Bedclothes adaptable to individual preferences

Abstract

An item of bedclothes to be used on a bed shared by two sleepers consists of two substantially equal halves, each associated with one of the sleepers, each made of material dissimilar from the other. The item may be procured and positioned so that each sleeper achieves her preference of warmth retention, texture, absorbency, weight, thickness, fire retardance.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention pertains to bedclothes, and particularly for bedclothes for use on a bed occupied by two sleepers and adaptable to the individual preferences of each sleeper.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many a person shares a bed with another person. Most married couples, for example, sleep together in “double”, “queen-size”, or “king-size” beds. Two persons sharing a bed may have markedly different preferences regarding warmth-retention or weight or texture of their bedclothes. Or they may have different needs regarding their bedclothes—one might benefit from hypoallergenic bedding while the other might find such bedclothes to be undesirable for reasons such as feel, weight, or smell; or one sleeper may need absorbent bedclothes because of such problems as bedwetting or secretions while the other may find the feel of such bedclothes undesirable; or one sleeper accustomed to smoking in bed may wish to have fire-retardant bedclothes while the other may find such bedclothes undesirable.

Known in the prior art is the electric blanket with dual controls—a separate heating element is provided for each sleeper, each with its own control. This helps with the matter of individual temperature control but does not resolve the matter of different preferences or needs for texture, weight, absorbency, fire-retardance, etc.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide bedclothes that present different materials to each of two sleepers sharing a bed.

This and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes drawbacks of the prior art by providing bedclothes each comprising two dissimilar portions arranged so that each portion associates with a portion of a bed primarily occupied by one of two sleepers.

The invention will next be described in regard to an exemplary embodiment. It will, however, be clear to those in the art that enhancements, modifications, subtractions can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more clearly understood from the ensuing description of certain embodiments, in conjunction the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an item of bedclothes according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

It should preliminarily be noted that the present application employs the term “bedcloth” to mean a single item of bedclothes. Thus, “bedcloth” shall include, without limitation, any of:

a mattress cover;

a mattress pad;

a fitted bedsheet;

a flat bedsheet;

a blanket;

a quilt;

a coverlet; and

a bedspread

Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Deluxe Second Edition, states that “bedclothes” is a plural noun, but does not give the singular. The singular is here taken to be “bedcloth”.

FIG. 1 depicts a bedcloth 100 according to the present invention, specifically a fitted sheet as it appears when deployed on a mattress (not visible in FIG. 1). Fitted sheet 100 comprises a first half 110 and a second half 120 joined by a seam 130. The two halves are arranged so that when the bedcloth is deployed on a bed the first half is in contact with a first sleeper and the second half with a second sleeper. The two halves are made of dissimilar materials. enabling each sleeper to be in contact with materials of preference. For example, half 110 might be of flannel for a sleeper who wishes to favor warmth retention and half 120 might be of silk for a sleeper who wishes to be cooler and who perhaps enjoys textures smoother than that of flannel.

FIG. 1 depicts half 110 on the left side of the bed; it could be positioned on the right side by removing bedcloth 110 from the mattress, rotating it 180 degrees about a vertical axis, and redeploying it on the mattress. To facilitate such choice of orientation, fitted sheets made according to the present invention, if patterned, could be made with symmetric patterns that do not have a “right-side-up” attribute.

Conventional flat sheets typically have a top edge (identified by a wide hem) and a bottom edge (identified by a narrow hem). To facilitate choices of deployment of a flat sheet according to the present invention, the sheets could be made with identical and interchangeable top and bottom edges. This applies to any flat bedcloth.

Each half 110 and 120 of any bedcloth of the present invention may be made of any material preferred or needed by the sleeper who will be in contact with it. Thus each sleeper may choose without limitation warm, cool, textured, smooth, absorbent, or fire-retardant materials independently of the choice made by the other sleeper. Any one, several, or all of the bedclothes on a bed may be according to the present invention while others may be conventional.

Seam 130 may be a permanent seam, such as a sewn seam, or it may be detachable, such as by the use of, without limitation, a zipper, snaps, tie tapes, or Velcro. Thus a manufacturer could produce lines of “bedcloth halves” of matching or complementary appearance but in the aforementioned variety of properties, and consumers could buy two halves, each with certain desired properties, and join them together to make a bedcloth having the different properties desired by each of two sleepers.

In an alternative embodiment the halves could be provided separately to a user to be permanently joined by the user, as for example by sewing or by heat-activated adhesive activated by an iron.

Companion pillow cases may be provided, each having one side of substantially the same material as one half of the bedcloth, and the other of substantially the same material as the other half of the bedcloth.

While the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be embodied in yet other specific forms without departing from the spirit thereof. The invention is to be embraced by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

Claims

1. A bedcloth for a bed occupied by two sleepers, the bedcloth comprising two substantially equally sized portions made of dissimilar material, arranged so that each bedcloth portion deploys on a portion of the bed occupied by one of the sleepers.

2. The bedcloth of claim 1 being one of

a mattress cover;

a mattress pad;

a fitted bedsheet;

a flat bedsheet;

a blanket;

a quilt;

a coverlet; and

a bedspread.

3. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the portions differ substantially in warmth retention.

4. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the portions differ substantially in texture.

5. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the portions differ substantially in absorbency.

6. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the portions differ substantially in flammability.

7. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the portions differ substantially in weight.

8. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the portions differ substantially in thickness.

9. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the portions differ substantially in at least one of

warmth retention;

texture;

absorbency;

flammability;

weight; and

thickness.

10. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the two portions are detachably joined.

11. The bedcloth of claim 1 wherein the two portions are adapted to be permanently joined by a user.

12. The bedcloth of claim 11 wherein the joining of the two portions is by sewing.

13. The bedcloth of claim 11 wherein the joining of the two portions is by one of an adhesive and a cohesive.

14. In combination:

a bedcloth for a bed occupied by two sleepers, the bedcloth comprising two substantially equally sized portions made of dissimilar material, arranged so that each bedcloth portion deploys on a portion of the bed occupied by one of the sleepers; and

a pillowcase having two substantially parallel surfaces, a first surface of the pillowcase being of substantially the same material as a first portion of the bedcloth, and a second surface of the pillowcase being of substantially the same material as a second portion of the bedcloth.