SUPPORT PILLOW
A support pillow for supporting the head of a person. The pillow includes a base portion having opposing front and rear edge portions, opposing first and second side peripheral portions and a central curved portion configured to round upward from the front and rear edge portions to support against a back of the person's head. First and second opposing supporting members, respectively extending from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion are provided. Each first and second opposing supporting member extends angularly and upwardly respectively from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion. Each first and second opposing supporting member is separated from one another such that a majority portion of the central curved portion of the base portion is disposed within a region extending between each first and second supporting members. A detachable and adjustable elongated neck support member is provided having opposing first and second ends configured for engagement with the base portion whereby the elongated neck support member extends between the first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion.
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This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/660,654 filed Jul. 26, 2017 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe disclosed embodiments relate to a neck and head support pillow for supporting and resting the head and neck while promoting a back sleeping position, and more particularly to a support pillow having a neck roll member for further supporting a neck portion of a head.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONA multitude of differently shaped pillows have been proposed to support the head and neck during rest and sleep. A pillow specially contoured to fit the natural shape of the head and neck with proper firmness and support in order to promote and maintain a certain body position with comfort is beneficial for good health, healing and proper rest. A multi-use pillow shaped to provide support to the head and neck during rest and sleep, comfortably promoting a face-up position so that there is no direct pressure on the facial area, as well as promoting and maintaining a comfortable back-sleeping position, keeping the front areas of the body free from pressure.
A comfortable supportive back-sleeping position is of particular relevance for men and women for both medical and cosmetic purposes. The benefits from the function of this design which promotes back sleeping are indicated in but not limited to the various applications mentioned. Further benefits include preventing and/or minimizing formation of facial wrinkles typically caused by nightly pressure creases. It contributes to the healing process for post facial cosmetic and/or reconstructive procedures and is beneficial for certain post orthopedic procedures, and surgeries not limited to shoulder, neck, hips, back or knees, after cosmetic and/or reconstructive breast surgery, C-section, cardiac, and certain breathing related issues, and others. A face-up, back-sleeping position by preventing pressure on the compromised areas of the face or body can help alleviate pain and promote healing. The pillow benefits the user who otherwise without its comfortable supportive elements, could move into an unsuitable position during the unconscious arrangement of the body during sleep or rest. Its shape and elements support and help maintain the back sleeping position in a comfortable manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe purpose and advantages of the below described illustrated embodiments will be set forth in and apparent from the description that follows. Additional advantages of the illustrated embodiments will be realized and attained by the devices, systems and methods particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as from the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the illustrated embodiments, in one aspect, disclosed is a uniquely shaped pillow whose form is an integral part of its multipurpose function. Its unique shape comfortably supports a head position so as to particularly promote sleeping on one's back. Advantages include facilitating a preventative and/or healing environment for multiple cosmetic and medical applications for which back sleeping is preferable.
In accordance with an illustrated embodiment, the present invention pillow is unique in shape and silhouette. It is contoured and rounded following the natural shape of the head and neck, flaring at the base to the top of the shoulder area. Two padded, crescent-shaped, supportive side members are strategically attached at an angle to either side of the pillow top. These supportive side members can be referred to as cushions, bumpers, panels and the like. They are configured to gently envelope the sides and back of the head, particularly for supporting and maintaining a back-sleeping position. Preferably, these side members are padded and soft, yet firm and sturdy enough to limit lateral movement of the head so it remains in an upright, restful position. The filler for the pillow and its appendages is preferably a hypoallergenic polyester. It is preferably covered with a cotton/polyester fabric. It is to be appreciated other fabrics may be used as well, as well as other fillers that may be deemed appropriate for the pillow's function.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the illustrated embodiments, in one aspect, a support pillow for supporting the head of a person is described in which the pillow includes a base portion having opposing front and rear edge portions, opposing first and second side peripheral portions and a central curved portion configured to round upward from the front and rear edge portions to support against a back of the person's head. First and second opposing supporting members, respectively extending from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion are provided. Each first and second opposing supporting member extends angularly and upwardly respectively from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion. Each first and second opposing supporting member is separated from one another such that a majority portion of the central curved portion of the base portion is disposed within a region extending between each first and second supporting members. A portion of each first and second supporting member respectively overlaps with the opposing first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion.
