Patent ID: 8418293
Filing Date: 2013-04-16
Classification: B60N

Abstract:
1. A travel pillow for providing the head and neck alignment of a human user resting against a seat back, the travel pillow comprising: an interior shell of a semi-stiff unitary construction; a depending back portion for insertion between the upper part of the user's back and the seat back; a neck support region for supporting the user's neck posteriorly, the neck support region comprising a forwardly convex surface varying in radius and configured to extend towards the natural lordotic curve of the cervical region of the user's spine; and a head support region comprising a pair of upstanding side lobes extending from each side of the neck support region and sized to terminate above the user's ears, the side lobes configured to follow the profile of the occipital and temporal bones of the user's head and support the head at the intersection of the occipital bone, parietal bone and temporal bones to prevent lateral bending of the neck, and a rearward transversely concave surface for supporting the user's occipital bone and defining a deep U-shaped recess between the side lobes to allow the user's head to rest against the seat back; and wherein during use the pillow is placed between the user and the seat back; such that the pillow is held in place during use by the user's weight resting against the seat back; and wherein the side lobes are configured to cradle the user's head as it moves through varying positions from 45 degrees to the side one way, through center forward facing, to 45 degrees to the side the other way preventing lateral bending of the user's cervical region of the spine and maintain the head's center of gravity at the sagittal plane of the body.