US20040139548A1

US20040139548A1 - Pillow facilitating good sleep

Info

Publication number: US20040139548A1
Application number: US10/345,955
Authority: US
Inventors: Lee Hwang-Pao
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-01-17
Filing date: 2003-01-17
Publication date: 2004-07-22

Abstract

A pillow facilitating good sleep is integrally molded from a soft foam or non-foaming plastic material, such as PVC, EVA or PU. The pillow is provided at a bottom thereof with a transverse recess having predetermined depth and width, so as to form at least front and rear support portions below front and rear sides, respectively, of the pillow. The front and rear support portions have different heights, so that the pillow has a slightly inclined top surface to provide at least two different heights forusers. The bottom transverse recess allows a portion of the top surface supporting a user's head to downward deform while the front or the rear support portion ergonomically supports the user's nape to facilitate good sleep. Pads of different heights may be removably attached to the bottom of the pillow to adjust an overall height thereof according to the user's actual need.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pillow, and more particularly to a pillow facilitating good sleep. The pillow is integrally molded from a soft plastic material and has a transverse recess formed at a middle area of a bottom thereof to provide at least two support portions below front and rear sides of the pillow. The bottom transverse recess enables a portion of the pillow supporting a user's head to downward deform by an extent depending on a force applied by the user's head to the pillow while the front or the rear support portion fitly supporting the user's neck. The front and the rear support portions are different in height for the pillow to have a slightly inclined top surface, so that a user may freely select a desired pillow height. One or more pad members of different heights may be removably attached to the bottom of the pillow to adjust an overall height of the pillow to facilitate a good sleep.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pillows made of a foam material are conveniently available in the market, and the comfort provided by such pillows varies with the formula and foaming ability of the foam materials. The conventional foam-material-made pillows may be generally divided into two types according to their formations. The first type has a puffy middle portion and thickness-reduced peripheral portions, as shown in FIG. 1. The second type has a section shape like a kidney, as the pillow 1 shown in FIG. 2. The pillow 1 has a flat bottom 11 and a top surface 12 formed into a front and a rear

curved projection

13, 14 with a middle valley 15 located between the front and the

rear projection

13, 14. The first type of the conventional foam-material-made pillow only provides a middle portion adapted to downward deform while it supports a user's head thereon but not any portion to support the user's neck, and is therefore not ergonomically suitable for use. The front projection 13 of the pillow 1 of the second type foam-material-made pillow is able to support the user's neck and is therefore ergonomically suitable for use to provide a certain degree of comfort during sleep. The

projections

13, 14 are directly formed during the pillow 1 is molded to provide fixed curves close to a part between the user's head and nape, so as to meet the ergonomic requirement. However, the fixed curves provided by the

projections

13, 14 on the pillow 1 do not always suitable for all users because the hardness and foamed degree of the pillow 1 varies with different materials used to form the pillow. In other words, the foam-material-made pillow 1 that has fixedly formed projections on the top surface 12 does not satisfy all users of different sizes due to a limited range of hardness of the pillow 1.

Moreover, although the two

curved projections

13, 14 provide two different heights, the pillow 1 does not satisfy all users. Pillow manufacturers have to produce pillows having other height or thickness to provide more choices for users. Generally speaking, male users would need a higher pillow while female users prefer a lower pillow. The multiple sizes and specifications of pillows inevitably increase difficulties in the manufacturers' production control. Meanwhile, it is uneasy and even confusing for a user to immediately decide in a store which pillow is most suitable and comfortable for use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a pillow that is made of a soft plastic material and has a structure facilitating good sleep.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pillow that provides at least two different heights, so that a user may select one of the heights that is more comfortable to him or her.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a pillow, an overall height of which may be adjusted to satisfy different users, so that the pillow may be easily manufactured under good production control and eliminate the user's confusion in purchasing it.

