PILLOW HAVING A STRUCTURALLY VARYING TRUSS CORE

Abstract

A pillow having a length, a width and a height for supporting a head of a reclining body. The pillow is formed of a core formed with variable displacement parameters along the length and width in the direction of the height. The core includes an outer region surrounding, at least in part, an inner region where the inner region forms one or more cavities within the outer region to establish the variable displacement parameters. The variable displacement parameters allow the head to deform the pillow in the direction of the height of the pillow in proximity to the cavities for controlling alignment of the head in a comfortable sleeping position.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to pillows for sleeping and more particularly, to improved pillows having therapeutic and cosmetic properties and that enhance the quality of sleep.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Standard pillows in common use for many years have a number of limitations. For example, the downward force, caused by the weight of a person's head, on tissue and facial skin in contact with the pillow causes local stretching and deformation of the skin. Over a period of years, this deformation accelerates wrinkling of the skin and contributes to the visible effects of aging.

Similarly, the outer surfaces of the ears are crushed by the weight of the head when a person using a pillow lies to the side and contributes to the incidence of bacterial and fungal ear infections, morning wax deafness, ear ache and gradual deformation and wrinkling of the pinna.

In addition, standard pillows in common use provide uneven support to the head and neck, cause muscular strain of the neck and back, and cause general night unrest. Sleepers often adopt a side or face down position in an effort to conform to the support points of a pillow and thus spend disproportionately little time sleeping in a supine position. This tendency can accelerate degeneration of the spine associated with aging, particularly in the neck region. Indeed, neck injury commonly results from improper support while sleeping. Similarly, in an attempt to match personal anatomy to a pillow, many people adopt unnatural sleeping positions with arms and hands used to provide head support which leads to discomfort and joint degeneration and even to arthritis in the hands, elbows and shoulders.

Although a variety of pillow sizes and shapes are available, they often do not match an individual's anatomy and natural sleep habits. In an attempt to address some of these deficiencies, various pillow designs have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,380 entitled ADJUSTABLE CERVICAL PILLOW WITH DEPRESSIONS FOR A USER'S EAR invented by Roger A. Sramek, one of the inventors of the present invention, discloses a pillow which reduces the incidence of morning wrinkles and permanent skin wrinkling, which prevents ear compression and which provides anatomically correct cervical and head support. That pillow supports the head and neck of a person and includes a resilient pillow body with an adjustable-height head rest. The head rest includes a central depression in the pillow body and a plurality of head-height adjustment shims which fit into the central depression. The pillow body has a resilient upper portion with a plurality of depressions on a top face for receiving the person's ears.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,380 is close to setting a standard for the ideal pillow. Embodiments of the pillow were made from urethane foam and other resilient man-made and natural materials that provided firm and aligned support and that vastly improved the quality of sleep. Disadvantageously, that pillow has a non-standard appearance resulting from a contoured shape and a non-standard narrow width.

Normally everyone spends a large percentage of everyday sleeping and, therefore, the quality of sleep is important to a person's good health and enjoyment of life. Comfortable pillows and beds are important in establishing restful sleep. During sleep, a healthy person typically passes through five levels of sleep which include stages I through IV and which additionally includes a REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep stage. Stages I and II are the lightest sleep and stages III and IV are the deepest. The REM stage is that level in which sleepers dream and receive the mental health benefits attendant dreaming. All levels of sleep are important, but stages III and IV are the deepest and most physically restful sleep, when, for example, human growth hormone is secreted. Normal sleep is cyclic passing through the stages from I to IV and back from IV to I and into and out of REM. This sleep cycle is repeated a number of times over a normal sleep period, but can be disrupted due, for example, to body discomfort.

Restfulness and the quality of sleep are dependent upon the comfort of sleepers. When sleepers become uncomfortable, they move to relieve the discomfort and the resulting moves are a normal part of sleep. When sleepers move, they frequently change to lighter levels of sleep (stage I or II) or awaken. The more discomfort sleepers feel, the more they will move and the more time they will spend in lighter and less restful sleep. Good sleeping is normally associated with a low number of body shifts during the sleep period. Shifts due to discomfort caused by beds or pillows are a significant cause of poor sleep quality. On conventional sleep surfaces, most people experience about forty major postural body shifts in the course of a night's sleep. Poor sleepers experience about sixty percent more major shifts than good sleepers. While some shifts during a sleep period are beneficial, the quality of sleep can be greatly improved for many by reducing the number of shifts caused by discomfort.

