BACKGROUND
The present invention generally relates to pillows. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pillow that provides neck support.
Users of pillows typically suffer from neck and shoulder pain from sleeping on a pillow. FIG. 1 shows a typical pillow 10 which lacks neck support and creates what is known as the wedge factor indicated by the arrows. The wedge factor is when a pillow 10 wedges, as shown FIG. 1. The wedge factor causes the user to position both arms of the user to support the user's head and that produces a sore neck. Traditionally, pillow makers keep introducing new fillings and new material that the pillow maker claims is a solution to neck pain from sleeping on a pillow. The cosmetic effect of only dealing with one variable by trying different fillings has not provided a solution.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pillow to prevent neck and shoulder pain by changing the structure of the pillow instead of changing the filling.
SUMMARY
A neck support pillow having a main body and neck support body. The main body having a length, width and thickness and a neck support body attached to the main body, the neck support body having a length, width and thickness. The main body and the neck support body are deformable bodies that are adapted such that when weight is exerted on the main body, the neck support body deforms in an opposite direction by shear weight of the weight placed on the pillow to provide a down escape route in order to avoid traditional bulging upward of the pillow.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art pillow.
FIG. 2 is a top view of a pillow according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a pillow according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pillow according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pillow according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a top view of a pillow according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention is a neck support pillow 12, as shown in FIGS. 2-6. The pillow 12 is structurally changed from a traditional pillow by being divided into two sections. A first section is the main body 14 for resting of a user's head. The second section is the neck support body 16. The main body 14 and neck support body 16 each have a first end 18 and a second end 20. The neck support body 16 acts independently of the main body 14. The pillow 12 is made of a fabric material to form pouches for the main body 14 and the neck support body 16 that are then both stuffed with a stuffing material. The stuffing material is any fillings or combination of fillings typically used with pillows. The stuffing is placed in the pouches through a zippered opening 22 that runs along the second ends 20 of the neck support body 16 and the main body 14, as shown in FIG. 3. The interface between the neck support body 16 and the main body 14 is a sewn line 24 in the fabric material that begins from the first end 18 to a second end 20 and terminates about ¼″ before the zippered opening 22. The sewn line 24 forms the two pouches. When the zipper is opened all the way, it will open both pouches of the main body 14 and neck support body 16 that is formed by the fabric material. The zipper can be replaced by a loop and hook fasteners to close off the openings of both pouches or the openings can be sewn shut after the filling is inserted into the pouches. A traditional pillow is twenty-six inches long by twenty inches wide. The pillow 12 shown in FIG. 3 is shown with the width of the main body depicted by B and the width of the neck support body depicted by A. The pillow 12 shown in FIG. 3 is typically twenty-six inches long by twenty inches wide, whereby the main body 14 is twenty-six inches long by fourteen inches wide and the neck support body 16 is twenty-six inches long by 6 inches wide. A range of the main body width B would be sixty and eighty percent of the total width of the pillow 12, whereby the range of the neck support body width A would then be between twenty to forty percent of the total width of the pillow 12, if the overall size of the pillow is changed.
The main body 14 and the neck support body 16 are deformable bodies. When having a deformable body, force applied to that deformable body travels along a path of least resistance for the neck support body 16. FIG. 4 shows the mechanics involved. The weight G exerted on the main body 14 by the head results in a force in the direction show by arrow U in FIG. 4. By dividing the pillow longitudinally and having the neck support body 16 to be deformed in the opposite direction by shear weight of the head provides a down escape route shown by arrow L, whereby the traditional bulging upward for the shear force to escape is avoided. The escape route shown by arrow L forms a void between the head and shoulders, namely the neck area to support it. By providing the neck support body as another body to be deformed by the head, the neck support body deforms in the opposite direction and towards the void between the head and shoulders that will not go flat under the head like other pillows. FIG. 5 shows a weighted ball 26 on the pillow 12 to simulate a head and show the deformation of the main body 14 and the neck support body 16. FIG. 6 show the pillow 12 rotated 180 degrees to show the pillow 12 can be used where the head can be placed on the main body 14 and the neck support body 16 is pointed away from the user and not used.
While different embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to the embodiments could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements are illustrative only and are not limiting as to the scope of the invention that is to be given the full breadth of any and all equivalents thereof.
Patent Application
20220110466
