Lid cover

Abstract

A lid cover suitable for covering a seat, such as a toilet seat lid, is disclosed. The lid cover has a top portion of material that forms a top surface of the lid cover; a bottom portion of material that forms a bottom surface of the lid cover and is coupled to the top portion of material along a perimeter of the cover; a placket formed in the bottom portion of material adjacent a top edge of the cover operable to assist in the placement and removal of the lid cover from a lid; a closure element adjacent the placket and the top edge of the cover and operable to retain the lid cover on the lid when activated; and a first fit enhancing element arranged on an axis substantially longitudinal the top edge and adjacent the perimeter of the cover.

Description

RIGHT OF PRIORITY

[0001] This application claims priority to and benefit of earlier filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/424,615, filed Nov. 7, 2002 and being further identified by attorney docket number 02-RWV-02-PROV, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates generally to the lid covers and more particularly to lid covers, including toilet seat lid covers, which may be decorative while simultaneously providing a secure fit.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Consumers, particularly in the home environment, often spend a great deal of time, effort and money to beautify their bathrooms. A large aspect of this can involve attempts to improve the aesthetic appearance of the toilet. To this end, toilet seat covers are often employed, although with mixed results. The materials and construction of such covers are often of inferior quality, resulting in a less than desirable appearance as well as fit. Light weight fabrics or poor quality looped fabrics, for instance, can result in covers that look bad after only limited wear and tear. The mechanisms employed for keeping a toilet seat cover on the toilet seat lid until it is to be removed are often insufficient or inferior for the purpose of providing a tight, secure fit. The use of elastic to fit the cover over the toilet seat lid in particular results in a notoriously loose, sloppy fit. Loose fit of the fabric, as well as an excess of the fabric, can contribute to a lumpy, unlevel surface of the toilet tank cover, thereby diminishing it's use as a flat surface as well as further corrupting its aesthetic appeal. Some covers are so poorly fitted that they will tend to pop off (if too tight) or slid (if too loose).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as the preferred mode of use, and further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing(s), wherein:

[0005] FIGS. 1-10 illustrate various aspects of a lid cover in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0006] While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail one or more specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as exemplary of the principles of the invention and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described. In the description below, like reference numerals are used to describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the several Views of the drawings.

[0007] In FIGS. 1-10, various views, top, bottom, and inside out, respectively, of an exemplary lid cover in keeping with one or more embodiments of the present invention are shown. While the lid cover is shown as a toilet seat lid cover in the illustrations, it is recognized that the lid cover may be suitable for covering other types of lids without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In FIG. 1, a view of the top surface of lid cover 10 formed by a top portion or piece of material placed over a toilet seat lid, with the lid in the down position, is shown. FIG. 2 illustrates a view of the bottom surface 30 of lid cover 10 formed by a bottom portion or piece of material with the toilet lid in the up position. The construction of toilet lid cover 10 will be shown in more detail in the illustrations of FIGS. 3-10.

[0008] Referring now to FIG. 3, a top view of the top surface 20 of cover 10 is shown. It can be seen that the cover achieves a very nice, smooth fit about the lid without a minimum of bunching or movement of the cover. The use of a fit enhancing element such as piping 22 about the outer edge or perimeter of cover 10 aids the fit of the cover, as well as adding to the aesthetic appeal of the cover. The piping 22, in addition to providing a great finish, adds a layer inside the seam that lays snug to the toilet lid edge and thus serves to keep the toilet seat cover in place. The preferred fit of the toilet seat cover does not have to be tight, but is secure enough to provide a fit that keeps in the cover in place during ordinary usage. The piping 22 is illustrated in the figures discussed herein.

[0009] In FIG. 4, various elements of the construction of cover 10 best seen by looking at the bottom surface 30 are shown, including piping 22, pleats 40, an opening 50 such as that formed by a placket or slit in the material of the bottom surface 30, closure 60, material piece 70. Fitted pleats 40 located towards the outer portions of the top edge adjacent the perimeter of the cover are further examples of fit enhancement elements that that function to keep the material flat whether the lid is in an open or closed position and thus enhance the fit of the cover on a lid. Placket opening 50 facilitates the removal and placement of lid cover 10 on the lid and the piece of material 70 inside the cover, which may extend down below placket opening 50 to dashed line 72, is a further fit enhancing element that has a corresponding placket element that lines up and is contiguous with placket 50 and aids in keeping the placket opening flat when placket 50 is closed, such as when the lid is in place and the closure 60 has been activated.

