Adjustable Pillow
An adjustable pillow comprises several stacked layers of synthetic foam cut to approximately the same dimension and perimeter and may be enclosed within a fabric cover. The top layer includes a cutout extending inward from one edge of the layer for approximately four to six inches to provide a relieved volume for a user's ear when laying on his or her side to improve comfort without impairing hearing or while the user is wearing eyeglasses.
The present patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/817,559 filed Apr. 30, 2013 by one of the present inventors, Daniel Hammack, and entitled ADJUSTABLE PILLOW.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to pillow furnishings, and more particularly to an adjustable pillow for supporting one's head while wearing eyeglasses and without blocking one's ear.
2. Background of the Invention and Review of the Prior Art
When laying on one's side on a couch with the head on a pillow, for example as when watching TV or listening to a stereo sound system or lying in bed while reading a book, the pillow unavoidably exerts pressure upon and blocks one's ear. This condition results in reduced hearing in the blocked ear, or discomfort if one is wearing eyeglasses or an external hearing aid. What is needed is a pillow that may be used in such situations that eliminates these disadvantages.
The prior art includes numerous pillow designs variously configured for improving a person's comfort when lying on his or her side and providing for reduced pressure on the person's ears. For example, the pillow of U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,947 provides an adjustable cervical “beautification” pillow for supporting a person's head and neck using a system of removable shims under the user's neck or head, or using additional shims to adjust the height of the entire pillow. The shims must be placed in a designated receptacle. This design requires careful manipulation of and experimentation with numerous separate pieces of cushion material to achieve the desired shape and cushion configuration. The pillow also includes simple cavities on either side of the central portion of the pillow to receive the user's ears when lying on his or her side, but makes no allowance for users wearing eyeglasses.
U.S. Design Patent No. Des. 309,070 depicts an Inflatable Orthopedic Pillow having a topside circular relieved area that slopes downward toward a shallow channel, presumably for supporting a user's neck. A smaller circular relief is provided within the central relief, possibly for reducing pressure on a user's ear when lying on his or her side. This design also does not provide allowance for person's wearing eyeglasses. A disadvantage of inflatable pillows is that the inflating fluid, whether gas or liquid, shifts toward the portions of the pillow not in contact with the user's head, causing the pillow to deform in a way that surrounds the user's head to a greater degree, thus merely shifting the pressure from one area to another.
U.S. Design Patent No. Des. 214,302 appears to depict a one-piece block of resilient material having a rectangular region cut out of the top side and open toward a first edge, and a rounded chamfer along an edge opposite the first edge. The pillow does not appear to be adjustable nor provide any feature to reduce discomfort of a user wearing eyeglasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,231 discloses a one-piece Neck Guard Pillow contoured for a user in either a supine (face upward) or side position. A central, topside elliptical depression provides support for a user's head, a curved ridge along one edge provides support for the neck, and shallow grooves extending laterally from the head depression provides reduced pressure on the user's ear when lying on one's side. While provision for a person wearing eyeglasses is apparent, the configuration of the pillow is not adjustable.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,325 discloses a Facial Fatigue Reducing Pillow for reducing pressure against a user's face, eye socket, or cheek bone by providing “facial relief” areas aligned along a longitudinal axis in the top surface of the pillow. A central, oblong head relief portion is positioned at each end of the pillow between a facial relief portion formed into the top surface. The pillow is designed to be used while face down, with the user's head turned to the right or left. The pillow is not adjustable, the facial relief areas appear unsuited to a person wearing eyeglasses, and this pillow would probably not be used by a person watching TV or reading a book.
U.S. Design Patent No. D668,092 depicts a non-adjustable pillow similar to the '325 patent discussed above. It appears to be a one-piece pillow that lacks adjustability.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,365 describes a therapeutic pillow formed of upper and lower layers. The upper layer is more resilient than the lower one. A semicircular cutout for a user's shoulder is provided in the central portion of at least one of the longer sides. This design is said to provide comfort and enable freer breathing for the user. There is, however, no provision for relieving pressure on the user's ear or allowance for wearing eyeglasses while watching TV or reading a book, for example, nor is there any provision for adjusting the pillow to the user's preference.
U.S. Design Patent No. Des. 256,728 depicts the ornamental appearance of a “Reversible Orthopedic Pillow Having Ear and Eye Relief Areas.” A one-piece rectangular block of apparently resilient material having a narrow passage formed through one edge that connects to an oblong cavity extending partway toward the center of the block, is enclosed in a removable, conforming cover. The passage and cavity extend through the thickness of the rectangular block from top to bottom.
