| Side sleeping pillow -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
 
Side sleeping pillowRelated Patent Categories: Beds, Support Means For Discrete Portion Of User, Useable With Bed Or Surgical Support, For Head Or Neck (e.g., Pillow)Side sleeping pillow description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060179572, Side sleeping pillow. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This application is based on provisional application Ser. No. 60/652,131, filed Feb. 11, 2005, for which priority is claimed. [0002] This invention relates to a pillow designed to keep an individual from sleeping on the back, i.e. it is designed to keep an individual sleeping on one side or the other. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Many individuals experience sleeping disorders and one in particular is a snoring condition known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA has been reported by the National Sleep Foundation to affect approximately 71 million people at least a few times a week. It is caused usually by the person's airway narrowing in the upper track. Many factors can contribute to this problem, but generally decreased muscle tone and fatty deposits in the throat are blamed. It is generally believed that elevating a person's head and sleeping on the side can reduce or eliminate this snoring problem, hence a better night's sleep. [0004] One archaic treatment is for the snorer to wear a tee shirt having a tennis ball sewn in the back, the idea being that when the sleeper is on the back, the tennis ball will ultimately cause discomfort whereupon the sleeper will roll onto the side. This is supposed to keep the sleeper on the side but being awaken in order to roll onto the side is not very restful. [0005] Disclosures relevant to this invention are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,850,067; 5,479,667 and 6,226,817. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] In this invention, a pillow is provided that encourages a sleeper to stay on one side by making it difficult to roll over onto the back. Thus, this pillow construction does what medical professionals desire but with a more comfortable result and minimum disturbance to the sleeper and a happier bedmate. [0007] This is accomplished by providing a pillow that is too narrow for the user to sleep on their back and is based on the observation that most people are wider from side-to-side than from front-to-back. The pillow accordingly has arms, abutments or side panels that are narrower than the sleeper's back. Thus, the only position the sleeper can normally assume is on one side. [0008] In one embodiment, the pillow has a wedge shaped design providing a center section to receive an individual in a side sleeping position and two spaced arms or fixed blocks not permitting the individual to move onto their back. The sleeper's head rests on an elevated portion thereby allowing the shoulder to be received in a comfortable manner in a slot formed by the pillow of this invention. The sleeper's face is supported either with the elevated head rest or on the arm/block extension area, depending on the sleeper's preference, as when the user sleeps in a curled side position. Preferably, both sides of the pillow of this invention provides a side ramp to allow an arm to rest in a side sleeping position without interfering with the torso. [0009] For a greater elevation or angle, one or more additional wedges may be provided, to be added underneath the main center section of the pillow. In the alternative, a mechanical arrangement may be provided to increase the inclination of the pillow. [0010] It is an object of this invention to provide an improved pillow promoting a user to sleep on a side. [0011] Another object of this invention is to provide a side sleeping pillow including a side ramp for receiving the arm of the sleeper. [0012] These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent as this description proceeds, reference being made to the accompanying drawings and appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the pillow of this invention, illustrated without an overlying cover in order to show its internal construction; [0014] FIG. 2 is a side view of the inner core of the pillow of FIG. 1; and [0015] FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the pillow of FIG. 1 to which has been added an external cover. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0016] Referring to FIGS. 1-3, there is illustrated a pillow 10 having an internal core 12 which may be slightly compressible foam, an inflatable member or the like, and a cover 14 of a suitable finish material, such as a soft foam sheet. The core 12 includes a generally horizontal planar rectangular base 16 which provides a waist and lumbar support assembly 18 and a thoracic support assembly 20. The waist and lumbar support assembly 18 includes a leading edge 21 of elongate wedge shape to merge smoothly with an underlying bed surface. [0017] A head support assembly 22 extends generally perpendicularly upwardly from the base 16 and extends laterally to adjacent the sides 24, 26 of the base 16. Although the base 16 is illustrated as extending under the head support assembly 22, it will be apparent it may terminate at a front face 28 of the head support assembly 22 provided the assembly 22 is suitably thickened, i.e. the junction between the base 16 and the head support assembly 22 may be vertical rather than horizontal as illustrated. [0018] The upper surface 30 of the head support assembly 22 is preferably horizontal but may tilt slightly to the rear and provides a pair of inclined sections 32, 34 adjacent the sides of the pillow 10 for purposes more fully apparent hereinafter. [0019] The pillow 10 manifestly can be made of different size to accommodate larger or smaller individuals. An additional technique to this end is to provide a removable block 36 in the head support assembly 22. With the block 36 removed, there is a much shorter distance between the thoracic support assembly 18 and the surface that effectively supports the sleeper's head thereby providing a simple means to adjust the core 12 to accommodate smaller individuals. [0020] Extending forwardly from the head support assembly 22 are a pair of arms or panels 38, 40 that merge with the base 16 or, more specifically, with the thoracic support assembly 20 and/or the waist and lumbar support assembly 18. The arms 38, 40 are spaced apart a distance smaller than the width of the sleeper's shoulders and larger than the thickness of the sleeper's torso, i.e. the distance from the inside faces of the arms 38, 40 are less than the width of the sleeper's shoulders and larger than the thickness of the sleeper's torso. Although the distance between the arms 38, 40 may vary somewhat, this distance is almost always eighteen inches or less. For a child's size pillow of this invention, the distance between the arms 38, 40 is typically less than one foot. Continue reading about Side sleeping pillow... Full patent description for Side sleeping pillow Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Side sleeping pillow patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Side sleeping pillow or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Transferable patient care equipment support Next Patent Application: Nissen pillow Industry Class: Beds ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Side sleeping pillow patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.15972 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Medical: Surgery , Surgery(2) , Surgery(3) , Drug , Drug(2) , Prosthesis , Dentistry 174 |
 * Protect your Inventions * US Patent Office filing 
PATENT INFO |
|