There are two major causes of bed-induced shifting, and particularly pillow-induced shifting, that cause poor sleep. As it relates to the head and pillow, the first major cause of shifting is the buildup of pressures on parts of the head and the second major cause of shifting is poor head alignment. Considering the first major cause of shifting, the buildup of pressures results from prolonged lying in the same position and from pillows that are too thick or too hard. High compression tends to restrict capillary blood flow which is recognized by the body, after a period of time, as discomfort. The pressure threshold which causes a discontinuance of capillary blood flow is called the ischemic pressure. The ischemic pressure is normally considered to be approximately thirty mmHg. The discontinuance of capillary blood flow is observable as a pale or white spot on the skin which often becomes erythematous, hyperemic, or red after the pressure is relieved. After pressure is applied, a red spot on the skin is a precursor to tissue damage. When parts of the body are subjected to pressures above the ischemic threshold, discomfort results and, hence, a person shifts to remove the discomfort and threat to tissue damage. For some people, the ears are particularly sensitive to such pressure.

The second major cause of shifting, poor body alignment, results from bending of the vertebral column of the body. As it relates to the head and pillow, such bending is typically caused by poorly functioning mattresses and pillows that cause unwanted improper alignment of the neck and head in one or more sleeping positions. Proper supine (back-lying) position means that the occiput of the head (the protruding back part of the head) comes to rest nearly at the same level as the shoulders so that the head and neck are not in a flexed or bowed position while at the same time, a proper amount of support is provided to the neck. For a pillow that provides sleep comfort, a neutral anatomic position is achieved and the natural alignment is evidenced by the chin and brow being at about the same height.

Natural alignment allows the neck functions, including those of the nerves, arteries, and the breathing tube (oropharynx and hypopharynx), to perform optimally. Natural alignment also reduces stress and reduces compression on the neck muscles and nerves and thus reduces pain and stiffness.

Many pillows have a high concentration of fill in the middle of the pillow, or are otherwise too firm or too thick, and therefore promote extended flexion of the neck so that the head position is extended beyond a natural alignment. This extended head position often impairs breathing and other neck functions leading to worsened snoring and to neck, shoulder and back pain.

In addition to head and body alignment, pillows also have properties that affect cosmetic qualities of skin. The skin, particularly in women wanting delicate and smooth skin features, is susceptible to wrinkling. Facial tissue is particularly susceptible to wrinkling and worsens with aging. Repeated compression of the facial flesh, for example when side sleeping on a conventional pillow, forms nocturnal creases on each side of the mouth and wrinkling about the upper lip. Ideal pillows as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,380 tend to tighten the facial skin during sleep and hence tend to reduce pillow-induced wrinkling.

Many purchasers and merchants have come to expect pillows to have other “standard properties”. For example, an expectation is that pillows will have standard sizes for use on standard mattresses such as King, Queen, Double and so forth with dimensions that match existing pillow case sizes. While these “standard properties” do not necessarily add to the suitability of a pillow for sleeping, they nonetheless can be important for widespread commercial acceptance of pillows.

A number of additional “attributes” are also important for commercial acceptance of pillows. A pillow design desirably meets the needs of a large percentage of the population. The greatest demand is for pillows used on beds that sleep two people side by side. The number of stocking numbers required for a pillow product line is desirably low so that distribution and sale is efficient.

Developments in the parameters of and manufacturing capabilities for foam and other materials have provided new components for pillows that can be used to better approach the technical parameters required for an ideal pillow at economical costs and which can be manufactured with expected “standard properties” and with the “attributes” for pillows that are desired by the public.

The physical properties of pillow materials include among others Density, Hardness, Tensile Strength, Indentation Load Deflection, Compression Load Deflection, Initial Softness Ratio, Resilience (Elasticity), Compression Modulus, Hysteresis and Durability/Lifetime. These physical properties are described as follows.

Hardness is the resistance against pressure.

Density is the mass per unit volume. Hardness and density are interrelated. When density increases, hardness tends to increase. Generally for lower density materials, a growing loss in hardness arises after repeated loading.

Tensile Strength is the measure of the resistance against stretching and changes in tensile strength are measured as Tensile % and changes in length after applying a tensile force are measured as Elongation %.

Indentation Load Deflection (ILD) is a hardness measurement defined in the ISO 2439 standard. ILD in the standard is defined as the force that is required to compress material a percentage of its original thickness, that is, compressed 25%, 40% and 60% from its original thickness (using in the standard a circular plate of 322 cm²). These ILD's are designated ILD25%, ILD40% and ILD60%

Compression Load Deflection (CLD) is a hardness measurement defined in the ISO 3386 standard. CLD is defined as the counter pressure (force per surface) in Pascal when the core material is pressed in 25% with a stamp where 1 kPA (kilopascal) equals 10 g/cm² (grams per square centimeter), Compression Set 75%.

Initial Softness Ratio (ISR) is a hardness measurement defined as the ratio of ILD65%/ILD5%. This measurement somewhat correlates to the initial perception of a person about the comfort of a pillow.

