Patent Publication Number: US-2005120482-A1

Title: Prayer aid

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to prayer aids, and more particularly to a cushion or pillow having a number of pockets to retain prayer cards and other religious articles.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Most religions practice some form of prayer. Prayer is practiced in a number of ways and for a variety of reasons. The act of praying can involve the use of religious and non-religious objects and be either overt or covert. Some people believe that their religion should not be belittled by ostentatious displays of prayer. Such people believe that prayer is meant to be private, out of the public&#39;s view, and that those who ostentatiously display the fact they are praying are insincere.  
      It therefore is not uncommon for people to hold a religious item or items, or to hide the items on their person, clothing or in their possessions, as they pray. At times, people find the best way to continue to think about a prayer is by keeping the religious items in a book, by their bed, on their body or clothing, or under their pillow. A problem with the above-mentioned ways of keeping the religious item is that the article could be misplaced, or it could fall out of the pages of a book or fall off a bed.  
      Some religious items, such as paper items, cannot be worn on the person. Other items are fragile, and thus can be easily ruined if worn or placed in bedding. As a result, it would be advantageous to find a way to keep the religious item out of the public&#39;s view, held in a secure place, and near one&#39;s person without being worn on the body. A number of pillows and dolls have been developed to display messages, mementos or to hold items having secular and non-secular significance.  
      U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2002/0050008, published May 2, 2002, describes a tooth shaped pillow. The pillow has a hidden pocket that is covered by a flap and a drawstring pouch that is securely held within the hidden pocket. The pillow&#39;s hidden pocket or the drawstring pouch within the pocket is used to hold objects, such as baby teeth, toothpaste or loose coins. U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,468, issued to Saarela et al. on Jul. 14, 1998, describes a pillow also used as a tote. The pillow is cloud-shaped and has an elastic pocket to hold books and small toys.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,784, issued to Cohen on Jan. 12, 1982, describes a pillow display case. One face of a conventional pillow is overlaid with a transparent plastic sheet to form a pocket. The pocket is then filled with mementos and other objects that can be viewed from the outside.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,245, issued to Dutton on Sep. 6, 1988, describes a pillow having a pocket for receiving a book. The book cover and pillow are coordinated to match each other so the user can associate the pillow with the book. U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,994, issued to Ekstein on Aug. 8, 1989, describes a pillow book in which cushions form the front and back covers of the book and the pages of the book are disposed between the two cushions.  
      Dolls having storage capabilities or that are used to covey religious sentiment are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,201, issued to Friedel on Jun. 28, 1994 (a therapeutic doll having a torso cavity for holding icons and written messages to dissuade a person from carrying out vices); U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,149, issued to Stone on Oct. 22, 1991 (a stuffed animal having one or more storage compartments in its body and appendages for storing or displaying objects); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,363, issued to Carraway on Sep. 10, 2002 (prayer pledge doll used to promise to pray for another).  
      None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a prayer aid solving the aforementioned problems is desired.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The prayer aid is a pocketed pillow or cushion that is used to retain and conceal prayer card(s) as one prays. The prayer aid has one or several pockets placed in a variety of arrangements. The pockets on the prayer aid may be disposed on the pillow&#39;s surface, in the side seams, or under a design formed on the pillow&#39;s surface. The pockets may have flaps to help conceal the pocket and to prevent the prayer card or cards from sliding out of the pocket. Both the prayer aid and the pockets on the prayer aid can take a variety of shapes and forms.  
      Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a prayer aid that has pockets to retain prayer cards as one prays.  
      It is another object of the invention to provide a prayer aid that allows a person to keep and conceal a prayer card.  
      It is a further object of the invention to provide a prayer aid that is soft and comfortable and for use as a conventional pillow.  
      Still another object of the invention is to provide a prayer aid in the form of a pillow having pockets and prayer cards retained in the pockets that may be formed in various designs.  
      It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.  
      These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a prayer aid according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the prayer aid according to the present invention with the flaps raised, showing insertion of prayer cards into the pockets.  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the prayer aid according to the present invention in which the pillow is configured to simulate a shirt.  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the prayer aid according to the present invention in which the pillow is configured to simulate a bear paw. 
