US3530516A - Blanket with interchangeable halves - Google Patents

Description

3 mm 29, 19% E. R. T. MARQUETTE 3,530,516

BLANKET WITH INTERCHANGEABLE HALVES Filed Nov. 6. 1967 Fig.2

IIlll/I/ I/I/ lI/IIIIIIIIIIIIYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlI/IIIII/l/I] Edmond R 7. Marque fie INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,530,516 BLANKET WITH INTERCHANGEABLE HALVES Edmond R. T. Marquette, P.0. Box 709, Houma, La. 70360 Filed Nov. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 680,916 Int. Cl. A47g 9/00 US. Cl. 334 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention generally relates to a blanket for a double bed for tWo occupants constructed with interchangeable halves.

As exemplified in my prior Pat. No. 3,331,088 issued July 18, 1967, there has been provided blanket structures in which additive panels may be mounted on an underlying blanket so that the effective thickness or warmth characteristics of one half of the blanket may be varied in order that the warmth requirements of the two occupants may vary thus more effectively satisfying such warmth requirements of the two occupants. This invention represents improvements of the structure disclosed in my previous patent and includes a double blanket structure constructed of independent halves with each half having a slide fastener tape along each edge thereof with the slider or travelling part of the fastener assembly being on one edge of the panel. A conventional zipper with interlocking components on tapes together with a slider may be employed or other types of slide fastener assembly may be employed. The slide fasteners terminate inwardly from the foot and head ends of the blanket for eliminating possible injury to the face of the bed occupants and also eliminates scratching of the surfaces of the bed such as the headboard, footboard or the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a double blanket with interchangeable halves with the halves having different thicknesses to vary the warmth characteristics of the double blanket as set forth hereinabove which is relatively simple in construction, easy to assemble and disassemble and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the double blanket of the present invention assembled on the bed in a conventional manner.

FIG. 2 is a transverse, sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along section line 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating the structural details of the blanket; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the juncture between adjacent halves of a blanket.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generally designates the blanket of the present invention which is associated with the bed of conventional construction as designated by the numeral 12 which includes the usual mattress 14, supporting rails 16, legs 18, headboard and other structural features normally associated with conventional double beds or the like. The blanket 10 includes two half panels 22 and 24 which are identical in size and shape as to length and width. When combined, the two half sections or half panels 22 and 24 are connected together to form the blanket 10 with the size relationship of the blanket 10 being the same with respect to the mattress 14 as a conventional double blanket.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the half panel 22 is thicker than the half panel 24 so that a person occupying the side of the bed which is covered by the half panel 22 will be retained in a warmer condition than the occupant of the portion of the bed covered by the half panel 24. In addition to being of different thickness, the half panels 22 and 24 may be constructed of different materials or otherwise constructed differently to provide different warmth characteristics for the two occupants of the bed.

The two half panels 22 and 24 are connected together by a conventional zipper slide fastener 26 which includes a pair of tapes 2 8 and 30 with interlocking fastener elements thereon which are connected together or disconnected by a slider 32 in a conventional and well-known manner. As illustrated, the slide fastener 26 terminates in spaced relation to the head end of the blanket, that is, the end adjacent the headboard and also in spaced relation to the foot end thereof thus avoiding the possibility of the zipper fastener 26 scratching the face or adjacent areas of either of the occupants and also prevents scratching of the feet, ankles and the like. Further, this arrangement eliminates scratching of the headboard or footboard inasmuch as the ends of the blanket are completely flexible and devoid of metallic instrumentalities.

It is well known that when a zipper is constructed, one of the tapes will have the slider permanently mounted thereon while the other tape is disconnected therefrom. Thus, the panel 22 having the tape 28' thereon with the slider element 32 will have a tape 30 on the opposite edge thereof which does not have the slider element 32 associated therewith whereas the half panel 24 having the tape 30 thereon will have a corresponding tape 28 at the other edge thereof with the slider element 32 associated therewith.

FIG. 3 illustrates the structure with the zippers concealed by a binding or flap 34 stitched to the blanket panel in a conventional manner for concealing the zipper consruction 26 so that when the double blanket is assembled, it appears to be a continuous structure.

By employing the present invention, the blanket may be purchased in halves at any time if one bed occupant wants to try a different thickness of blanket while the other bed occupant is satisfied with the thickness being used. The half panels may be used on the double bed and may be separated and used on single beds, if desired and then placed back on a double bed again. Thus, by purchasing a group of half panels, the double blanket may be constructed to the particular desires or requirements of each individual occupant of a double bed.

This blanket is capable of being constructed of materials presently being used to construct blankets may be constructed in various standard sizes to fit double beds and conventional manufacturing techniques are employed to attach the zipper structures thereto. As an initial purchase, two of the half panels 22 and 24 may be acquired. If one of the two half panels is too light or too heavy, an additional half may be purchased or several additional halves may be purchased in order to obtain the desired assembly for the blanket dependent upon the desires of the occupants of the bed. This construction is quite simple and easy to launder and clean and less likely to soil inasmuch as there is no underlying panels attached to the half panels thereby retaining an over-all simplicity of construction which enables the halves of the blanket to be readily interchanged and enables those occupants of the double bed to be properly covered depending upon their inidvidual needs.

Additionally, the blanket is substantially conventional in appearance when using the zipper concealing flap 34 along each edge of each half panel so that the Zipper components at the outer edges of the assembled blanket are concealed as well as the connected zipper components as shown in FIG. 3.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A blanket comprising a large panel adapted to cover two occupants of a double bed, and means extending along the central portion of the panel from end to end thereof for separating said panel into two completely separate and independent half panels, said means including a detachable fastening assembly to enable the detachable half panels to be interchanged with other panels having different warmth characteristics to enable the warmth requirements of each occupant to be satisfied, said means extending along the center of the blanket including a slide fastener assembly including tapes with interlocking elements thereon and an interconnecting and disconnecting slider element mounted on one of said tapes, said slider fastener assembly terminating in spaced relation to the head end and foot end of the blanket with the portions of the blanket longitudinally outward- 1y of the slider fastener assembly being independent of 2. The structure as defined in claim 1 together with a binding tape overlying the fastener construction for concealing the same.

3. A blanket comprising a large single layer panel adapted to cover two occupants of a double bed, said panel including two symmetrical half panels of substantially the same size and shape, one of said half panels having predetermined warmth characteristics commensurate with the warmth requirements of the occupant covered thereby, the other of said half panels having diiferent predetermined warmth characteristics commensurate with the warmth requirements of the occupant covered thereby, and means extending along the central portion of the panel from end to end thereof for separating said panel int-o completely separate and independent half panels of substantially the same size and configuration, said means including a detachable fastening assembly to enable the detachable half panels to be interchanged with other panels having different warmth characteristics to enable the warmth requirements of each occupant to be satisfied, said detachable fastening assem bl extending along the central portion of the panel and including a slide fastener assembly including tapes with interlocking elements thereon and an interconnecting and disconnecting slider element mounted on one of said tapes, said slide fastener assembly terminating in spaced relation to the head end and foot end of the blanket with the portions of the blanket longitudinally outwardly of the slide fastener assembly being independent of each other to eliminate scratching of the bed and injuiy to the face and feet of the occupants.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1956 Roberts 5--334 7/1967 Marquette 5-334

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