MATTRESS ENCASEMENT FOR PREVENTING BED BUG ESCAPEMENT VIA A ZIPPER OPENING
A mattress encasement made of bug impervious fabric provides a zipper opening for removal of the mattress. A foam pad is stitched at an end of the zipper closure such that when the zipper is located at or near the end, a channel is provided to prevent or obstruct the escapement of bed bugs via the channel and out from a mattress encased by the mattress encasement.
This application makes reference to, and claims priority to, U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 12/498,863 filed Jul. 7, 2009 titled “Mattress Encasement For Preventing Bed Bug Escapement Via A Zipper Opening,” which, in turn, claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/255,913 filed Oct. 22, 2008 titled “Mattress Encasement For Preventing Bed Bug Escapement Via A Zipper Opening,” which, in turn, claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/756,249 filed May 31, 2007 titled “Mattress Encasement For Preventing Bed Bug Escapement Via A Zipper Opening,” which issued on Jun. 30, 2009 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,552,489. U.S. application Ser. No. 11/756,249, in turn, claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/895,011, filed Mar. 15, 2007 and titled “Mattress Encasement For Preventing Bed Bug Escapement Via A Zipper Opening”. Each of U.S. application Ser. Nos. 12/498,863, 12/255,913, 11/756,249 and 60/895,011 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates to an apparatus and method for preventing bed bugs from escaping out of a bed mattress. More particularly, the invention relates to a zipper closure structure on a mattress encasement which, while allowing removal of the mattress from the encasement, prevents the escapement of bed bugs out of the mattress and past the encasement.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONBed bugs are a type of insect that commonly hides within bed mattresses. Such bed bugs are found in motels, hostels or boarding houses where itinerant travelers find overnight lodging. Bed bugs will feed off of the blood of humans sleeping on the mattresses that harbor these insects. Typically, a bed bug will crawl out of the mattress during the night, bite the sleeping victim, and then return to the safe confines of the mattress.
To prevent the escapement of bed bugs from the mattress, and thus contain and starve the bugs, a technique has been devised in which the mattress is surrounded with a fabric cover or encasement to seal the exit of the bugs. The encasement is slipped onto the mattress and closed via a slide fastening mechanism such as a zipper. Bugs escaping from the mattress will encounter the barrier of the fabric cover, and thus will be prevented from reaching a human sleeping on the mattress.
Problems exist, however, with the use of such protective mattress covers or encasements. For example, a user may fail to completely close the zipper on the encasement, or the zipper may become partially unzipped through movement or rustling of the mattress, as for example, when the bed is made and remade. This results in an opening at the zipper end through which bed bugs may escape. Indeed, even zippers that have been carefully and completely closed may still leave a narrow opening at the end of the zipper that is a large enough opening for a small bed bug to crawl through and escape.
Accordingly, there exists a need to prevent the escapement of bed bugs from a zipper opening in a mattress protective encasement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a mattress encasement structure which prevents bed bug escapement from the zipper opening of the encasement.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of preventing bed bugs from exiting a mattress encasement at the zipper end of the encasement.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a mattress encasement having a zipper opening for receiving a mattress. A barrier structure is disposed at the zipper end of the encasement in order to thwart bed bug travel to any small opening which may form at the zipper end.
In addition, objects of the invention are achieved in a method for guiding bed bugs housed within a mattress relative to a zipper portion of a mattress encasement. The bugs are channeled away from the zipper end of the encasement using a barrier structure.
Referring to
An opening 103 is formed at one end 105 of the encasement. Opening 103 extends along the entire width of end 105, and extends a short distance along each of sides 107, 109 of the encasement. Opening 103 allows mattress 101 to slide into and out of encasement 100 so that the encasement may be laundered from time to time.
Opening 103 may be closed by a zipper closure 111 to seal the entire encasement opening 103. Zipper closure 111 includes a zipper head 120 and a pair of zipper tracks 121, 123. Tracks 121, 123 are disposed around opening 103 in a confronting relationship and are zipped together in a conventional fashion. Tracks 121, 123 have meshable teeth which interleave together as caused by zipper head 120 guiding the two tracks 121, 123 together.
Referring to
As shown in
Foam pad 140 may be made from a flexible resilient foam material, but other materials may be used as well. For example, foam pad 140 may be a fabric material, a rubber material, or any other material which may be stitched to fabric 102. In addition, foam pad 140 may be compressible such that contact made by mattress 101 against the lower surface 141 of pad 140 causes the pad to compress between the mattress and the encasement fabric 102, forcing the top surface 143 of pad 140 into contact with fabric 102 as well as into contact with portions of the zipper structure disposed above pad 140.