    
    
      Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The present invention is a prayer aid, designated generally as  10  in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The prayer aid  10  is a pocketed pillow or cushion. The prayer aid  10  is constructed as a conventional pillow  12  or cushion having an outer case or cover  14  enclosing cushioning material. The pillow  12  is filled with batting or other conventional filler or cushioning material (not shown) The prayer aid  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  is generally rectangular and has a cross design  40  disposed on the cover  14 , as well as a plurality of pockets  20  and  42 . Prayer aid  10  can be made in shapes other than a rectangle, such as a triangle, a square, a circle, cylindrical etc. Surface pockets  20  are four-sided, with three sides attached to the cover  14  and the fourth side being unattached in order to form the opening  21  into the pocket.  
      The pockets  20  preferably have a flap  22  to cover the opening  21  of the pocket  20 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , flap  22  is a generally rectangular flap with one full side and at least a portion of two other sides unattached to the cover  14  so that the flap  22  can be lifted up and folded back to expose the opening  21  of the pocket  20 . Alternatively, flap  22  may have three full sides of its four sides attached to the cover  14  to make it a fixed flap instead of the hinged flap shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Flap  22  helps to retain objects placed in the pockets  20 , such as a single prayer card  30  or a plurality of prayer cards  35 . Normally prayer card(s)  30 ,  35  are smooth and as a result they slide past each other and can potentially slide out of the pockets  20 .  
      A second type of pocket  42  is concealed underneath the arm of the cross design  40 . Design  40  is preferably sewn to the surface of the prayer aid  10 . Pocket  42  has three sides attached to the cover  14  and a fourth side which is not attached to the cover in order to define the pocket opening  43 . Pocket  42  is placed so that the open side is formed by the material defining the cross design  40 . The remaining portion of pocket  42  is pouch-like, and is disposed between cross  40  and cover  14 .  
      Pockets  20  and  42  are used to conceal and retain a prayer card  30  or a deck of prayer cards  35 . The prayer card(s)  30 ,  35  are largely Christian products sold commercially by the numerous Christian based organizations, such as Navigator Press (a Colorado Springs, Colo. based company) and Bridge Building Images, Inc. (based in Burlington, Vt.). Typically, a prayer card  30  displays a religious picture on one side of the card and a prayer on the opposite side of the card  30 . The cards  30 ,  35  are used as a medium for individuals, both adult and children, to provide structured methods of praying. The prayer cards  35  help an individual improve their praying skills by guiding them to pray on particular topics and motivating individuals to pray effectively.  
      The prayer aid  10  is described for use with Christian religions, but it can also be used for other religions as well. One specific example of prayer cards designed for children are called T.H.U.M.B. prayer cards. The T.H.U.M.B. acronym stands for Tribal, Hindu, Unreligious, Muslim, and Buddhist. Each card has prayers written about each identified group and encourages the child to pray for the group cited on the cards. The prayer aid  10  preferably holds and conceals a prayer card  30 . However, the prayer aid  10  should not be limited to retain a prayer card  30  or a deck of prayer cards  35  alone. The pockets  20  and  42  can hold other religious items as well, such as a rosary, a crucifix, a bible, etc., or non-religious items of sentimental value, such as children&#39;s drawing or pictures of family or friends.  
      The prayer aid  10  provides a creative way to pray by allowing the user to hold and conceal a prayer card  30  in a comfortable object that also has everyday use. An added benefit of using prayer aid  10  is to permit the user to hold a prayer card  30  in a secure place out of the public&#39;s view. The prayer aid  10  allows the owner to pray without disclosing the fact that they are praying or that they are holding a prayer card  30 . Also, the prayer aid  10  permits the user to keep a prayer card  30  in their possession without being worn on their clothing or even on their body. By possessing the prayer aid  10  the user is able to meditate on praying and/or keep the spirit of the loved one as represented in the picture or writing near them. The prayer aid  10  is designed to be held but it can also be used for sleeping and kneeling purposes. Often the practice of sleeping or resting with one&#39;s head against the pillow  12  containing one or more prayer cards  30  and  35  provides the user with a comforting feeling that is akin to praying in one&#39;s sleep.  
