Mattress cover border panel

Abstract

A multi-needle quilting machine is provided with a tape or ribbon guide that is operated by a method by which a narrow strip is fed against a facing layer of a wide multi-layered material as it is fed into the quilting machine. In the quilting machine, series of chain stitches are sewn, at least one of which joins the tape and layers of the multi-layered material together with the same thread in a quilting process, thereby applying the tape to the quilted product in a single quilting operation without the need for a post-quilting tape application step. The tape may form a decorative strip or have unsewn sections that serve as handles for a mattress when the quilted product is formed into a mattress cover.

Claims

1. A mattress cover border panel section comprising: a facing layer of material; one or more backing layers or fill layers of material; a tape strip on a side of the facing layer that is opposite a backing layer or fill layer, the tape strip having two longitudinally extending edges running along the length of the facing layer; and one or more intermittent series of chain stitch sequences, each chain stitch sequence securing the facing layer and each of the backing layers or fill layers together, a center stitch sequence of each of the series also securing the facing layer, each of the backing layers or fill layers, and the tape strip to the other layers wherein the center stitch sequence is located entirely within the two longitudinal edges of the tape strip and the other chain sequences of each series are located outside the two longitudinal edges and wherein one or more intermittent series of chain stitches form a quilting pattern.

2. The mattress cover border panel section of claim 1 wherein: the center stitch sequences that secure the facing layer, each of the backing layers or fill layers, and the tape strip together are sewn in a series of at least two stitch sequences between which at least a needle thread of which the sequences are formed is cut, a first of the at least two stitch sequences ending in a tack, and a second stitch sequence beginning along the tape spaced at a distance from the tack; and the tape between the tack and the beginning of the second stitch sequence forms a mattress handle.

3. The mattress cover border panel section of claim 2 wherein: the center stitch sequences that secure the facing layer, each of the backing layers or fill layers, and the tape strip together are sewn in a series of at least three stitch sequences at the end of each of at least two of which a tack is sewn, and another one of the stitch sequences begins along the tape spaced at a distance from the tack, so that the tape between the tack and said beginning of the second stitch sequence forms a mattress handle; whereby at least two mattress handles are formed by the tape along the border panel section.

4. The mattress cover border panel section of claim 3 further comprising a tack at the beginning of each stitch sequence.

5. A rectangular mattress comprising: at least four border panel sections of claim 1; an interior having a top, a bottom, two side edges, and two end edges; a top panel on said top of the interior; a bottom panel on said bottom of the interior; and one or more border panels formed of the at least four border panel sections; the one or more border panels joining the top and bottom panels and surrounding the edges, such that at least two border panel sections are located on one of the side edges of the interior; the panels forming a mattress cover surrounding the interior and having at least two mattress handles along each of said side edges.

6. A mattress cover border panel comprising at least one border panel section of claim 1.

7. A mattress cover comprising at least one border panel section of claim 6.

8. A rectangular mattress comprising the mattress cover of claim 7.

9. A rectangular mattress comprising: at least four border panel sections of claim 2; an interior having a top, a bottom, two side edges, and two end edges; a top panel on said top of the interior; a bottom panel on said bottom of the interior; and one or more border panels formed of the at least four border panel sections; the one or more border panels joining the top and bottom panels and surrounding the edges, such that at least two border panel sections are located on each of the side edges of the interior; the panels forming a mattress cover surrounding the interior and having at least two mattress handles along each of said side edges.

10. A mattress cover border panel comprising at least one border panel section of claim 2.

11. A mattress cover comprising at least one border panel section of claim 10.

12. A rectangular mattress comprising the mattress cover of claim 11.

13. A border panel comprising at least two border panel sections of claim 3.

14. A rectangular mattress comprising: one or more border panels formed of two border panel sections of claim 13, an interior having a top, a bottom, two side edges, and two end edges; a top panel on said top of the interior; a bottom panel on said bottom of the interior; and the one or more border panels including at least four border panel sections joining the top and bottom panels and surrounding the edges, at least two border panel sections being on each of the side edges of the interior; the panels forming a mattress cover surrounding the interior and having at least two mattress handles along each of said side edges.

