Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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BLANKET, SLEEPING BAG AND OTHER BEDDING MATERIALS WITH ROTATABLE
SECOND LAYER FOR COVERING EXPOSED PORTION OF USER AFTER USER HAS
FALLEN ASLEEP
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to a blanket, sleeping bag and other bedding
materials utilized to cover
a person while the person is resting. More specifically, the invention relates
to articles, assemblies and
methods particularly well-suited to keeping children warm and safe while
sleeping.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A baby blanket typically comprises a one-piece relatively small and generally
flat cover which is
wrapped around or laid over a baby. While the foregoing blanket does allow a
baby to be kept relatively
warm, it suffers from some drawbacks. For example, babies often free their
arms and push down the
blanket causing the baby's arms and upper body to be cold and uncomfortable.
Often times the baby
will fall asleep holding on to the upper portion of blanket or with arms over
top and covering the upper
portion of the blanket.
In winter months and other common situations the ambient air temperature may
be too cold for a baby
to safely sleep with exposed arms and upper body. However, when a parent
discovers the baby has
pushed down the blanket and tries to re-position the blanket to cover the
baby's arms and upper body,
the parent often must pull the blanket out from under the arms of the sleeping
baby and risks disturbing
and waking the baby.
United States Patent No. 6,513,164 discloses a baby blanket assembly that is
similar to a sleeping bag
or sack within which the baby is secured and that includes a number of safety
and convenience features.
However, even with this improved sleeping bag design, a typical baby can free
their arms and push
down the cover portion of the assembly causing the baby's arms and possibly
upper body to be cold
and uncomfortable. A parent who tries to re-position the upper portion of the
assembly out from under
the sleeping baby still risks waking the baby. It would be easier for the
parent to simply lay another
blanket over the arms and upper body of the sleeping baby; however, to do so
defeats many of the
safety features of the sleeping bag design. For example, the baby may later
pull this newly added
blanket over their face and obstruct their breathing.
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BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention there is disclosed an
article of manufacture
for covering a user while the user is resting. The article includes a first
layer having a lengthwise
direction running from an upper end for positioning toward a head of the user
and a lower end opposite
the upper end, and a widthwise direction running from a right side to a left
side of the user. The article
further includes a second layer attached to the first layer along a line on
the first layer. The second layer
is rotatable around an axis of rotation formed by the line such that the
second layer covers a particular
portion of the first layer only when rotated toward the particular portion.
According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention there is disclosed
an assembly for
covering a user while the user is resting. The assembly includes a first layer
having a lengthwise
direction running from an upper end for positioning toward a head of the user
and a lower end opposite
the upper end, and a widthwise direction running from a right side to a left
side of the user. The first
layer has a first attachment means along a line running on the first layer.
The assembly further includes
a second layer having a second attachment means adapted to attach with the
first attachment means.
When the second attachment means is attached to the first attachment means,
the second layer is
rotatable around an axis of rotation formed by the line such that the second
layer covers a particular
portion of the first layer only when rotated toward the particular portion.
According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention there is
disclosed a method of
covering a user while the user is resting. The method includes covering the
user when the user begins
resting with a first layer of an article. The first layer has a lengthwise
direction running from an upper
end positioned toward a head of the user and a lower end opposite the upper
end, and a widthwise
direction running from a right side to a left side of the user. The method
further includes rotating a
second layer of the article away from a particular portion of the first layer
when the user begins resting.
The second layer is attached to the first layer along a line on the first
layer, and the second layer is
rotatable around an axis of rotation formed by the line such that the second
layer covers the particular
portion of the first layer only when rotated toward the particular portion.
The method further includes
rotating the second layer around the axis of rotation formed by the line
toward the particular portion of
the first layer at a later time while the user is resting.
An advantage of many embodiments of the invention is that a parent or other
caregiver can easily cover
an exposed portion of a sleeping child with minimal chances of waking or
otherwise disturbing the
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child.
These and other advantages and embodiments of the present invention will no
doubt become apparent
to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed
description and reviewing the
preferred embodiments illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the
accompanying drawings which
represent preferred embodiments thereof:
FIG. 1 shows a top down view of a blanket with a rotatable second layer
according to an exemplary
embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the blanket of FIG. 1 when a baby begins to
sleep with the second
layer rotated to its lower position.
