of a quilt constructed in accordance with the invention.

Referring first of all to figure 1, a conventional feather and/or down continental quilt comprises an outer cover 10 and a filling of loose feathers, and/or down 1 2. The cover 10 is divided internally into a number of longitudinal compartments by means of textile fabric walls 14 stitched to the cover at 16. Such a quilt will normally have a tog rating of around 1 3 when it is fluffed up so that the filling 12 is evenly distributed. However should the quilt be shaken sideways rather than end to end the filling will tend to aggregate as shown in figure 1 leaving cold spots as indicated by the arrows 1 8 where effectively there is no filling between the two layers of the outer cover 1 0.

Referring now to figure 2 there is illustrated a quilt constructed in accordance with the invention.

This has an outer cover 20 as before and a loose filling 22 of feathers, down, or other material as desired. In this case however the compartment walls 24 are angled so that they form a 'trellis' pattern with compartments 26, 28, 30 overlapping. The trellis configuration of the walls 24 enables the quilt to be 'fluffed up' into a much greater thickness than with the conventional quilt illustrated in figure 1 which in itself leads to a much better thermal insulation. Quilts constructed in accordance with the invention having this configuration exhibited a tog rating excess of 1 7.

Furthermore, even should the quilt be shaken sideways as described above in relation to figure 1, the filling would take up the configuration as illustrated in figure 2 but as can be seen, owing to the overlapping of the compartments, there are no cold spots equivalent to those 1 8 in figure 1 since at every cross section through the width of the quilt there is at least some filling 22.

The tog ratings for figure 1 and figure 2 quilts were tested employing the same weight of filling in each construction to enable a proper comparison to be made. It is envisaged therefore that where such a high tog rating is not required, a lesser amount of filling could be employed producing a lighter quilt and reducing the expense.

Although the invention has been described with relation to continental quilts for bedding, it will be understood that the construction described may be employed in any situation calling for thermal insulation, for example sleeping bags, clothing, and the like.

1. A continental quilt comprising a loose filling within an outer cover, in which compartments are formed by walls of a textile fabric, the fabric walls being angled so that compartments overlap in the direction of the thickness of the quilt.

2. A continental quilt according to claim 1, in

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. SPECIFICATION Continental quilt This invention relates to thermal insulation for bedding of the type known as 'continental quilts'. Continental quilts have become very popular in recent years and have tended to replace the more conventional bedding of a series of sheets and blankets over the top of the bed tucked in under the mattress. A continental quilt, usually with a removable cover, is merely. laid on top of the bed and not tucked in at all. The warmth for the person sleeping is maintained by the high thermal insulation provided by the construction of continental quilt. There are two basic varieties, commonly available, one having a textile fibre filling and the other having a filling of feathers and/or down. The cheaper, and less thermally efficient, contains a bat of textile fibres, for example polyester fibres, within a cover, lines of stitching through both faces of the cover and the sandwiched bat of fibres fixing the position of the fibres in relation to the cover.This form of quilt is cheap to manufacture and typically has thermal insulation, as measured a tog rating, of about 10. The second, and more expensive quilt construction employs feathers and/or down within a cover. The latter is divided into a number of elongate compartments by internal fabric 'walls' typically of about two inches in height. Thus when the quilt is shaken to fluff up the filling, the filling fills the compartments and the quilt is approximately two inches thick, in line with the internal wall height. Such quilts, particularly when filled with down, have a thermal insulation tog rating of about 13. The invention seeks to provide an improved construction of continental quilt which, on a weight for weight basis, exhibit improved thermal insulation properties. According to the present invention there is provided a continental quilt comprising a loose filling within an outer cover, in which compartments are formed by walls of a textile fabric, the fabric walls being angled so that compartments overlap in the direction of the thickness of the quilt. The angling of the compartment walls furthermore allows the quilt to be 'fluffed up' to a considerably greater thickness than hitherto available quilts in which the compartment walls set a limit on the maximum quilt thickness. The loose filling is preferably feathers and/or down although other materials may be used if desired,. Similarly, the quilt cover will normally be a woven cotton fabric although other materials, for example synthetic textile fabrics, may be used if desired. The compartment walls within the quilt cover may be of a lighter and cheaper fabric than that forming the quilt cover since they are less subjected to wear and stress. The preferred construction of the compartments is with the compartment walls in a trellis configuration thus allowing considerable expansion in the thickness direction of a quilt constructed in accordance with the invention, and at the same time providing an overlapping of adjacent compartments. The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a conventional down continental quilt; and Figure 2 is a similar view of a quilt constructed in accordance with the invention. Referring first of all to figure 1, a conventional feather and/or down continental quilt comprises an outer cover 10 and a filling of loose feathers, and/or down 1 2. The cover 10 is divided internally into a number of longitudinal compartments by means of textile fabric walls 14 stitched to the cover at 16. Such a quilt will normally have a tog rating of around 1 3 when it is fluffed up so that the filling 12 is evenly distributed. However should the quilt be shaken sideways rather than end to end the filling will tend to aggregate as shown in figure 1 leaving cold spots as indicated by the arrows 1 8 where effectively there is no filling between the two layers of the outer cover 1 0. Referring now to figure 2 there is illustrated a quilt constructed in accordance with the invention. This has an outer cover 20 as before and a loose filling 22 of feathers, down, or other material as desired. In this case however the compartment walls 24 are angled so that they form a 'trellis' pattern with compartments 26, 28, 30 overlapping. The trellis configuration of the walls 24 enables the quilt to be 'fluffed up' into a much greater thickness than with the conventional quilt illustrated in figure 1 which in itself leads to a much better thermal insulation. Quilts constructed in accordance with the invention having this configuration exhibited a tog rating excess of 1 7. Furthermore, even should the quilt be shaken sideways as described above in relation to figure 1, the filling would take up the configuration as illustrated in figure 2 but as can be seen, owing to the overlapping of the compartments, there are no cold spots equivalent to those 1 8 in figure 1 since at every cross section through the width of the quilt there is at least some filling 22. The tog ratings for figure 1 and figure 2 quilts were tested employing the same weight of filling in each construction to enable a proper comparison to be made. It is envisaged therefore that where such a high tog rating is not required, a lesser amount of filling could be employed producing a lighter quilt and reducing the expense. Although the invention has been described with relation to continental quilts for bedding, it will be understood that the construction described may be employed in any situation calling for thermal insulation, for example sleeping bags, clothing, and the like. CLAIMS

2. A continental quilt according to claim 1, in which the loose filling is feathers and/or down.

3. A continental quilt according to claims 1 or 2, in which the outer cover is a woven cotton fabric.

4. A continental quilt according to any of the preceding claims in which the compartment walls within the outer cover may be of a lighter and cheaper fabric than that forming the outer cover.

5. A continental quilt according to any one of the preceding claims in which the compartment walls are arranged in a trellis configuration to allow considerable expansion in the thickness direction of the quilt.

6. A continental quilt according to claim 1 and arranged substantially as herein described.

7. A continental quilt arranged substantially as herein described with reference to figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.

8. A thermally insulating layer comprising a loose filling within an outer cover, in which compartments are formed by walls of a textile material, the fabric walls being ahgled so that compartments overlap in the direction of thickness of the layer.