Resilience (Elasticity) is an elasticity measurement defined in the ASTM 3574 standard. Resilience/Elasticity is measured by the “ball rebound” test where a steel ball is dropped from a height onto the pillow and the rebound of the ball is measured as a % of a predetermined height.

Compression Modulus (Sag Factor) is a compression measurement defined in the ISO 2439 standard. This sag factor is defined as the ratio of ILD65% to ILD25%.

Hysteresis is a measurement of the load deformation curve of the load surface. The hysteresis curve is determined by loading and deloading of a pillow. A circular plate of 355 mm diameter is used to gradually build a force up to a maximum of 1000 Newtons. The hysteresis represents the amount of energy that is absorbed by the material during loading/deloading. The higher the absorption of energy by a pillow, the more strength/energy is required by a person to change position on the pillow. Pillows which are too soft, have a low hysteresis which results in higher energy requirements for a person changing position. A low hysteresis value generally results in poor sleeping quality.

Durability/Lifetime is a measurement defined in one method by the EN 1957 standard. In this method, a weight of 1400 Newton is rolled 30,000 times up and down on the pillow. Afterwards the height (Elevation), hardness, ILD and elasticity of the pillow are measured. This process is repeated once again and the results are compared with the original values and recorded as a as a % retention. The average incline of the hardness is determined at 210 N, 275 N and 340 N in the load deformation curve. Another measurement is defined by the ISO 3385 (DIN 5374) standard. In this method, a foam sample of 40×40 cm forced with a weight of 750 N for 80,000 times at 70 strokes per minute. Afterwards, the loss of height and the hardness are compared with the original values again as a % retention. Tear is another durability parameter measured in pounds per linear inch (pli) and indicates the energy required to pull a sample apart.

In light of the above background, there is a need for improved pillows that better approach the properties of ideal pillows and that can be economically manufactured based utilizing the available physical properties of materials while satisfying the public expectations and demands for pillows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a pillow having over its length, width and height variable displacement parameters for supporting a head of a reclining body in natural alignment for sleep comfort. The pillow includes a core formed with variable displacement parameters along the length and width as measured in the direction of the height. The core includes an outer region surrounding, at least in part, an inner region where the inner region has one or more cavities within the outer region to establish the variable displacement parameters. The variable displacement parameters allow the head to deform the pillow in proximity to the cavities for controlling alignment of the head in a comfortable and ideal sleeping position.

In a particular embodiment, the pillow, in the direction of the thickness, has a top and a bottom and one or more of the cavities has a greater dimension near the top and a lesser dimension near the bottom.

In a further embodiment, the pillow has one or more of the cavities formed by one or more truss members having greater dimensions near the top and lesser dimensions near the bottom. In a particular embodiment, each of the truss members includes first and second legs separated by a spacer for forming ear wells. In a further particular embodiment, two of the truss members are spaced apart at ends of the pillow along the length to form a central head well.

The variable displacement parameters created by the truss members and internal cavities are instrumental in achieving the ideal pillow as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,380. Additionally, the pillows of the present invention also have the standard properties and the additional attributes that are important for commercial acceptance.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an isometric view of a pillow, with a partially cut away pillow cover, having a normal shape and appearance.

FIG. 2 depicts the pillow of FIG. 1 with more of the pillow cover cut away.

FIG. 3 depicts the pillow core of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 without a pillow cover.

FIG. 4 depicts a sectional view along the section line 4-4′ of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 depicts a sectional view along the section line 5-5′ of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 depicts a sectional view along the section line 6-6′ of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 depicts a sectional view along the section line 7-7′ of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 depicts a rotated view of the sectional view of FIG. 6 together with a pouch within the head-well cavity.

FIG. 9 depicts an isometric view of the internal truss members of the pillow of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 depicts a heart-shaped pouch for insertion into the internal head-well cavity of the pillow core for ILD adjustment of the pillow.

FIG. 11 depicts a sectional view, analogous to the FIG. 5 view, of an alternate embodiment of a pillow.

FIG. 12 depicts a sectional view, analogous to the FIG. 6 view, of the alternate embodiment of a pillow.

FIG. 13 depicts a sectional view, analogous to the FIG. 7 view, of the alternate embodiment of a pillow.

FIG. 14 depicts a rotated view of the sectional view of FIG. 12 with a heart-shaped pouch inserted into the core head-well cavity for ILD adjustment.

FIG. 15 depicts an isometric view of the internal truss members of the alternate embodiment of a pillow.

FIG. 16 depicts a core having a heart-shaped cavity and a heart-shaped pouch insert that exactly matches the shape of the heart-shaped cavity.

FIG. 17 depicts a side view of a back-lying person with his head on the pillow where the angle of the head is disadvantageously flexed above the spinal alignment line.

FIG. 18 depicts a side view of a back-lying person with the head on the pillow where the angle of the head is advantageously extended below the spinal alignment line.

