Contoured pillow

A contoured pillow having a top and a bottom for resting upon a surface, and including an outer cover and padding positioned in the outer cover. The pillow may have a central portion extending along a central lateral axis and lobe portions extending outwardly from the central portion, and an upper surface of the central portion may include proximal and distal sections. The proximal section of the upper surface may be located a greater distance from the bottom of the pillow than the distal section of the upper surface.

BACKGROUND

Field

The present disclosure relates to pillows and more particularly pertains to a new contoured pillow for supporting portions of the head and neck of the user in a proper orientation with respect to each other while also resisting the tendency of the head to rotate to one lateral side or the other when the user falls asleep.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a contoured pillow having a top and a bottom for resting upon a surface, and a reference plane for positioning substantially parallel to the surface upon which the pillow rests during use. The pillow may be elongated along a central longitudinal axis between opposite ends, with opposite sides extending between the ends that include a proximal side for positioning relatively closer to the shoulder of the user during use and a distal side for positioning relatively closer to the head of the user during use. The pillow may have a central lateral axis extending substantially perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis. The pillow may have an outer surface with an outer perimeter, an upper surface located above the perimeter, and a lower surface located below the perimeter. The pillow may comprise an outer cover forming the outer surface and defining an interior, and padding positioned in at least a portion of the interior of the outer cover. The pillow may have a central portion extending along the central lateral axis, and lobe portions extending outwardly from the central portion. The upper surface of the central portion includes a proximal section and a distal section, with the proximal section of the upper surface being configured to support a portion of the neck of the user during use and the distal section of the upper surface being configured to support a portion of the head of the user during use. The proximal section of the upper surface may be located a greater distance from the bottom of the pillow than the distal section of the upper surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular toFIGS. 1 through 4thereof, a new contoured pillow embodying the principles and concepts of the disclosed subject matter will be described.

The applicant has recognized problems that occur when a person in a reclined or prone position relaxes and falls asleep, and the person's head naturally tends to flop or rotate toward one side of the body or the other. Quite often this unintentional rotation of the head results in pain or stiffness of the neck and/or upper back of the person if the head remains in this position for too long a period, which can be fairly likely if the person has fallen asleep. The applicant has also recognized that conventional throw pillows are unable to resist this rotation, and in some cases may even encourage this undesirable movement. Other circular pillows with a central void may tend to support the head at a level that is too high with respect to the neck of the person, which can also lead to pain or discomfort if the position is maintained for a longer period.

The applicant has thus devised a pillow with contouring that supports portions of the head and neck of the user in a proper orientation with respect to each other, and also resists the tendency of the head to rotate to one lateral side or the other when the person falls asleep. Advantageously, when the head and neck are supported in a proper orientation that does not favor one side or the other, the user is much more likely to awake without pain or discomfort.

In one aspect, the disclosure relates to a contoured pillow10which generally has a top12and a bottom13for resting upon a surface such as a bed. For point of reference in this description, the pillow10may be thought to have a reference plane14which may be oriented substantially parallel to the surface upon which the pillow rests during use. The pillow may be elongated along a central longitudinal axis16between opposite ends18,19of the pillow. The pillow may also have opposite sides20,21which extend between the ends18,19and may include a proximal side20for positioning relatively closer to the shoulder of the user during use, and a distal side21for positioning relatively closer to the head of the user during use. The pillow10may also have a central lateral axis24which extends substantially perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis16.

The pillow10may have an outer surface26, and the outer surface may have an outer perimeter28positioned between an upper portion of the outer surface26, or upper surface30, located above the outer perimeter28in between the perimeter and the top12. The outer surface may also include a lower portion of the outer surface, or lower surface31, which is located below the outer perimeter28, and may be located between the perimeter28and the bottom13. A thickness of the pillow10may be defined between the upper30and lower31surfaces of the pillow, and the thickness may vary across different locations on the pillow.

