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Description  |
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The present invention relates to quilts or similar goods designed to cover
the top of a bed and to drop down the sides and foot of said bed in order
to ensure the comfort of the sleeper.
As conventionally known, quilts are produced from a bag receiving a filling
material. Mainly, said material is constituted by acrylic or polyester
fibers, wool or down. The assembly is then put together and stitched, and
placed in a quilt cover.
In the most conventionally known quilts, the filling material is the same,
whether it is used in pure or mixed form, throughout the whole quilt.
Therefore a quilt, measuring for example 2.20 m.times.2.40 m, requires a
relatively large quantity of filling material, which can make the quilt
very expensive if such material is itself expensive, such as down for
example.
To overcome this drawback, it has already been proposed to produce the part
of the quilt corresponding to the top of the bed with a first material and
the peripheral parts with a second filling material. Such a step makes it
possible to restrict the quantity of expensive filling material to the
part of the quilt which is effectively useful and to fill the peripheral
parts with less expensive filling materials.
An object of the present invention is to provide a quilt which is further
improved over the abovementioned prior art quilts.
According to the invention, the quilt which comprises a central part
intended to cover the top of the bed and a peripheral part intended to
drop down the sides and the foot of the bed, is characterized in that the
central part is filled with at least a first layer of a first padding
material and a second layer of padding material, different from the first,
and in that said peripheral part is filled with at least one layer of
padding material.
It is obviously possible, with this method, to obtain all the possible
combinations of the different materials, as a function of their specific
quality, their cost and the comfort that they provide. Indeed, the
sleeper's comfort can be analyzed according to three parameters:
the thermal comfort: the quilt must isolate sufficiently the sleeper's body
from the outside atmosphere so that the temperature of the micro-climate
created under the quilt reaches a sufficient level;
the physiological comfort: if the quilt meets the first requirement, it
must not however stifle the micro-climate. Indeed, the steam which is
continuously released by the body increases the moisture which is present
under the quilt. It is therefore important for said quilt to be able to
absorb the excess moisture while retaining the warmth; the created heat
must be healthy to obtain a total thermi-physiological comfort;
finally, a textile comfort: this comfort consists in the lightweight, the
softness, the pleasant feel, the snugness which result from the choice of
the materials used for making the quilt.
Another problem which the present invention has been able to solve is that
of choosing the fabric constituting the quilt cover. Indeed, with certain
filling materials, notably, it is necessary to use fabrics which have
special properties and therefore which are relatively expensive. It is
obvious that if two layers of materials are used in the central part of
the quilt, and if one of these layers does not present such drawbacks, it
will be possible to use, at least partly, a less expensive fabric.
Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more
readily understood on reading the following description of several
embodiments of the invention given by way of example and
non-restrictively. The description is given with reference to the
accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a quilt according to the invention; and
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II--II of FIG. 1.
As already explained briefly, the principle of the invention consists in
providing in the central part of the quilt corresponding to the top of the
bed, a double filling layer of two different materials, and in the
peripheral part of the quilt, a single filling layer of one of the two
materials used in the central part.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the quilt is constituted by two pieces of
fabric 10 and 12 which constitute a bag inside which is placed the filling
material. Once the filling material is in position, the two pieces of
fabric 10 and 12 are stitched together so as to ensure a good distribution
of the filling material when the quilt is used. The stitching lines made
after the positioning of the filling material, as well as a stitching zone
16 separating the central zone of the quilt 18 from its peripheral zone
20, are symbolized in broken lines 14. The central zone 18 of the quilt is
designed to cover the top of the bed whereas the peripheral zone 20 is
designed to drop down the sides and the foot of the bed.
In FIG. 2, the upper filling layer in the central zone 18 is referenced 21,
the lower filling layer in that same central zone is referenced 22 and the
filling layer in the peripheral zone is referenced 20.
In a first embodiment, the lower filling layer 22 and the peripheral
filling layer 24 are in wool. The upper filling layer of the central zone
is in camel hair, cashmere, silk, cashegora, Merino wool, alpaca, llama,
yak, synthetic fibers and cotton. A high adiathermal (thermal insulating)
power is thus obtained, in the central part of the quilt, namely in that
part which rests over the sleeper's body, which adiathermal (thermal
insulating) power is increased by the addition of fine fibers while the
lightness of the peripheral zone is preserved, the whole assembly
remaining lightweight.
In a second embodiment, the lower layer 22 of the central zone is produced
in cotton while the upper layer 21 of the central zone and the peripheral
layer 24 are in wool. With the obtained quilt, the physiological comfort
in summer, and in a humid climate, is increased due to the presence, in
the central zone, of cotton, which is very hydrophilous and faces directly
towards the sleeper's body.
In a third embodiment, the lower filling layer 22 of the central zone and
the peripheral filling layer 24 are in wool. The upper layer 21 of the
central zone is in down or half in down, or three-quarters in down and in
small feathers. This particular disposition offers an added advantage.
Indeed, the down requires the use as fabric forming the bag of the quilt,
of down-proof percale to prevent the down from slipping through the cover.
The wool, on the contrary, can easily be contained in a percale that is
less tight or simply in a knitted material. It is therefore clear that,
according to the embodiment just described, the lower piece of fabric 12
can be in porous percale or in knitted material, as only the top piece of
fabric 10 needs to be in special down-proof percale.
With this disposition, a saving is made on the fabric used for producing
the lower part of the bag 12 of the quilt, and for the same adiathermal
power, a saving is made on the down, not only on the periphery of the
quilt, but also in the central zone 18. Moreover, the physiological
comfort is improved thanks to the use as the piece of fabric 12 facing
towards the sleeper's body, of a more breathable material.
Other suitable materials are synthetic fibers, such as polyester or
polyacrylics, or feathers.
Obviously, every filling layer 21, 22, 24 could be constituted by a mixture
of filling materials. In other words, by filling material is meant, not
only single materials but also mixtures of materials, each mixture being
homogeneous.
In the foregoing description, the material filling the peripheral part is
identical to that used'for constituting one of the filling layers 21 or 22
of the central part. But, it would not be outside the scope of the
invention to fill the peripheral part with a third material. For example,
an inexpensive synthetic fiber could be used for the layer 24. Similarly,
the central part 18 could comprise three superposed filling layers or an
even greater number of layers. For example, the two outermost layers would
be relatively thin and in wool while the intermediate layer would be in
down. This kind of solution makes it possible to use an ordinary percale
or similar fabric for the pieces 10 and 12 while authorizing the presence
of a layer of down.
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