NECK SUPPORT PILLOW
The neck supporting pillow with some special features: inflatable, this will give complete control over firmness, soft sponge-like material on the outside, to make the contact points soft, neck-support part is like a ridge, approximate width of the curvature of the neck. Anterior convexity of this neck supporting ridge is the most important feature. When the user lies on his or her back, back of the head will slide into a center head rest recess. This completes the anatomical-specific features. On either side of the head-rest recess is a slightly raised area to rest face on lying-on the right or left side.
This invention relates to a pillow generally and more particularly to a pillow with a neck supporting feature.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIt is a common experience for people to wake up in the morning with neck pain. This pain is often due to the non-anatomical positions in which our necks end up in for hours at a time while sleeping. Many firms have addressed this problem, but they have not come across an entirely satisfactory solution yet.
This invention described below incorporates means to support the neck in its anatomically normal position. Also, by being inflatable, each individual can find the right degree of support.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA neck supporting pillow has a body and a neck support. The neck support is affixed to the body and projects above and at least partially in front of the body. The neck support has a width approximating the width of the curvature of the neck and is formed with an anterior convexity relative to the body of the pillow. The body is formed with one or more inflatable bladders. Each inflatable bladder has a separate inflation tube. Each inflation tube is affixed to the bladder and is extended to fill and retracted in a recess when the body is filled and the tube is sealed. The neck support is also formed with an inflatable bladder. The bladder of the neck support has an inflation fill tube. The inflation fill tube is preferably on an underside of the neck support and is designed to fit in a recess of the neck support and is extended to fill and refracted and pushed into the recess of the neck support when the tube is sealed and the neck support has been filled to the desired level. The body and neck support are preferably covered along the exterior surfaces with a foam elastomeric material. The foam elastomeric material can vary in thickness, however, and should be sufficiently thick to provide a desired comfort level for the user of the pillow. The body has a generally planar or flat exterior bottom surface and an exterior top surface with a central depression for the head to rest. The central head depression extends from adjacent the neck support to an opposite side or edge of the body. The body preferably has three inflation bladder chambers, one on each side of said body and a central chamber interposed between and forming the head depression. Each chamber extends from a front to a back of the body, generally parallel to the sides of the body.
The invention will be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
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Prior art devices simply have considered the concept of a depression for the head, but have not considered the possibility that the pillow itself can interfere with proper comfort even if an elevated portion is provided on the top surface. It is therefore important that the neck support 20 have an anterior convexity that accomplishes proper neck support. An advantage of the present invention is that by having independently inflatable chambers 44, 45, 46, the sides 14 and 16 of the pillow 10 can be set at different inflations wherein the user can set them to the desired comfort levels. The central head-resting depression 15 similarly having a separately inflatable bladder 45 can be adjusted independently as well. What is most important, however, is that the neck support 20 being totally independent of the body 12 in regards to its inflation chamber 22, can be adjusted such that the inflation can be raised or lowered to provide several optimal features, the first being the comfort so that the unit is not too hard or too soft, but more importantly it also enables the user to adjust the height slightly. This can be accomplished by increasing the pressure on the neck support so that the neck support 20 projects in either a fully extended condition and softening the underlying chamber 45 of the head-resting depression 15 such that the entire assembly can then flex and float more gently against the neck while the neck is still providing sufficient support. This feature enables the user to custom fit this pillow 10 to his or her desired comfort level. As shown, the neck support 20 extends sufficiently above the concavity of the head depression 15. This amount of height is needed to support the neck comfortably. It can be varied by reducing the inflation pressure and can be lowered slightly if so desired. Additionally, the upper surfaces 18 of the sides 14 and 16 of the pillow 10 along each side reaches a level close to, but slightly below the ends 24, 26 of the neck support 20. This is best shown in
Variations in the present invention are possible in light of the description of it provided herein. While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the subject invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the subject invention. It is, therefore, to be understood that changes can be made in the particular embodiments described, which will be within the full intended scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.
Claims
1. A neck supporting pillow comprising:
- a body; and
- a neck support, the neck support affixed to said body projecting above and at least partially in front of said body and having a width approximating the width of the curvature of the neck and formed with an anterior convexity in a truncated “U” shape that projects significantly forward to keep the neck in its anatomical (curved anteriorly) position.
2. The neck supporting pillow of claim 1 wherein said body is formed with one or more inflatable bladders.
3. The neck supporting pillow of claim 2 wherein each inflatable bladder of said body has a separate inflation tube.
4. The neck supporting pillow of claim 3 wherein each inflation tube is affixed to a recess in each bladder and extended to fill and retract in the recess in said body when sealed.
5. The neck supporting pillow of claim 1 wherein said neck support is formed with an inflatable bladder.
6. The neck supporting pillow of claim 1 wherein the bladder of the neck support has an inflation fill tube.
7. The neck supporting pillow of claim 6 wherein each inflation tube is affixed to a recess in each bladder and extended to fill and retract in the recess in said body when sealed.
8. The neck supporting pillow of claim 1 wherein said body is covered in a foam filled exterior.
9. The neck supporting pillow of claim 1 wherein said neck support is covered in a foam filled exterior surface.
10. The neck supporting pillow of claim 1 wherein said body has a generally planar or flat exterior bottom surface and an exterior top surface with a central head depression for the head to rest wherein the neck is supported at the base of the “U” shape and the head is lying inside said “U” on the central depression.
11. The neck supporting pillow of claim 10 wherein the central head depression extends from adjacent the neck support toward an opposite side or edge of the body.
12. The neck supporting pillow of claim 2 wherein the body has three inflatable bladder chambers one on each side of said body and a central chamber interposed between and forming the head depression, each chamber extending from a front to a back of the body generally parallel to said sides.
13. A neck supporting pillow comprising:
- a body; and
- a neck support, the neck support affixed to said body projecting above and at least partially in front of said body and having a width approximating the width of the curvature of the neck and formed with an anterior convexity in a truncated “U” shape that projects significantly forward to keep lateral side portions of the body of the neck supporting pillow from interfering with the user while maintaining the neck in an anatomically normal condition with neck support of the pillow.
14. The neck supporting pillow of claim 13 wherein said body has a generally planar or flat exterior bottom surface and an exterior top surface with a central head depression for the head to rest wherein the neck is supported at the base of the “U” shape and the head is lying inside said “U” on the central depression.
15. The neck supporting pillow of claim 13 wherein the central head depression extends from adjacent the neck support toward an opposite side or edge of the body.
16. The neck supporting pillow of claim 13 wherein the body has three inflatable bladder chambers one on each side of said body and a central chamber interposed between and forming the head depression, each chamber extending from a front to a back of the body generally parallel to said sides.
17. The neck supporting pillow of claim 16 wherein each inflatable bladder of said body has a separate inflation tube.
18. The neck supporting pillow of claim 17 wherein each inflation tube is affixed to a recess in each bladder and extended to fill and retract in the recess in said body when sealed.
19. The neck supporting pillow of claim 13 wherein said body is covered in a foam filled exterior.
20. The neck supporting pillow of claim 13 wherein said neck support is covered in a foam filled exterior surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 18, 2012
Publication Date: Mar 20, 2014
Inventor: Puthalath Koroth Raghuprasad (Odessa, TX)
Application Number: 13/621,888
International Classification: A47G 9/10 (20060101);