Blanket with Frustum Shaped Foot Pocket

Abstract

The invention comprises a blanket having a frustum shaped foot pocket and method of making said blanket and further means for securing the upper left corner of the blanket to the upper right corner and around a user's neck for maintaining secure attachment of the blanket to a user.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None

SEQUENCE LISTING

None

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a blanket and more particularly a blanket that promotes foot warmth and maintains position on a user's body and a method for forming said blanket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Blankets in a general have a flat planar shape have been used for many years. However, one downfall of commonly used blankets is that they cannot prevent a person's legs and feet from exiting from the blanket's perimeter. There are many blankets on the market, but very few if any blankets that employ a foot pocket formed into the blanket. While there are blankets with foot pockets in the art, these foot pockets do not promote a central location placement for the feet such that when a person inserts their feet they are directed to one area of the pocket such that their feet are maintained in relative close proximity.

Blankets in the art that have foot pockets are generally wide in nature and span the width of the blanket. These designs do not promote keeping a person's feet close to each other. Having a person's feet and legs in close proximity to each other aids in maintaining warmth in the pocket and also avoids large spans of fabric on a foot pocket from binding a person's feet and causing difficulty for a user to remove their feet from the blanket. Relatedly, foot pockets that span the width of the blanket can cause additional binding on the foot pocket fabric if a person's feet are spaced wide apart in the foot pocket but they want to bring them closer together. No such blanket in the art enables a person's calves, legs and feet to maintain contact with the blanket in close proximity by surrounding and nestling a person's feet and legs. Further, many methods of making blankets require that multiple pieces of material be used to form a blanket. What is needed in the art is a blanket that promotes central foot placement in a foot pocket and is easy to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Specific advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and the description of several illustrative embodiments of the present invention.

The present invention is a blanket and a method for forming a blanket out of a single piece of fabric having a frustum shaped foot pocket. The blanket has a top edge, a left edge, a right edge, a diagonal right edge, a diagonal left edge and a bottom edge. The blanket has an interior side and an exterior side. Further, the blanket has means for connecting the upper right corner to the upper left corner to encapsulate a person with the blanket and to simultaneously allow a user's arms to reside interior in the blanket or to be deployed exterior to the blanket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the inner side of the blanket.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blanket and frustoconical shape of the foot pocket.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a person wearing the blanket.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a person wearing the blanket.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a single piece of rectangular fabric.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the blanket folder lengthwise.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the blanket spread out with one half of the bottom edge sewn to the other bottom edge.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the blanket with a frustoconical foot pocket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a blanket 10 having a top edge 12, a left edge 14 parallel with a right edge 16, a left diagonal edge 18, a right diagonal edge 20 and a bottom edge 22. Shown in FIG. 1 is a frustoconical shaped foot pocket 24. Also shown are securing means 30 for securing the upper left corner 26 to the upper right corner 28. The securing means 30 in one embodiment would be hook and loop fasteners but could also be a button and slot, snap button, or a loop and bar connection among other common mechanical connecting means available in the art.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, use of the blanket 10 by a user allows the user at their discretion to attach the upper left corner 26 to the upper right corner 28 around a user's neck such that the blanket 10 is in close communication all the way from their feet to their upper torso in the neck region. This allows a user to stay warm and to also pull their arms under the blanket or remove their arms from the blanket 10 such that they can freely engage in movements of the hands and arms without fear of the blanket 10 becoming displaced from their upper torso and neck area. This design and configuration allows the blanket 10 to have the same benefits as sleeves but without actually having to employ sleeves on the blanket 10. In addition, a further advantage of the design allows a user to stand up with the blanket 10 still engaged around their neck, remove their feet from the foot pocket 24 and move around without taking the blanket 10 off of their person. For example, a user watching television wishing to get something to drink can stand up and walk to the kitchen to retrieve a drink without taking the blanket 10 off. The blanket can be made of a number of different fabric choices including cotton, polyester, silk and other materials and blends of said materials.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-8, there is shown a sequence and method by which the present blanket 10 is formed. In one embodiment, a rectangular piece of fabric is laid flat as shown in FIG. 5 and then folded in half in a lengthwise fashion as shown in FIG. 6. A hem is then sewn such as to join the bottom edge 22 of one side of the blanket 10 to the other bottom edge 22 such that the blanket on its bottom edge 22 is joined together. FIG. 7 shows the blanket laid out flat spreading the right edge 16 apart from the left edge 14 such that the fabric has an upper portion rectangular in shape and a lower portion that is triangular in shape whereby the blanket has a left diagonal edge 18 adjacent to the left edge 14 and a right diagonal edge 20 adjacent to the right edge 16 and the resulting triangular shaped point 23 that is formed at the bottom of the blanket 10 when the blanket 10 is spread out. The next step is to stitch a hem along the left diagonal edge 18 and the right diagonal edge 20 as this provides reinforcement of the frustum shape of the foot pocket 24. Further a hem 25 is sewn horizontally across the triangular shaped bottom portion of the blanket 10. The hem's 25 location in one embodiment is placed such that 90 percent of the depth of the foot pocket 24 is located above said hem 25. There is then made a horizontal cut on the triangular shaped point 23 below the hem 25 as shown in FIG. 8 such that a blunt frustum shaped or frustoconical foot pocket is formed. Finally, the foot pocket 24 and blanket 10 is reversed and/or turned inside out such that the hems and their seams are out of view and the edges appear uniform and an attractive blanket 10 is presented. In one embodiment, the rectangular piece of fabric has a width that is 70 percent of the length of the fabric. The foot pocket 24 while shown appears flat is actually a three dimensional cavity that allows for insertion of a user's feet such that they nest in close together towards the bottom of the foot pocket 24 and such placement is promoted by the left diagonal edge 18 and the right diagonal edge 20.