FIG. 19 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including an air-inflatable bladder for controlling the head-well cavity and the pillow at one setting.

FIG. 20 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including an air-inflatable bladder for controlling the head-well cavity and the pillow at another setting.

FIG. 21 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including a cavity of a different shape.

FIG. 22 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including a cavity of a still different shape.

FIG. 23 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including a cavity of another different shape.

FIG. 24 depicts a front view of a side-lying person with her head on the pillow advantageously aligned with the spinal alignment line.

FIG. 25 depicts an end view of a side-lying person with the face on the pillow advantageously rotated down from the plane of the pillow top.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, a pillow 1 includes a core 3 with a pillow cover 2. The core 3 has a truss member 4 located in a truss region extending generally internal to and along the length of the core 3. The pillow 1 externally has the dimensions and appearance of conventional pillows and in this regard satisfies the public expectations and demands for the “standard properties” and expected attributes of pillows.

Although the pillow 1 of FIG. 1 appears to have a standard appearance and hence would be expected to have uniform and non-varying displacement parameters and a uniform concentration of fill internal to the pillow, the truss member 4 imparts a varying structural support and variable displacement parameters that provides sleep comfort assisting in achieving a neutral anatomic position and the natural alignment of the head and body of a reclining person. The pillow cover 2 is made from a low tension material which, although neatly fitted about the core 3 for a clean and snug appearance, easily stretches and conforms to allow a head and neck to appropriately rest in the pillow and be supported by the structure of the internal truss member 4. In FIG. 1, the pillow cover 2 in some embodiments includes a zipper 44 which when unzipped allows access to the core 3.

In FIG. 2, the pillow 1 includes the core 3 with the pillow cover 2 farther removed. The end surface of the truss member 4 is flush with and forms a flat surface with the end of the outer portion of the core 3.

In FIG. 3, the core 3 has the pillow cover 2 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 completely removed revealing that the external appearance of the core 3 is smooth and regular like the outward appearance of conventional pillows.

In FIG. 4, a sectional view of core 3, along the section line 4-4′ of FIG. 3, is shown to reveal a portion of the truss member 4 recessed in and forming an internal cavity 5 within the core 3. The internal cavity 5 is a well located beneath the area of the pillow that receives the head of a reclining body and hence is sometimes called a “head well” The internal cavity 5 is typically filled with air and hence structurally provides less support for a head located above cavity 5. Alternatively, as hereinafter described, the head-well cavity 5 receives a pouch for ILD modification of the structural support provided by the pillow in the head-well region.

In FIG. 5, the sectional view of core 3, along the section line 5-5′ of FIG. 3 reveals the head-well cavity 5 located in an inner region starting approximately 1 inch below the upper surface of the core 3 and surrounded by the outer region 3′. The truss member 4 within the inner region includes a first truss part 4₁ having a leg 4-1 and a leg 4-2 separated by a spacer 11-1 and a second truss part 4₂ having a leg 4-3 and a leg 4-4 separated by a spacer 11-2. The first and second truss parts are located within the inner region and at opposite ends along the length of the core 3 providing walls for the internal head-well cavity 5. In one particular embodiment, the core 3 is 23.5 inches in length with a height of 5.5 inches high.

In FIG. 6, the sectional view of core 3 along the section line 6-6′ of FIG. 5 reveals the internal head-well cavity 5. The cavity 5 has a top surface defined by an arc which approximately matches the arc of the outer surface of core 3. The head-well cavity 5 has symmetrical side surfaces with rises of 3.5 and runs of 4. An opening of 1.5 inches constitutes the bottom of head-well cavity 5. Cavity 5 is not centered within core 3 and is asymmetrical with respect to core 3. The bottom opening on the left of cavity 5 is 6 inches from the left side of core 3 and the bottom opening on the right of cavity 5 is 7.5 inches from the right side of core 3. The asymmetry of the core 3 forms a pillow with different characteristics as a function of which of the two sides, left or right in FIG. 6, receives the head and neck of a reclining body. In FIG. 6, if a person has a head over head-well cavity 5 with neck, body and feet extending to the right, the core 3 includes a greater volume under the neck than if the same reclining body has a head over cavity 5 with neck, body and feet extending to the left. Also, in FIG. 6 it is apparent that a head reclining into the core 3 has less support when first touching the pillow above the core 3 and has more support the farther the head sinks into the core 3. In one particular embodiment, the core 3 is 15 inches wide by 5.5 inches high.