To achieve the above and other objects, the pillow according to the present invention is integrally molded from a soft foam or non-foaming plastic material, such as PVC, EVA or PU. The pillow is provided at a bottom thereof with a transverse recess having predetermined depth and width, so as to form at least front and rear support portions below front and rear sides, respectively, of the pillow. The front and rear support portions have different heights, so that the pillow has a slightly inclined top surface to provide at least two different heights for users. The bottom transverse recess allows a portion of the top surface supporting a user's head to downward deform while the front or the rear support portion ergonomically supports the user's neck to facilitate good sleep. Pads of different heights may be removably attached to the bottom of the pillow to adjust an overall height thereof according to the user's actual need.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein [0008]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first conventional pillow; [0009]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second conventional pillow; [0010]
FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of a pillow according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; [0011]
FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of FIG. 3; [0012]
FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 3; [0013]
FIG. 6 is a side view of the pillow of FIG. 3 in use; [0014]
FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of a pillow according to another embodiment of the present invention; [0015]
FIG. 8 is a side view of the pillow of FIG. 7 in use; [0016]
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a pad member for removably attaching to a bottom of the pillow of the present invention to adjust an overall height thereof; and [0017]
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the pillow of the present invention with the pad member of FIG. 9 attached to a bottom thereof.[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 3, 4 and [0019] 5 in which a pillow 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The pillow 2 is integrally molded from a soft plastic material, which may be a foam or a non-forming plastic material, including, for example, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene vinyl acetate resin (EVA), or polyurethane (PU). The pillow 2 has a smooth top surface 21 without any recess portion 15 as that provided in the second conventional pillow 1 for particularly supporting a user's head thereon. A bottom 22 of the pillow 2 is provided at a middle area with a transverse recess 23 having a predetermined depth and width, so as to form two support portions 24, 25 separately below a front and a rear side of the pillow 2. The two support portions 24, 25 are different in height. That is, the front and rear sides of the pillow 2 have different heights, making the top surface 21 a slightly inclined surface. When the pillow 2 is in use, as shown in FIG. 6, the transverse recess 23 formed at the middle area of the bottom 22 of the pillow 2 allows a portion of the pillow 2 having a user's head 3 supported thereon to downward deform by a degree depending on a force applied to the pillow 2 by the user's head 3, while the support portion 24 or 25 still provides a natural and proper support to the user's nape 31, making the pillow 2 an ergonomically ideal pillow for use. The two support portions 24, 25 having different heights allow the user to freely select either the front or the rear side of the pillow 2 to most comfortably support the nape 31 and therefore facilitate a good sleep.
FIG. 7 is a bottom perspective view of a [0020] pillow 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the pillow 2 also includes a bottom 22 having a transverse recess 23 to form two support portions 24, 25 separately below front and rear sides of the pillow 2. However, the pillow 2 in this second embodiment further includes two lateral support portions 26, 27 integrally extended from the front and rear support portions 24, 25 to locate below left and right sides of the pillow 2, such that the transverse recess 23 is enclosed in the support portions 24, 25, 26 and 27. The pillow 2 of the second embodiment may still be integrally molded and mass-produced while providing the same good effect to facilitate a good sleep.
Please refer to FIGS. 9 and 10. The [0021] pillow 2 of the present invention may have one or more pad members 3 removably attached to the bottom 22 to increase an overall height of the pillow 2. The pad members 3 may have different heights and have an outer perimeter the same as that of the bottom 22 of the pillow 2. The pad member 3 may be easily attached to the bottom 22 of the pillow 2 with adhesive means, such as double-side tapes or patches, or repeatedly usable tapes, so that the user may conveniently adjust the overall height of the pillow 2 according to actual need. The pad member 3 not only saves the user from troubles in choosing a pillow having a suitable height, but also enables a manufacturer to maintain good quality control in production of uniform-sized pillows.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A pillow facilitating good sleep, comprising a main body integrally molded from a soft foam or non-foaming plastic material, said main body being provided at a middle area of a bottom thereof with a transverse recess having predetermined depth and width, so as to form front and rear support portions below front and rear sides, respectively, of said main body; said front and rear support portions having different heights to provide said main body with two different heights and accordingly a slightly inclined top surface; and said transverse recess at the middle area of said bottom allowing a portion of said top surface of said main body supporting a user's head to downward deform due to a force applied by the user's head to said main body, while said front or said rear support portion ergonomically supporting the user's nape to facilitate good sleep.

2. The pillow facilitating good sleep as claimed in claim 1, wherein said soft plastic material is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene vinyl acetate resin (EVA), polyurethane (PU), and other similar plastic materials.

3. The pillow facilitating good sleep as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bottom of said main body further includes lateral support portions integrally extended from said front and rear support portions to enclose said transverse recess.

4. The pillow facilitating good sleep as claimed in claim 1, further comprising one or more pad members having a uniform perimeter the same as that of said bottom of said main body and having different heights, said pad members being adapted for removably attaching to said bottom of said main body with adhesive means to adjust an overall height of said main body.