The principles, embodiments, and modes of operation of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing specification. The embodiments disclosed herein should be interpreted as illustrating the present invention and not as restricting it. The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the range of equivalent structure available to a person of ordinary skill in the art in any way, but rather to expand the range of equivalent structures in ways not previously contemplated. Numerous variations and changes can be made to the foregoing illustrative embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

NUMBERED ELEMENTS

• 10 blanket
• 12 Top edge
• 14 Left edge
• 16 Right edge
• 18 Left diagonal edge
• 20 Right diagonal edge
• 22 bottom edge
• 23 point
• 24 Foot pocket
• 25 horizontal hem
• 26 Upper left corner
• 28 Upper right corner
• 30 Means for securing upper left corner to upper right corner

Claims

1. A blanket, comprising;

a fabric rectangular in shape having a top edge, a left edge parallel with a right edge, a right diagonal edge, a left diagonal edge and a bottom edge;

a frustoconical shaped foot pocket in the bottom region of the blanket; and

means for securing an upper right corner of the blanket with an upper left corner of the blanket located on interior side of the blanket.

2. The blanket of claim 1 wherein the where the width of said fabric is 70 percent of the length of said rectangular fabric.

3. The blanket of claim 1 wherein the means for securing an upper right corner of the blanket with the upper left corner of the blanket is located on the upper left interior side of the blanket and the upper right interior side of the blanket.

4. A method for forming a blanket comprising:

providing a fabric rectangular in shape whose width is shorter than its length;

sewing a hem along the fabric left edge, top edge and right edge;

folding said fabric lengthwise by taking said right edge and aligning it with said left edge where the width of said fabric has been reduced by 50 percent and the right half of the fabric is resting upon the left half of the fabric;

sewing a hem along the bottom edge such that the right half and left half of the fabric are joined on their bottom edge;

spreading the right edge apart from the left edge such that the fabric has an upper portion rectangular in shape and a lower portion that is triangular in shape whereby the blanket has a left diagonal edge adjacent to the left edge and a right diagonal edge adjacent to the right edge;

sewing a horizontal hem on the triangular lower portion a distance upward from the lower point of the triangular lower portion;

making a horizontal cut directly below and parallel to the horizontal hem;

reversing the rectangular upper portion and triangular lower portion of the fabric such that a blanket with a frustoconical shaped foot pocket is revealed; and

providing means for securing an upper right corner with the upper left corner of the blanket around a person's upper torso and neck area.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the width of the fabric is 70 percent of the length of said fabric.

6. The method claim of claim 4 wherein the means for securing an upper right corner of the blanket with the upper left corner of the blanket is located on the upper left interior side of the blanket and the upper right interior side of the blanket.

7. A method for using a blanket, comprising;

providing a blanket with a frustoconical shaped foot pocket on its bottom end and having means for securing an upper right corner of the blanket to an upper left corner of the blanket located on the interior upper right corner and upper left corner of the blanket;

inserting a user's legs and feet into the foot pocket such that they reside at the bottom of the foot pocket;

securing the blanket upper right corner to the upper left corner wherein a top edge of the blanket is in close proximity to a user's neck and shoulders and the upper left corner and upper right corner are attached using said means for securing behind a user's neck and shoulders such that the blanket shrouds the upper body; and

inserting a user's arms underneath the blanket or deploying a user's arms outside of the blanket while still maintaining secure blanket position on a user's body.