An elongated neck support member configured to support the neck region of a person is provided having opposing first and second ends configured for engagement with the base portion. The elongated neck support member preferably extends between the first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion. The elongated neck support member may be configured for detachably engagement with the base portion of the support pillow. The elongated neck support member may further be provided with a pocket member provided on an outer surface portion of the elongated neck support member, wherein the pocket member has an open end defining an inner cavity of the pocket member configured for insertion of a thermodynamic pack member there within. The elongated neck support member may further be provided with an open seam portion for insertion of filler material, which as described herein may be adjustable (e.g., filler material may be added and/or removed) such that the size and/or firmness of the elongated neck support member is personalized is accordance with the needs/requirements of a user.
Exemplary noted advantages of the one or more of the illustrated embodiments includes facilitating a back sleeping face-up position which provides preventative and/or healing benefits for cosmetic skin procedures, such as laser resurfacing, dermabrasion, acid peels, and the like. It promotes smoother skin by either preventing or minimizing repeated facial pressure creases which become over time deep wrinkles. It reduces eye puffiness and bags. It is beneficial for eyelid surgery for either cosmetic or medical reasons, including for instance chin surgeries, implants and rhinoplasty (including facial plastic surgery or reconstructive surgery and any other cosmetic surgery application and the like). Other advantageous applications include use after surgical procedures, orthopedic or otherwise, where back sleeping is desired. Generally it is to be understood and appreciated the support pillow of the disclosed embodiments is configured for use by a person who desires back sleeping/resting for any reason at any age.
This summary section is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described subsequently in the detailed description section. This summary section is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. The purpose and advantages of the below described illustrated embodiments will be set forth in and apparent from the description that follows. Additional advantages of the illustrated embodiments will be realized and attained by the devices, systems and methods particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as from the appended drawings.
The accompanying appendices and/or drawings illustrate various non-limiting, example, inventive aspects in accordance with the present disclosure:
The illustrated embodiments are now described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals identify similar structural/functional features. The illustrated embodiments are not limited in any way to what is illustrated as the illustrated embodiments described below are merely exemplary, which can be embodied in various forms, as appreciated by one skilled in the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that any structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representation for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the discussed embodiments. Furthermore, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the illustrated embodiments.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of the illustrated embodiments, exemplary methods and materials are now described. It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
An illustrated embodiment of a support pillow is shown in
As shown in
As further described below, the head support pillow 10 preferably has a contoured and rounded shape configured to accommodate (follow) the natural shape of a head and neck portion of a person. As shown in
In the illustrated embodiment of
As shown in
With returning reference to
With respect to each head support member 30, 40 they are preferably shaped to have a crescent configuration and extend angularly from base portion 20, in opposing directions, so as to accommodate and form (envelope) to the shape of a person's head disposed therebetween to comfortably support a person's head while preventing the head from turning too far in either direction. As shown in
It is to be appreciated that support pillow 10 may have other various configurations, such as configuring the head supporting members 30, 40 to accommodate an acoustic speaker component (e.g., self-powered and sound programmed, or Bluetooth or corded coupled to a sound generating device) for providing sound or meditation therapy. Additionally, one or more panel members may be affixed to one or more portions (e.g., base 20, side members 30, 40) of the support pillow 10 for accommodation of aromatherapy components. Still further, the support pillow 10 may be configured to include a technology port to facilitate electronic communication coupling to an external device, such as a medical device, for enabling a medical device to receive medical data from a patient's head region, preferably via various medical sensors provided in the support pillow 10 that are communicatively coupled to the technology port.
With a preferred embodiment of the support pillow 10 being described above with reference to
It is to be appreciated and understood it is widely recognized that conventional pillows do not adequately support the neck region of a person, especially the cervical spine, during sleep. This is because when a person lays his head on the pillow and the neck is in a neutral position with respect to the torso, there is a gap between the neck and the mattress/pillow end. The gap between the neck and mattress when the head is in a neutral position with respect to the spine is greater than the gap between the head and mattress. Whether a person sleeps in the lateral position or in the supine position, this does not change. Pillow padding material is usually moved by the weight of the head and neck, or nearly flat, i.e., the head and neck are moved significantly from a neutral position. Traditional pillows generally do not adequately compensate for the height difference between the neck and the mattress, with less padding at the ends of the pillow in the area of the neck than in the center of the pillow on which the head rests. Therefore, little support is given to the neck.
The lack of neck support provided by traditional pillows often leads to neck, shoulder, and back pain due to the neck's unnatural posture during sleep, especially when the subject is sleeping in a lateral position and the neck and mattress. When the gap between the ends of the pillow is maximized, shift the spine and apply continuous load to the weak part of the torso.
Accordingly, as described below with reference to support pillow 200 of
As shown in
As best shown in
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of
It is to be appreciated that while the illustrated embodiment of
As shown in
Additionally, a back portion of the neck roll member (e.g., faces toward the support pillow 200 when affixed thereto) is preferably provided with an open seam portion for insertion of variable filler materials. The variable filler materials may be user selected. For instance, the variable fillers may consist of different sizes (e.g., both in width and diameter) for defining the size of the neck roll member 250 to support a particular size/configuration of a user's neck region. Further, the variable filler material may be of chosen to have a particular material density (e.g., ranging from soft to firm) to accommodate a user's particular desired need. The variable filler material may consist of any suitable filler (e.g., foam based, gel, polyster fiberfill, shredded latex, compressed air, and the like). It is to be appreciated that in another embodiment, the aforesaid variable filler material may be inserted (or removed) from a separate sleeve member (e.g., a cylindrical tubular member) which in turn is inserted into the back portion of the neck roll member 250 (e.g., via the open seam portion) for personalizing the neck roll member 250, as mentioned above.
It is to be appreciated and understood the variable filler material may consist of a unitary fill or a loose fill. For instance, when a unitary fill, the variable filler (e.g., having a cylindrical memory foam body) may be provided in various sizes (e.g., both in circumference and length) and having various material densities (e.g., from hard to soft). Thus the user may swap one unitary variable fill roller (via the open seam provided on the neck roll member 250) having a certain dimension and/or firmness with another unitary variable fill roller having a different dimension and/or firmness to accommodate a particular user's neck region and/or a user's current need with regard to firmness. And when the variable filler material consists of loose fill material (e.g., lucid shredded memory foam particles), a user merely adds more fill material to increase size and/or firmness, or removes such loose fill material (via the open seam provided on the neck roll member 250) to decrease size and/or firmness. It is thus to be appreciated that filler material may be added and/or removed from the neck roll member 250 such that the neck roll member 250 is adjustable in both its size and/or firmness so as to be personalized for particular user.
With the support pillows 10 and 200 of the certain illustrated embodiments being described above relative to exemplary illustrated embodiments of
With certain illustrated embodiments described above, it is to be appreciated that various non-limiting embodiments described herein may be used separately, combined or selectively combined for specific applications. Further, some of the various features of the above non-limiting embodiments may be used without the corresponding use of other described features. The foregoing description should therefore be considered as merely illustrative of the principles, teachings and exemplary embodiments of this invention, and not in limitation thereof.
It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are only illustrative of the application of the principles of the illustrated embodiments. Numerous modifications and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the illustrated embodiments, and the appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements.
Claims
1. A pillow for supporting the head of a person to promote a back-resting position, the shaped pillow comprising:
- a base portion having opposing front and rear edge portions, opposing first and second side peripheral portions and a central portion; and
- first and second opposing supporting members, respectively extending from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion wherein each first and second opposing supporting member extends angularly and upwardly respectively from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion whereby each first and second opposing supporting member is separated from one another such that a majority portion of the central portion of the base portion is disposed within a region extending between each first and second supporting members, and whereby a portion of each first and second supporting member respectively overlaps with the opposing first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion.
2. The pillow of claim 1, wherein each first and second opposing supporting member is shaped with a crescent configuration.
3. The pillow of claim 2, wherein the central portion of the base portion is curved and configured to round upward from the front and rear edge portions to support against a back of the person's head and wherein the front edge portion is configured to support against the top of the shoulder area of the person.
4. The pillow of claim 3, wherein each first and second supporting member is configured to accommodate to a shape of the person's head and support the side region of the person's head so as to support the person's head while limiting the turning of the head while the back of the person's head is disposed adjacent the curved base portion.
5. The pillow of claim 4, wherein the base portion is formed with a flared configuration at the front edge portion dimensioned and configured to support against a top of a shoulder area of the person.
6. The pillow of claim 1, wherein the base portion and the first and second opposing supporting members are contoured and rounded and wherein the flared configuration is triangular in cross-section.
