Sleepwear

Sleepwear includes a sensor on the back thereof whereby the wearer, in lying in a supine posture will receive a signal therefrom causing him to awaken or turn from said supine posture. Sleepwear may be in the form of a T-shirt having a pair of pockets for containing a mechanical or electrical sensor therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field Of The Invention 
The present invention pertains to sleepwear and specifically to sleepwear 
configured to prevent the wearer from inadvertently turning to lie on his 
or her back as may occur during a prolonged rest period, or when asleep. 
2. Description Of The Prior Art And Objectives Of The Invention 
Sleepers in a supine posture oftentimes snore or make other audible sounds 
which can be heard and are disturbing or distracting to a spouse or other 
nearby sleepers as may occur in a hospital ward, army barracks or the 
like. When confronted with a snoring husband, a wife may have to 
frequently nudge the husband in an effort for him to readjust his sleeping 
position so the snoring will cease. Snoring generally occurs as the 
sleeper lies in a supine position and rarely occurs when the sleeper is in 
a side, face-down (prone) or fetal posture. Also, normally healthy persons 
sometimes develop back sores or rashes which are irritated during sleeping 
hours if the person, while sleeping heavily, turns onto his back and 
remains so positioned for extended periods. In view of the disadvantages 
and problems associated with certain persons in reverting to sleeping on 
their backs, the present invention was conceived and it is an objective of 
the present invention to provide apparatus which will make a supine 
sleeping posture uncomfortable for the user. 
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide sleepwear which 
will sufficiently annoy the user, even during deep sleep, if he turns to a 
supine posture. 
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide sleepwear in 
the form of a T-shirt which includes a sensor on the back thereof which 
will generate a signal which will sufficiently disturb the wearer 
preventing him or her from remaining in a supine posture when the sensor 
is activated. 
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide sleepwear 
having a pair of pockets on the back side with each of said pockets 
containing a resilient or other sensor. 
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention become 
more apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description 
is presented below. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing sleep apparel 
in the form of a shirt having a sensor mounted on the back thereof. The 
sensor may include an electromechanical plunger which is activated if the 
wearer rolls onto his back during sleep thereby generating an audible 
signal to awaken the user, or it may consist of a resilient ball 
positioned in a pocket on the back of said shirt proximate a shoulder 
blade whereby the resilient ball causes sufficient discomfort when lied 
upon whereby the sleeper will awaken or at least will turn to a prone or 
other position to eliminate the annoyance created.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 whereby 
a T-shirt includes a pair of back pockets positioned proximate the right 
and left shoulder blades of the wearer. The pockets contain a resilient 
synthetic ball which, if the wearer turns onto his or her back during 
sleep, the resilient balls compress and press against the back of the 
sleeper to annoy the sleeper sufficiently so that he or she will return to 
a side position as shown in FIG. 1, or to a fetal position or prone 
position to relieve the annoyance created. 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND OPERATION OF THE INVENTION 
For a more complete understanding of the invention and its operation, 
turning now to the drawings, FIG. 2 illustrates the invention in the form 
of sleepwear 10 which comprises a cotton T-shirt having a back side 11 
with laterally spaced apart pockets 12, 12' attached thereto. Within 
pockets 12 and 12' respectively are mechanical sensors in the form of 
resilient balls 13, 13'. The pockets are so placed to avoid direct sensor 
pressure against the spinal region. It has been found that balls having a 
relatively lightweight and high resiliency may be used such as tennis 
balls, racket balls or the like. It would of course be understood by those 
skilled in the art that various shapes other than spherical could be 
employed as desired and the exact resiliency and size can also be varied. 
In FIG. 1, male sleeper 14 is shown resting on his side whereby ball sensor 
13' (not seen in FIG. 1) but positioned in pocket 12' and ball sensor 13 
positioned in pocket 12 (also not shown in FIG. 1) will not signal or 
annoy sleeper 14 as he remains in this position. In the event sleeper 14 
rolls or turns to a supine position, sensors 13 and 13' will then signal 
sleeper 14 as they press against his back at approximately the left and 
right shoulder blade positions thereby annoying him and causing him to 
revert to a more comfortable position such as to a side position as 
illustrated in FIG. 1. 
More sophisticated sensor apparatus 20 which can be used is shown in FIG. 3 
whereby electrical switch 15 is powered by battery 16 and is connected to 
a conventional audible/vibrating alarm device 17. Switch 15 provides a 
means to signal sleeper 14 such as by an audible signal, by vibrating or 
both. As further shown in FIG. 3, switch 15 includes plunger 18 which is 
resiliently mounted by coil spring 19. When sensor apparatus 20 is 
positioned on the back of sleeper 14 as seen in FIG. 1, such as by 
affixing apparatus 20 within pockets 12, 12', if sleeper 14 turns to lie 
on his back, plunger 18 is depressed, touching contact 21 and delivering 
an electrical signal to alarm device 17 which may, as explained above, 
vibrate or generate an audible signal, or both. The signal so generated 
will thereby awaken the sleeper and cause him to turn from a supine to a 
side or prone sleeping posture. Males, females, adults or children may all 
benefit the invention as herein described. 
It has been found that sleepwear 10 as described above will teach a sleeper 
to remain in a side or frontal sleeping posture and as such does not have 
to be worn other than periodically in order to receive benefits therefrom. 
Hence, a sleeper may wear such sleepwear for a week or two and during the 
third week the user can sleep without, yet he will still remain in other 
than a supine sleeping position after having "learned" the consequences of 
receiving the irritating signal from the particular sensor employed. 
The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes 
and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims, it being 
understood that many types and shapes of sensors could be developed and 
used, depending on a multitude of factors.