BED COVERING APPARATUS

Description

(B) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

(C) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

(D) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

(E) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

Not Applicable

(F) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

(G) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to blankets and more particularly pertains to a new blanket for thermally insulating a user.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.

The prior art relates to blankets such as duvets, doonas, or the like, and includes various ways of stacking or attaching fabric materials which thermally insulate, absorb body oils, and provide a casing for displaying an ornamental design while holding a thermally insulating member. The prior art fails, however, to describe such an apparatus which includes a first cover with a frame that defines an aperture such that a thermally insulating member may be held between the frame and a base of the first cover, and further includes a second cover which is attachable to the first cover to overlay the aperture and further secure the thermally insulating member in the first over. The prior art further fails to describe such an apparatus with two covers with the frame structure described such that two separate thermally insulating members may be placed in respective covers that are attached together.

(H) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a first cover with a first sheet base and a first sheet frame. The first sheet base and the first sheet frame are coupled together along a shared perimeter. The first sheet frame defines an aperture which extends through the first sheet frame and is surrounded by an inner edge of the first sheet frame. The first sheet base and the first sheet frame comprise a fabric material. A comforter is positionable between the first sheet base and the first sheet frame to define a contained position of the comforter. A perimeter of the comforter is positioned between the inner edge of the first sheet frame and the shared perimeter of the first sheet base and the first sheet frame when the comforter is in the contained position of the comforter. The comforter comprises a thermally insulating material. A second cover is couplable via a connector to the first cover to overlay the aperture of the first sheet frame.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

(I) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a first cover of a bed covering apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view a first cover of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of a first cover of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure. A first cover contains a comforter, and a second cover is connected to the first cover. The second cover is being peeled off of the first cover.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional exploded view of an embodiment of the disclosure in which one comforter is contained by a first cover and a second cover overlaying an opening defined by the first cover.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional exploded view of an embodiment of the disclosure in which a first comforter is contained by a first cover and a second comforter is contained in a second cover. The first and second covers are being coupled together.

(J) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 6 thereof, a new blanket embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the bed covering apparatus 10 generally comprises a first cover 12 which includes a first sheet base 14 and a first sheet frame 16 that are coupled together along a shared perimeter 18. The first sheet frame 16 defines an aperture 20 which extends through the first sheet frame 16. The aperture 20 is surrounded by an inner edge 22 of the first sheet frame 16. The first sheet base 14 and the first sheet frame 16 comprise a fabric material, and the first sheet base 14 is integrally formed with the first sheet frame 16. In some embodiments, the first sheet base 14 may be separately formed from the first sheet frame 16. The fabric material may be any suitable fabric such as cotton, polyester, silk, or any other natural or synthetic fiber. Nonwoven fabric materials also may be used.

A first comforter 24 is positionable between the first sheet base 14 and the first sheet frame 16 to define a contained position 26 of the first comforter 24. A perimeter 28 of the first comforter 24 is positioned between the inner edge 22 of the first sheet frame 16 and the shared perimeter 18 of the first sheet base 14 and the first sheet frame 16 when the first comforter 24 is in the contained position 26 of the first comforter 24. The first comforter 24 comprises a thermally insulating material such as cotton, polyester, rayon, down, or any other suitable material. The first comforter 24 may include a casing which contains the thermally insulating material.

A second cover 30 is couplable to the first cover 12 to overlay the aperture 20 of the first sheet frame 16. The second cover 30 comprises a second sheet base 32 and a second sheet frame 34 which are coupled together along a shared periphery 36. The second sheet frame 34 defines an opening 38 which extends through the second sheet frame 34. The opening 38 is surrounded by an interior edge 40 of the second sheet frame 34. The second sheet base 32 and the second sheet frame 34 comprise the fabric material used for the first sheet base 14 and the first sheet frame 16, but the fabric material of the second sheet base 32 and the second sheet frame 34 may differ in some embodiments. The second sheet base 32 is integrally formed with the second sheet frame 34. In some embodiments, the second sheet base 32 may be separately formed from the second sheet frame 34.

A plurality of connectors 42 is coupled to the first cover 12 and the second cover 30. The connectors 42 are releasably couplable to couple the second cover 30 to the first cover 12. Each connector 42 comprises a first mating member 44 and a second mating member 46, wherein the first mating members 44 of the plurality of connectors 42 are coupled to the first cover 12 and the second mating members 46 of the plurality of connectors 42 are coupled to the second cover 30. The first mating members 44 of the plurality of connectors 42 are positioned on the first sheet frame 16 and are arranged around the inner edge 22 of the first sheet frame 16. The second mating members 46 of the plurality of connectors 42 are positioned on the second sheet frame 34 and are arranged around the interior edge 40 of the second sheet frame 34. Each connector 42 comprises a snap button. In some embodiments, the connectors 42 may be hook-and-loop fasteners, button-and-hole fasteners, or the like. One or more zippers may be used in some embodiments.

Many fasteners or fastener components, when attached to fabric, are likely to protrude through the fabric or at least have thread or another mounting element which is visible on the opposite side from where the fastener or fastener component attaches to another fastener or fastener component. This may be seen in, for example, in FIGS. 5 and 6, where the mating members 44, 46 of the snap buttons protrude through the respective ones of the first sheet frame 16 and the second sheet frame 34. One purpose of the structure of the present disclosure is to obscure from view the portions of the connectors 42 which would otherwise be exposed by placing them between the first sheet frame 16 and the first sheet base 14 or between the second sheet frame 34 and the second sheet base 32, as may be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6.

A second comforter 48 is positionable in between the second sheet base 32 and the second sheet frame 34 to define a contained position 50 of the second comforter 48. A periphery 52 of the second comforter 48 is positioned between the inner edge 22 of the second sheet frame 34 and the shared periphery 36 of the second sheet base 32 and the second sheet frame 34 when the second comforter 48 is in the contained position 50 of the second comforter 48. The second comforter 48 comprises the thermally insulating material used in the first comforter 24 but may be a different thermally insulating material in some embodiments. The second comforter 48 may include a casing which houses the thermally insulating material of the second comforter 48.

In use, and as seen in FIG. 5, the first comforter 24 may be placed in its contained position 26 within the first cover 12, then the second cover 30 may be attached to the first cover 12 via the connectors 42 to overlay the aperture 20 of the first cover 12 and aid in retaining the first comforter 24 in the first cover 12. The first cover 12 and the second cover 30 also protect the first comforter 24 from body oils or other foreign matter when assembled in this manner. The bed covering apparatus 10 may be disassembled such that the individual components may be cleaned separately. With reference to FIG. 6, the second comforter 48 may be placed in its contained position 50 within the second cover 30 before the second cover 30 is attached to the first cover 12 for additional thermal insulation (i.e., a “warmer” blanket/bed covering).

FIG. 5 also depicts the second sheet frame 34 abutting the second sheet base 32 adjacent to the interior edge 40 of the second sheet frame 34. In some embodiments, the second sheet frame 34 may be secured to the second sheet base 32 adjacent to the interior edge 40 of the second sheet frame 34 via threads, adhesives, or the like to avoid the second sheet frame 34 folding, bending, or otherwise moving in a disadvantageous manner. In other words, the second sheet frame 34 is secured with respect to the second sheet base 32, which also limits movement of the second mating members 46 of the connectors 42 with respect to the second sheet base 32.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.