GB2223941A - Inflatable quilts - Google Patents

Abstract

A quilt comprises one or more inflatable compartments. A plurality of inflatable compartments may be provided, each being in the form of an inflatable bag of plastics material, and each being received in a respective pocket defined by a quilt cover of textile material. Adjacent pockets may be separated by walls of textile material linking upper and lower sheets of material defining a cover. <IMAGE>

Description

QUILT The present invention relates to a quilt.

Quilts are widely used as bed covers to provide thermal insulation. Quilts generally comprise a textile cover defining a series of pockets, the pockets being filled with insulating material such as feathers, polyester fibres or the like. To provide good thermal insulation, a considerable volume of quilt filling is required. As a result, quilts are bulky items that are difficult to compress for storage and transport. This makes them unsuitable for use in circumstances in which space is at a premium, for example camping, caravaning or the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a quilt which obviates or mitigates the above problems.

According to the present invention, there is provided a quilt comprising one or more inflatable compartments.

Preferably a plurality of inflatable compartments are provided, each being in the form of an inflatable bag of plastics material, and each being received in a respective pocket defined by a quilt cover of textile material. Adjacent pockets may be separated by walls of textile material linking upper and lower sheets of material defining a cover.

Each compartment may be tubular with a removable plug at one end to enable inflation and deflation of the compartments.

Preferably the quilt cover has a reflective outer surface. For example, the quilt cover may be fabricated from polyethylene coated with aluminium.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view on the line II-II of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a view of an inflatable bag six of which are incorporated in the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the illustrated quilt comprises an upper sheet 1 of textile material seamed to a lower sheet 2 of textile material along three edges 3, 4 and 5. The sheets 1 and 2 are interconnected at intervals by elongate textile walls 6, the line of the walls 6 in Fig. 1 being indicated by the lines 7. Thus the space between the sheets of material 1 and 2 is divided into six pockets of equal width, each pocket being open at one end.

An inflatable tubular bag 8 is inserted into each of the pockets, each tubular bag being sealed at one end and communicating with a neck 9 at the other end, the neck being normally closed by a stopper 10.

The quilt is delivered for use in a deflated state, that is each of the compartments defined by the bags 8 has been flattened to expel the air therefrom. The quilt can then be folded up or rolled up and in that state occupies a very small volume.

When the quilt is to be used, the user simply removes the stoppers 10, inflates and reseals with the stopper each of the bags in turn, and then uses the quilt in the normal way. The bags should not be fully inflated as if this were to be the case the quilt would have an unacceptable stiff feel. Accordingly the bags are partially inflated so that the quilt can drape over a users' body whilst maintaining a spacing between the sheets 1 and 2 at all points along the length of each bag 8. One way to achieve a predictable degree of inflation would be to fold up say the bottom third of the quilt, inflate the remainder of each bag substantially fully, and then unfold the quilt so that the air within each bag can spread uniformly throughout the length of the bag.

The walls 6 ensure that there are no cold spots in the spaces between adjacent bags 8. Those spaces between the bags allows water vapour to escape from beneath the quilt as there are no large expanses of continuous impermeable material within the body of the quilt.

The bags 8 may be fabricated from any suitable material, for example PVC sheet. The quilt cover may also be fabricated from any suitable material, for example cotton, polyester, etc. To improve the thermal effectiveness of the quilt however it is possible to make the quilt cover from a material having a reflective surface, for example polyethylene coated with aluminium.

Although in the described embodiment a series of separate pockets is defined each receiving a respective inflatable compartment, it would be possible to provide alternative arrangements in which all of the inflatable compartments are interconnected. Such an arrangement would enable inflation via a single aperture but on the other hand would make the quilt useless if only one portion of the quilt was damaged to the extent of puncturing the compartments.

Claims (6)

1. A quilt comprising one or more inflatable compartments.

2. A quilt according to Claim 1, comprising a plurality of inflatable compartments, each being in the form of an inflatable bag of plastics material, and each being received in a respective pocket defined by a quilt cover of textile material.

3. A quilt according to Claim 2, wherein adjacent pockets are separated by walls of textile material linking upper and lower sheets of material defining a cover.

4. A quilt according to Claim 3, wherein each compartment is tubular with a removable plug at one end to enable inflation and deflation of the compartment.

5. A quilt according to any preceding claim, wherein the quilt cover has a reflective outer surface.

6. A quilt substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.