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the blanket of FIG. I after the baby has
pushed down the upper
portion of the first layer resulting in exposed upper body and arms.
FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the blanket of FIG. I after a parent or
other caregiver has rotated the
second layer to re-cover the upper body and arms of the baby.
FIG. 5 shows a top down view of a blanket with multiple independently
rotatable second layers
according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 shows a top down view of a sleeping bag with a rotatable second layer
according to another
exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the sleeping bag of FIG. 6 when a baby is
first put down to sleep with
the second layer rotated to a lower position.
FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the sleeping bag of FIG. 6 after a parent or
other caregiver has rotated
the second layer to cover the upper body and arms of the baby.
FIG. 9 shows a top down view of a sleeping bag with multiple independently
rotatable second layers
according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 10 shows a top down view of a sleeping bag with a rotatable second layer
according to another
exemplary embodiment of the invention.
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FIG. 11 shows a top down view of a blanket with multiple independently
rotatable second layers
according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows a top down view of a blanket 100 with a rotatable second layer
102 according to an
exemplary embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the second layer
102 is attached to a first
layer 110 via an attachment means 120. The attachment means 120 consists of a
plurality of buttons
122 snapped together thereby attaching an attached end of the second layer to
a middle portion of the
first layer 110.
The first layer 110 in this embodiment is a cloth sheet (or other suitable
material) of desired thickness
to cover and thereby provide warmth to a sleeping baby or other user. For
example, the blanket 100 of
FIG. I may be placed over an infant such that an upper end of the first layer
110 is positioned just
below the chin of the baby and the lower end is positioned to cover the legs
and feet of the baby. The
inward facing side (toward the baby) of the first layer 100 is preferably a
continuous soft material
suitable to be directly adjacent against a baby's bare skin.
As shown in FIG. I, the second layer 102 is attached via attachment means 120
on the outward facing
side of first layer 100 (away from the baby). The attachment means 120 runs
along a widthwise line on
the outside of the first layer 110, e.g., from a right to left side. In this
example, the line is about halfway
between the upper and lower ends of the first layer 110 so that attachment
means 120 essentially splits
the first layer 110 into an upper half and a lower half. The second layer 102
is a bit wider than the first
layer 110 and is a bit longer than one half the length of the first layer 110.
In an exemplary embodiment, the width of the second layer 102 is kept within
20% of the width of the
first layer 110. Preferably the second layer 102 is equal to or slightly
greater in width than the first
layer 110 to provide better warmth and comfort but this is a not a strict
requirement. Similarly, since
the attachment means 120 in FIG. 1 is halfway between the upper end and the
lower end of the first
layer 110, the length of the second layer 102 in this example is within 20% of
one half the total length
top to bottom of the first layer 110. In a preferred embodiment, the second
layer is long enough such
that that the free end of the second layer 102 opposite the side that is
attached at attachment means 120
covers the upper end of the first layer 110 when the second layer 102 is
rotated toward the upper end of
the first layer 110 and likewise covers the lower end of the first layer 110
when the second layer 102 is
rotated toward the lower end of the first layer 110. However, in other
embodiments, the second layer
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may be other lengths including the same as, or longer or shorter than the
first layer 110.
The only part of the second layer 102 that is attached to the first layer 110
in this embodiment is the
attached edge along the line formed by the attachment means 120. In this way,
the second layer 102 is
rotatable around the axis of rotation formed by the attachment means 120. As
illustrated in FIG. 1, the
second layer 102 is shown rotated toward the lower end of the first layer 110
and therefore covers the
lower portion of the first layer 110 (e.g., covers the legs and feet of the
user). The second layer 102 may
also be manually rotated by a parent or other caregiver around the line formed
by the attachment means
120 toward the upper end of the first layer 110. When rotated upward in this
manner, the second layer
102 will cover the upper portion of the first layer 110 (e.g., covers the
upper body of the user).
A method of utilizing the blanket 100 of FIG. 1 to cover a sleeping baby is
now disclosed with
reference to FIGs. 2 to 4.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the blanket 100 when a baby begins to sleep
with the second layer
102 rotated to its lower position. When the baby begins to fall asleep, a
parent or other caregiver covers
the baby with the blanket 100 as shown in FIG. 2. The baby's full body is
covered in this example so
the baby is warm and snug under the blanket. As shown, the second layer 102 is
positioned in the lower
rotated direction so in effect there are two layers of blanket covering the
baby's legs, i.e., the lower
portion of the first layer 110 and the second layer 102 rotated to the lower
position. The baby's upper
body has only one layer covering it at this point in time, namely, the upper
portion of the first layer 110.
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the blanket 100 after the baby has pushed
down the upper portion of
the first layer 110 resulting in exposed upper body and arms. FIG. 3
represents what the parent or other
caregiver may find when checking on the baby at a later time after the baby
has been left alone to sleep.
As shown, the baby has pulled their arms out from under the first layer 110 of
the blanket, has pushed a
portion of the first layer 110 under the baby's body or arms, and has grabbed
and is still holding on to
another part of the first layer 110. The result is the baby's arms and upper
body are exposed to the
ambient air in the room but it would be difficult for the parent or other
caregiver to re-position the
upper portion of the first layer 110 to re-cover the baby without disturbing
and possibly waking the
baby.
FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the blanket 100 of FIG. 1 after the parent
or other caregiver has
rotated the second layer 102 to re-cover the upper body and arms of the baby.
This may be done while
the baby is still sleeping and holding on to the upper portion of the first
layer 110 as shown in FIG. 3.
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The action by the parent or other caregiver to rotate the second layer 102
around the line formed by the
attachment means 120 to the upper position as shown in FIG. 4 advantageously
has a reduced chance of
disturbing the baby's rest and waking the baby when compared with a parent
trying to untangle and
reposition the upper portion of the first layer 110. Because the baby is
highly unlikely to notice the
rotation of the second layer 102 to the upper position, the baby continues to
sleep and the parents are
able to ensure that the baby's upper body and arms are again covered so the
baby stays warm.
FIG. 5 shows a top down view of a blanket 500 with multiple independently
rotatable second layers
502a, 502b according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention. This
embodiment is very
similar to that shown in FIG. 1 and has a first layer 510 attached to a second
layer 502 via an
attachment means 520 including a plurality of snapping buttons 522. A
difference with FIG. 5 is the
second layer 502 extends both above and below the attachment means 520 and
thereby forms two
rotatable second layers 502a, 502b instead of the single rotatable second
layer 102 as shown in FIG. I.
The blanket 500 of FIG. 5 may be formed by attaching two separate integral
sheets (one corresponding
to the first layer 510 and one corresponding to the second layer 502) to each
other along an attachment
means 520 about midway between the upper and lower ends of the two sheets 510,
502. Again, any
suitable attachment means 520 may be utilized, for example, buttons 522 are
again illustrated in FIG. 5.
The attachment means 520 effectively splits the second layer 502 into two
independently rotatable
second layers 502a, 502b. Alternatively, rather than two sheets 510, 502 being
attached along their
middles, the various upper and lower portions of the first and second layers
510, 502 may be four
separate sheets attached to one another via the attachment means 520 such as
Velcro strips adapted to
join with each other. In yet another embodiment, the first layer 510 may be a
single sheet, while the
upper portion of the second layer 502a and the lower portion of the second
layer 502b may be separate
sheets each attached to the first layer 510 along the attachment means 520.
Operation of the blanket 500 is very similar to as described above for the
blanket 100 of FIG. 1;
however, with the blanket 500 of FIG. 5 the parent or other caregiver may
start the baby sleeping with
both of the second layers 502a, 502b rotated toward the lower position. In
this way, the parents may
later rotate up a first one of the second layers (e.g., layer 502a in FIG. 5)
upon finding then baby has
exposed arms and/or upper body during the night. Thereafter, the parents or
other caregivers may rotate
up a second one of the second layers (e.g., layer 502b in FIG. 5) if they
again later find the baby has
exposed arms and/or upper body at subsequent check during the night. Because
there are two rotatable
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second layers 502a, 502b in this embodiment, the parents or other caregivers
may twice re-cover the
upper body of the sleeping baby.
The multiple rotatable layers 502a, 502b may be increased in number by the
addition of additional
sheets attached onto the attachment means 520. For example, the addition of a
third sheet (not shown)
of substantially the same size as the first layer 510 and attached to the
first layer 510 and/or the second
layer 502 along the attachment means 520 would provide two additional
rotatable layers (similar to
502a and 502b) and would increase by two the number of times the parents or
other caregivers could
re-cover the upper body of the sleeping baby. Rather than utilizing buttons,
each layer may have a
suitable Velcro strip on one side of attachment means 520 adapted to attach
with a corresponding
Velcro strip on an adjacent layer.