Most of the above mentioned prior art provide little or no adjustability for different person's anatomy, for different orientations of the user with respect to the bed or couch surface on which a person may be lying while in a supine or side position, or for adjusting the pillow to adapt its support of the user's head while enabling the user to wear eyeglasses comfortably when laying on one's side. What is needed is an improved pillow that solves these and other problems, and provides enhanced comfort beyond that available with conventional pillows.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe foregoing problems are solved by an adjustable pillow comprising an assembly of a first or top layer of synthetic foam having a rectangular or rounded perimeter stacked on top of at least one second layer of synthetic foam; wherein the first layer includes a generally U-shaped cutout in a first edge thereof; and the at least one second layer is formed to the same rectangular or rounded perimeter and without the U-shaped cutout. Several layers of the foam material may be provided so that the shape and height of the pillow may be adjusted. The foam layers may be somewhat loosely enclosed in a removable fabric cover to increase comfort and retain the positioned layers in an adjusted configuration. The layers may be shifted laterally with respect to one another within the fabric cover to adjust the pillow for best comfort.
An adjustable pillow according to a first embodiment is described in conjunction with
The approximate dimensions of one preferred embodiment of the adjustable pillow 10 shown in
The open cell polyurethane foam material is recommended because it is readily conformable, it may be selected to have a density appropriate for a pillow, and it is readily available in appropriate degrees of hardness or resilience. Moreover, polyurethane foam has a surface finish or texture that is essentially non-skid, which is useful in this application because it maintains the layers 20-26 in a non-skid relationship with each other to maintain the adjusted shape of the pillow 10. Thus, the layers 20-26 are not otherwise secured to each other so that they may be adjusted in their relationship with each other to provide maximum comfort to the user. In general, the properties of the foam material that enable selection of a suitable material are its density, its hardness, and the type of material. While open cell synthetic foam material is preferred, closed cell foam may be suitable for some applications, as long as the density, resilience, etc. combine to provide a comfortable result.
The envelope 60 may be fabricated of any fabric that preferably has a soft nap finish or texture, ranging from a low nap such as a cotton flannel material, a medium nap such as a fleece material, or a material having a deep nap, such as a deep pile or shag texture. For example, the low nap may be preferred for warm to cool ambient temperatures; the medium nap may be suited for use with moderate to cool ambient temperatures, and the deep nap preferred for cool to cold ambient temperatures. The choice of nap may also be made on other basis, as preferred by the user. Fabrics may be formed of natural fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, or synthetic fibers having the requisite finish and softness. Synthetic fabrics may be woven or spun bonded or manufactured by other suitable processes.
Continuing with
Another feature of the novel combination of the invention is the provision of the shaped opening 50 in the upper-most foam layer 40. This relief or cut-out opening 50 is adapted to provide clearance for a user's ear, and, if worn, eyeglasses and/or a hearing aid when the side of the user's head is placed on the pillow as shown in
The “hardness” of the foam material may be expressed by a percentage “Indentation Force Deflection” or IFD, expressed as a percentage (%) deflection upon application of a specified force in X lbs./Y sq. in. In the present exemplary embodiment the foam material may preferably be a polyurethane foam, preferably an open cell type, having an IFD of 25% at 10 to 13 lbs./50 sq. in. for the uppermost or first layer 40, and respectively an IFD of 25% at 12+/−3 lbs./50 sq. in. for the second layer 42, and an IFD of 25% at 28+/−3 lbs./50 sq. in. for the remaining layers 44. Closed cell foam may be suitable for some applications, as long as the density, resilience, etc. combine to provide a comfortable result. These figures are also illustrative and not intended to be limiting, and variations from this preferred specification may of course be used to suit particular tastes or applications. Alternate materials for the foam layers may include latex rubber foam, or other resilient materials suitable as stuffing for pillows or upholstery cushions and the like. An alternate method of specifying the “hardness” of the foam material may be the durometer of the material such as expressed by the widely known “Shore A Scale” measurement. By using appropriate conversion relationships, equivalent substitutes for the IFD specification may be employed.
