PILLOW TO PROVIDE DIRECT HEAD, NECK, JAW, AND CHIN SUPPORT, AND TO RELAX CERVICAL AND SHOULDER MUSCLES
A neck-support pillow comprising a resilient pillow body having a column-shaped medial portion and two cantilever arms, each arm attached proximate to an end of the medial portion, is described herein. In various embodiments, the arms may encircle a vertical axis, the vertical axis being perpendicular to a plane comprising a line formed between attachment locations of the two arms to the medial portion. Also, the arms and medial portion may form a well that is a size of a user's neck. Further, an arm height may be equal to a distance between the user's shoulder and jaw, the arm height being measured in a direction parallel to the vertical axis. Additionally, a medial portion height may be equal to a distance between an upper portion of the user's ear and the user's shoulder, the medial portion height being measured in a direction parallel to the vertical axis.
The present non-provisional application claims priority to provisional application No. 60/948,895, entitled “Pillow to Provide Direct Head, Neck, Jaw, and Chin Support, and to Relax Cervical and Shoulder Muscle”, filed Jul. 10, 2007, the specification and drawings of which are incorporated herein in full by reference. The present non-provisional application also claims priority to provisional application No. 61/066,564, entitled “Customized Neck Pillow”, filed Feb. 21, 2008, the specification and drawings of which are incorporated herein in full by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDEmbodiments of the present invention relate to the field of medical and ergonomic devices, in particular, to a neck-support pillow comprising a resilient pillow body having a column-shaped medial portion and two cantilever arms.
BACKGROUNDConventional techniques to provide head and neck support rely on U-shaped pillows with uniform cross sections, or column-shaped pillows. This type of design puts heavy pressure to a user's jaw and neck. It often causes discomfort during napping. Improved designs focus on providing extra support to a person's cheek. However, such designs do not provide any direct support to a user's head. This lack of support results in tension to the neck and shoulder muscles which hold the head in an up-right position. Shoulder and neck pain often occur after use due to this compensation mechanism during napping. In addition, prolonged pressure to the cheek can cause discomfort, especially during long travel journeys. Currently, no pillows are known that provide direct head and chin support.
SUMMARYIn various embodiments, a neck-support pillow may comprise a resilient pillow body having a column-shaped medial portion and two cantilever arms, each arm attached proximate to an end of the medial portion. Also, in some embodiments, the arms may encircle a vertical axis, the vertical axis being perpendicular to a plane comprising a line formed between attachment locations of the two arms to the medial portion. Further, the arms and medial portion may form a well, the well being approximately a size of a user's neck. Also, a height of at least one of the arms may be approximately equal to a distance between the user's shoulder and jaw, the height of the arms being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis. Additionally, in some embodiments, a height of the medial portion may be approximately equal to a distance between an upper portion of the user's ear and the user's shoulder, the height of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis.
In some embodiments, the ends of the arms may almost meet, forming a small opening to the well, and a height of those ends is taller than the height of non-end portions of the arms, forming engorged arm ends to support the user's chin. Also, the medial portion may be wider than a width of the user's neck to support the user's head when the head is reclined backward and to a side. Further, a middle of the medial portion is narrower than ends of the medial portion, forming a generally hour-glass-shaped medial portion to allow the user's head to recline further backward, and a height of the middle of the medial portion may be approximately equal to a distance between a bottom portion of the user's occipital bone and a base of the user's neck, the height of the middle of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis.
In various embodiments, the pillow body is comprised of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of polyfill material, foam, feather-down material, cotton, silicone, wool, polyester fiber, silk, polystyrene, nylon, plastic, buckwheat, beans, micro-beans, and composite material.
In some embodiments, the neck-support pillow may further comprise a cover surrounding the pillow body, the cover having been assembled from two horse-shoe-shaped pieces of material and either 1) two tennis-racket-shaped pieces of material or 2) a piece of material shaped as a pair of door-knobs, the horse-shoe-shaped pieces having enlarged medial portions. Also, the pieces of material may be mated by seems or by glue.
In various embodiments, the neck-support pillow may be washable. Also, the pillow body may be inflatable and an exterior surface of the pillow body may include an air valve for facilitating inflating and deflating the pillow.
In some embodiments, the heights of the arms, arm ends, and medial portion and the size of the well may be customized based on measurements of a different user.
In various embodiments, the neck-support pillow may further comprise a handle attached to the pillow body to facilitate the user in carrying the neck-support pillow.
In some embodiments, the upper portion of the user's ear may be a top of the user's ear.
