Blanket apparatus for distributing conditioned air into zones of a bed

Abstract

A bed covering or blanket apparatus for accepting and distributing a pressurized flow of conditioned air into a zone around the body of a bed occupant. The apparatus includes an upper layer and lower layer of differing air permeability, joined to form a flow cavity between them for the pressurized air. A plurality of joining methods between the upper and lower layer is provided within the flow area to prevent the blanket from ballooning under the pressurized airflow. The bed covering or blanket apparatus contains means to cover an entire bed while directing pressurized conditioned air to specific zones of the bed. There is connection of two independent supplies of conditioned air into a single top layer of bedding under which multiple bed occupants sleep, to evenly distribute such independent supplies into specific dual zone areas. The apparatus achieves its function by utilizing materials that are ordinarily used in existing bed linens and comforters.

Claims

1. A bed covering apparatus for receiving and distributing a pressurized airflow, the apparatus comprising: a bedding material that is flexible to overlay a bed, the bedding material having at least one zone, the at least one zone having an associated region and an at least one associated inlet, the at least one associated inlet being arranged to channel airflow into the associated region, the bedding material including a plurality of layers in contact with each other in a one over the other relation to form at least one internal air cavity between the plurality of layers, the plurality of sheet layers including an upper layer and a lower layer; and a plurality of joining elements that join together the plurality of layers to each other at a plurality of spaced apart locations so as to suppress a ballooning effect that would otherwise arise from inflation by pressurized air wherein the plurality of joining elements include three of the joining elements within confines of any given area of quadrilateral shape having all right angles within the associated region, the given area being spaced away from the at least one air inlet, the bedding material having a further area closer than the given area is to the at least one associated inlet and that is of an identical dimension and same relative orientation to that of the given area, the further area lacking any of the joining elements, the further region extending from the at least one associated inlet.

2. The apparatus in claim 1, further comprising: a middle layer that is of smaller size than the lower layer and arranged between the lower layer and the upper layer.

3. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein the upper and lower layers are woven layers, the bedding material also including a thermal layer that has a higher thermal insulating characteristic than the woven layers, at least one of the woven layers being sewn onto the thermal layer, the joining elements being thread stitches, the bedding material being a blanket.

4. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein the at least one internal airflow cavity includes two separate internal airflow cavities, the at least one air inlet includes two separate air inlets within respective ones of dual zones of the bedding material wherein the two separate air inlets communicate with respective ones of the two separate internal air cavities for delivery of the pressurized air therein.

5. The apparatus in claim 4, wherein the pressurized air within at least one of the two separate internal airflow cavities is in a heated condition at a temperature higher than that of ambient temperature and the pressurized air within a remaining one of the two separate internal airflow cavities is at the ambient or cooled temperature.

6. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein the pressurized air within the at least one internal airflow cavity is in a heated condition that is at a higher temperature than that of ambient temperature.

7. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein the pressurized air within the at least one internal airflow cavity is at ambient or cooled temperature.

8. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein the bedding material has a center area and has end regions, the center area separating the end regions from each other, further comprising: means for sealing the center area from each of the end regions so that each of the end regions remain in a non-inflated state despite the center area being in an inflated state from the delivery of the pressurized air into the at least one internal airflow cavity.

9. The apparatus in claim 1, wherein the at least one air inlet is formed from portions of the plurality of layers and bounded by snaps, the snaps being arranged to snap closed and become hidden from view within folds of the plurality of layers.

10. The bed covering apparatus in claim 9, wherein the at least one air inlet is also bounded by an elastic band in addition to being bounded by the snaps, the snaps being arranged in a manner relative to the elastic band so that the elastic band and the snaps become hidden from view within folds of the woven layers with the snaps closed.

11. The apparatus in claim 1, further comprising: multiple redundant air inlet sections at edges in the bedding material that are configured to be alternately sealed and unsealed.

12. The bed covering apparatus in claim 1, wherein the layers are woven and arranged in a one over another relation with the upper layer having a tighter weave than that of the lower layer so that air permeability through the lower layer is higher than that for the upper layer.

13. The bed covering apparatus in claim 12, wherein the lower layer has no visible holes, slits or apertures that would tend to increase air permeability beyond that of the weave of material of the lower layer.

14. A method for receiving and distributing a pressurized airflow in a bed covering apparatus the method comprising: providing a bedding material that is flexible to overlay a bed, the bedding material having at least one zone, the at least one zone having an associated region and at least one associated air inlet, the associated at least one air inlet being arranged to channel airflow into the associated region, the bedding material including a plurality of layers in contact with each other in a one over the other relation to form at least one internal air cavity between the plurality of layers, the plurality of layers including an upper layer and a lower layer; and arranging a plurality of joining elements to join together the plurality of layers to each other at a plurality of spaced apart locations to suppress a ballooning effect that would otherwise arise from inflation by pressurized air, wherein the plurality of joining elements include three of the joining elements within confines of any given area of quadrilateral shape having all right angles within the associated region, the given area being spaced away from the at least one air inlet, the bedding material having a further area closer than the given area is to the at least one associated inlet and that is of an identical dimension and same relative orientation to that of the given area, the further area lacking any of the joining elements, the further region extending from the at least one associated inlet.

