GB2159050A - Quilt - Google Patents

Abstract

A quilt comprising two pieces of material secured together along spaced apart stitch lines to define a plurality of compartments therebetween. Each compartment is filled with an insulating material. The surface area of one piece of material is substantially greater than the surface area of the other, and the pieces of material are stitched together such that the portion of one of the pieces of material making up one side of each compartment is of substantially greater area than the portion of the other piece of material making up the other side of the compartment. The insulating effect of the quilt when draped over an object is greater when the piece of material of lesser area is uppermost than when the piece of material of greater area is uppermost. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Quilt The present invention relates to a quilt.

Quilts are widely used to insulate the human body, the most widespread use being in the field of bedding where quilts have progressively replaced the more traditional sheets and blankets. One problem when bedding quilts is that they tend to be used throughout the year so that a quilt having insulating properties sufficient to cope with cold winter weather can prove excessively warm in summer.

Quilts can be of two basic designs, that is partitioned and unpartitioned. In a partitioned quilt insulating material is enclosed in compartments defined by generally parallel top and bottom pieces of material and side walls extending between the top and bottom pieces. The space between the top and bottom pieces is thus partitioned by the side walls. Stitching in the side walls is however a relatively difficult procedure. In a quilt which is not partitioned the top and bottom sheets are not generally parallel but in contrast are pinched together at intervals by stitch lines. The insulation may extend across the stitch lines but even if it does it also is pinched together by the stitching so that the insulating properties of the quilt along the stitch lines are limited. This can result in uncomfortable cold spots beneath the quilt.Partitioned quilts do not exhibit this problem but nevertheless unpartitioned quilts are very popular because they are considerably cheaper than partitioned quilts.

European Patent Specification No. 0,078,691 addresses the problem of quilts which are too warm in summer. In the case of partitioned quilts it is proposed that the area of material provided on one side of the quilt for each compartment is greater than the area of material in the other side. When the larger area side of each compartment is uppermost the insulating effect is said to be greater than when the smaller area side is uppermost, although the explanation of why this should be so seems to rely upon compression of the insulating material which seems unlikely given the very low density of such material and the low tension in the compartment walls.In the case of unpartitioned quilts European Patent Specification No. 0,078,691 proposes the use of soft pads of insulating material within the compartments, the soft pads having a stable structure and being for example corrugated such that the compartments are not fully occupied by insulating material. No reference is made to having the two sides of each compartment differ in area.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a quilt the thermal qualities of which are dependent upon which way up it is laid and which does not require a partitioned structure or an insulating material with its own stable structure.

According to the present invention, there is provided a quilt comprising two pieces of material secured together along spaced apart stitch lines to define a plurality of compartments therebetween, each compartment being filled with an insulating material, wherein the surface area of one piece of material is substantially greater than the surface area of the other, and the pieces of material are stitched together such that the portion of one of the pieces of material making up one side of each compartment is of substantially greater area than the portion of the other piece of material making up the other side of the compartment, whereby the insulating effect of the quilt when draped over an object is greater when the piece of material of lesser area is uppermost than when the piece of material of greater area is uppermost.

Thus, the invention provides a unpartitioned quilt and in contrast to the unpartitioned quilt as proposed in European Patent Specification No.

0,078,691, conventional insulating material can be used such as hollow terylene or equivalent fibres not having a stable structure when unsupported.

Furthermore, in contrast to the partitioned arrangement of the above European Patent Specification, the thermal insulation characteristics are better when the surface of lesser area is uppermost.

Preferably the stitch lines are generally parallel and extend longitudinally of the quilt. Each stitch line may comprise a single row of stitches, or two or more spaced apart rows of stitches which define between them an area having poor insulating characteristics. The insulating material may be in the form of a continuous web extending to adjacent the edges of the quilt and compressed along each stitch line.

Although the term "stitch line" is used herein, the two pieces of material may be secured together by means other than stitching, e.g. adhesives.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. lisa perspective view of a quilt embodying the invention, one end of the quilt having been cut off to better illustrate its structure; and Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the form taken by the quilt when draped over an object, Fig. 2 showing the quilt one way up and Fig. 3 showing the quilt the other wayup.

Referring to Fig. 1, the illustrated quilt comprises a first piece of material 1 having a width of for example 47 inches and a second piece of material 2 having a width of for example 70 inches. A web of hollow fibre terylene 3 is sandwiched between the pieces 1 and 2, the width of the web 3 also being 47 inches. The three layer sandwich is stitched together around its periphery and the stitched edge is covered by a tape (not shown). Longitudinal parallel stitch lines 4 are also provided along the length of the quilt, the width of the material 2 between adjacent pairs of stitch lines being equal so that five substantially identical fibre filled compartments are defined.

Each stitch line 4 comprises two rows of stitches about half an inch apart. The rows of stitches comprises the fibre so that the areas between them are very thin and therefore have poor insulating qualities.

When the quilt is draped over a persons body with the smaller piece of material 1 uppermost, it assumes the form shown in Fig. 2. It will be seen that the edges of the compartments come together to obstruct the passage of air to the thin stitch lines 4. Thus a relatively good insulating effect is obtained.

When the quilt is draped over a persons body with the larger pieces of material 2 uppermost, the edges of the compartments are separated and heat can escape relatively easilythrough the stitch lines 4.

Thus in a very simple manner a quilt can be assembled which uses standard insulating materials, does not require partitioning, and yet has different thermal qualities depending on which way up it is used.

Claims (5)

1. A quilt comprising two pieces of material secured together along spaced apart stitch lines to define a plurality of compartments therebetween, each compartment being filled with an insulating material, wherein the surface area of one piece of material is substantially greater than the surface area of the other, and the pieces of material are stitched together such that the portion of one of the pieces of material making up one side of each compartment is of substantially greater area than the portion of the other piece of material making up the other side of the compartment, whereby the insulating effect of the quiltwhen draped over an object is greater when the piece of material of lesser area is uppermost than when the piece of material of greater area is uppermost.

2. A quilt according to claim 1, wherein the stitch lines are generally parallel and extend longitudinally of the quilt.

3. A quilt according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each stitch line comprises two or more generally parallel spaced apart rows of stitches which define between them an area having poor insulating characteristics.

4. A quilt according to claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the insulating material is in the form of a continuous web extending to adjacent each edge of the quilt, the web being compressed between the two pieces of material along the stitch lines.

5. A quilt substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.