15. The mattress of claim 14 wherein the border panel sections further include a tack at the beginning of each stitch sequence.

16. A mattress cover border panel section comprising: a facing layer of material; a backing layer of material; a fill layer of material; a tape strip having two longitudinally extending edges running along the length of the facing layer; and multiple intermittent series of chain stitch sequences vertically spaced from each other, top and bottom chain stitch sequences each securing the facing layer, the backing layer and the fill layer together, a center stitch sequence of each of the series also securing the tape strip to the other layers wherein the center stitch sequence is located entirely within the two longitudinally extending edges of the tape strip and the other series of chain stitches are located outside the two longitudinal edges and wherein multiple intermittent series of chain stitches form a quilting pattern.

17. A mattress cover border panel comprising at least one border panel section of claim 16.

18. A mattress cover comprising at least one border panel section of claim 17.

19. A rectangular mattress comprising the mattress cover of claim 18.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1A illustrates a length of quilted mattress border panel of the prior art having mattress handles secured thereto.

(2) FIG. 1B illustrates a length of quilted mattress border panel of the prior art having a tape strip sewn thereto to form mattress handles along the border panel.

(3) FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are drawings illustrating lengths of quilted mattress border panels according to embodiments of the present invention in which the same quilting stitch sequences applied in the quilting process to attach the layers of the quilted material together also secure the tape or ribbon to the border panels to form decorative strips or mattress handles.

(4) FIG. 3 is an isometric diagram depicting a multi-needle quilting machine having structure attached thereto for applying tape or ribbon to form the quilted products of FIGS. 2A to 2C during the quilting process according to principles of the present invention.

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a tape guide attachment portion of a quilting machine according to the diagram of FIG. 3.

(6) FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a quilting machine of FIGS. 3 and 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(7) In the detailed description below, parts identified by a common number followed by a letter to distinguish multiple similar ones of such parts may be referred to as a group by the number alone. For example, border panel 10 may refer to border panels 10a, 10b.

(8) FIG. 1A shows a mattress border panel 10a of the prior art formed of multiple layers of material 11a and 11b that have been sewn together with sequences of stitches 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d in a quilting process. The border panel 10a also has handles 14 (14a, 14b) attached thereto in a subsequent manufacturing step, using grommets 15 and cord 16 secured in a separate post-quilting process.

(9) FIG. 1B shows another mattress border panel 10b of the prior art formed of multiple layers of material 11a and 11b that have been sewn together with sequences of stitches 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d in a quilting process. The border panel 10b also has a tape or ribbon strip 17 sewn to the quilted fabric on a separate single-needle quilting machine after the quilted border panel has been removed from the quilting machine. The strip 17 is attached to the quilted fabric by the application of stitch blocks 18. The sections of the tape or strip 17 between the stitch blocks 18 form handles 14 (14c, . . . , 14h) attached thereto in a subsequent manufacturing step. The stitch blocks 18 are lock-stitch sequences sewn on a traditional lock-stitch, single-needle, handle sewing machine.

(10) FIG. 2A illustrates one embodiment of a mattress border panel 12a formed of multiple layers of material 11a, 11b and 11c according to principles of the present invention. The layers of material include a facing layer 11a, a backing layer 11c and one or more fill layers 11b that have been sewn together with sequences of stitches 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d in a quilting process on a multi-needle quilting machine. The border panel 12a also has a tape or ribbon strip 17a sewn to the quilted fabric with the same sequences of stitches 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d that joined the layers of material 11a, 11b, and 11c in the quilting process on the multi-needle quilting machine. The strip 17a, as shown, is attached to the quilted fabric by the application of the continuous stitch sequences 13b and 13c that overlap onto the strip 17a. So sewn, the strip 17a can form a decorative strip on a mattress cover or other quilted panel secured to the top of the facing layer 11a with some of the same stitch sequences, namely 13b and 13c, that secure the layers 11a, 11b and 11c of the quilted panel 12a together.