15. The method in claim 14, further comprising: a middle layer that is of smaller size than the lower layer and sewn to the lower layer and arranged between the lower layer and the upper layer with the air inlet spaced above the middle layer.

16. The method in claim 14, further comprising: providing the bedding material with a higher thermal insulating characteristic than that of the plurality of layers by including a thermal layer sewn to at least one of the plurality of layers, the joining elements being thread stitches, the bedding material being a blanket.

17. The method in claim 14, wherein the at least one associated air inlet includes two separate air inlets, further comprising: delivering the pressurized air into respective ones of the two separate internal airflow cavities, the two separate air inlets being in fluid communication with respective ones of two separate internal airflow cavities.

18. The method in claim 17, wherein the pressurized air within at least one of the two separate internal airflow cavities is in a heated condition at a higher temperature than that of ambient temperature and the pressurized air within at least another of the two separate internal airflow cavities is at the ambient or cooled temperature.

19. The method in claim 14, wherein the pressurized air within the at least one internal airflow cavity is in a heated condition that is at a higher temperature than that of ambient temperature.

20. The method in claim 14, wherein the pressurized air within the at least one internal airflow cavity is at ambient or cooled temperature.

21. The method in claim 14, wherein the bedding material has a center area and opposite end regions, the center area separating the opposite end regions from each other, further comprising: sealing the center area from each of the opposite end regions so that each of the opposite end regions remain in a non-inflated state despite the center area being in an inflated state from the delivery of the pressurized air into the at least one internal airflow cavity.

22. The method in claim 14, further comprising: forming the at least one air inlet from portions of the plurality of layers and bounded by an elastic band and snaps, the snaps being arranged to snap closed so that the elastic band and the snaps become hidden from view within folds of the plurality of layers.

23. The method in claim 14, further comprising: providing multiple redundant air inlet sections at edges in the bedding material that are configured to be sealed and unsealed as needed.

24. The method in claim 14, wherein the bedding material has two sides and two ends, the at least one air inlet including two inlets; further comprising: arranging one of the two inlets at one of the ends of the bedding material and another of the two inlets at one of the sides of the bedding material, the two inlets being in fluid communication with the at least one internal airflow cavity.

25. The method in claim 14, wherein the layers are woven, further comprising: arranging the layers in a one over another relation with the upper layer having a tighter weave than that of the lower layer so that air permeability through the lower layer is higher than that for the upper layer.

26. The method in claim 25, further comprising: providing the lower layer free of visible holes, slits or apertures that would tend to increase air permeability beyond that of the weave of material of the lower layer.

27. A bed covering apparatus, comprising: a bedding-material made of layers of flexible material to overlay a bed, the bedding material being configured into dual zones, each of the dual zones having an associated region and at least one associated inlet, the at least one associated inlet being arranged to channel airflow into one of the associated region, each of the associated regions of the dual zones having a plurality of joining elements that join together an upper layer of the bedding material and a lower layer of the bedding material, wherein the plurality of joining elements include three of the joining elements within confines of any given area of quadrilateral shape having all right angles within the associated region, which is spaced away from the at least one associated inlet, the bedding covering having a further area closer than the given area is to the at least one associated inlet and that is of an identical dimension and same relative orientation to that of the given area, the further area lacking any of the joining elements, the further region extending from the at least one associated inlet.

28. The bed covering apparatus in claim 27, further comprising: two airflow sources, one of the two airflow sources being a source of ventilated air, another of the two airflow sources being a source of tempered air that is heated to a temperature higher than that of the ventilated air.

29. The apparatus in claim 27, wherein the upper and lower layers are woven and arranged in a one over another relation with the upper layer having a tighter weave than that of the lower layer so that air permeability through the lower layers is higher than that for the upper layer.

30. The apparatus in claim 29, wherein the lower layer has no visible holes, slits or apertures that would tend to increase air permeability beyond that of the weave of material of the lower layer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the appended claims.

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exterior view of a blanket in accordance with an embodiment of the invention that distributes conditioned air into zones of a bed.

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an exterior view of an uninflated blanket in accordance with a dual zone embodiment of the invention that distributes conditioned air into zones of a bed.

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an interior view of an internal layer of the dual zone embodiment in accordance with the dual zone embodiment of FIG. 2.

(5) FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing and end view of layers of the bed covering stacked one over another.

