Fitted bedclothes having elastic segments at corners

Abstract

A fitted bedclothing item such as a sheet, mattress pad, anti-allergy cover, blanket or coverlet includes a top portion, side portions and end portions, and elastic segments at its four corners, stitched to edges of respective side and end portions (and to an elastic binding at lower edges thereof, if present), to provide such flexibility to its ability to fit a mattress that the bedclothing item can fit mattresses of at least two different sizes and/or thickness. The elastic segments are made of knitted or woven elastic filaments, such as SPANDEX® fabric, and can be shaped to have a straight lower edges and a curved upper portion, the curve approximating a end of a ellipse.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A fitted bedclothing item which can be mounted on different sized and/or thickness mattresses, said fitted sheet comprising a top portion, opposite side portions defining lower edges, opposite end portions defining lower edges, and separate elastic segments connected between adjacent side and end portions to enable the sheet to extend around and under the sides and ends of more than one size and/or thickness of mattress.  
     
     
         2 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , wherein each elastic segment is formed of elastic filaments.  
     
     
         3 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 2 , wherein each elastic segment is made of knitted or woven elastic filaments.  
     
     
         4 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , wherein said elastic segments are stitched to adjacent side edges of said corner and end portions.  
     
     
         5 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , wherein each elastic segment has a generally straight bottom edge and a curved upper edge.  
     
     
         6 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 5 , wherein said curved upper edge generally conforms to a curve of an end portion of an ellipse.  
     
     
         7 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , including an elastic binder that extends along the lower edges of the side and end portions to cause lower areas of the side and end portions to extend inwardly under a lower surface of a mattress.  
     
     
         8 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is made of cotton.  
     
     
         9 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is made of linen.  
     
     
         10 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is made of flannel.  
     
     
         11 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is made of satin or sateen.  
     
     
         12 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which can fit both a twin and a twin XL mattress.  
     
     
         13 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which can fit both a full size and a queen size mattress.  
     
     
         14 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is sized to fit both an Eastern king and a California king mattress.  
     
     
         15 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , including separate elastic strips connected between respective side and end portions at each corner thereof.  
     
     
         16 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is a fitted sheet.  
     
     
         17 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is a fitted mattress pad.  
     
     
         18 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is a fitted anti-allergy cover.  
     
     
         19 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is a fitted blanket.  
     
     
         20 . A fitted bedclothing item according to  claim 1 , which is a fitted coverlet.