Patent Application
20240041232
This invention relates in general to pillows and to stereophonic speaker systems, and more particularly, to a novel pillow sound system.
Pillow speakers are placed under pillows to help the user fall asleep, obtain higher quality sleep or to enjoy audio from various devices such as a TV, music player, smart phone, tablet, etc. Many pillow speakers, such as the commercially available Sound Oasis® model SP-101, provide freestanding speaker units intended for insertion inside, under or round about existing pillows. But these freely standing units are not secured in the pillows, so the speakers themselves move around during use, causing varying sound quality for the user, since the speakers can flip over (and the sound output is muffled), or the speakers can move out of the proper location for optimal hearing quality (i.e. the optimal hearing location typically is close to each ear of the user), or may be perceived as uncomfortable. Other pillow speakers do hold the pillow speakers in place, such as the commercially available Pillowsonic™ pillow speaker, but do not allow the user to adjust the width between the pillow speakers therewithin to suit their particular head/body size or preference, and/or head dimensions (and thus the distance from ear to ear), which vary from person to person, depending on age, gender, body sizes and other factors. There are also pillows provided with built-in speaker receiving pockets, in which speakers are received, such as the Sound Pillow of U.S. Pat. No. 7,627,917, incorporated herein by reference. However such systems are not so compact as to be readily fit in a suitcase and typically are used in place of the user's already owned pillows.
There is thus the need for a pillow sound system having all the advantages of the heretofore known systems but with none of their attendant disadvantages.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to disclose a pillow sound system usable with any pre-existing pillow or head rest.
Another object of the present invention is to disclose a pillow sound system that can accommodate different head sizes and/or head/body sizes.
Another object of the present invention is to disclose a pillow sound system that is not subject to the potentially undesirable effects of unintended speaker movement.
A further object of the present invention is to disclose a pillow sound system that is comfortable and unobtrusive in use.
Yet another object of the present invention is to disclose a pillow sound system that is manufacturable at comparatively low-cost.
A further object of the present invention is to disclose a pillow sound system that is readily portable.
A further object of the present invention is to disclose a pillow sound system that is easy to adjust.
In accord with these and other objects, the pillow sound system of the present invention discloses first and second longitudinally extending arms each having outer and inner ends; speaker attaching members are disclosed at the outer ends of each of the first and second arms that hold speakers attached thereby in place against dislodgment; and first and second interconnection members are disclosed at the inner ends of the first and second arms that cooperate to attach said first and second arms together in such a way that the longitudinal extension defined between the outer ends of the arms, and therewith the longitudinal width defined between the speaker attaching members, is selectively adjustable between comparatively-longer and comparatively-shorter maximum and minimum values.
The first and second longitudinally extending arms having outer and inner ends are preferably formed of a flexible and comfortable substrate material such as rubber rendering the arms substantially physically unobtrusive, which mitigates if not eliminates sleep and/or rest or music enjoyment disruption.
The speaker attaching members that hold the speakers in place on the first and second arms preferably are walls integrally formed with the flexible and comfortable substrate material of the arms providing speaker receiving cavities that removably receive speakers and hold them in place therewithin against rotation and unintended dislocation.
The first and second interconnection members preferably are first and second arrays of longitudinally and transversely spaced apart male and female elements proximate the inner ends of respective ones of said first and second arms that are cooperative to adjustably attach the first and second arms together by simple and easy insertion and removal of the male elements into and out of any selected female elements.
Stereo speakers typically are connected by an electrical wire. Speaker wire take-up members are disclosed proximate the walls providing speaker receiving cavities to take up any excess speaker wire which help to prevent unmanaged cord from disrupting sleep and/or rest or music enjoyment.
Other objects, advantageous features, and inventive aspects of the present invention will become apparent as the invention becomes better understood by referring to the following, solely exemplary, detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments thereof, and to the drawings, wherein:
Referring now to
A dashed box 22 illustrates an user's pillow, which may be the pillow the user typically uses or another headrest without requiring a special purpose pillow.
As illustrated schematically by arrow 24, the longitudinal extension of the arms 12, 16, and therewith the width between the stereo speakers 14, 18, is selected by controllably adjusting the longitudinally adjustable member 22 to provide that longitudinal width that accommodates the different head/body sizes and/or head sizes of each particular use situation. Any suitable longitudinally adjustable interconnecting member to provide longitudinal adjustment of the width defined between the stereo speakers 14, 18 that is variable to accommodate different head/body sizes and/or head sizes may be employed without departing from the inventive concepts.
A stereo audio source, such as CD player, iPod, iPhone and the like, is schematically illustrated by box 26. An audio interconnection, schematically illustrated by boxes 28a, 28b, 28c, supplies the audio provided by the stereo audio source 26 to the stereo speakers 14, 18. The audio interconnection 28a, 28b, 28c may be any suitable audio interconnection for providing audio to the stereo speakers, either wired or wireless, without departing from the inventive concepts.
Referring now to
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First and second arrays generally designated 60, 62 are respectively provided on the inner ends of the first and second arms 50, 70.
The first array 60 includes longitudinally and transversely spaced apart male elements 64 provided on the inner end of the arm 50. The second array 62 includes longitudinally and transversely spaced apart female elements 66 provided on the inner end of the second arm 70. The male elements 64 of the array 60 may be received in the female elements 66 provided therefor on the second array 62. In this way, as appears more fully hereinbelow, the longitudinal extension of the interconnected arms, and therewith the width between the speakers 56, 58, is readily and selectively adjustable between maximum and minimum values to accommodate any head size and/or head/neck size, or pillow size or other preference.
A different number, shape and/or arrangement of the elements of at least one male and of at least one female element other than the two-by-four (2×4) and five-by-four (5×4) arrays of male and female elements 60, 62 of the presently preferred embodiment may be employed without departing from the inventive concepts. Although the longitudinal adjustment of width is preferably provided by the insert, hold and withdraw cooperation provided by the male and female elements 60, 62 that is easy for any age of hand/fingers to use, different width adjustment mechanisms like adjustable fasteners could be employed without departing from the inventive concepts.
As seen in
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For any selected longitudinally-adjusted width, any excess speaker interconnection cord is pushed past the flexible lips 84, 86 and into the cord receiving reservoirs 80, 82. The flexible lips flex back to confine the excess cord within the reservoirs provided therefor, which helps to prevent unmanaged cord from disrupting sleep and/or rest or music enjoyment.
A different number and configuration of excess cord take up and release members could be employed without departing from the inventive concepts.
The arms 50, 70, and together therewith, the elements 52-54, 60-66, 72, 74, preferably are integrally formed of rubber or another soft pliable substrate material.
Referring now to
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Different values for the lengths L1 and L2 could, of course, be employed without departing from the inventive concepts.
As seen in
Many modifications of the present invention will become apparent to those of skill in the art having benefitted from the instant disclosure without departing from the inventive concepts.
