Down-silk duvet

Abstract

The invention relates to a down-silk duvet comprising a down duvet (1) having a front side cloth (2) and a back side cloth (3) where the front side cloth and back side cloth are sewed together so as to create at least one compartment (5) filled with down (6). The down duvet is then covered with multiple layers (8) of silk fibres on both the front side cloth and the back side cloth and finally a bolster (9) is covering the multiple layers of silk fibres. The invention further relates to a method for manufacturing such down-silk duvets.

Description

[0001] DOWN-SILK DUVET

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a down-silk duvets, a method for manufacturing such duvets and the use of silk filling for integrated covering of down duvets.

[0004] Background of the Invention

[0005] Duvets filled with down are well known in the art. They have the advantage of providing good insulation, an appropriate weight and fullness and they can be provided in various qualities and costs. However, duvets filled with down can cause people to sweat at night and thereby create a humid surface. US4707873B1 and US2005210586A1 describe some examples of duvets filled with down.

[0006] Silk duvets are also well known in the art. They have the advantage of a particularly good temperature regulation at the skin - duvet contact area i.e. you do not sweat in a silk duvet. Further, silk duvets provide a unique feeling comfort created by the silk. Silk duvets have the disadvantage that they can feel too light to provide the weight feeling many associate with their bedwear. CN202312452U describes some examples of silk duvets. CN 104586163 A describes a combined down-silk duvet where a mat of silk is provided on top of a down duvet. The duvet of CN 104586163 A has the drawback of not feeling like one single duvet. Instead it feels like multiple duvets combined into one.

[0007] Duvets are also known as quilts or comforters, but in the present application the term duvet is used.

[0008] The inventors have found a way to combine the best from the two while at the same time avoiding the drawback of previously existing duvets.

[0009] Summary of the Invention

[0010] The inventors have found that by clothing a down filled duvet with silk fibres in a certain manner it is possible to have the unique feeling of comfort from the silk while at the same time having insulating properties and the heaviness of down. According to the invention there is provided a method for manufacturing a down-silk duvet, said method comprising the steps of:

[0011] Providing a down duvet comprising o A front side cloth o A back side cloth o Said front side cloth and said back side cloth being sewed together so as to create at least one compartment filled with downs

[0012] Clothing a first side said down duvet with multiple layers of silk fibres so as to form layers on said first side

[0013] Clothing a second side of said down duvet with multiple layers of silk fibres so as to form layers on said second side

[0014] Covering the layers on said first side and the layers on the second side with a bolster

[0015] In a further aspect the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a down-silk duvet, said method comprising the steps of:

[0016] Providing a down duvet comprising o A front side cloth o A back side cloth o Said front side cloth and said back side cloth being sewed together so as to create at least one compartment filled with downs

[0017] Clothing a first side of said down duvet with multiple layers of silk fibres by adding one layer at the time so as to form the multiple layers on said first side

[0018] Clothing a second side of said down duvet with multiple layers of silk fibres by adding one layer at the time so as to form the multiple layers on said second side Covering the layers on said first side and the layers on the second side with a bolster

[0019] The advantage of adding one single layer at the time and doing that multiple times to create multiple layers have the advantage of a better adherence between the individual layers and also between the silk and the down duvet. In case a mat of silk layers is added as one element to the down duvet the result is a duvet where the silk and the down duvet after relatively short use begins to disconnect and the duvet feels more like multiple duvets rather than a single coherent duvet. By adding one individual layer at the time the silk fibres form a stronger connection to the down duvet and thereby resulting in the feeling of the duvet as a single coherent duvet.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment the multiple layers of silk fibres are stitched to the down duvet before the second side of the down duvet is clothed with multiple layers of silk fibres. It is to be understood that the term down is to be interpreted broadly so as to include both down as such and also feathers including mixtures thereof.

[0021] According to the invention there is further provided a down-silk duvet comprising:

[0022] - A down duvet comprising o A front side cloth o A back side cloth o Said front side cloth and back side cloth being sewed together so as to create at least one compartment filled with downs

[0023] Multiple layers of silk fibres on both the front side cloth and the back side cloth

[0024] - A bolster covering the multiple layers of silk fibres

[0025] Preferably the multiple layers of silk fibres are added one layer at the time. Such a silkdown duvet, as explained above, feels more like one duvet instead of multiple duvets collected into one.

[0026] It is to be understood that the front side cloth and back side cloth can be in one piece e.g. by having a single cloth and folding it. However, it is preferred that it is two pieces of cloth.

[0027] For both the method and the down-silk duvet various types of silk can be used. Most suited are mulberry silk, eri silk, tussar silk, and muga silk. Preferably mulberry silk or tussar silk is used. Most preferred is mulberry silk.

[0028] In another preferred embodiment a mixture of silks is used for the multiple layers of silk fibres, preferably a mixture of mulberry silk and tussar silk is used.

