MATTRESS PROTECTOR WITH IMPROVED MOISTURE MANAGEMENT AND BED BUG CONTAINMENT

Abstract

A mattress protector completely encloses a mattress to preclude bed bugs from escaping. All of the interior surfaces of the protector are coated or laminated with a film laminate that is resistant to bed bug bites. A zipper extends partially around the circumference of the mattress protector so that when the zipper is opened an opening is provided allowing a mattress to be slid into the protector. The zipper is located next to the intersection between side walls and the bottom wall. A closure flap extends perpendicularly to the direction of extension of the zipper. The outer surface of the top wall is provided with a coating that renders the top surface waterproof while also providing anti-microbial properties and unique temperature regulation.

Claims

1. A bedding protector, comprising: a) a plurality of walls including a top wall, a bottom wall, and at least one side wall, each wall having an outer surface and an inner surface; b) said inner surfaces being laminated with a bed bug impervious laminate; c) intersections between adjacent walls being sealed to preclude bed bug escape; d) said inner surfaces combining to create an inner chamber; e) an opening formed at or adjacent an intersection between said bottom wall and said at least one side wall, said opening sized to facilitate receiving bedding, comprising a mattress or box spring, within said inner chamber, and a zipper including opposed tracks on facing faces of said opening, said zipper including a slide movable between a first position at which said opening is completely open and a second position at which said opening is completely closed; f) said outer surface of said top wall being coated with a coating that interacts with liquid, whereby below a threshold temperature said coating binds to liquid and above said threshold temperature said coating precipitates liquid.

2. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein said bedding comprises a mattress or box spring of substantially rectangular cubic dimensions and said inner chamber is shaped to conform to said dimensions of said mattress or box spring.

3. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein said intersections between adjacent walls are sealed with bed bug impervious sealing tape.

4. The bedding protector of claim 3, wherein said bed bug impervious laminate comprises a polyethylene film.

5. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein at said second position of said zipper slide, a flap extends between said at least one side wall and said bottom wall and covers said zipper slide.

6. The bedding protector of claim 5, wherein said flap is attached to said at least one side wall and removably attached to said bottom wall.

7. The bedding protector of claim 6, wherein said flap is removably attached to said bottom wall by complementary halves of a hook and pile fastener.

8. The bedding protector of claim 7, wherein said flap extends substantially perpendicularly to a direction of extent of said zipper tracks.

9. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein said threshold temperature is 30° C.

10. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein said at least one side wall comprises four walls with adjacent side walls being substantially perpendicular to one another.

11. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein said liquid comprises human perspiration.

12. The bedding protector of claim 10, wherein said opening is formed in only three of said side walls.

13. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein said coating has anti-microbial properties that suppress growth of bacteria.

14. The bedding protector of claim 13, wherein said anti-microbial properties of said coating suppress odors.

15. The bedding protector of claim 1, wherein said top wall is made of a polyester-nylon peachy twill blend having a thread count in a range of 200 to 300 threads per inch.

16. The bedding protector of claim 15, wherein said bottom wall and at least one side wall are made of a polyester knit material.

17. A mattress protector, comprising: a) a plurality of walls including a top wall, a bottom wall, and four side walls, each wall having an outer surface and an inner surface; b) said inner surfaces being laminated with a bed bug impervious laminate; c) intersections between adjacent walls being sealed with tape to preclude bed bug escape; d) said inner surfaces combining to create an inner chamber; e) an opening formed at or adjacent an intersection between said bottom wall and three of said side walls, said opening sized to facilitate receiving a mattress within said inner chamber, and a zipper including opposed tracks on facing faces of said opening, said zipper including a slide movable between a first position at which said opening is completely open and a second position at which said opening is completely closed; f) said outer surface of said top wall being coated with a coating that interacts with liquid, whereby below a threshold temperature said coating binds to liquid and above said threshold temperature said coating precipitates liquid, said coating also possessing anti-microbial properties to deter propagation of bacteria and suppress odors, and g) at said second position of said zipper slide, a flap extends between one of said side walls and said bottom wall and covers said zipper slide.