In FIG. 7, a sectional view of core 3 is shown along the section line 7-7′ of FIG. 5. In FIG. 7, the sectional view of core 3 reveals the internal cavity 5. In one embodiment, the internal cavity 5 is 9.5 inches square. The cavity 5 is offset from the center of core 3 with a measurement of 3.5 inches from the right (see FIG. 6) or the top (see FIG. 7) and is offset from the center of core 3 with a measurement of 2 inches from the left (see FIG. 6) or the bottom (see FIG. 7). The cavity 5 typical receives the head of a back-lying reclining body. The asymmetry of the core 3 renders a pillow with different characteristics for a reclining body as a function of which of the two sides (left or right in FIG. 6 and top and bottom FIG. 7) receives the head and neck of the reclining body. Typically, the core 3 is a standard size measuring 23.5 inches long by 15 inches wide.

In FIG. 7, the truss member 4 includes a first truss part having a leg 4-1 and a leg 4-2 separated by a spacer 11-1 and a second truss part having a leg 4-3 and a leg 4-4 separated by a spacer 11-2. The first and second truss parts are located at opposite ends of the core 3 leaving the internal cavity 5 in between. The truss parts provide additional cavities 5-1R and 5-1L for the first truss part and cavities 5-2R and 5-2L for the second truss part. The cavities 5-1R, 5-1L, 5-2R and 5-2L are ear well cavities and are positioned so as to be opposite the ears of side-lying reclining bodies.

In FIG. 8, the right end sectional view of FIG. 6 is rotated 90 degrees to show the asymmetry together with FIG. 7. In FIG. 8, in one alternate embodiment, the cavity 5 includes a fill material 41, either loose or in a fabric pouch or other container 42, that conforms to fill the cavity 5. The fill material 41 is for example, loose foam pieces, down or other soft and resilient material for adjusting the effective ILD of the pillow core 3. The fill material 41 and container 42 are advantageously available with different ILD values whereby adjustments for the firmness of the pillow are readily made by selection of differed ILD values. In FIG. 8, the opening 43 into the cavity 5 is convenient for inserting the container 42 for altering the pillow ILD and softness. In order to enable end users to insert and remove containers 42, the pillow cover 2 preferably includes a zipper 44 as shown in FIG. 1 or other opening means to allow access to the bottom of core 3.

In FIG. 9, an isometric view of the internal truss member 4 of the pillow of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 is shown. The truss member 4 includes a first truss part having a leg 4-1 and a leg 4-2 separated by a spacer 11-1 and a second truss part having a leg 4-3 and a leg 4-4 separated by a spacer 11-2. The first and second truss parts are located at opposite ends of the core 3 of FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 and FIG. 7. The truss parts provide additional cavities 5-1R and 5-1L for the first truss part and cavities 5-2R and 5-2L for the second truss part. The cavities 5-1R, 5-1L, 5-2R and 5-2L are ear well cavities and are positioned so as to be opposite the ears of side-lying reclining bodies.

The pillow 1 described in connection with FIG. 1 through FIG. 9, in one embodiment has a length (for example, 23.5 inches), a width (for example, 15 inches) and a height (for example, 5.5 inches) for supporting a head of a reclining body (see bodies 35 and 36 in FIG. 18 through FIG. 25). The core 3 is formed with variable displacement parameters along the length and width in the direction of the height. In FIG. 5, for example, when proceeding along the length from left to right in the plane of the figure, the ILD as measured from top to bottom for the height in the plane of the figure varies. More particularly, the ILD over the leg 4-1 is greater than the ILD over the spacer 11-1. Similarly, the ILD over the leg 4-2 is greater than the ILD over the spacer 11-1 and the ILD's over both leg 4-2 and the spacer 11-1 are greater than the ILD over the cavity 5. The core 3 includes an outer region 3′ surrounding, at least in part, an inner region including cavity 5 and other cavities 5-1 and 5-2 (see FIG. 5 and FIG. 7) and including truss member 4. The variable displacement parameters are effective in allowing the head to deform the pillow in the direction of the height in proximity to the head-well cavity 5 thereby controlling alignment of the head in a comfortable sleeping position.

The pillow 1 in the direction of the height has a top and a bottom. One or more of the cavities 5, 5-1, 5-2 and the other cavities has a greater dimension near the top and a lesser dimension near the bottom. In FIG. 6, for example, cavity 5 is about 9.5 inches at the top and about 1.5 inces at the bottom. The cavity 5 is bounded by the truss members 4₁ and 4₂ (see FIG. 5) and these members also have greater dimensions near the top and lesser dimensions near the bottom (see FIG. 9). The greater dimensions on the top with an incline of the sidewalls toward the lesser dimensions at the bottom provide an incline that tends to support the neck so as to allow the head to be rotated downward toward a 4° angle for a back-lying body. This natural alignment allows the neck functions, including those of the nerves, arteries, and the breathing tube (oropharynx and hypopharynx), to perform optimally. The incline structure of the trusses fosters natural alignment. The natural alignment reduces stress, reduces compression on the neck muscles and nerves and thus reduces pain and stiffness.