[0029] Preferably, there are at least 20 layers of silk, and more preferably at least 30 layers of silk and most preferred at least 50 layers of silk. In certain embodiments there are at least 100 layers of silk.

[0030] In another aspect the invention relates to the use of silk fibres as multiple outer layers on down duvets. In another aspect the invention relates to the use of silk filling for integrated covering of down duvets.

[0031] A particularly good duvet is reached by using a weight ratio of downs to silk between 4 to 1 and 1 to 4, preferably between 3 to 1 and 1 to 3 and most preferred between 2 to 1 and 1 to 2.

[0032] For people who like the feeling of silk, it is preferred that the weight of silk is at least the weight of down, preferably the weight of silk exceeds the weight of down with at least 50%. In such a case a good ratio of downs to silk is between 1 to 2 and 1 to 3.

[0033] Downs particularly suitable for the invention are goose down, duck down, and eider down. Preferably, eider down is used.

[0034] For people with allergies synthetic downs can also be used in the invention.

[0035] Synthetic down, which is also known as alternative down, is a type of engineered insulation that is aimed at mimicking natural down. It is usually manufactured with polyester and constructed so that the faux fibers branch out in different directions, offering varying sizes and shapes.

[0036] Traditional downs are usually preferred if most of your activity takes place in drier environments, where the down will keep you warmer for the night. However, if most of your activities are in wet and cool conditions synthetic downs are usually best.

[0037] List of figures

[0038] Figure 1A+B is an illustration of a down duvet

[0039] Figure 2 is a down-silk duvet seen from the end

[0040] Figure 3 is a variant of a traditional down duvet which can be covered with silk

[0041] Figure 4 is a picture of a manufactured down-silk duvet according to the invention Detailed description

[0042] Just as with the duvets themselves, the parts of a duvet also have various names across the globe. In the following the terms used in this application is described.

[0043] Bed tick or bolster is the layer finishing the duvet and is an integral part of the duvet. For a down duvet it is the layer that encloses the down and for a silk duvet it is the layer making the final cover of the silk. In the present application the term bolster is used for the layer enclosing the interior of the duvet.

[0044] Traditionally, duvet when used is further covered by a removable and washable part. This washable part is usually known as cover or quilts. In the present application the term cover is used for the washable part. The washable part is provided on top of the bolster.

[0045] In a preferred embodiment the bolster is made of silk and even more preferred the bolster is made of mulberry silk.

[0046] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the bolster is made of the same type of silk fibres as the multiple layers of silk fibres.

[0047] In one embodiment of the invention a traditional down duvet is covered with multiple layers of silk fibres. This can be done by providing a down duvet which typically comprises a front side cloth and a back side cloth sewed together so as to form a compartment suitable for being filled with down. An alternate version of a down duvet to fold one piece of cloth and then sew on the three remaining sides which also will result in a compartment suitable for being filled with down. In this embodiment the down duvet is laid out on a support such a table, bench or the like. Then one layer at the time is added to the top surface of the down duvet so as to form multiple layers of silk fibres on top of the down duvet. Preferably, the multiple layers of silk fibres are fastened and then the assembly is turned over so that the uncovered surface of the down duvet now faces upwards. It is not necessary to fasten the multiple layers of silk fibres, the assembly can carefully be turned over without fastening. After the turning of the assembly the uncovered side is then covered with multiple layers of silk fibres which are added one at a time. When the desired number of layers of silk fibres have been added on each side of the down duvet a bolster is provided as an outer layer thereby finalizing the down-silk duvet. However, though the simplest version of a down duvet is as explained above, a typical down duvet used in the invention comprises multiple compartments filled with down. This is done so as to avoid all the downs ending up in one part of the duvet. The compartments can be in form of canals extending cross the duvet or in form of squares or diamonds. Other shapes are known in the art as well. Preferably the down duvet has at least 25 compartments and more preferred at least 50 compartments each filled with downs.

[0048] It is well known in the art how to make the silk fibres that can be stretches as a thin layer on an item such as a duvet or a previous layer of silk fibres. This is how a traditional silk duvet is made. First the raw silk is washed in a hot aqueous medium and an initial stretching process is done. Then after additional workup the silk is ready for stretching over an object. The workedup silk is then stetched as a layer on top of the object. This process is repeated until the desired number of layers are provided on top of the object. For clarity, - when making a pure silk duvet (which is not part of the invention) the object can be an initial support which is removed before a bolster is provided over the multiple silk layers.

[0049] The result from the process according to the invention is a new and inventive down-silk duvet having as its centre a traditional down duvet. On both sides of the down duvet multiple layers of silk fibres are provided and as an outer layer is a bolster.