       FIG. 3  shows a prayer aid  100  in which the pillow  102  is configured to simulate a shirt. More particularly, the pillow  102  may be configured to resemble an occupational shirt that can be made to represent different occupations, such as a military camouflage shirt, a hospital worker&#39;s scrubs, a construction worker&#39;s shirt, etc. Pillow  102  has a number of pockets disposed on its surface and in its seams. Pillow  102  has an outer casing including outer pillow cover  104  and inner lining  106 . Two pockets  120  are disposed on outer pillow cover  104 . Pockets  120  are four-sided, having three sides attached to the outer cover  104  of the pillow  102  and one side being left open to define pocket opening  121 . Pocket  120  has a flap  122  disposed above pocket opening  121 . Flap  122  is a hinged flap, folding down to cover pocket opening  121  and up to expose pocket opening  121 . Optionally, a buttonhole  123  is formed in the center of flap  122  to receive button  125  to secure flap  122  to pocket  120 ; otherwise, the flap  122  may simply lie over the pocket opening  121 . If desired, flaps  122  can be secured to pocket  120  by means other than buttons, such as hook and loop closures, snaps or zippers.  
      A second type of pocket is disposed attached to outer pillow cover  104 , namely seam pocket  124  disposed above left breast pocket  120 . Seam pocket  124  has three attached sides forming a pouch and an open side defining pocket opening  128 . The side forming pocket opening  128  is designed to simulate a seam extending between the shirt collar and the side of the shirt where a shirt sleeve would normally be attached.  
      Pillow  100  also displays a third pocket type, a layered pocket  126  formed on and by the inner lining  106 . The layered pocket  126  in  FIG. 3 . shows two pockets; one pocket  126   b  lies on top of another pocket  126   a , however the layered pocket could be three or more pockets disposed on top of each other. Layered pockets  126   a  and  126   b  are disposed in the neck opening of the prayer aid  100 , however it can be located anywhere on the surface of the prayer aid  100 . Layered pockets  126   a  and  126   b  are made by folding and sewing one large piece of fabric in layers, or by sewing a number of fabrics on top of each other to form layers. Layered pockets  126   a  and  126   b  can be made to have a flap  132  that covers its open side or it can be made to have no flap at all. Pockets  120 ,  124 ,  126   a ,  126   b  all hold a prayer card  130 , a deck of prayer cards, pictures or drawings.  
       FIG. 4  shows a prayer aid  200  in which the pillow  202  is configured as a bear paw. The bear paw pillow  202  has pockets  242  located underneath each of its five pads  240  and pockets  220   a  and  220   b  simulating the sole of the bear paw  200 . Each pocket  242  has four sides, including three sides attached to the pillow cover  204  and one unattached side that forms an opening  243  for the pocket  242  and three closed sides forming a pouch pocket.  
      Sole pocket  220   a  and sole pocket  220   b  are formed from one pocket that has been divided into two adjacent pockets by a seam  232 . The sole of the bear paw could be made as one undivided pocket or into numerous pockets divided by several seams. A flap  222  covers the openings of adjacent pockets  220   a  and  220   b  and forms the upper portion of the sole on the bear paw pillow  200  design. Flap  222  is fixed, in that three of four sides of the flap are secured to the prayer aid  10 ,  100 ,  200  surface. Sole pocket  220  could be designed without the flap  222  and still faithfully represent the sole design of the bear paw pillow  200 . All the pockets are designed to hold a prayer card  230  or a set of prayer cards.  
      The pockets disposed on and within the prayer aid  10 ,  100  and  200 , respectively, can be surface pockets  20 ,  120 ,  220   a ,  220   b  or concealed pockets such as pockets  42 ,  126   a ,  126   b ,  242  as shown in  FIGS. 2, 3  and  4 , respectively or seam pocket  124  shown in  FIG. 3 . The pockets are preferably opaque since they are designed to conceal the prayer card  30 . The pockets are generally made of non-elastic materials such as fabric, but if desired and feasible elastic fabric may be used to construct the pockets. The pockets can be placed anywhere and in any position on the prayer aid  10 ,  100 ,  200  they can also take a number of sizes, shapes and forms. For example, the pockets can be circular, two-sided or multi-sided.  
      The number of pockets disposed on the prayer aid  10 ,  100 ,  200  can range in number from two to several. The pockets can be individual and separate, be adjacent each other in a side by side design, or disposed on top of each other in a layered design. The pockets can also be designed to have a flap or not have a flap. If flaps are used they may be hinged  22 ,  122  as shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , respectively, or fixed  222  as shown in  FIG. 4 .  
      It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.