In FIG. 10, pouch 42′ is an alternate embodiment of the container 42 of FIG. 8 is shown. The container (or pouch) 42′ has a heart shape. The heart shape, besides having marketing appeal, functionally provides structural properties for supporting the head of a reclining body. The pouch 42′ is filled with a material (not shown) as described for the material 41 of FIG. 8, that determines the ILD of the pouch 42′ and hence the ILD of the pillow.

In FIG. 11 a sectional view, analogous to the FIG. 5 view, of an alternate embodiment of a pillow is shown. In FIG. 11, the sectional view of core 3 reveals the internal cavity 5 located below the outer region approximately 1 inch below the upper surface of the core 3. The truss member 4 includes a first truss part 41 having a leg 4-1 and a leg 4-2 separated by a spacer 11-1 and a second truss part 4₂ having a leg 4-3 and a leg 4-4 separated by a spacer 11-2. The first and second truss parts 4₁ and 4₂ are located at opposite ends of the core 3 forming the sidewalls of the internal cavity 5. In the embodiment described, the core 3 is 23.5 inches long by 5.5 inches high.

In FIG. 12, a sectional view of core 3 along the section line 6-6′ of FIG. 11 reveals the internal cavity 5. The cavity 5 has a top surface which is flat. The cavity 5 has symmetrical side surfaces with rises and runs that are approximately the same as the rises and runs for the side surfaces of cavity 5 in FIG. 6. An opening of 1.5 inches constitutes the bottom of cavity 5. Cavity 5 is not centered within core 3. The edge of the bottom opening on the left of cavity 5 is 7 inches from the left side of core 3 and the edge of the bottom opening on the right of cavity 5 is 6.5 inches from the right side of core 3. The edge on the leftmost part of cavity 5 is 3 inches from the left side of core 3 and the edge on the rightmost side of cavity 5 is 2.5 inches from the right side of core 3. The asymmetry of the core 3 renders a pillow with different characteristics to a reclining person as a function of which of the two sides, left or right in FIG. 11, receives the head and neck of the reclining body. In FIG. 11, if a person has a head over cavity 5 with neck, body and feet extending to the right, the core includes a greater volume under the neck than if the same reclining body has a head over cavity 5 with neck, body and feet extending to the left. Also, in FIG. 12 it is apparent that a head reclining into the core 3 has less support when first touching the pillow above the core and has more support the farther the head sinks into the core 3. The core 3 is 15 inches wide by 5.25 inches high.

In FIG. 13, a sectional view of core 3 is shown along a section line 13-13′ in FIG. 11. In FIG. 13, the sectional view of core 3 reveals the internal cavity 5. The internal cavity 5 is 9.5 inches square. The cavity 5 is offset from the center of core 3 with a measurement of 2.5 inches from the right (see FIG. 6) or the top (see FIG. 7) and is offset from the center of core 3 with a measurement of 3 inches from the left (see FIG. 6) or the bottom (see FIG. 7). The cavity 5 typical receives the head of a back-lying reclining body. The asymmetry of the core 3 renders a pillow with different characteristics for a reclining body as a function of which of the two sides (left or right in FIG. 6 and top and bottom FIG. 7) receives the head and neck of the reclining body. The core 3 is typically a standard size measuring, for example, 23.5 inches long by 15 inches wide.

In FIG. 14, the right end sectional view of FIG. 12 is rotated 90 degrees to show the asymmetry together with FIG. 13. In FIG. 14, in one alternate embodiment, the cavity 5 includes a pouch 42′ that is shaped to fill the cavity 5. The pouch 42′ in one embodiment has a heart shape. The heart shape, besides having marketing appeal, functionally provides structural properties for supporting the head of a reclining body. If the head is extended from the right side (see FIG. 12 or the top side in FIG. 14) the right lobe 42R supports the head and if the head is extended from the left side (see FIG. 12 or the bottom side in FIG. 14) the left lobe 42L supports the head. The fill material in the container 42 is advantageously available with different ILD values whereby adjustments for the firmness of the pillow are readily made by selection of differed ILD values. In FIG. 8, the opening 43 into the cavity 5 is convenient for inserting the container 42 for altering the pillow ILD and softness. In order to enable end users to insert and remove containers 42, the pillow cover 2 preferably includes a zipper 44 as shown in FIG. 1 or other opening means to allow access to the bottom of core 3.

In FIG. 15, the truss member 4 includes a first truss part having a leg 4-1 and a leg 4-2 separated by a spacer 11-1 and a second truss part having a leg 4-3 and a leg 4-4 separated by a spacer 11-2. The first and second truss parts are located at opposite ends of the core 3 leaving the internal cavity 5 in between. The truss parts provide additional cavities 5-1R and 5-1L for the first truss part and cavities 5-2R and 5-2L for the second truss part. The cavities 5-1R, 5-1L, 5-2R and 5-2L are ear well cavities and are positioned so as to be opposite the ears of side-lying reclining bodies.