(11) FIG. 2B illustrates another embodiment of a mattress border panel 12b formed of multiple layers of material 11a, 11b and 11c according to principles of the present invention. The layers of material include facing layer 11a, backing layer 11c and one or more fill layers 11b all sewn together with TACK AND JUMP intermittent series of stitch sequences 13e, 13f, 13g in a quilting process on a multi-needle quilting machine. The border panel 12b also has a tape or ribbon strip 17b sewn to the quilted fabric with one of the same sequences of stitches 13e, 13f, 13g, namely, the center sequence 13f that joined the layers of material 11a, 11b and 11c in the quilting process on the multi-needle quilting machine. The strip 17b, as shown, is attached to the quilted fabric by the application of the series of sequences of stitches 13f that form a tack at each end and spaced from each other along the length of the strip 17b, leaving a section of unstitched tape or ribbon to form handles 19 that serve as handles for a mattress when the panel 12b is sewn to top and bottom panels to form a mattress cover. Each of the series of chain stitch sequences are formed by a needle thread on the facing layer side of the multi-layered material and a looper thread on the opposite side of the material, with at least the needle thread being cut between the sequences.

(12) A further embodiment of a mattress border panel 12c, formed of multiple layers of material 11a, 11b and 11c, according to principles of the present invention, is illustrated in FIG. 2C. The layers of material include facing layer 11a, backing layer 11c and one or more fill layers 11b sewn together with TACK AND JUMP intermittent series of stitch sequence pairs 13h, 13i, 13j, 13k, 13l sewn simultaneously with multiple staggered rows of needles, in a quilting process on a multi-needle quilting machine. The border panel 12c has a tape or ribbon strip 17c sewn to the quilted fabric with one of the same sequence pairs 13h, 13i, 13j, 13k, 13l, namely, the center sequence pair 13j that joined the layers of material 11a, 11b and 11c in the quilting process on the multi-needle quilting machine. The strip 17c, as shown, is attached to the quilted fabric by the application of the series of sequence pair 13j tacked at each end and spaced from each other along the length of the strip 17c, leaving a section of unstitched tape or ribbon to form handles 19 that serve as handles for a mattress when the panel 12c is sewn to top and bottom panels to form a mattress cover.

(13) The strips are generally narrow relative to the widths of the web layers of the material 11 to which they are attached. Where the border panels are, for example, 8 to 16 inches wide, the strips are typically to 2 inches wide.

(14) The border panels 12a, 12b and 12c of FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are sewn in a border panel quilting process performed on a multi-needle quilting machine, such as machine 20 illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. The quilting machine 20 has a frame 21 on which is mounted a plurality of rows of needles 22 that reciprocate through a needle plate 23 that supports a web of multi-layered material 24 for quilting. Below the needle plate are a plurality of rows of loopers 25 (shown in FIG. 3) that correspond to the needles 22 and operate to form a plurality of chain stitch sequences in the material 24 during a quilting process. The machine 20 in the illustrated embodiment is a narrower version of a wide format quilter that is used to quilt top and bottom panels of a mattress. The quilting machine 20 is provided for sewing border panels, such as the panels 12a, 12b and 12c of FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. Such panels may be sewn individually or in groups of two or three arranged side-by-side.

(15) According to certain principles of the present invention, the machine 20 is provided with a tape guide attachment 30 across the front thereof to feed one or more rolls of tape or ribbon 32 into the machine 20 to be sewn against the layer of facing material 11a during quilting. The ribbon 32 is fed from a spool 33 rotatably supported on a transverse shaft that extends across the front of the machine 20. The ribbon or tape 32 is fed from the spool 33 through a tension device 35 and into the machine 20 on the top of the layer of facing material 11a. In the machine 20, chain stitch sequences 13 are sewn with the simultaneous operation of the needle drive 21 and looper drive 25 to join the layers 11a, 11b and 11c together and, at the same time and with some of the same stitch sequences 13, to sew the tape or ribbon 17 to the facing layer 11a. As shown in FIG. 3, using the patterns described in connection with the description of the panel 12b of FIG. 2B, handles 19 can be formed of the tape 17.

(16) Although only certain exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention.