Woven stretchable fitted sheet

Abstract

A woven stretchable fitted sheet is made of a woven material but is stretchable in one dimension. The fitted sheet is made of a single such material comprising the top wall and side walls combined together to form a skirt. The edges of the skirt have an elastic band attached thereto which bunches up the material slightly to allow it to be stretched over a mattress and to accommodate to mattresses of differing heights. The fabric preferably used to manufacture the fitted sheet includes a blend of a material such as cotton or cotton/polyester blend blended with SPANDEX® elastic yarn. These materials are made into a yarn using a core spinning technique. In the preferred embodiment, the blend of cotton or other fabric and SPANDEX® is from 2 to 20% SPANDEX® and the remainder cotton or other material, such as, for example, a cotton/polyester blend.

1 . A fitted sheet comprising:
 a) a woven fabric made of a first set of yarns extending along a length dimension and a second set of yarns extending along a width dimension and woven into said first set of yarns to create said woven fabric;   b) one of said first or said second set of yarns being made of a material chosen from the group consisting of cotton, a cotton/polyester blend, and polyester;   c) another of said first or said second set of yarns being made of a blended material consisting of (1) one of cotton, a cotton/polyester blend or polyester, blended with (2) an elastic yarn;   d) said woven fabric being employed for a top wall of said fitted sheet and side walls of said fitted sheet, said side walls combining together to form a skirt;   e) an elastic strip attached to a bottom open edge of said skirt; and   f) said woven fabric being stretchable in a direction of one of said dimensions.   
     
     
         2 . The fitted sheet of  claim 1 , wherein said one of said dimensions comprises said width dimension. 
     
     
         3 . The fitted sheet of  claim 1 , wherein said elastic yarn comprises 2-20%, by weight, of said another of said first or said second set of yarns. 
     
     
         4 . The fitted sheet of  claim 3 , wherein said woven fabric has a stretch ratio of 3 to 13%. 
     
     
         5 . The fitted sheet of  claim 1 , wherein said woven fabric has a thread count of 200 to 1500 threads per inch. 
     
     
         6 . The fitted sheet of  claim 5 , wherein said thread count is 300 threads per inch. 
     
     
         7 . The fitted sheet of  claim 1 , wherein said top wall and skirt are made of a single piece of fabric. 
     
     
         8 . The fitted sheet of  claim 1 , wherein said second set of yarns includes said elastic yarn. 
     
     
         9 . The fitted sheet of  claim 8 , wherein said elastic yarn is made of two pre-polymers reacted together to produce elastic fibers made into said elastic yarn. 
     
     
         10 . The fitted sheet of  claim 9 , wherein one of said pre-polymers comprises a flexible macro-glycol and another of said pre-polymers comprises a stiff di-isocyanate. 
     
     
         11 . The fitted sheet of  claim 10 , wherein said stiff di-isocyanate contains at least 85% polyurethane. 
     
     
         12 . The fitted sheet of  claim 1 , wherein said elastic strip is attached to said bottom edge of said skirt in a stretched configuration. 
     
     
         13 . The fitted sheet of  claim 1 , wherein said first set of yarns comprise cotton yarns and said second set of yarns comprise a blend of 80-98% cotton and 2 to 20% elastic yarn. 
     
     
         14 . The fitted sheet of  claim 13 , wherein said fabric has a thread count of 200-1500 threads per inch. 
     
     
         15 . The fitted sheet of  claim 8 , wherein said second set of yarns are core spun with elastic fiber comprising a core thereof. 
     
     
         16 . A fitted sheet comprising:
 a) a woven fabric made of a first set of yarns extending along a length dimension and a second set of yarns extending along a width dimension and woven into said first set of yarns to create said woven fabric;   b) said first set of yarns being made of a material chosen from the group consisting of cotton, a cotton/polyester blend, and polyester;   c) said second set of yarns being made of a blended material consisting of (1) one of cotton, a cotton/polyester blend or polyester, blended with (2) an elastic yarn, said second set of yarns being core spun with elastic fiber comprising a core thereof;   d) said woven fabric being employed for a top wall of said fitted sheet and side walls of said fitted sheet, said side walls combining together to form a skirt, and said top wall and skirt being made of a single piece of fabric;   e) an elastic strip attached to a bottom edge of said skirt; and   f) said woven fabric being stretchable along said width direction.   
     
     
         17 . The fitted sheet of  claim 16 , wherein said elastic yarn comprises 5-12%, by weight, of said second set of yarns. 
     
     
         18 . The fitted sheet of  claim 16 , wherein said woven fabric has a stretch ratio of 1.5 to 3.0. 
     
     
         19 . The fitted sheet of  claim 16 , wherein said woven fabric has a thread count of 100 to 800 threads per inch. 
     
     
         20 . The fitted sheet of  claim 16 , wherein said elastic yarn is made of two pre-polymers reacted together to produce elastic fibers, one of said pre-polymers comprising a flexible macro glycol and another of said pre-polymers comprising a stiff di-isocyanate.