Protective covering for bed inserts

May 9, 1961

j. ferolito 2,982,976

PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR BED INSERTS

Filed June 23, 1959

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BY

John Ferolito INVENTOR.

pfi'i¹·' ' AGENT.

2,982,976

Patented May 9, 1961

United States Patent

2,982,976

PROTECTIVE COVERING FOR BED INSERTS

John Ferolito, 1929 Boston Road, Bronx 60, N.Y.

Filed June 23, 1959, Ser. No. 822,320

Claims. (Cl. 5—335)

This invention relates to a protective covering for mattresses, box springs and similar bed inserts, and more particularly to such covering for the mattresses and other parts of beds used by confined persons in hospitals, nursing homes and the like.

The problem of mattress conservation, a long-familiar one notably in institutions, has been met with varying degrees of success. A simple early expedient was merely to cover the broad mid-regional top surface of a mattress with a length of material (e.g. a rubber sheet) with the prime object of thereby shielding it against the deteriorating effects of perspiration, discolorating stains and other types of pollution imparted from, usually, the overlying bed sheet which supported the body of a patient. The inadequacy of such a loosely inserted contrivance soon became apparent, however, and various more intricate devices were developed to prolong mattress life and at the same time to protect the patient from bed sores and similar irritations due to wrinkled sheets or inadequate sanitation. Such devices, in one respect or another, have not been entirely satisfactory, not the least reason therefor being that relatively complex constructions, including numerous mechanical parts such as tensioning and connector springs, associated linkages etc., have proved expensive to manufacture and inconvenient to assemble.

It is an important object of my invention to provide an improved covering which will serve fully the dual purpose of mattress protection and patient comfort.

A further object of the invention is to provide a protective mattress covering which is so simple in design as to lend itself readily to inexpensive mass-production methods.

It is another object of this invention to provide a protective covering which is easily attachable to a wide variety of existing standard types of home or institutioinal mattresses, box springs or the like.

A feature of my invention is the provision of a covering having means for fastening it to a mattress, box spring or other bed insert of generally rectangular configuration on opposite sides of the rectangle, preferably midway along the height of the longer sides so as to enable a selective mounting of the covering alternately on one or the other side of the mattress or spring frame.

Another feature, in a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, resides in the provision of fastening means on the covering adapted detachably to engage certain of the air holes conventionally provided on the sides of an innerspring mattress.

The above and other objects, features and advantages will become more fully apparent from the following description given with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved protective covering of my invention shown mounted on a boxspring-and-mattress combination;

Fig. 2 is an end-elevational view of the combination of Fig. 1, with the covering partly detached;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the right-hand portion of Fig. 2, drawn to a larger scale; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a mattress provided with a covering embodying my invention.

In Figs. 1-3 there is shown a covering 101, preferably of rubber or water-repellent plastic, stretched smooth and taut across the broad mid-regional area of a standard-size hospital mattress 12 resting on a box spring 11. The width of covering 101 is such that its IQ ends 101α, 1016 form respective tuckover flaps each extending downwardly over the mattress sides to a level approximately midway on the corresponding and aligned sides of the box spring 11. This spring is provided on each side with a pair of handles 14 which are fastened 15 to it by knobs 13. Flaps 101α, 1016 of sheet 101 are formed with eyelets 102 adapted to engage with the upper ones of these knobs as seen on the lefthand side of Fig. 2. It will be apparent that, by this means, the positioning of covering 101 on the spring-mattress com20 bination will remain as illustrated in Fig. 1 even if the spring 11 and/or the mattress 12 are inverted.

It will be seen that the width of sheet 101 (including its flaps 101α, 1016) slightly exceeds half the girth of the combined members 11 and 12 and that the attach25 ment of its flaps to the handles 14 (at their knobs 13) does not unduly interfere with a grasping of box spring 11 by these handles.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a mattress 21 provided on its sides with aeration holes 23. The middle row 23α of 3θ these aeration holes are designed as female snap fasteners adapted to receive co-operating male fasteners 203α on the flaps of covering 201. The assembly of Fig. 4 thus enables a relative longitudinal shifting between mattress and covering as well as a relative inver35 sion as described in connection with Figs. 1-3. Naturally, any or all of the holes 23 could be designed to mate with the snap fasteners 203α so that sheet 201 could be attached to any one of the several rows of holes.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a covering 40 for a rectangular bed insert, such as a mattress or a spring, which can be easily and quickly attached to it in a variety of relative positions. Although the sheet 101 or 201 shown in the drawing covers only a portion of the underlying mattress, it will be apaprent that the _4g same may, if desired, be extended across the entire upper ⁰ surface of the mattress and that other modifications of the arrangement shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.