FIG. 6 shows a top down view of a sleeping bag 600 with a rotatable second
layer 602 according to
another exemplary embodiment of the invention.
It is generally recognized that sleeping bags are safer than blankets for
infants and newborns to reduce
the chances that the baby can pull soft bedding material up over their face
and obstruct their breathing.
With the sleeping bag embodiment of FIG. 6, a baby is positioned within the
first layer 610, which acts
as a sack enclosing the baby's legs and body. The arms of the baby are free
and outside of the sack
portion of first layer 610.
Attached along a line running widthwise along the outside of a middle portion
of the first layer 610 is
an attachment means 620. The attachment means 620 runs horizontally from right
to left side over the
stomach area of the baby on the outside of the sack. A second layer 602 is
attached to the first layer 610
along this attachment means 620 and, similar to the previously described
embodiments, the second
layer 620 is rotatable about the line formed by the attachment means 620. In
this manner, the second
layer 620 can cover either a lower portion or an upper portion of the sleeping
bag's first layer 610
depending on the position of rotation. Rather than buttons or Velcro , in this
embodiment, the
attachment means is of permanent nature such as by the second layer 602 being
sewn directly to the
outside stomach area of the sleeping bag layer 610 during manufacture.
However, in other
embodiments, the second layer 602 may be selectively attachable and detachable
to the first layer 610
by an attachment means 620 such as buttons, Velcro , zipper etc.
The design of the second layer 602 may be adapted to appear from the top down
view as if it were an
article of clothing such as a dress for a girl or a kilt for a boy. However,
unlike these typical articles of
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clothing, the attachment means 620 does not encircle the whole garment.
Instead, the attachment means
620 is only along a line on one side of the sleeping bag layer 610, for
instance, only on the stomach
side. In this way, a baby can be laid on their back in a crib and the second
layer 602 will be facing
upward and free to be rotated to either of the upper or lower positions by a
parent or caregiver.
Concerning the sack portion of the first layer 610, the sack may be
permanently formed during
manufacture such that the sack cannot be taken apart or separated into
multiple layers, or the sack may
be formed by two or more layers that are attachable and deattachable to each
other by an end user to
form the sack within which the baby can be placed.
An exemplary method of operating the sleeping bag 600 is now described with
reference to FIGs. 7 and
8.
FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the sleeping bag 600 when a baby is first
put down to sleep with the
second layer 602 rotated to a lower position. The parent or other caregiver
places the baby into the
sleeping bag's first layer 610. As the baby's arms are free, the baby may see
their arms and fingers
moving during play time before falling asleep.
FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the sleeping bag 600 after a parent or other
caregiver has rotated the
second layer 602 to cover the upper body and arms of the baby. After the baby
has fallen asleep, the
parent or other caregiver gently rotates the second layer 602 up to cover the
baby's arms and upper
body. In this way, the baby can enjoy having their arms free while falling
asleep while still beneficently
having their arms easily covered by the rotatable second layer 602 after
falling asleep.
Another advantage of the sleeping bag 600 is that even if the baby should
later wake and grab a hold of
the second layer 602, it will not be possible for the baby to pull the second
layer 602 up over the baby's
face inadvertently obstructing their breathing. The reason is the second layer
602 is attached to the
sleeping bag's first layer 610 via attachment means 620, and the weight of the
baby lying within the
first layer 610 and the fact that the baby's feet are also within the enclosed
sack both help to prevent the
baby from pulling the rotatable second layer 602 up over the baby's face. In
this way, the sleeping bag
600 with rotatable second layer 602 according to this embodiment is safer in
use than a parent or other
caregiver simply laying a separate detached blanket over the top of a baby's
exposed arms like they
might do when utilizing a conventional sleeping bag.
FIG. 9 shows a top down view of a sleeping bag 900 with multiple independently
rotatable second
layers 902a, 902b according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention.
In this embodiment,
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two rotatable second layers 902a, 902b are attached to the stomach area of the
sleeping bag layer 910
via an attachment means 920. In another embodiment, rather than separate
sheets forming the two
second layers 902a, 902b, the two second layers 902a, 902b may in fact be
upper and lower portions of
a single sheet that is attached horizontally along its middle via attachment
means 920 to the sleeping
bag's first layer 910. The second layers 902a, 902b may be separately or
together attachable and
detachable to the first layer 910 or may be permanently attached to the first
layer 910 via attachment
means 920.
Unlike the second layer 602 of FIG. 6 appearing as a dress or kilt, the second
layers 902a, 902b in this
embodiment are designed to appear as one or more blankets and may be attached
to the stomach area of
the sleeping bag layer 920 via a detachable attachment means 920. Again, a
Velcro strip running
horizontally across the stomach area of the sleeping bag 910 may be a first
attachment means adapted
to attach with a corresponding Velcro strip running horizontally across the
middle of a blanket. The
position of the attachment means 920 may also be higher or lower than is
illustrated in FIG. 9 in other
embodiments. Buttons or any other attachable mechanism may be utilized in a
similar manner. In this
way, the baby may wear or be placed in the sleeping bag layer 910 separate
from the second layers
902a, 902b until ready for bed.
When the baby is tired and going to have a nap, a parent or other caregiver
places the baby on their
back within sleeping bag 910 and attaches the attachment means on the sheet
forming the second layers
902a, 902b with the corresponding attachment means on the sleeping bag layer
910. Similar to the
above described baby blanket 500 of FIG. 5, the parent may first rotate both
the second layers 902a,
902b toward the lower end of the sleeping bag layer 610 when the baby begins
to sleep. At different
times during the baby's nap, the parent can then rotate one or more of the
second layers 902a, 902b
upward to cover the baby's exposed arms and upper body. For example, on a
first check of the baby
second layer 902a may be rotated upward and then on a subsequent check of the
baby second layer
902b may be rotated upward.
A benefit of including multiple rotatable second layers 602 is similar to as
previously described with
reference to the blanket embodiment of FIG. 5, namely to allow the parents or
other caregivers to rotate
one of the second layers 602 to the upper position at multiple times during
the night with reduced risk
of waking the baby if the baby has grabbed a hold and pushed down the second
layer 602 previously
rotated upward at an early time.
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FIG. 10 shows a top down view of a sleeping bag 1000 with rotatable second
layer 1002 according to
another exemplary embodiment of the invention. Unlike the previously described
embodiments where
the attachment means is located in the middle, in FIG. 10 the attachment means
1020 in this
embodiment is positioned at the lower end of the first layer 1010, i.e., just
over top of where the baby's
toes would be located within the sleeping bag layer 1010. The operation of
this sleeping bag 1000
embodiment remains similar to as described above where the second layer 1002
is first rotated
downward so that it does not cover any portion of the sleeping bag layer 1010
when the baby is first put
to sleep. Thereafter, when the parent or caregiver later checks on the baby
and discovers the baby is
sleeping, the parent or caregiver rotates the second layer 1002 upward to
thereby cover the full sleeping
bag layer 1010 including the arms and upper body of the baby. As previously
described, the attachment
means 1020 may permanently attach together the first and second layers 1010,
1002 or may allow these
two layers 1010, 1002 to be removed from one another in different embodiments.
Summing up an example embodiment of the invention, an article of manufacture
for covering a user
while the user is resting includes a first layer and a rotatable second layer.
The second layer is attached
to the first layer along a line running across the first layer. The second
layer is rotatable around an axis
of rotation formed by the line such that the second layer covers a particular
portion of the first layer
only when rotated toward the particular portion. In operation, a parent or
other caregiver covers a
resting user with the first layer and rotates the second layer away from a
particular portion of the first
layer. Then, at a later time, the parent or caregiver rotates the second layer
toward the particular portion
of the first layer. In this way, the parent or caregiver can easily cover a
portion of the user while the
user is resting without needing to re-position the first layer.
Although the invention has been described in connection with preferred
embodiments, it should be
understood that various modifications, additions and alterations may be made
to the invention by one
skilled in the art. For example, the first layer 110 of blanket 100 of FIG. 1
may be formed by a single
area of cloth with the attachment means 120 formed along the middle of the
outer side or may be
formed by two separate areas of cloth that are attached together at the
attachment means 120. Likewise,
each of the first and second layers 510, 502 of the blanket 500 of FIG. 5 may
be formed by either a
single area of cloth or two separate areas (upper and lower portions) joined
at the attachment means
520.