[0010] More detail of the placket opening 50 is shown in FIG. 5. In this illustration, the closure 60 has not been used, activated or engaged and placket opening 50 is open, with the material to either side of placket opening 50 pulled back to show the inside surface 52 of bottom portion 30 and the inside surface 54 of the top portion 20 of the cover 10, both surfaces adjacent placket opening 50 and the top edge of the cover.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the closure packet is cut as a U-shaped opening 50 and tuxedo-finished with an additional piece of fabric 70 that is smaller than the bottom portion 30 and thus may cover approximately {fraction (1/2)} or more of the inside of the bottom cover piece—a portion of the cover that does not show when the seat lid is in the down position. The extra piece of material 70 of the closure placket that is sewn into the cover serves as an anchor for the placket of the seat cover. It also serves to strengthen the placket opening so that it will not easily fray from ordinary wear and tear, such as laundering or pulling the cover on and off the toilet seat lid. To this end, it can be seen that the extra piece of placket material 70 is preferably of sufficient enough size, down to dashed line 72, to reinforce the entire length of the placket opening as illustrated in the figures. It can be further seen that material 70 has its own placket that corresponds to placket 50. FIGS. 2, 410 present views of a placket in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0012] Referring now to FIG. 6, inside-out view of the bottom portion 30 of cover 10 is shown. The extra piece of material 70, stopping at line 72, that reinforces placket opening 50, can be seen. In FIGS. 7 and 8, an exemplary method of construction of the placket with the additional piece of material, shown in FIG. 6, is illustrated. In the exploded view of FIG. 7, which illustrates the bottom portion 30 of cover 10 from an inside-out perspective, extra piece of material 70, having edge 72, is placed over top of full size piece 74; it is piece 74 which, when turned right-side out, is visible as bottom portion 30 of the cover 10. Referring to FIG. 8, the inside-out view of bottom portion 30 with piece 70 overlaid or on top of piece 74 is shown in the bottom part of the figure; when the bottom portion is flipped over as indicated by the arrows an inside-out view of top portion 20 can be seen.

[0013] The material of the seat cover is pleated at the open end that attaches around the hinge of the seat lid when placed on the lid. The fitted pleats preferably occur on an axis substantially longitudinal to the top, flattened edge of the cover, which rests towards the hinge of the seat lid when affixed, along the bottom surface of the cover as shown in FIG. 2. The pleating of the seat cover at this opening serves to keep the fabric from bunching up whether the seat lid is in an up or a down position.

[0014] Referring now to FIGS. 9 and 10, the construction of the pleats 40 of the cover 10 in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention are shown in more detail. In FIG. 9, the closure 60 is not activated and one side of the material adjacent placket opening 50 is pulled back as shown to reveal an inside view of pleat 40. A fold of material 46 provides a hem of the material at the end of the cover and line 42 indicates a fold of material of the pleat. On the other side of placket opening 50, which lies flat, dashed lines 44 indicate an exemplary construction of the pleat 40. This is further illustrated with the dashed lines in FIG. 10.

[0015] Also in FIG. 10, an exemplary embodiment of closure 60 is illustrated. Once the toilet seat cover is fitted on the toilet seat lid it is fastened in place by the closure element, in this case shown as a fabric loop closure that fastens around a button. Many different closure elements can be used here to fasten the cover to the seat lid. The closure element is preferably sewn or otherwise securely attached to the placket seam, a construction that gives it more strength. In a preferred embodiment, for instance, the loop is sewn as a separate piece of fabric and then sewn into the placket seam. The loop may attach around a large size decorator button, for instance.

[0016] In this example, closure element 60 has a button loop 62 that goes around button 64. The closure operates to minimize placket 50 and couple the material on either side of the opening in a manner consistent with the closed position of the cover. One will recognize that many types of other such closures may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, Velcro, snaps, eye-and-hook, and other suitable arrangements for securing the opening of placket 50 in a closed position may be employed.

[0017] While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, permutations and variations will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A lid cover, comprising:

a top portion of material that forms a top surface of the lid cover;

a bottom portion of material that forms a bottom surface of the lid cover and is coupled to the top portion of material along a perimeter of the cover;

a placket formed in the bottom portion of material adjacent a top edge of the cover operable to assist in the placement and removal of the lid cover from a lid;

a closure element adjacent the placket and the top edge of the cover and operable to retain the lid cover on the lid when activated; and

a first fit enhancing element arranged on an axis substantially longitudinal the top edge and adjacent the perimeter of the cover.

2. The cover of claim 1, wherein the bottom portion is coupled to the top portion of material at a seam between the top and bottom portions at the perimeter of the cover.

3. The cover of claim 1, wherein the closure element comprises a button and a loop closure.

4. The cover of claim 1, wherein the first fit enhancing element comprises first and second pleats arranged at outer portions of the top edge adjacent the perimeter of the cover.

5. The cover of claim 1, further comprising:

a second fit enhancing element coupled to the perimeter of the cover.

6. The cover of claim 5, wherein the bottom portion is coupled to the top portion of material at a seam between the top and bottom portion, and wherein the second fit enhancing element is piping formed at the seam.

7. The cover of claim 6, wherein the fit enhancing element adds a layer inside the seam.

8. The cover of claim 1, further comprising:

a placket enhancing element coupled to the bottom portion of material and contiguous the placket that encourages the placket to lie flat when the placket is in a closed position.

9. The cover of claim 8, wherein the placket enhancing element has a corresponding placket contiguous the placket.

10. The cover of claim 9, wherein the placket enhancing element is a piece of material affixed to an inside surface of the bottom portion of material that is smaller than the bottom portion of material and whose corresponding placket lines up and is contiguous with the packet.

11. The cover of claim 10, wherein the piece of material of the placket enhancing element couples to the top and bottom portions of material at the perimeter of the cover and further couples to the bottom portion of material at the placket.

12. The cover of claim 1, wherein the lid is a toilet seat lid and the lid cover is a toilet seat lid cover.