U.S. patent application number 13/910950 was filed with the patent office on 2014-12-11 for neck and head stability pillow.
The applicant listed for this patent is Facel Casta-Baez. Invention is credited to Facel Casta-Baez.
Application Number | 20140359943 13/910950 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 52004142 |
Filed Date | 2014-12-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140359943 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Casta-Baez; Facel |
December 11, 2014 |
Neck and Head Stability Pillow
Abstract
A neck and head stability pillow comprises flat bottom half
cylinder fixed to a flat bottom half toroid and both components
compose a single pillow. The flat bottom half cylinder fits
directly below the neck providing an adequate support and stability
to the cervical area. The flat bottom half toroid where the head
rests provides the necessary flexibility. The inner elliptic space
where the user's occiput rests is created between the flat bottom
half toroid arms fixed to the flat bottom half cylinder. The inner
diameter between the flat bottom half cylinder and the semi
circular flat bottom half toroid elevates the user's occiput rests
above the mattress. This graduation assures that the head and neck
remain as aligned as possible in its top to bottom axis. The flat
bottom surface stabilizes the half toroid fixed to the half
cylinder providing full protection and stability for the user's
cervical area.
Inventors: |
Casta-Baez; Facel; (San
Juan, PR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Casta-Baez; Facel |
|
|
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
52004142 |
Appl. No.: |
13/910950 |
Filed: |
June 5, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
5/636 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 2009/1018 20130101;
A47G 9/109 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
5/636 |
International
Class: |
A47G 9/10 20060101
A47G009/10 |
Claims
1. A neck and head stability pillow comprising: a flat bottom half
cylinder fixed to a flat bottom half toroid; a flat bottom half
toroid forms an inner elliptic curve fixed to the flat bottom half
cylinder and both comprise a single unit; a user's neck rests on
the half cylinder; a flat bottomed half cylinder takes in to
account the concave curve of the cervical spine to provide a
suitable support to the user's neck contour; a flat bottomed half
cylinder takes in to account natural human neck curvature to
provide a suitable support to the contour of the user's neck; a
space, where the user's occiput rests is created between the arms
of the flat bottom half toroid arms fixed to the flat bottom half
cylinder; a user's head rests on the inner diameter of the half
toroid; a half toroid is such that the weight of the head rests on
the inner sidewalls of the toroid; a function of the inner
sidewalls of the toroid is cushioning the head providing
flexibility and stability for the head motion; a radius of the half
toroid with its flat base gradually increases from two inches at
the connection with half cylinder to four inches at the apex of the
curve to maintain the head aligned with the neck; a inner diameter
between the flat bottom half cylinder pillow and the semi circular
flat bottom half toroid pillow elevates the parietal section of
user's head above the mattress. a pillow can be used equally by
people who sleep on their backs or on their sides;
2. This pillow of claim 1 also comprises another embodiment: an
alternate embodiment of the invention use occurs when the user
instead of lying face up on the pillow moves his body and head to
the left side or to the right side; while the lateral head rests on
the flat bottom toroid the corresponding lateral side of the neck
keeps receiving support from the half cylinder.
3. The proportions and sizes could be smaller for travel pillows or
small children pillows or regular size for house whole use.
4. The pillow of claim 1 wherein the pillow is compose of a same
material: viscoelastic foam or tempur-pedic foam: a design of the
invention provides the flexibility to select a variety of materials
similar to the viscoelastic foam or tempur-pedic foam, it is up to
the manufacturer; a pillow casing formed of washable non allergenic
material that can breathe such as cotton, pure virgin wool among
others; a pillow casing will fallow exactly the contour of the
pillow leaving open the inner diameter of the toroid.
5. This pillow of claim 1 also comprises another embodiment: an
alternative embodiment of this invention comprise of alternating a
memory foam material to another similar material in one of the
component and a different material in the other component that has
little o no compressibility; a alternative embodiment' maintains
the sizes and proportions of the preferable embodiment.
6. The design of the invention provides the flexibility to select a
variety of manufacture processes: a most practical manufacture
processes for mass production of the neck and head stability pillow
is Reaction Injection Molding; a hot wire foam cutter another
manufacturing method where mass production is not an issue.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] None
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Chronic neck pains and headaches associated with stress,
tension, improper posture during rest, sleep or after medical
treatments are reaching epidemic proportions. Office workers and
people who perform mechanical or repetitive jobs without ergonomic
support often times have injury in their cervical areas. These
problems are carried to home and affect the rest periods. The neck
and head stability pillow addresses these problems providing
stability and protection during the rest period. According to
Persson, (2006). "A specially selected and individually tested
pillow with good shape, comfort and support to the neck lordosis
can reduce neck pain and headache and give a better sleep
quality."