The pillow10may include an outer cover34which forms the outer surface26of the pillow, and may define an interior36of the pillow. The outer cover34may be formed from a relatively thin and flexible material which may also exhibit some degree of resilient stretchability. The pillow10may also include padding38which may be positioned in at least a portion of the interior36of the outer cover. The padding38may be formed of a resiliently compressible material, such as a foamed material or other material having resiliently compressible characteristics.

The outer perimeter28of the pillow has a shape and the perimeter may include end sections40,41which are located at the opposite ends18,19of the pillow and side sections42,43which are located at the opposite sides20,21of the pillow. In some embodiments, each of the side sections42,43may be generally concave to form side divots44,45. The side divots may include a proximal side divot44and a distal side divot45. The proximal side divot44may be configured for receiving a portion of the neck of the user, while the distal side divot45may be configured for receiving a portion of the head of the user. Additionally, each of the end sections40,41may also be generally concave to form end divots46. As a result, some embodiments of the pillow10may have a shape that approximates a stereotypical “dog bone” shape.

The pillow10may also have a central portion50which extends along the central lateral axis24, and lobe portions52,53which extend in a longitudinally outwardly direction from the central portion50, and the lobe portions generally extend laterally with respect to the central longitudinal axis16. At least one of the lobe portions may extend in a substantially opposite lateral direction with respect to another lobe portion. In greater detail, a first pair54,55of the lobe portions may be located on a first end18of the pillow and a second pair56,57of lobe portions may be located on a second end19of the pillow. As a result, two of the lobes54,56may extend in a first lateral direction with respect to the central longitudinal axis16and two of the lobes55,57may extend in a second lateral direction with respect to the central longitudinal axis.

The upper surface30of the central portion50of the pillow10may include a proximal section60and a distal section62. The proximal section60may be configured to support a portion of the neck of the user during use of the pillow, and the distal section of the upper surface may be configured to support a portion of the head of the user during use. The proximal section60may be located adjacent to the proximal side divot44, while the distal section62may be located adjacent to the distal side divot45.

Significantly, the proximal section60of the upper surface may be convex for supporting a portion of the neck of the user, and the distal section62of the upper surface may be substantially planar. In some embodiments, the proximal section of the upper surface is located a greater distance from the bottom13of the pillow than the distal section of the upper surface. In some further embodiments, all portions of the proximal section may be located a greater distance from the bottom of the pillow than all portions of the distal section of the upper surface. The proximal section of the upper surface may be located above the reference plane14and the distal section of the upper surface may be located substantially in the reference plane14.

A portion of the interior36of the pillow that corresponds to the proximal section60of the upper surface may contain padding, and a portion of the interior corresponding to the distal section62of the upper surface may contain no padding between the portions of the outer cover34which form the central portion50at the distal section. The thickness of the distal section62of the central portion along the central lateral axis24may be less than the thickness of the proximal section60of the central portion along the central lateral axis. The thickness of the pillow10at the central portion50may generally be less than the thickness of the pillow at the lobe portions. The distal section of the upper surface is thus better able to conform to the contours of the rear surface of the user's head, while the proximal section of the upper surface is relatively less likely to collapse under the weight of the user's neck to provide relatively greater vertical support to the neck than the head of the user.

In some embodiments, the upper surface may have a protrusion64,65located on each of the lobe portions52,53of the pillow, and the protrusion64,65may be located adjacent to the central portion50to provide greater resistance to the head and neck of the user from moving from the central portion toward or on to one of the lobe portions of the pillow.

It should be appreciated that in the foregoing description and appended claims, that the terms “substantially” and “approximately,” when used to modify another term, mean “for the most part” or “being largely but not wholly or completely that which is specified” by the modified term.

It should also be appreciated from the foregoing description that, except when mutually exclusive, the features of the various embodiments described herein may be combined with features of other embodiments as desired while remaining within the intended scope of the disclosure.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated.