PLEATED BED SHEETS PROVIDING MORE ROOM FOR THE LEGS AND FEET OF A USER
A top sheet for use with a bed having a mattress with a head section, a foot section, a width and a thickness provides enhanced leg/foot room. The various embodiments include a flexible sheet of material having a width with a centerline, a length with a top edge and a bottom edge, and one or more pleats extending up from the bottom edge, each pleat having a length at least equal to the thickness of the mattress plus a few inches for tucking purposes. With such a construction, when the bed is made, the material puffs out around the foot section, thereby providing additional space for the legs and feet of a user. The preferred embodiment comprises a plurality of spaced-apart pleats, each extending up from the bottom edge and substantially perpendicular thereto. A pleat may be provided at or near the centerline, depending upon use in conjunction with single, twin, full, double, queen or king sizes. Each pleat may a length in the range of 6 to 24 inches and a width in the range of 1 to 6 inches, though the invention is not limited in this regard. Nor is the invention limited in terms of the pleats used, which may be knife, box, double-box, and so forth. The edges are optionally stitched down for a neater appearance.
This invention relates generally to bedding and, in particular, to pleated sheets providing more room for the legs and feet of a user.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn making a bed, the top sheet is conventionally tucked in tightly between the bottom of the mattress and the top of the box spring, providing a clean and wrinkle-free look. However, this leaves no room for the legs or feet of the person(s) using the bed.
The typical prior-art situation is illustrated in
While there do exist proposed solutions to this problem, they tend to be overly complicated and/or expensive to manufacture. According to U.S. Patent No. 4,308,626, a fitted top sheet includes a construction which provides a foot accommodating space when placed in position on a mattress. The sheet has a one piece construction wherein the fitted bottom corners and foot accommodating space are formed by sewing the cut edges of two cut-outs in each side of a generally rectangular piece of material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,098 is directed to a fitted top sheet with a pleat across the foot end thereof to provide room for a user's feet when placed on a mattress. The fitted sheet is of one piece construction with the space being provided by cutting a generally square section out of two adjacent corners at a narrow end of a generally rectangular sheet, folding a portion of the sheet toward the cut edges on the longer side of the sheet parallel thereto, folding the cut edges at each corner and the adjoining folded edges at right angles to the main sheet surface into overlapping contact with each other at each corner, securing the cut edges and folds of the longer sheet side with the cut edge of the sheet end on each corner by sewing or similar means, seaming the end of the fold spaced away from the cut edge along the side surface of the sheet at right angles to the long edge of the sheet, and placing an elastic material along the outer edge of the folded end and extending along each of the side edges to the seam at the fold spaced apart from the cut edge to form a fitted end when placed around a mattress.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,608, a fitted top sheet for a bed has pockets for receiving a mattress at a toe end of the sheet, and a transverse pleat or flap at the toe end for accommodating the user's feet. The pleat and the mattress pocket are formed form a single notch cut into each corner of the toe end of the sheet, with the opposed sides of each notch joined together with a single seam extending the length of the notch. The seam may be formed from a line of stitching of a contrasting color from the sheet body, to form a visual indicator to readily identify the upper or lower sides of the sheet. The sheet is fabricated by a method of cutting a notch into the two lower toe corners of the sheet, with the notch having an interior, relatively steep region, merging with a peripheral relatively shallow region.
Other proposed solutions involve the use of pockets or partial pockets. U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,456 discloses a fitted top sheet adapted for use on a mattress having a given width, a given length and a given thickness, the sheet having a width greater then the given mattress width, parallel side edges and a bottom edge, the sheet including an upper portion and a lower portion folded beneath the upper portion, the edges of the lower portion being non-elastically sewn to the side edges of the upper portion to form a pocket, and the bottom edge of the sheet being elastically gathered to a width approximately equal to the given mattress width when in an unstretched condition.
Despite these articles the need remains for a fitted top sheet that provides enhanced leg and foot room while, at the same time, is easily manufactured and esthetically visually pleasing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention generally resides in a top sheet for use with a bed having a mattress with a head section, a foot section, a width and a thickness. The various embodiments include a flexible sheet of material having a width with a centerline, a length with a top edge and a bottom edge, and one or more pleats extending up from the bottom edge, each pleat having a length at least equal to the thickness of the mattress plus a few inches for tucking purposes. With such a construction, when the bed is made, the material puffs out around the foot section, thereby providing additional space for the legs and feet of a user.
The preferred embodiment comprises a plurality of spaced-apart pleats, each extending up from the bottom edge and substantially perpendicular thereto. A pleat may be provided at or near the centerline, depending upon use in conjunction with single, twin, full, double, queen or king sizes. Each pleat may a length in the range of 6 to 24 inches and a width in the range of 1 to 6 inches, though the invention is not limited in this regard. Nor is the invention limited in terms of the pleats used, which may be knife, box, double-box, and so forth. The edges are optionally stitched down for a neater appearance. The material is woven or non-woven cotton, satin, silk, linen, polyester, microfiber, or some combination thereof.
Having discussed the problems associated with the prior art in conjunction with
As just discussed, the preferred pleat is the box pleat shown in
Claims
1. For use with a bed having a mattress with a head section, a foot section, a width and a thickness, a top sheet affording enhanced leg and foot room, comprising:
- a flexible sheet of material having a width with a centerline corresponding to the width of the mattress and two sides that extend beyon the width, a length with a top edge and a bottom edge; and
- at least three pleats of overlapping material extending up from the bottom edge of the flexible sheet, each pleat being within the width of the sheet and having a length extending beyond the thickness of the mattress plus a few inches for tucking purposes, the overlapping material of each pleat being stitched down from the bottom edge of the sheet to the top of the mattress,
- such that when the bed is made, the material puffs out around the foot section, thereby providing additional space for the legs and feet of a user.
2. The top sheet of claim 1, including a pleat generally parallel to the centerline.
3. The top sheet of claim 1, including a pleat at or near the centerline.
4. The top sheet of claim 1, wherein the pleats are box pleats.
5. (canceled)
6. The top sheet of claim 1, wherein each pleat has a length in the range of 6 to 24 inches.
7. The top sheet of claim 1, wherein each pleat has a width in the range of 1 to 6 inches.
8. The top sheet of claim 1, wherein the material is woven or non-woven cotton, satin, silk, linen, polyester, microfiber, or some combination thereof.
9. The top sheet of claim 1, including a plurality of spaced-apart pleats.
10. The top sheet of claim 1, including a plurality of spaced-apart pleats, with at least some of the spacings being greater that the width of the pleats.
11-18. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 1, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 6, 2007
Inventor: Sandy Dorr (Tipton, MI)
Application Number: 11/445,436
International Classification: A47G 9/02 (20060101);