[0003] Most people use pillows to get cushioning support for their
head and neck in order to boost their comfort during the rest
period. Although most pillows provide some cushioning support for
the user's head they are not a perfect solutions. Some of those
pillows take in consideration the human neck natural curvature to
provide support and comfort in the neck area but the great majority
of these pillows do not take into account the head stability. Vise
versa some of the pillows that have as an objective to provide head
control fail to protect the neck.
[0004] To corroborate these statements an extensive survey of
cervical pillows has been conducted including an examination of
over one hundred diverse pillow models. It was observed that
approximately 90% of the pillow models did not provide head
stability and were limited only to sustain the natural curvature of
the neck cervical area. The rest of the pillows that provide some
control and flexibility for the head area fail to provide proper
support for the cervical area.
[0005] Certain inventions have introduced cervical pillows that can
relatively meet some head and neck support criteria, for example
model patents issued: No. 20090133193, U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,049 and
U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,832. For instance, the Buckwheat hull pillow
(No. 20090133193) which claims to have cervical support only
provides support for the head and not for the neck. The Cervical
pillow with variable thickness head and neck portions (U.S. Pat.
No. 5,457,832) has the peculiarity that stabilizes the head in only
one manner, lateral left to right movements. However, it does not
provide stability for up and down head movements and depends upon
the quality of the mattress to avoid the head sinking into it
causing more strain in the cervical area.
[0006] Some of these pillows are specially designed to provide
support for the user's cervical or neck region but do not provide
control and stability for the head. Thus, a pillow that provided
simultaneously comfort, flexibility, control and full stability for
the head and neck area was not identified in the survey of over one
hundred pillows. The scope of this invention is to provide an
effective solution to these clear limitations in prior art head and
neck pillows.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] Field of the invention: This invention pertains to cervical
pillows or head and neck support devices and more particularly to
head and neck support devices.
[0008] The present invention is a neck and head stability pillow
comprising a flat bottom half cylinder for neck control and
stability fixed to a flat bottom half toroid component for the head
comfort and stability. A special feature of this configuration is
that a flat bottom half toroid with an inner elliptic curve is
fixed to a flat bottom half cylinder and both comprise a single
unit. The head rests in the inner diameter of the half toroid. The
weight of the head rests on the inner sidewalls of the toroid. The
flat bottom half cylinder is the component that provides adequate
support to the cervical neck area.
[0009] This pillow can be used as much as people who sleep on their
backs or to sleep on their sides. The difference between this
invention and prior art is founded on the combination of the two
geometric forms: the flat half bottom cylinder and the flat half
bottom toroid, permanently fixed together provide the optimal
critical elements of flexibility and stability for the head and
neck.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
[0010] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the neck and head
stability pillow showing my new invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a back perspective view of the neck and head
stability pillow;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a top view of the neck and head stability
pillow;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a side view of the neck and head stability
pillow;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a front view of the neck and head stability
pillow;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a back view of the neck and head stability
pillow;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the neck and head stability
pillow.
DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are the perspective views showing an
embodiment of the neck and head stability pillow of the present
invention. The neck and head stability pillow, as shown in FIG. 3
comprises a flat bottom half cylinder 10 fixed to a flat bottom
half toroid 13. Both components comprise a single pillow.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 3 and see FIG. 4 The flat bottom half
toroid 13 permanently fixed 14 to the flat bottom half cylinder 10
forms an inner elliptic curve 18 leaving an open semi circular
space 15. The head rests in the inner elliptic 18 of the toroid 13
where the sidewalls of the toroid 11 provides head stability, see
FIG. 4. The half cylinder 10 fits directly below the neck
maintaining the natural curvature of the cervical area 17. The
users' shoulders lay outside 19 the half cylinder's top curvature
10 and rest on the bed 19. The flat bottom half cylinder takes into
account the natural human neck curvature to provide support and
stability around the neck contour 10 to ensure cervical
concavity.
[0019] The inner elliptic space where the user's occiput rests is
created between the flat bottom half toroid arms 11 fixed to the
flat bottom half cylinder. Referring to FIG. 3 the inner diameter
18 between the flat bottom half cylinder 10 and the semi circular
flat bottom half toroid 13 elevates the user's occiput rests above
the mattress 15. It is to be noted that the half-toroid diameter
with its flat base gradually increases from four (4) inches
diameter at the connection with half cylinder to eight (8) inches
diameter at the apex of the curve. This graduation assures that the
head and neck remain as aligned as possible in its top to bottom
axis. The curvature at the half-toroid top 18 is where the user's
parietal rests receiving a sustained cushioning and support. The
toroid sidewalls cushion the head 18 and control the head's motions
assuring the head moves slightly to either side during the rest
period.