(6) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an exterior view of a non-inflated blanket in accordance with a single zone embodiment of the invention that distributes conditioned air into zones of a bed.

(7) FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an interior view of an internal layer of the single embodiment in accordance with the single zone embodiment of FIG. 4.

(8) FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a hose seal in an open position accordance with the invention to show snaps about an opening.

(9) FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a hose seal in the open position accordance with FIG. 6 but turned in a manner to reveal an elastic band.

(10) FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a hose seal in a closed position in which the elastic seal and snaps are hidden from view.

(11) FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the further blanket of FIGS. 2 and 3 after inflation of the blanket.

(12) FIGS. 10 and 11 show a blanket before and after inflation, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(13) Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a pictorial illustration of a bed covering in accordance with the invention. There is an unsealed area 1 between upper and lower sheets where a pressurized airflow can be supplied by a hose or other means into the flow area. However, there is a sealed edge 4 between the upper and lower layer sheets. As a consequence of the sealed edge 4, the sealed upper and lower sheets form a flow area 7. A thermal layer may be sewn onto either of the upper and lower sheets to provide a greater thermal insulating characteristic to the bed covering than from just the upper and lower sheets. In so doing, the bed covering can be considered to be a blanket.

(14) There are plurality of thread stitches 2 between the upper and lower layer sheets allows open flow paths, but prevents a ballooning effect of the joined sheets from arising when under pressurized airflow. Such a ballooning effect is avoided in accordance with the construction of the bed covering or blanket in accordance with the invention because of the placement of the thread stitches 2 in a uniform manner in the central region of the bed covering or blanket. Instead of the thread stitches 2, glue or mechanical fasteners or any form of joining means may be used to join together the upper and lower sheets. The thread stitches 2 may be tack stitches.

(15) An optional sealing line 3 between the upper and lower layers may be provided to further distinguish a smaller zone in the bed that will not need to be inflated. An additional optional sealing line 5 between the upper and lower layers may be provided to create an independent dual zone flow area. The sealing lines 3, 5 may be in the form of a sealing mechanism such as a conventional hook and loop fastener strip that fastens the hooks and loops to each other in a releasable manner, or ordinary thread stitching

(16) An additional unsealed area 6 between the upper and lower sheets may be provided for a second independent conditioned flow of air to support the dual zone airflow nature of the apparatus. The unsealed areas 1, 6 constitute ports or access areas for accommodating insertion of ends of air hoses that discharge pressurized conditioned air from a source into the flow area 7.

(17) Turning to the dual zone embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3 and the single zone embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the bed covering or blanket 10 has upper and lower sheet layers 11 with an interior (or middle) layer 12 between and optionally a thermal layer 13 (as shown in FIG. 3A) sewn to one of the upper or lower sheet layers 11 to provide a higher thermal insulating characteristic than is afforded just by the upper and lower sheet layers 11 and the interior layer 12. The interior layer 12 is shorter than the upper and lower sheet layers 11 and may be sewn onto a bottom portion and topside of the lower one of the sheet layers 11 to form a double layer section. This double layer section serves to create two different zones of air permeability to force more air to exit towards the top of the sheet. The interior layer 12 is also preferably sewn to side and bottom sheet seams and may be anchored to a row of tack stitches 2 at the locations indicated in FIGS. 3 and 5. As an alternative and not shown in the drawings, the interior layer 12 could be sewn instead to the bottom portion and underside of the upper sheet layer 11.

(18) The upper one of the sheet layers 11 is preferably a downproof sateen and the lower one of the sheet layers 11 as well as the interior layer 12 are preferably of percale. The lower one of the sheet layers 11 is more air permeable than the upper one of the sheet layers 11. The upper portion of the lower sheet layer is more air permeable than the lower portion of the lower sheet layer due to the double layer. As a result, blowing air into the flow area 7 between the upper and lower sheet layers 11 will result in most of the blown air permeating through upper regions of lower sheet layer 11 that are away from the lower regions where the interior layer 12 is present.

(19) There are two sealing lines 5A, 5B in FIGS. 2 and 3 that extend centrally from an optional sealing line 3 to the bottom edge of the upper and lower sheets 11. The sealing lines 3, 5A, 5B may be in the form of a stitching thread or a conventional hook and loop fastener strip that fastens the hooks and loops to each other in a releasable manner. Thus, one may convert the bed covering or blanket 10 of FIGS. 2 and 3 having dual zones into one having a single zone in the manner of that of FIGS. 4 and 5, except there would still be the two openings 14A, 14B at the bottom as in FIGS. 2 and 3 as opposed to just a single bottom opening 14 as in FIGS. 4 and 5.

