Abstract: A padded cover for use with a mattress which provides added postural support (as well as extra thermal insulation and padding). The padded cover includes a sheet of support material which covers essentially the full length of the mattress. This sheet of support material is stiffened over the middle part of the mattress length. Thus, this arrangement provides extra firmness under the torso, while maintaining an essentially flat upper surface. This cover structure can be retrofitted to existing mattresses. The disclosed innovations also provide improved methods for manufacturing bedding material with stable and longitudinally nonuniform postural support. For example, in the presently preferred embodiment, three layers are fed into a standard quilting machine: an upper layer of ticking, a middle layer of convoluted-foam support material, and a bottom layer of quilt backing. The support material thus is quilted between the two other layers, giving a quilted fabric that may be made into a mattress cover.

Abstract: A waterbed structure, in which added lumbar support is provided by a padded cover atop the bag (which also provides extra thermal insulation and padding). The padded cover includes a sheet of convoluted foam which covers essentially the full length of the mattress. This sheet of convoluted foam is stiffened, over the middle part of the mattress length, by a complementary piece of convoluted foam which is mated with it. The increase in thickness caused by having two pieces of convoluted foam face-to-face is relatively small. Thus, this arrangement provides extra firmness under the torso, while maintaining an essentially flat upper surface.