Patent Application
20220071417
The popularity and widespread use of therapeutic pillows has risen in recent years. Therapeutic pillows are used not only for basic head, neck and upper back support during sleeping, but also to avoid painful conditions in which neck muscles contract involuntarily, causing the head to twist or turn to one side. These painful conditions often result due to various movement disorders such as cervical dystonia, spina bifida, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy, tremor, Huntington's disease and the like.
A typical therapeutic pillow has a conventional cushion with a central cavity and two raised side panels to accommodate the shoulder height. Unfortunately, for some people it's challenging to control the tilt of body parts efficiently in this setting.
Involuntary neck muscle movement leads to twisting or turning of head to one side during sleeping which further leads a pillow to slide or move away from head or neck. Due to lack of muscle support during sleep, patients with movement disorders tend to have poor sleep quality and show impaired sleep architecture. Unfortunately, for some patients, involuntary movements and abnormal postures during sleep worsens pain. Hence, it is advisable to have efficient support to muscles to avoid muscle stiffness, headaches, pain and injuries.
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
An aspect of the specification provides a support pillow to control involuntary muscle movement, during sleep or rest. The support pillow includes a first lateral body, a second lateral body and a horizontal central strap mechanically connected to the first lateral body and the second lateral body. The first lateral body and second lateral body includes an inner layer and a plurality of pockets of a weighted material. The first lateral body and second lateral body further includes an upper side and a lower side. The horizontal central strap includes a horizontal body, a first end portion and a second end portion.
Involuntary muscle movement episodes can cause tingling, numbness and weakness in the arms, hands, legs or feet. Improper pillow or cushion support may aggravate these issues. In chronic muscle movement episodes due to cervical dystonia where the controlling of a repetitive tilt of a head and neck may be especially challenging. Conventional pillows with lack of support in recurring episodes and stabilization at one place make it harder to sleep efficiently. Some conventional pillows are rigid and do not allow for self-adjustment during rest. The rigidness of the pillow prevents efficient conformity to the user's neck and head.
It has been reported that a certain body position may be preferred or even required during sleep and rest for effective health recovery and/or health maintenance in person with movement disorders. For example, persons having cervical dystonia are more vulnerable to disruption of sleep when lying in a back or supine orientation during involuntary muscle movement episodes with lack of support to the body parts. In addition, relative physical positioning of parts of the body may be important, such as when one has a shoulder injury, spine misalignment, hip problem, etc. In short, a system or methodology of facilitating and controlling a healthier positional orientation during sleep or rest would be beneficial.
In one embodiment, the lower sides 212 and 222 of the respective first lateral body 210 and second lateral 220 is designed to curve along the neck and head to form a secure placement. The first and second lateral bodies 210 and 220 may be made up of cushioning material selected from a group consisting of but not limited to expanded polystyrene (also Styrofoam), polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyurethane.
The top internal layer 214 is made up of a soft material. The soft material may be selected from a group consisting of but not limited to cotton, polyester, copper fabric, quilting fabric, wool, hair, feathers, polyester staple fiber, non-woven material. The plurality of pockets 215 each being filled with a weighted material 216. The plurality of pockets 215 are made up of material may be selected from product material from a group consisting of but not limited to cotton, polyester, copper fabric, quilting fabric, wool, hair, feathers, polyester staple fiber, non-woven material. The plurality of pockets 215 are designed to be placed underside of the top inner layer 214 and mechanically connected to the outer cover 217 of the first lateral body 210.
Referring to the
The weighted material may be selected from a group consisting of polyethylene, petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene, polystyrene and the like. The weighted material is designed to form a shape like a round or nearly round object or shape such as microbeads to maintain uniform stability throughout the first lateral body 210.
In one embodiment, the first and second lateral bodies 210 and 220 support the left and right shoulder regions 504 and neck region 503 of the person 500 fits to maintain the healthy angle of the body during sleep or rest. The central strap 201 supports the first and second lateral bodies 210, 220 and further prevents displacement of the first and second lateral bodies 210, 220 during involuntary muscle movements. The central strap 201 is designed to retain the first and second lateral bodies 210, 220 in position and in communication with the left and right shoulder regions 504, neck region 503 and head 501 of the person 500. During the repetitive involuntary muscle movements, the inner configuration of the first and second lateral bodies 210, 220 and the central strap 201 supports the head 501 of the person 500 to control the body tilt efficiently.
According to
As used herein, “involuntary muscle movement” refers to movement that occurs when a person moves their body in an uncontrollable and unintended way. These movements can be anything from quick, jerking tics to longer tremors and seizures. One can experience these movements in almost any part of the body, including: neck, face and limbs. The involuntary muscle movements can also be referred to as uncontrollable movement or movement disorders. These conditions result due to, but are not limited to cervical dystonia, spina bifida, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy, tremor, Huntington's disease and the like.
In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present teachings.
The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.
Moreover, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has”, “having,” “includes”, “including,” “contains”, “containing” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “comprises . . . a”, “has . . . a”, “includes . . . a”, “contains . . . a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains the element. The terms “a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms “substantially”, “essentially”, “approximately”, “about” or any other version thereof, are defined as being close to as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, in another embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and in another embodiment within 0.5%. The term “coupled” as used herein is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly and not necessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is “configured” in a certain way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways that are not listed.
The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
The present application is entitled to priority under 35 U.S.C S 119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/706,711, filed Sep. 4, 2020.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62706711 | Sep 2020 | US |