In yet another beneficial modification, different patterns and designs may be
selected and added to
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various second layers 102, 502, 602, 902, 1002 so that a suitable one may be
used for different babies
or different occasions, moods etc. The first and second layers may be sold or
otherwise provided as an
assembly that are attached by the user themselves. For instance, different
animals, colours, shapes, etc.
may be drawn on a plurality of different attachable second layers 602 and the
parents, caregiver, or
child may select the appropriate or desired one(s) for use. The attachment
means 120, 520, 620, 920,
1020, 1120 may be any suitable attachment mechanism for example but not
limited to buttons, fabric
hook and loop fasteners such as Velcro , zippers, etc. The attachments means
may comprise a first
attachment means on a first layer adapted to connect and attach with a
corresponding compatible
second attachment means on the second layer(s).
In yet another modification, rather than being attachable and re-attachable,
the rotatable second layer(s)
may be permanently attached to the first layer such as by the various layers
being sewn together at the
factory during manufacture.
In yet another modification, other types of sleeping and bedding articles of
manufacture for covering a
person while resting may take advantage of the invention. For example, a
rotatable second layer may be
added to any suitable first layer such as bIankets, duvets, sheets, quilts,
sleeping bags, sleeping sacks,
comforters, bed covers, sleepers, pyjamas, etc.
In yet another modification, rather than the attachment means being a
horizontal line at the halfway
point of the first layer similar to as shown in FIGs. 1-9 or being a line
along the lower end of the first
layer similar to as shown in FIG. 10, the attachment means may be a horizontal
line across the first
layer at any level from near the middle to either the upper or lower ends. For
instance, FIG. 11 shows a
top down view of a blanket 1100 with multiple independently rotatable second
layers 1102a, 1102b
according to yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention. In this
embodiment, a second layer
sheet 1102 is attached to a first layer sheet 1110 along an attachment means
1120. Similar to as before
buttons 1122 are illustrated, but it is to be understood that any suitable
attachment mechanism may be
used either permanently attached or selectively removable by the parents or
other caregivers. A
difference with this embodiment is that the attachment means 1120 is along a
line closer to the upper
end than the lower end of the first layer 1110. Another difference with
embodiment is that the two
independently rotatable second layers 1102a, 1102b are different sizes from
each other. Yet another
difference is that the attachment means 1120 does not run across the full
width of the first layer 1110.
Any of these variations regarding the position and width of the attachment
means 1120 and/or
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including multiple rotatable second layers 1102a, 1102b of different sizes may
also be employed with
any of the previously illustrated embodiments. Taking FIG. 9 as an example,
the attachment means 920
in another embodiment may be moved closer to the upper end of the first layer
910. Likewise, the two
independent rotatable second layers 902a, 902b of FIG. 9 may be of the same or
different sizes. For
example, when the attachment means 920 is closer to the upper end, the upper
second layer 902a may
be smaller than the lower second layer 902b. Likewise, in yet other
embodiments, the line forming the
attachments means 920 may run vertically or diagonally rather than
horizontally on the first layer.
Additionally, although the above description has focused on covering the upper
body and arms of the
user, other embodiments and methods of operation are also possible to cover
the lower body and legs.
For example, rather than rotating the second layer 102 of the blanket 100 in
FIG. Ito the lower position
when the person covered by the blanket begins to rest, the second layer 102
may instead be started in
an upward position when the user begins to rest. In this way, after the person
has fallen asleep, a parent
or caregiver can rotate the second layer down to the lower position and
thereby cover the sleeping
person's lower body and legs. This embodiment may be beneficial for a person
who tends to move their
legs and kick away the lower part of a blanket when falling asleep.
Likewise, although the above description has focused on covering exposed
portions of sleeping babies,
infants, and children, embodiments of the invention are also useful and may be
employed to cover any
resting person or animal. For example, adult patients in a hospital may
benefit from having a caregiver
such as a nurse easily rotate the second layer 102, 502, 602, 902a,b, 1002,
1102a, 1102b to cover either
the patient's upper body or legs as desired without disturbing the patient's
sleep. Similarly, the
invention with rotatable second layer(s) may also be utilized to cover people
with disabilities. Pet
owners may also employ the disclosed blankets and sleeping bags to cover and
re-cover their sleeping
pets such as a dogs and cats. The disclosed blankets and other bedding
materials may be adapted for
both indoor and outdoor usage as desired.
All combinations and permutations of the above described features, embodiments
and configurations
may be utilized in conjunction with the invention.
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