7. The pillow of claim 1, wherein the base portion and the two side portions comprise a unitary structure having a cavity in the base portion and the two side portions.
8. The pillow of claim 1, wherein each of the base portion and each first and second supporting member are filled with variable filler.
9. The pillow of claim 1, wherein each first and second support members are detachably engaged with the base portion.
10. The pillow of claim 1, further including an elongated neck support member having opposing first and second ends configured for engagement with the base portion whereby the elongated neck support member extends between the first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion.
11. The pillow of claim 10, wherein the elongated neck support member overlaps with a portion of the front edge portion of the base portion.
12. The pillow of claim 10, whereby the first end of the elongated neck support member is engaged with a portion of the first peripheral portion of the base portion, and the second end of the elongated neck support member is engaged with a portion of the second peripheral portion of the base portion.
13. The pillow of claim 12, wherein the elongated neck support member is configured for detachably engagement with the base portion.
14. The pillow of claim 13, whereby each of the first and second peripheral portions of the base portion include an engagement member extending from the first and second peripheral portions of the base portion whereby each engagement member is configured for selective engagement along a plurality of positions of the engagement member with a respective first or second end portion of the elongated neck support member.
15. The pillow of claim 14, further including a snap button assembly provided on each engagement member extending from the first and second peripheral portions and the first and second end portions of the elongated neck support member for providing the detachably engagement of the elongated neck support member with the base portion.
16. The pillow of claim 10, further including a pocket member provided on a surface portion of the elongated neck support member, wherein the pocket member has an open end defining an inner cavity of the pocket member configured for insertion of a thermodynamic pack member therewithin.
17. The pillow of claim 10, wherein the elongated neck support member is provided with an open seam portion for insertion and/or removal of variable filler material.
18. A pillow for supporting the head of a person to promote a back-resting position, the shaped pillow comprising:
- a base portion having opposing front and rear edge portions, opposing first and second side peripheral portions and a central curved portion configured to round upward from the front and rear edge portions to support against a back of the person's head and wherein a front edge portion is configured to support against the top of the shoulder area of the person;
- first and second opposing supporting members, respectively extending from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion wherein each first and second opposing supporting member extends angularly and upwardly respectively from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion whereby each first and second opposing supporting member is separated from one another such that a majority portion of the central curved portion of the base portion is disposed within a region extending between each first and second supporting members, whereby a portion of each first and second supporting member respectively overlaps with the opposing first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion; and
- an elongated neck support member having opposing first and second ends configured for engagement with the base portion whereby the elongated neck support member extends between the first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion.
19. The pillow of claim 18 wherein the elongated neck support member is configured for detachably engagement with the base portion.
20. A pillow for supporting the head of a person to promote a back-resting position, the shaped pillow comprising:
- a base portion having opposing front and rear edge portions, opposing first and second side peripheral portions and a central curved portion configured to round upward from the front and rear edge portions to support against a back of the person's head and wherein a front edge portion is configured to support against the top of the shoulder area of the person;
- first and second opposing supporting members, respectively extending from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of the base portion wherein each first and second opposing supporting member is shaped with a crescent configuration which extends angularly and upwardly respectively from the opposing first and second side end peripheral portions of base portion whereby each first and second opposing supporting member is separated from one another such that a majority portion of the central curved portion of the base portion is disposed within a region extending between each crescent configured first and second supporting members, whereby a portion of each first and second supporting member respectively overlaps with the opposing first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion and wherein each first and second supporting members is configured to accommodate to a shape of the person's head and support the side region of the person's head so as to support the person's head while limiting the turning of the head while the back of the person's head is disposed adjacent the curved base portion, wherein the base portion is formed with a flared configuration at the front edge portion dimensioned and configured to support against a top of a shoulder area of the person; and
- an elongated neck support member having opposing first and second ends configured for detachable engagement with the base portion whereby the elongated neck support member extends between the first and second side peripheral portions of the base portion whereby the elongated neck support member overlaps with a portion of the flared configuration of the front edge portion when detachably engaged with the base portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 5, 2022
Publication Date: Jun 30, 2022
Applicant: CosMed Pillow, LLC (White Plains, NY)
Inventors: Marion Garfield (New York, NY), Carolyn Gang (White Plains, NY)
Application Number: 17/569,112