(20) Additional sealing lines 15A, 15B are provided that extend from the bottom edge of each of the side openings 13A, 13B in a direction inwardly and then turn to run adjacent to respective sides of the bottom openings 14A, 14B. In addition, there is an additional sealing line 15C that run from the remaining sides of the bottom openings 14A, 14B inwardly and the across as shown. The purpose is to shrink the total flow area of the sheet system to only those areas of the bed where flow is desired.

(21) In the case of the bed covering or blanket 10 being for king size, there are five tack stitches per row on each side joining top and bottom layers, evenly spaced apart from each other starting at the center seam. In the case of the bed covering or blanket 10 being for a queen size, there are four tack stitches per row on each side instead of five. In the case of the bed covering or blanket 10 being for double size, there may be three track stitches per row on each side instead of four for the queen size and instead of five for the king size.

(22) Since the dual zone embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3 has dual zones, each of the zones is provided with its own set of side and bottom openings 13A, 13B, and 14A, 14B. Since the single zone embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5 has a single zone, there are side openings 13A, 13B, but only a single centrally located bottom opening 14. Multiple inlet openings are provided into the same flow area to provide flexibility to the user to determine air inlet location most suitable to their bed setup or preference.

(23) The flow areas 7 throughout the bed covering or blanket 10 become inflated around the thread stitches 2. Even though the bottom portion of the bed covering or blanket 10 lacks tack stitches 2, the enhanced reduction in air permeability afforded by the interior layer 12 in effect causes the air to flow or migrate under pressure to the portion of exterior layer 11 that has greater air permeability. The net effect is to allow inlet of air from the lower portion of the bed covering where the feet would commonly be located, and to have much of this air bypassed to the area of the bed covering where the torso would be located.

(24) In the case of the single zone embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the number of tack stitches per row on each side is the same as for the dual zone embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, except there is an additional tack stitch provided at the center between the two sides, where arises the central divider space 15 for the dual zone embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3. Also, the sealing lines 15A, 15B each extend from respective areas adjacent the lower sides of the side openings 13A, 13B inwardly until turning to run adjacent respective sides of the single centrally located bottom opening 14. The sealing lines 15A, 15B (FIGS. 2 and 4) and the sealing line 15C (FIG. 2) may each in the form of common thread stitching.

(25) The unsealed area 1 and 6 of FIG. 1, the side openings 13A, 13B of FIGS. 2-5, the bottom openings 14A, 14B of FIGS. 2 and 3 and the bottom opening 14 of FIGS. 4-5 each constitute an access area when open for the introduction of pressurized conditioned air via an air hose from a source of such pressurized conditioned air. The open position of the access area is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and the closed position of the access area is shown in FIG. 8.

(26) That is, the access area is opened to form an opening 21 by unsnapping snaps 22 to gain access to the flow areas 7 of FIGS. 1-5. An air discharge end of an air hose may be inserted into the opening 21. An elastic band 23, which is secured to the bed covering or blanket about the periphery of the opening 21, may be stretched about the hose to help retain and create a seal around the air hose in its inserted position for discharging air into the flow areas 7.

(27) The opening 21 may be closed by snapping closed the snaps 22. Once the snaps 22 are closed, the snaps 22 and the elastic band 23 act such that they cannot be seen exteriorly as depicted in FIG. 8. Instead, all that can be seen is a fold line 25 that forms from the blanket fabric as a result of the closed snaps.

(28) Indeed, the user is given a choice of using either a side opening (1, 6, 13A, 13B of FIGS. 1-5 as applicable) or a bottom opening (14, 14A, 14B of FIGS. 2-5 as applicable) for the air hose. The side or bottom openings that are not used for the air hose, therefore, may be closed by snapping closed the snaps 22, thereby hiding the elastic band 23 and the snaps 22 from view in the manner of FIG. 8. This hidden opening appearance is strongly preferred for the multiple redundant access areas that may not be used. The result from inflation of the bed covering or blanket is shown in FIG. 9. As can appreciated, the location of the tack stitches 2 in a uniform manner prevents giving rise to a ballooning effect.

(29) Turning to FIGS. 10 and 11, a simple sheet assembly with an interior air cavity is shown before and after its inflation, respectively. Indeed, the bed covering in FIG. 11 could be even more balloony than shown. Unlike the embodiments of the invention, there are no uniformly spaced apart joining means, such as thread stitches, to join together the plurality of sheets that comprising the bed covering. The presence of the thread stitches 2 of FIGS. 1-5 and 9 arranged in the uniform manner throughout the central region of the bed covering prevents the full ballooning effect of FIG. 11 from arising. The absence of such thread stitches, as in the bed covering of FIGS. 10 and 11, enables the ballooning effect to arise upon inflation of the internal airflow cavity. In practice this ballooning could result in a vertical inflation of more than 18 inches, which is very undesirable.

(30) While the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.