[0050] The duvet according to the invention can be used just as it is. However, in such a situation the down-silk duvet may require specialist dry cleaning. Thus, something easily washable is usually placed between the sleeper and the duvet. The easily washable part can then be removed and laundered as often as the bottom sheet and pillow cases.

[0051] In the following the invention with be described in further details with reference to the figures. Figure 1a shows down duvet 1 suitable for being covered with silk fibres the down duvet 1 is seen from the side. The down duvet 1 comprises a front side cloth 2 and a back side cloth 3. The front side cloth and the back side cloth is sewed together at an edge region 4 so as to create at least one compartment 5 filled with down 6.

[0052] Figure 1b shows the down duvet 1 of figure 1a seen from above. It can be seen how the stiches 7 between the front side cloth and the back side cloth are provided in an edge area 4 so that a compartment 5 is created. Figure 2 shows a silk-down 10 duvet according to the invention. In the centre there is a down duvet 1 with a front side cloth 2 and a back side cloth 3, the two cloths are being sewed together in an edge region 4 so as to create a compartment 5 filled with down 6. Each side is clothes with multiple layers 8 of silk fibres and finally it is all covered with a bolster 9.

[0053] Figure 3 illustrates a down duvet 1 having multiple compartments 5 having a diamond shape. The diamond shape in this example is made by cross stitching 11. The down duvet 1 with multiple compartments 5 is then covered with multiple layers of silk fibres so as to make the down-silk duvet.

[0054] Figure 4 is an illustration of a test manufactured down-silk duvet. The down duvet is a traditional duvet sold under the trade name Downafresh ® having the size of 140x200 cm. It has a filling of white goose down in an amount of 240 g. The first and second sides of the down duvet are clothed with multiple layers 8 of silk fibres. The multiple layers are added one layer at the time on the down duvet until the desired multiple layers have been added i.e. until the desired amount of silk fibres have been added. In the test manufactured down-silk duvet multiple layers have been added one layer at the time until there has been provided 500 g of silk fibres. The ratio between down and silk is 240:500 or 1 :2.08. Finally, the silk layers on the first side and the second side are covered with a bolster made of 100% 6A mulberry silk fibres. In the picture the bolster 9 is cut open so that the silk becomes visible but in a finished down-silk duvet, the bolster will be sealing of the silk.

[0055] When the down-silk duvet is to be used it will then be covered with a cover that is washable. The cover will typically be made of either silk or cotton.

[0056] List of reference numbers

[0057] 1 down duvet

[0058] 2 front side cloth 3 back side cloth

[0059] 4 edge region

[0060] 5 compartment

[0061] 6 down

[0062] 7 stitch 8 multiple layers of silk

[0063] 9 bolster

[0064] 10 down-silk duvet

[0065] 11 cross stitching

Claims

Claims1. A method for manufacturing a down-silk duvet (10), said method comprising the steps of:Providing a down duvet (1) comprising o A front side cloth (2) o A back side cloth (3) o Said front side cloth (2) and said back side cloth (3) being sewed together so as to create at least one compartment (5) filled with downs (6)Clothing a first side of said down duvet (1) with multiple layers (8) of silk fibres by adding one layer at the time so as to form the multiple layers on said first side Clothing a second side of said down duvet (1) with multiple layers (8) of silk fibres by adding one layer at the time so as to form the multiple layers on said second sideCovering the layers on said first side and the layers on the second side with a bolster (9)2. A method according to claim 1 where the weight ratio between down and silk is between 4:1 and 1 :4.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2 where the weight of silk is higher that the weight of down.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims where the downs are selected from goose down, duck down and eider down.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the downs are eider down.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the weight ratio between down and silk is between 1 :2 and 1 :3.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the bolster (9) is made of silk.

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the silk fibres and the bolster (9) is made of mulberry silk.

9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the multiple layers of silk fibres on the first side are fastened before the multiple layers of silk fibres are clothed on the second side.

10. A down-silk duvet (10) manufactured by any one of claims 1-9 comprising:- A down duvet (1) comprising o A front side cloth (2) o A back side cloth (3) o Said front side cloth (2) and back side cloth (3) being sewed together so as to create at least one compartment (5) filled with downs (6)Multiple layers (8) of silk fibres on both the front side cloth (2) and the back side cloth (3), the multiple layers (8) being added one layer at the time- A bolster (9) covering the multiple layers (8) of silk fibres11. A down-silk duvet (10) according to claim 10, wherein the multiple layers (8) of silk are at least 20 layers.

12. A down-silk duvet (10) according to claim 10 or 11 wherein a weight ratio between down and silk is between 4:1 and 1 :4.

13. A down-silk duvet (10) according to any one of claims 10-12 wherein the bolster (9) is made of silk.

14. A down-silk duvet (10) according to any one of claims 10-13 the silk fibres and the bolster (9) is made of mulberry silk.

15. Use of silk fibres as multiple outer layers on down duvets.

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