In general, the density and hardness of the synthetic foam material may be described as follows. As to density, the synthetic foam material generally may have a density in the range of 0.75 to 3.0 lbs. per cubic foot, and it will be appreciated from the foregoing description that the density may vary from one layer to another in the pillow. Similarly, as to hardness, the synthetic foam material generally may have an indentation force deflection (IFD) characteristic in the range of 20% to 35% in the presence of a force of 10 to 30 lbs. applied to an area of approximately 50 sq. inches; and this characteristic may vary from one layer to another in the pillow.
Other features depicted in
In use, either pillow 10, 38 enables the user to lay on his or her side with the pillow 10, 38 under the user's head, with the cutout or opening 28, 50 positioned around the user's ear as shown in
While the invention has been shown in only two of its forms, it is not thus limited but is susceptible to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof. Persons skilled in the art may readily see that the numbers of foam layers, the dimensions and characteristics of the layers and the envelope may vary substantially from the exemplary embodiments described herein without departing from the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The shape of the cutout portion in the top or upper layer of the foam (or other material) material may vary widely from the examples depicted and discussed in the foregoing detailed description. The general concept is to provide an opening in one edge of the top or upper layer of the two or three or more layers of the cushioning material employed in the adjustable pillow, wherein the opening extends from the edge of the pillow approximately four to 6 inches corresponding to the distance from the front of a person's face to an ear. As described, this opening may be a U-shape, a keyhole shape, a combination such as an ovoid and a connecting passage, a generally rectangular shape (rounded or not at the inner end), and a cul-de-sac. Other examples include horseshoe shape, “C” shape, etc. Further, while open cell foam is preferred for the reasons discussed, other embodiments may be suitable with closed cell foam used as the resilient cushion material. Of course, substitutes for the synthetic foam material may be used, either in form or material, with similar results. For example, down feathers or other pillow stuffing materials enclosed in individual envelopes may be used in some embodiments in place of the individual foam layers.
Claims
1. An adjustable pillow for eyeglass wearers, comprising:
- an assembly of a first layer of a synthetic foam having a rectangular or rounded perimeter disposed on top of at least one second layer of said synthetic foam such that said first and at least one second layers are positionable in various lateral relationships with one another to allow adjustment of the shape of said pillow; wherein
- said first layer includes a first opening in a first edge thereof connected via an elongated passage to a second rounded central opening in said first layer, the first and second openings in combination configured to provide space for an ear and eyeglasses of a user wearing eyeglasses;
- said at least one second layer is formed to approximately the same rectangular or rounded perimeter as said first layer and without said opening; and
- an envelope enclosing said assembly, said envelope having an interior volume substantially greater than the volume of said assembly to permit the various positions of said first and second layers.
2. The pillow of claim 1, wherein said first and second openings in combination is selected from the group consisting of a U-shape, a keyhole shape, a combination of an ovoid and a connecting passage, a generally rectangular shape, and a cul-de-sac.
3. The pillow of claim 1, wherein:
- said synthetic foam material is selected from the family groups consisting of polyurethane foam and latex foam.
4. The pillow of claim 2, wherein:
- said synthetic foam material generally has a density in the range of 0.75 to 3.0 lbs. per cubic foot; and
- said density may vary from one layer to another in said pillow.
5. The pillow of claim 2, wherein:
- said synthetic foam material generally has an indentation force deflection (IFD) characteristic in the range of 20% to 35% in the presence of a force of 10 to 30 lbs. applied to an area of approximately 50 sq. inches; and
- said characteristic may vary from one layer to another in said pillow.
6. (canceled)
7. The pillow of claim 1, wherein:
- said assembly includes a stack of at least two but not more than three said second layers in addition to said first layer.
8. The pillow of claim 1, wherein:
- said assembly includes a stack of at least two but not more than ten said second layers in addition to said first layer.
9. (canceled)
10. The pillow of claim 1, wherein:
- said envelope is a fabric bag having an access flap disposed on one side thereof for removal or installation of said first and second layers.
11. The pillow of claim 1, wherein:
- said envelope has sufficient excess upper area that said excess area may be tucked into said first and second openings as a partially conforming lining of said opening.
12. The pillow of claim 1, wherein:
- said first layer is more resilient than said at least one second layer.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 13, 2013
Publication Date: Oct 30, 2014
Inventors: Daniel Hammack (Fort Worth, TX), Jerry Hammack (Fort Worth, TX)
Application Number: 14/106,404
International Classification: A47G 9/10 (20060101);