[0020] The flat bottom half toroid is fifth teen (15) inches long
from its apex 13 to the arms that connect with the half cylinder.
FIG. 3 The flat bottom half toroid 13 gradually increases in
diameter as it moves away from the flat bottom half cylinder 10. As
shown in FIG. 4 the increase in diameter of the toroid follows the
subsequent proportions: the first five (5) inches fixed to the half
cylinder 14 has a diameter of four (4) inches; the next five (5)
inches have a diameter of six inches (6) and the last five (5)
inches of the half toroid have a diameter of eight (8) inches. The
pillow bottom 16 is flat and unornamented see FIG.7.
[0021] The flat bottom 16 half-cylinder component is approximately
twenty one (21) inches long, three (3) inches high from the base
and six (6) inches wide with flat sides 12, see FIG. 2. As further
shown in FIG. 5 each arm 11 is fixed at three (3) inches 20 from
each end of the half cylinder. Referring to FIG. 4 the radius of
the half toroid with its flat base 16 gradually increases from two
(2) inches at the connection with the half cylinder to four (4)
inches at the apex of the curve to maintain the head aligned with
the neck. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 each half toroid arm 11 at
the point of contact 14 has four (4) inches diameter with seven (7)
inch open area 15 between the half-toroid arms 11 where the head
rests 18.
[0022] It is important to note that these proportions may vary
before production. These measures are approximate and respond to
the standards measurements of the average human head and neck. The
proportions and sizes of the pillow could be smaller to include a
child version or a travel version.
[0023] An alternate embodiment of the invention's use occurs when
the user instead of lying face up on the pillow, see FIG. 3, moves
his body and head to the left or to the right; while the lateral
head rests on the flat bottom toroid 13 the corresponding lateral
side of the user's neck keeps receiving support 17 by the half
cylinder 10. In both embodiments the pillow material will provide
optimal cushioning and support for the users' head by sustaining as
it compresses to the natural shape of the user's head and neck.
[0024] There are different materials that could be used to produce
pillows, each with its unique characteristics. Some common examples
of such materials are: memory foam, micro bead technology, foam
rubber and etcetera. The material for this pillow will be resilient
and compressible because it must recovers its original shape after
any load is removed from the pillow.
[0025] After evaluating different material options, it is
preferably to manufacture the invention using polyurethane memory
foam, most commonly known as viscoelastic foam or tempur-pedic
foam. The material selected is a heat sensitive material because it
can acquire the shape of the neck and head lying upon it. It is
important to note that this form retaining material will be the
same one for the entire pillow manufacture. The memory foam
material is cost effective because it reduces manufacturing costs
and production time, and, moreover to maintains the critical
conditions of: comfort, flexibility, control and full stability for
neck and head.
[0026] The design of the invention has flexibility to combine
materials and this fact represents alternative embodiment. Due to
the large variety of materials with different compressibility
indexes, characteristics and capacities to respond to the head
weight another alternative embodiment for this invention consist of
combine two different materials. Thus, an alternative embodiment of
this invention consists of alternating a memory foam material to
another similar material in one of the component and a different
material in the other component that has little or no
compressibility. For example, the half cylinder material can be
memory foam and the half-toroid material can be micro bead. This
embodiment permits less movement in the head area if necessary or
as an alternative stronger support for the cervical area if
necessary.
[0027] In addition this embodiment permits the pillow to be used
for therapeutic purposes subject to medical requirements. This
embodiment maintains the sizes and proportions of the preferable
embodiment and the claims but allows a wider use of the pillow
under this other embodiment.
[0028] Based on the manufacturing process research, the conclusion
reached is that the most popular processes to manufacture a memory
foam pillow are: Reaction Injection Molding (RIM), CNC Bandsaw
cutting and Die Cutting. The Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) is
the more practical method for mass production. It is usually used
in cases where the object has curved such as the flat bottom half
cylinder 10 and the half bottom toroidal surfaces in all three
dimensions 16. When using RIM to mold the memory foam isocyanate
and the polyol are heated and mixed together and are then poured
into a CNC cut aluminum mold. Once in the mold the reaction of the
hot mixture causes it to expand until it reaches the wall of the
mold. When the hot mixture touches the relatively cold wall of the
mold a skin is formed. RIM is a low-pressure process, so
transitions from thick sections to thin sections must be
gradual.
[0029] Another production alternative in smaller scale is the hot
cut process where it uses a hot cutter to cut the foam according to
the established design.
[0030] The pillow will be casing with a washable non-allergenic
material that can breathe such as: cotton, pure virgin wool or any
others breathable material. The pillow casing fallows exactly the
contour of the pillow leaving open the inner diameter of the
toroid.
* * * * *