Patent Application
20170280902
The present disclosure relates generally to travel pillows. In particular, travel pillows that include a variety of inserts for adjusting the thickness of the travel pillows in various locations are described.
Modern day travelers may find themselves desiring to get rest while on a long flight or train ride, especially in the case of overnight flights such as redeyes, or international flights. However, airline seating is often designed with cost economy first, and passenger comfort second. Seats with limited recline make getting sleep difficult, and the small pillows provided by airlines often prove unsatisfactory as they fail to provide necessary support or are prone to slip out of position, leaving a passenger unable to get decent sleep. Consequently, horseshoe shaped travel pillows have become a popular item for travelers, as they stay in position around a user's neck and allow a user to lean their head to one side in a relatively stable position.
Known travel pillows are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. For example, existing travel pillows are typically constructed using a roughly horseshoe-shaped outer cover which is filled with a fill material such as small Styrofoam balls, seeds or husks such as buckeyes, feathers or down, cotton or polyester batting, or other such compliant material. Some variants instead use an inflatable bladder approximately in the shape of a horseshoe, which may or may not be provided with an exterior cover. Such travel pillows are typically filled to a roughly consistent height and in some cases may be tapered on either side of the horseshoe. For many users, the travel pillow offers inadequate side support for a user wishing to lay their head to one side or another. Furthermore, some airlines have added head rests to airline seats in an attempt to improve comfort to some extent. These head rests are designed to function while the passenger is awake, and do not provide sufficient support to allow for good sleep. Moreover, they may interfere with proper usage of conventional travel pillows, decreasing comfort by creating pressure on the back of the neck by pressing into the travel pillow at its thickest point and by extension pushing the user's head forward uncomfortably.
Thus, there exists a need for travel pillows that improve upon and advance the design of known travel pillows. Examples of new and useful travel pillows relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.
The present disclosure is directed to a thickness-adjustable travel pillow comprised of a flexible exterior cover and one or more inserts that are used to adjust the thickness and feel of the travel pillow. In some examples, the travel pillow includes multiple segments of inserts to allow a varying thickness across different portions of the travel pillow. In still further examples, the inserts themselves may vary in thickness.
The disclosed adjustable thickness travel pillows will become better understood through review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the figures. The detailed description and figures provide merely examples of the various inventions described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples may be varied, modified, and altered without departing from the scope of the inventions described herein. Many variations are contemplated for different applications and design considerations; however, for the sake of brevity, each and every contemplated variation is not individually described in the following detailed description.
Throughout the following detailed description, examples of various adjustable thickness travel pillows are provided. Related features in the examples may be identical, similar, or dissimilar in different examples. For the sake of brevity, related features will not be redundantly explained in each example. Instead, the use of related feature names will cue the reader that the feature with a related feature name may be similar to the related feature in an example explained previously. Features specific to a given example will be described in that particular example. The reader should understand that a given feature need not be the same or similar to the specific portrayal of a related feature in any given figure or example.
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For example, by inserting one or more inserts that decrease the height of travel pillow 100 behind the user's neck relative to the sides, travel pillow 100 can be utilized with seats that have a preexisting head rest or neck cushion without creating an uncomfortable forward pressure on the user's neck. Likewise, where the seat lacks head or neck support, a larger set of inserts can be employed increase the height of travel pillow 100 behind the user's neck to add missing support to the user's head and neck. For users that prefer to side sleep, additional support can instead be directed to the “wings” of the horseshoe shape that surround the neck, rather than the back. In some airline seating positions, such as next to a wall with a window seat, the support can be tailored to fit easily between the user and the wall. Further, by virtue of using one or more interchangeable inserts, travel pillow 100 can be tailored in its firmness by using inserts made from different materials. For example, some users may prefer a firm yet contouring material such as viscoelastic foam, while others may prefer an inflatable bladder, a different type of foam material, or an insert consisting of a shell filled with traditional travel pillow material such as buckeye seeds.
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First insert 106 and second insert 110 are preferably constructed of single blocks of viscoelastic foam, also known as “memory” foam. The inserts can also be constructed from any suitable material such as foam, rubber, cloth, inflatable bladders, gel-filled or liquid filled bladders, or other materials or devices of similar functionality that are now known or later devised that offer cushioning support to a user of travel pillow 100. As contemplated in this invention and depicted in the drawings, first insert 106 and second insert 110 are preferably large blocks of material that can vary in height, and that are easy to insert and remove from exterior cover 102 so as to allow for quick adjustment of pillow thickness. This contrasts from typical prior art travel pillows that are primarily a horseshoe shaped outer cover that is filled with a filling of small particles, such as Styrofoam balls, down, buckeye seeds, or cotton batting, with the outer cover sewn shut permanently to retain the filling, to avoid a mess should the filling leak. For the instant invention, inserts could be manufactured from the traditional fillings listed above, contained within a sealed cover and shaped similar to the disclosed foam inserts, so as to be inserted into exterior cover 102. Where inserts are so constructed, the sealed cover itself may be made of a flexible material, and can itself include padding such as gel.
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Still further, when only a single first insert 106 is utilized, if the single first insert 106 is manufactured from a type of foam or other material that is subject to being molded into shapes, single first insert 106 can itself be contoured with varying thicknesses in different portions of exterior cover 102 to achieve a similar effect to a first insert 106 and a second insert 110 disposed on top of first insert 106. For example, a single first insert 106 can be manufactured with a relatively thinner section behind the user's neck and thicker portions on either of the side wings to accommodate seating that has existing head and neck rest pillows.
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The disclosure above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in a particular form, the specific embodiments disclosed and illustrated above are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed above and inherent to those skilled in the art pertaining to such inventions. Where the disclosure or subsequently filed claims recite “a” element, “a first” element, or any such equivalent term, the disclosure or claims should be understood to incorporate one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Applicant(s) reserves the right to submit claims directed to combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed inventions that are believed to be novel and non-obvious. Inventions embodied in other combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of those claims or presentation of new claims in the present application or in a related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they are directed to the same invention or a different invention and whether they are different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are to be considered within the subject matter of the inventions described herein.