The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in which:
Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments will be described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternate embodiments may be practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that alternate embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.
Further, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations, in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the illustrative embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.
The phrase “in one embodiment” is used repeatedly. The phrase generally does not refer to the same embodiment; however, it may. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. The phrase “A/B” means “A or B”. The phrase “A and/or B” means “(A), (B), or (A and B)”. The phrase “at least one of A, B and C” means “(A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C) or (A, B and C)”. The phrase “(A) B” means “(B) or (A B)”, that is, A is optional.
In various embodiments, pillow body 100 may be made of any one or more materials known in the art. For example, pillow body 100 may be comprised of one or more of polyfill material, foam, feather-down material, cotton, silicone, wool, polyester fiber, silk, polystyrene, nylon, plastic, buckwheat, beans, micro-beans, and composite material. Pillow body 100 may also or instead be comprised of woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, fleece-like materials, fluffy material, stretchy material, leather, or plastic. In some embodiments, such as those where pillow body 100 is comprised of feather-down material, pillow body 100 may comprise a casing to hold the filling material (not to be confused with the cover described below, which would surround pillow body 100). In one embodiment, the pillow body 100, including its casing and fill, and its cover are washable. In one embodiment, the fill material of pillow body 100 may provide differing levels of firmness when using the same type of filling, such as polyester fibers.
In other embodiments, pillow body 100 may comprise a hollow inflatable chamber, a casing surrounding the chamber, and a means of inflating and deflating the chamber. Such a pillow body 100 is illustrated in
In some embodiments, pillow body 100 may be manufactured via any means known in the art. In some embodiments, the manufacturing may take into account custom measurements of a user or users. A process for gathering such custom measurements is shown in
As illustrated and mentioned above, medial portion 105 may be a column-shaped pillow having sub-portions 110 and 115 to provide temporal bone support and sub-portion 120 to provide occipital bone support. In some embodiments, a middle of the medial portion 105, corresponding to sub-portion 120, may be narrower than ends of the medial portion 105, corresponding to sub-portions 110 and 115 forming a generally hour-glass-shaped medial portion 105 to allow the user's head to recline further backward. A height of sub-portion 120 may be based on the distance between a lower portion of the user's occipital bone and a base of the user's neck, in some embodiments, and the height of sub-portion 120 may be measured in a direction approximately parallel to a vertical axis 160 (see
In various embodiments, as illustrated in
In some embodiments, as illustrate in
As further illustrated, and mentioned above, arms 130 may be attached proximate to an end of the medial portion 105. Also, as shown in
In various embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, portions of arms 130 that are closer to medial portion 105 may have a smaller size (in comparison to ends 140) to minimize the pressure to a user's cheek when a user is sitting in a reclined position.
Also, as shown in
As illustrated and mentioned above, the arms 130 and medial portion 105 may form a well, the well being approximately a size of a user's neck. In some embodiments, pillow body 100 may be configured to receive the neck of a user sufficiently closely to hold the pillow body 100 in position.
Above, numerous references are made to measurements of a user, such as a distance between the user's jaw and shoulders, a distance between an upper portion of a user's ear and a user's shoulders, a distance between a lower portion of a user's occipital bone and a base of a user's neck, and a size of the user's neck. In some embodiments, the measurements and sizes may be “one-size-fits all” measurements of a “standard”/average user, the measurements of the standard/average user determined based on known anatomical averages for parts of a human body. In other embodiments, the measurements and sizes may be grouped into a number of discrete user sizes, such as “small”, “medium”, “large”, etc. These various sizes may also be determined with reference to known anatomical metrics for parts of a human body.
In yet other embodiments, the pillow body 100 may be configured for a given user or group of users based on obtained metrics of those user(s). Thus, in such embodiments, the measurements and sizes spoken of above may by the obtained metrics of the given user(s). For example,
In various embodiments, pillow body 100 may be sized proportionally in dimensions so that the pillow fits a user's body according to the user's neck size, head size, jaw size, and chest size, providing best fit, comfort, and support. Also, such a customized pillow can have reduced occipital bone support by means of cutting away part of medial portion 105, making medial portion 105 smaller.
In some embodiments, a customized neck-support pillow may provide support to a user's temporal bone, occipital bone, jaw, and chin, with reduced cheek pressure while sitting in a reclined position when napping. Also, the neck-support pillow may relax a user's cervical and shoulder muscles while the user is sitting upright or in a reclined position.