18. The mattress protector of claim 17, wherein said bed bug impervious laminate comprises a polyethylene film.

19. The mattress protector of claim 17, wherein said flap extends substantially perpendicularly to a direction of extent of said zipper tracks.

20. The mattress protector of claim 17, wherein said threshold temperature is 30° C.

21. The mattress protector of claim 17, wherein said top wall is made of a polyester-nylon peachy twill blend having a thread count in a range of 200 to 300 threads per inch, and said bottom wall and side walls are made of a polyester knit material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a top view of the inventive mattress protector enclosing a mattress but with its zipper opened and the top surface peeled back to show detail.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows the exterior of the inventive mattress protector unfolded to show the relationship between the top, side and bottom walls.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows the interior of the inventive mattress protector unfolded to show the details of the interior surfaces of the top, side and bottom walls.

[0032] FIG. 4 shows details of the zipper location as well as the manner by which the seams are taped in the interior.

[0033] FIG. 5 shows details of the flap covering the zipper pull at the end of the zipper.

[0034] FIG. 6 shows further details of the flap.

[0035] FIG. 7 shows a side view of the mattress protector showing the manner by which the flap overlies a side wall and the bottom wall of the mattress protector.

[0036] FIG. 8 shows a schematic representation of the manner by which the inventive coating envelops and encompasses the fibers of the mattress protector structure.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0037] With reference first to FIGS. 1-4, the inventive mattress protector is generally designated by the reference numeral 10, and is seen to include a top wall 11, side walls 13, 15, 17 and 19, and a bottom wall 21. FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the side wall 17 and bottom wall 21. The side wall 17 is where the flap 23 is affixed at 25. The mattress protector 10 surrounds and encloses mattress 1. Alternatively, if desired, the flap 23 may be affixed to the bottom wall 21 and releasably fastened to a side wall.

[0038] Zipper tracks 27, 29 are located at the intersection of the side walls 13, 15 and 17 on the one hand, and the bottom wall 21 on the other hand. This is also shown with reference to FIG. 2. The zipper includes a zipper slide 31 shown in FIG. 1 with the zipper slide pulled to the complete open position.

[0039] With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the flap 23 is seen on the side wall of the mattress protector 10 and the two circular enlargements A and B show the scenario when the zipper is closed and opened, respectively. The image B shows the zipper slide 31 as it approaches the end of the zipper tracks 27, 29. As understood from FIGS. 5 and 7, the flap 23 folds over the zipper tracks with the zipper slide 31 at the end of the tracks and affixes on the bottom wall 21 at the reference numeral 33 by virtue of complementary hook and pile fastener halves which fasten the end of the flap 23 in the manner shown in FIG. 7. Of course, other fastening means may be employed such as, for example, releasable adhesives as well as snaps in two examples. As explained above, if desired, the flap 23 may be affixed to the bottom wall 21 and releasably fastened to the side wall 17.

[0040] With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the seams between the top wall, side walls, and bottom wall are taped with taping 37 best seen in the circular image C forming a part of FIG. 4. This taping 37 acts to completely hermetically seal the interior of the mattress protector 10 when the zipper is completely closed and the flap 23 is in the position shown in FIG. 7. In this way, the interior is isolated from the exterior. The taping 37 resists damage from bites of bed bugs and prevents bed bug escape through gaps in sewn seams.

[0041] A laminate 41, 43, 45 is laminated over all of the interior surfaces of the top, side and bottom walls of the inventive mattress protector 10. The laminate is chosen to be impervious to bed bug bites so that bed bugs cannot bite through the mattress protector and escape. One preferred material for this hermetically sealing laminate is a polyethylene film laminated on all of the six noted surfaces.

[0042] Thus, the combination of the polyethylene film laminated on all six interior surfaces, the tape 37 sealed over all of the seams between the respective walls, the zipper with its track 27, 29 and slide 31, and the flap 23 combine together to hermetically seal the interior of the mattress protector 10 and prevent bed bugs from biting through the material or escaping via the zipper. In this way, the inventive mattress protector prevents bed bugs from escaping the interior of the mattress protector and biting users of the associated bed.

[0043] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, recognizing that only the top surface of the top wall 11 of the mattress protector 10 will be supporting the people using the bed, the top wall 11 may be made of a material different than the material from which the side walls and bottom wall are made. In this regard, in one embodiment of the present invention, the bottom wall 21 and the side walls 13, 15, 17 and 19 may be made of a material such as a 100% polyester knit laminated on its interior walls with a polyethylene film as explained above. In a preferred embodiment, the top wall 11 may be made of a material such as a blend of polyester and nylon peachy twill weaved as desired. One possible blend could be 88% polyester and 12% nylon peachy with a thread count of 200 to 300 threads per inch, preferably 240 threads per inch. On the top surface of the wall 11, the surface facing the sheets, blankets, pillows, and users, a unique coating may be applied to enhance the performance characteristics of the mattress protector 10. In a first aspect, the coating may include anti-microbial properties intended to prevent odors from forming as a result of moisture that inherently collects on a mattress protector and also to do so by reducing or eliminating the multiplication of bacteria that cannot only cause odor but can cause disease. In the preferred embodiment, the anti-microbial coating may be one known as “HeiQ® Pure,” a silver-based solution applied to the top surface of the top wall 11 as explained in the Marte et al. Published Application, referenced earlier.

[0044] Additionally, the top surface of the top wall 11 of the inventive mattress protector 10 is provided with a novel hydro-functional polymer film described as HeiQ® Adaptive, also disclosed in the Matte et al. Published Application. The HeiQ® Adaptive polymer film is possessed of temperature responsive moisture transport properties. Thus, for example, at temperatures greater than 30° C., at which cooling is desirable, its wetting and evaporation are enhanced. At lower temperatures such as below 30° C., when cooling is less needed, wetting and evaporation are reduced. The cooling properties are based upon facilitating evaporation of moisture emitted from the skin of a person occupying the associated bed.

[0045] In more detail, the temperature responsive polymer film binds to water at lower body temperatures such as below 30° C. and precipitates water at higher temperatures due to the increasing insolubility. Since the released water more or less quickly evaporates corresponding to the prevailing conditions and energy is removed by the evaporation enthalpy that is to be applied to the system, the result is cooling of the wall 11, particularly its top surface, and thus the skin of the person or persons occupying the associated bed.

[0046] FIG. 8 shows an enlarged view of a portion of the textile employed for the top wall 11 of the inventive mattress protector 10. In FIG. 8, the reference numeral 50 refers to one of the numerous fibers woven to form the top wall 11. The reference numeral 51 refers to the coating of the hydro-functional polymer film and anti-microbial coating which as clearly seen envelop the entirety of the external surfaces of the fibers 50 and thereby encloses them and isolates them from the atmosphere so that it is the coating 51 itself that is exposed to ambient temperature conditions, conditions of sweat and liquid, and other ambient conditions.

[0047] The features of the inventive mattress protector 10 combine together to provide the ultimate in mattress protection as well as in comfort and odor reduction as well as disease prevention for users of the associated bed. The hermetic sealing of the interior surfaces of the mattress protector in the manners described above absolutely prevent any bed bugs from leaving the interior chamber formed by the mattress protector 10. The flap that covers the zipper overlies a side wall and the bottom wall of the mattress protector 10 in a unique and novel manner. Use of anti-microbial coating protects the users of the associated bed from odors as well as from proliferation of disease causing bacteria. The temperature balancing coating provides the users of the associated bed with an enhanced degree of comfort maintaining comfortable temperatures within the bed through interaction between the coating and the sweat production of the users, taking into account ambient temperatures and temperatures within the bed.

[0048] As such, an invention has been disclosed in terms of a preferred embodiment thereof which fulfills each and every one of the objects of the invention as set forth hereinabove, and provides a new and useful mattress protector with improved moisture management and bed bug containment of great novelty and utility.

[0049] Of course, various changes, modifications and alterations in the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof.

[0050] As such, it is intended that the present invention only be limited by the terms of the appended claims.