In FIG. 16, the core 3 has the heart-shaped insert container 42″ exactly matches the cavity 5. The shape of the core 3 in the outer region is the same as the shape of the core 3 in FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. The core in the inner region includes heart-shaped cavities. In the embodiment of FIG. 16, the core 5 and pouch 42″ are equally centered along the width of and symmetrically located within the the core 3.

In FIG. 17, a back-lying person 35 has his head on the pillow 1 where the angle of the head is disadvantageously flexed 8° above the spinal alignment line. In FIG. 17, the pillow 1 may be any conventional pillow or a pillow as shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 8 with excessive fill material, as described in connection with FIG. 8, added to the cavity 5. Such excessive fill prevents the head in FIG. 17 from adequately extending down into the pillow and hence causes the disadvantageous angle of 8° flexion relative to the spinal alignment line.

In FIG. 18, a back-lying person 35 has his head on the pillow 1 (with the pillow cover 2 of FIG. 1 removed for clarity) where the angle of the head is advantageously extended 4° downward below the spinal alignment line. In FIG. 18, the pillow 1 is a pillow as shown and described in connection with FIG. 1 through FIG. 15 with an appropriate amount of fill material, if any, as described in connection with FIG. 8, added to the cavity 5. Such a pillow allows the head in FIG. 18 to extend down into the pillow with an advantageous 4° extension angle relative to the spinal alignment line. While 4° downward is believed to be the optimum extension, any rotation downward from 8° or more upward flexion in the direction of a 4° downward extension is an improvement.

In FIG. 18, the neck region designated by arrows 45 is a critical region for supporting the head and neck for proper extension of the head into the pillow. In this region, a significant transition in ILD can occur. If this transition is too acute, an uncomfortable pressure point is created for the neck and soft tissues in the region of arrows 45. In FIG. 18, the lower view depicts the non-deformed core 3′ and the arrows 45′ in the transition region are analogous to the arrows 45 in deformed core 3. The region of arrows 45 where the pillow core 3 is deformed by the weight of the head is the same as the region of arrows 45′ in the same non-deformed pillow core 3′. In order to achieve a good transition in the region of arrows 45 and 45′, it has been found that a slope of the sidewall of the cavity 5 preferably has a rise of about 4.5 and a run of about 4 for the pillow with dimensions described. However, many variables can affect the support in the neck region. For example, the cavity 5 is asymmetrically located within the cores 3 and 3′ so that the regions of arrows 46 and 46′ is more narrow than the region of arrows 45 and 45′. A smaller and lighter head may be more comfortably supported and extend to an optimum angle of 4° when using the region of arrows 46 and 46′ while a larger and heavier head may be more comfortably supported and extend to an optimum angle of 4° when using the region of arrows 45 and 45′.

In general, all the geometries and material properties affect the support in the neck region of the pillows of the present invention. For example, the flat (see FIG. 12) or curved (see FIG. 6) shape of the top surface of the cavity 5, the rounded see FIG. 12) or straight (see FIG. 6) intersection of the walls of the the cavity 5 and the top of cavity 5, the heart shape (see FIG. 16) and so forth.

FIG. 19 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including an air-inflatable bladder 47 for adjusting the angle, α₁, of the sidewall of the head-well cavity 5 and the initial angle β₁ between the cavity top and sidewall. These adjsutments control the displacement parameters of the core 3. The bladder 47 is inflated or deflated through air valve 48 and hand pump 49. When a head and neck are positioned over core 3 and generally above bladder 47, the cavity 5 collapses shrinking the initial angle β₁ and pushing a portion of the top of cavity 5 into the sidewall. The inflation amount of the bladder 47 controls the displacement parameters of the core 3. One of the displacement parameters is the height of the core 3 when a neck and head are lying on the pillow. By adjusting the inflation, the neck support is raised or lowered the angle that the head is extended downward can be adjusted, ideally adjusted to 4° downward as shown in FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including an air-inflatable bladder 47 for controlling the angle α₂ of the sidewall of the head-well cavity 5 and the initial angle β₂ between the cavity top and sidewall. In FIG. 20, the bladder 47 has been inflated more than in FIG. 19 so that angle α₂ is less than α₁ while angle β₂ remains about the same as β₁.

In FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, the bladder 47 has been located at one sidewall of the cavity 5. In other embodiments, for example in FIG. 16, the entire pouch 42″ is a bladder that is inflated or deflated to control the height and other displacement parameters of the pillow.

FIG. 21 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including a cavity of a different shape. The cavity 5 is an example of a class of cavities that deform gently for a back-lying person such that the head and neck are extended at an angle that approaches the optimum of 4° as shown, for example in FIG. 18, or optimizes neutral anatomic position, the sniffing position, and/or user comfort.