As mentioned, in the first embodiment, the pillow cover may be made by joining two pairs of fabric members:
a) one pair may be shaped as a horse-shoe with an enlarged and relative square shape at the closed end, and of substantial similarity in shape and size with each member having a perimeter edge (labeled 5000 in
b) the other pair of fabric members (labeled 5001 in
The following list shows the marking points with their numbers and a brief note explaining each:
In
-
- 5081
- 5071
- 5051
In
-
- 5050
- 5070
- 5080
Marking points 5115 and 5110 may show the need to make wrinkles between marking points 5055, 5075, and 5085, and also between marking points 5050, 5070, and 5080. The fabric line 5020 between marking points 5085 and 5055 may be lengthier than line 5095 between marking points 5086 and 5051 before wrinkling. As a result, the arm end may be bigger because more fill material can fit. The matching marking points may ensure uniformity.
Perimeter edge lines are illustrated and numbered in
Marking Points in
The size of fabric members may change while the ratio of vertical and horizontal edges and shape of the fabric members may remain the same. The required size changes may be specified by a requesting user.
To make pillows of different sizes, a manufacturer may simply photo copy the sample fabric members and apply a desired reduction or enlargement ratio, using the same ratio for fabric members 5000 and 5001.
Also as mentioned, in the second embodiment, the cover may be made by joining 3 fabric members:
a) one pair may be shaped as horse-shoes with enlarged and relatively square shapes at the closed ends, and of substantial similarity in shape and size with each member having a perimeter edge (labeled 800 in
b) the other fabric member (labeled 900 in
The following list shows the marking Points with their numbers and a brief note explaining each.
In
The fabric line 830 between marking points 850 and 880 may be lengthier than line 920 between marking points 930 and 950. The lengthier line 830 may need to be wrinkled, or the shorter line 920 may be stretched when seaming together, in some embodiments. As a result, the arm ends may be bigger because more fill material can fit. The matching marking points may ensure uniformity.
Perimeter edge lines are illustrated and numbered in
Marking Points in
The size of fabric members may change while the ratio of vertical and horizontal edges and shape of the fabric members may remain the same. The required size changes may be specified by a requesting user.
The distance 912 between line 914 and line 916 may change according to a user's neck size, and the size of fabric member 800. The length between marking point 855 and 850 may be equal to line 912, in some embodiments.
The distance 992 between dashed line 994 and dashed line 990 may change according to a user's vertical neck length. For normal neck length (3 inches), the distance 992 may be from 0 inch to 2 inches (including the seaming allowance). The pillow shown in
A user's specification may determine the distance 998 between dashed line 995 and line 920. Line 922 may or may not use alternative cutting similar to dashed line 995 and dashed line 996, in some embodiments. Therefore, the resulting pillow may be asymmetrical vertically.
In one embodiment, the pillow shown in
To make pillows of different sizes, a manufacturer may simply photo copy the sample fabric members and apply a desired reduction or enlargement ratio, using the same ratio for fabric members 800 and 900.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described, without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. For example, the length, ratio of the fabric members, horizontal and vertical edges, and marking overlapping points may be modified in other implementations consistent with embodiments of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that the embodiments of the present invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. A neck-support pillow comprising:
- a resilient pillow body having a column-shaped medial portion and two cantilever arms, each arm attached proximate to an end of the medial portion, wherein the arms encircle a vertical axis, the vertical axis being perpendicular to a plane comprising a line formed between attachment locations of the two arms to the medial portion, the arms and medial portion form a well, the well being approximately a size of a user's neck, a height of at least one of the arms is approximately equal to a distance between the user's shoulder and jaw, the height of the arms being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis, and a height of the medial portion is approximately equal to a distance between an upper portion of the user's ear and the user's shoulder, the height of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis.
2. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein ends of the arms almost meet, forming a small opening to the well, and a height of those ends is taller than the height of non-end portions the arms, forming engorged arm ends to support the user's chin.
3. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein the medial portion is wider than a width of the user's neck to support the user's head when the head is reclined backward and to a side.
4. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein a middle of the medial portion is narrower than ends of the medial portion, forming a generally hour-glass-shaped medial portion to allow the user's head to recline further backward, and a height of the middle of the medial portion is approximately equal to a distance between a bottom portion of the user's occipital bone and a base of the user's neck, the height of the middle of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis.
5. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein the pillow body is comprised of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of polyfill material, foam, feather-down material, cotton, silicone, wool, polyester fiber, silk, polystyrene, nylon, plastic, buckwheat, beans, micro-beans, and composite material.
6. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, further comprising a cover surrounding the pillow body, the cover having been assembled from two horse-shoe-shaped pieces of material and either 1) two tennis-racket-shaped pieces of material or 2) a piece of material shaped as a pair of door-knobs, the horse-shoe-shaped pieces having enlarged medial portions.
7. The neck-support pillow of claim 6, wherein the pieces of material are mated by seems or by glue.
8. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein the neck-support pillow is washable.
9. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein the pillow body is inflatable and an exterior surface of the pillow body includes an air valve for facilitating inflating and deflating the pillow.
10. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein the heights of the arms, arm ends, and medial portion and the size of the well are customized based on measurements of a different user.
11. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, further comprising a handle attached to the pillow body to facilitate the user in carrying the neck-support pillow.
12. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, wherein the upper portion of the user's ear is a top of the user's ear.
13. A neck-support pillow comprising:
- a resilient pillow body having a column-shaped medial portion and two cantilever arms, each arm attached proximate to an end of the medial portion, wherein the arms encircle a vertical axis, the vertical axis being perpendicular to a plane comprising a line formed between attachment locations of the two arms to the medial portion, the arms and medial portion form a well, the well being approximately a size of a user's neck, a height of at least one of the arms is approximately equal to a distance between the user's shoulder and jaw, the height of the arms being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis, a height of the medial portion is approximately equal to a distance between an upper portion of the user's ear and the user's shoulder, the height of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis, and the heights of the arms, arm ends, and medial portion and the size of the well are customized based on measurements of a different user.
14. The neck-support pillow of claim 13, wherein ends of the arms almost meet, forming a small opening to the well, and a height of those ends is taller than the height of non-end portions the arms, forming engorged arm ends to support the user's chin.
15. The neck-support pillow of claim 13, wherein the medial portion is wider than a width of the user's neck to support the user's head when the head is reclined backward and to a side.
16. The neck-support pillow of claim 13, wherein a middle of the medial portion is narrower than ends of the medial portion, forming a generally hour-glass-shaped medial portion to allow the user's head to recline further backward, and a height of the middle of the medial portion is approximately equal to a distance between a bottom portion of the user's occipital bone and a base of the user's neck, the height of the middle of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis.
17. The neck-support pillow of claim 13, wherein the pillow body is comprised of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of polyfill material, foam, feather-down material, cotton, silicone, wool, polyester fiber, silk, polystyrene, nylon, plastic, buckwheat, beans, micro-beans, and composite material.
18. The neck-support pillow of claim 1, further comprising a cover surrounding the pillow body, the cover having been assembled from two horse-shoe-shaped pieces of material and either 1) two tennis-racket-shaped pieces of material or 2) a piece of material shaped as a pair of door-knobs, the horse-shoe-shaped pieces having enlarged medial portions.
19. A neck-support pillow comprising:
- a resilient pillow body having a column-shaped medial portion and two cantilever arms, each arm attached proximate to an end of the medial portion, wherein the arms encircle a vertical axis, the vertical axis being perpendicular to a plane comprising a line formed between attachment locations of the two arms to the medial portion, the arms and medial portion form a well, the well being approximately a size of a user's neck, a height of at least one of the arms is approximately equal to a distance between the user's shoulder and jaw, the height of the arms being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis, a height of the medial portion is approximately equal to a distance between an upper portion of the user's ear and the user's shoulder, the height of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis, the heights of the arms, arm ends, and medial portion and the size of the well are customized based on measurements of a different user, ends of the arms almost meet, forming a small opening to the well, and a height of those ends is taller than the height of non-end portions the arms, forming engorged arm ends to support the user's chin, the medial portion is wider than a width of the user's neck to support the user's head when the head is reclined backward and to a side, and a middle of the medial portion is narrower than ends of the medial portion, forming a generally hour-glass-shaped medial portion to allow the user's head to recline further backward, and a height of the middle of the medial portion is approximately equal to a distance between a bottom portion of the user's occipital bone and a base of the user's neck, the height of the middle of the medial portion being measured in a direction approximately parallel to the vertical axis.
20. The neck-support pillow of claim 19, wherein the pillow body is comprised of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of polyfill material, foam, feather-down material, cotton, silicone, wool, polyester fiber, silk, polystyrene, nylon, plastic, buckwheat, beans, micro-beans, and composite material.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 10, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 15, 2009
Applicant: BioMed DB Design (Tacoma, WA)
Inventor: Xiaohong Yang (Tacoma, WA)
Application Number: 12/171,014
International Classification: A47G 9/10 (20060101);