As shown in
Stitching is applied so as to securely attach foam pad 140 to encasement fabric 102. The stitches are sufficiently close together so as to prevent a bed bug from passing through any of the stitched rows. For example, referring to
Stitching patterns of a rectangular shape are thus formed on each side of the zipper track, attaching foam pad 140 to encasement fabric 102. As will suggest itself, other stitching patterns may be used. For example a stitching pattern of an “X” shape, or diagonal lines may also be employed. In addition, stitching may encompass end location 125, as shown at 185. As shown in
Referring to
Referring now to
As seen in
Foam pad 140 is of a length such that when zipper 120 is at a location at or near end point 125, channel 151 is relatively long making it difficult for a bed bug to crawl through channel 151 to reach the zipper end 125.
In order to prevent bed bugs from escaping through the channel 151, it is preferred that the maximum height of the channel be small relative to the height of a crawling bed bug and yet provide a sufficient space to receive the lower portion 131 of zipper head 120. Accordingly, depending on the material of the foam pad 140 and the fabric cover 102, and the size of the zipper head 120 and zipper tracks 121, 123, the preferred distance between stitching segments 160 and 162, and the zipper tracks will vary. The size of the channel 151 may also vary depending on the size of the bed bugs intended to be prevented from escaping the mattress.
For example, the distance between stitching rows 160, 162, and respective tracks 121, 123 may be 1/16 of an inch. The distance between stitching rows 160, 162 may be 5/16 of an inch. The distance between stitching rows 164, 181 may be 2½ inches. The height of lower portion 131 of the zipper may be 1/32 of an inch.
Referring to
Accordingly, bed bugs attempting to escape the mattress encasement are impeded from crawling through zipper opening 110 (
While the invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1-33. (canceled)
34. A method of preventing bed bugs from escaping a bedding apparatus encased with a bedding apparatus encasement, said bedding apparatus encasement comprising: said method comprising the following steps:
- a) a fabric cover for surrounding the bedding apparatus, said cover formed of a fabric that is impervious to bed bugs;
- b) an opening for receiving the bedding apparatus, said opening having an end location; and
- c) a slide fastening mechanism disposed in said opening and operable to close said opening by sliding said slide fastening mechanism, said slide fastening mechanism comprising: i) a zipper head; and ii) a pair of zipper tracks disposed relative to one another and defining a longitudinal axis, said zipper track being mateable by sliding of said zipper head to close said opening and extending at least to said end location of said opening;
- (1) providing a unitary and continuous material, having a top surface, at said end location of said opening, said top surface extending relative to said zipper tracks between said zipper tracks and said bedding apparatus, said material being impervious to bed bugs;
- (2) confining the escape route of bed bugs through said opening at said end location, said step of confining including providing a closeable channel within which said zipper head slides, said step of providing a closeable channel includes creating a barrier located to the outside of each of said zipper tracks, said step of creating a barrier includes stitching said material to said bedding apparatus encasement;
- (3) sliding said zipper head toward said end location and above said material to mate said zipper tracks and acting to close said opening and acting to close said channel; and
- (4) forcing with a force said top surface of said material into contact with said zipper tracks, said forcing including compressing said material by the bedding apparatus and generating said force when said zipper has closed said zipper tracks above said material.
35. The method of claim 34 wherein an end of each of said zipper tracks is located at said end location.
36. The method of claim 34, wherein said zipper head sliding to said end location is to close said opening.
37. The method of claim 34, wherein said force is sufficient to thwart bed bug traversal along said channel.
38. The method of claim 34, wherein said bedding apparatus is a mattress.
39. The method of claim 34, wherein said stitching includes stitching a first barrier row relative to a first side of said longitudinal axis of said zipper tracks, and stitching a second barrier row relative to a second side of said longitudinal axis of said zipper tracks.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein said channel is formed between said first barrier row and said second barrier row.
41. The method of claim 39, wherein the distance between said first barrier row and said second barrier row is at least one-sixteenth of an inch.
42. The method of claim 41, wherein the distance between said first barrier row and said second barrier row is about one-sixteenth of an inch.
43. The method of claim 41, wherein the distance between said first barrier row and said second barrier row is about five-sixteenths of an inch.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 11, 2010
Publication Date: Jan 20, 2011
Inventors: James Bell (Glencoe, IL), Yueh-Jyh Chen (Shanghai), Ching-Yao Yeh (Shanghai)
Application Number: 12/703,900
International Classification: A47G 9/02 (20060101);