FIG. 22 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including a cavity of a still different shape. The cavity 5 is another example of a class of cavities that deform gently for a back-lying person such that the head and neck are extended at an angle that approaches the optimum of 4° as shown, for example in FIG. 18, or optimizes neutral anatomic position, the sniffing position, and/or user comfort.

FIG. 23 depicts a cross-sectional view of an alternate pillow including a cavity of another different shape. Again, the cavity 5 in FIG. 23 is another example of a class of cavities that deform gently for a back-lying person such that the head and neck are extended at an angle that approaches the optimum of 4° as shown, for example in FIG. 18, or optimizes neutral anatomic position, the sniffing position, and/or user comfort.

In FIG. 24, a side-lying person 36 with her head on the pillow 1 (with the pillow cover 2 of FIG. 1 removed for clarity) is advantageously aligned with the spinal alignment line. The person's ear is positioned over the right ear well 5-2R between the right edge of core 3 and the center divider 11-2.

In FIG. 25, side-lying person 36 has her face on the pillow 1 advantageously rotated downward from the top plane of the pillow 1 at an angle of 8°. The ear of the side-lying person 36 is positioned above the ear well 5-2R.

The various angles encouraged by the pillows of the present invention, including the 4° downward angle of a back-lying person in FIG. 18, a straight alignment in FIG. 24 and an 8° downward rotation in FIG. 25 are optimum angles. While any particular person may experience different angles, the pillows of the present invention are designed to encourage angles for reclining bodies that tend toward the optimum angles.

Furthermore, the core inserts such as the heart-shaped insert 42′ of FIG. 10 are used to adjust the ILD and structural parameters of pillows so that each person can select a pouch having an ILD value particularly suited adjust the pillow so that it tends toward the optimum angles and comfort for such person.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A pillow having a length, a width and a height for supporting a head of a reclining body comprising,

a core formed with variable displacement parameters along the length and width in the direction of the height, said core including an outer region surrounding, at least in part, an inner region,

said inner region including one or more cavities within said outer region to establish said variable displacement parameters,

said variable displacement parameters for allowing the head to deform the pillow over said cavities for controlling alignment of the head in a comfortable sleeping position.

2. The pillow of claim 1 wherein, in the direction of said height, said pillow has a top and a bottom and wherein one or more of said cavities has a greater dimension near the top and a lesser dimension near the bottom.

3. The pillow of claim 1 wherein the core has a top surface forming a core-top arc.

4. The pillow of claim 3 wherein the cavities have cavity tops where the cavity tops have arcs substantially matching the core-top arc.

5. The pillow of claim 1 wherein one of said cavities has an opening for receiving a pouch for adjusting the firmness of the pillow.

6. The pillow of claim 1 wherein one of said cavities is a heart-shaped cavity.

7. The pillow of claim 6 wherein the heart-shaped cavity has an opening for receiving a heart-shaped pouch for adjusting the firmness of the pillow.

8. The pillow of claim 1 wherein one or more of said cavities is bounded by one or more truss members and wherein the truss members have greater dimensions near the top and lesser dimensions near the bottom.

9. The pillow of claim 8 wherein at least one of said truss members includes first and second legs separated by a spacer for forming ear wells.

10. The pillow of claim 8 wherein two of said truss members are spaced apart at ends of the pillow along the length to form a central head-well cavity between the trusses.

11. The pillow of claim 10 wherein the head-well cavity is asymmetrically located within the core in the direction of the width.

12. The pillow of claim 10 wherein the head-well cavity is symmetrically located within the core in the direction of the width.

13. The pillow of claim 10 wherein the truss members are flush with ends of the pillow.

14. The pillow of claim 1 further including a pillow cover for covering said core.

15. The pillow of claim 1 wherein said core includes an inflatable bladder for controlling displacement parameters of the core.

16. The pillow of claim 15 wherein said displacement parameters include height of the pillow.

17. The pillow of claim 15 wherein one of said cavities is a head-well cavity having a sidewall and said inflatable bladder controls an angle of said sidewall.

18. A method of manufacturing a pillow comprising,

cutting a foam member to form a core in the shape of a pillow with a length, a width and a height,

cutting the core to form an inner member in an inner region surrounded by an outer member in an outer region,

cutting said inner member to form trusses having spaces for one or more cavities,

fixing the trusses in the inner region to form the one or more cavities in the inner region surrounded, at least in part, by the outer region whereby the pillow is formed with variable displacement parameters along the length and width in the direction of the height.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said cutting of the inner member forms legs and a spacer separating said legs for each of said trusses.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein said cutting of the core is asymmetrical in the direction of the width.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein said cutting of the core is symmetrical in the direction of the width.