Abstract:
A height adjustable pillow includes an extendable and resilient pillow body and an air cushion installed in a chamber inside the pillow body. The pillow body is made of soft plastic, rubber or foam products of plastic and rubber. The air cushion can be charged or discharged to adjust the thickness of the pillow, providing comfort with firm support and enhancing sleep quality.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     I. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     This invention relates generally to a height adjustable pillow and, more specifically, to a pillow having an extendable and resilient pillow body, inside which installed an air cushion that can be charged or discharged. By adjusting the amount of air filled in the air cushion, the thickness of the pillow can be manipulated.  
         [0003]     II. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     For a good night&#39;s sleep, a soft and fluffy pillow with flexibility is provided with build in head and neck support. A pillow of such construction is typically made of soft plastic, soft rubber, or foam products of plastic and rubber. It is also known to construct a pillow ergonomically designed to have a curved contour, with one higher hump and one lower hump. A pillow of this kind is typically made of special foams to provide pressure relief and is called “memory form”.  
         [0005]     Such kind of pillow typically has limited sizes available, which means the shape and thickness can&#39;t be freely modified to fulfill different sleep needs. To manufacturers, providing multiple sizes of pillows is not economical since it inevitably increases cost for production and still may not suit all consumers&#39; need. Although some adjustable pillows are available on the market, they are not well-design to meet the needs of consumers.  
         [0006]     The present invention improves on the heretofore known pillow by providing an adjustable air cushion inside the pillow so that users can freely modify the thickness to suit their special needs.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a height adjustable pillow having a pillow body and an air cushion. The pillow body is extendable and resilient, made of soft plastic, rubber, or foam products of plastic and rubber. Inside the pillow body is a chamber for accommodating the air cushion. By charging or discharging air through a valve, the thickness of the pillow can be easily modified.  
         [0008]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a height adjustable pillow, of which the air cushion can be freely charged and discharged so that users can modify the thickness of the pillow to create sleep comfort. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     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, in which:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is an explosive view of an embodiment in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  while being adjusted height;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a schematic drawing of the cross sectional view of an embodiment in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a view similar to  FIG. 3  in which the air cushion is being charged;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of an air cushion of the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing of an embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]     Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the present invention discloses a height adjustable pillow  1 , comprising a pillow body  10  and an air cushion  20 . The pillow body  10  is made of soft plastic, rubber or foam products of plastic and rubber and thus is extendable and resilient, always resuming its original shape after being squeezed or pulled. The pillow body  10  can be of any shape. For example, the pillow body  10  can have an ergonomically-designed, curved contour with a higher hump  12  in the front and a lower hump  13  in the rear of the surface  11 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . The pillow body  10  can be covered by a pillow case  30 . Moreover, inside the pillow body  10 , there is a flat and thin chamber  14  which is produced in different ways. For example, the chamber  14  may form its shape during the foaming process of the pillow body  10 . The horizontal area of the chamber  14  is expected to cover most of the area of the surface  11 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . A ceiling  15  of the chamber  14  is expected to keep an adequate distance from the surface  11  to ensure that the pillow body  10  provides soft and firm support.  
         [0017]     The air cushion  20  is designed to fit the shape and size of the chamber  14  so that the air cushion  20  can be put into the chamber  14  and fill the space in the chamber  14  when the air cushion  20  is fully charged with air. There are two ways of fitting the air cushion  20  in the chamber  14 . First, the chamber  14  is thin and flat, with only one lining (not shown in the figures). As the air cushion  20  is discharged, the air cushion  20  is almost flat and will not affect the height of the pillow body  10  or the surface  11  when it is inserted to the chamber  14 . Since the space in the chamber  14  is small, and the pillow body  10  is firm and resilient, the pillow body  10  does not depend on the air in the air cushion  20  for support, and so the surface  11  is able to maintain its normal altitude as the air cushion  20  is discharged. Second, the chamber  14  is large enough to leave a relatively empty space, as can be seen in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 . As the air cushion  20  in the chamber  14  is discharged, the air cushion  20  is flat, and the surface  11  is at a relatively lower altitude. The air cushion  20  has to be charged to fill the space in the chamber  14 . With air filling the space in the chamber  14 , the surface  11  goes up and resumes its normal altitude.  
         [0018]     Refer to  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the top layer  21  of the air cushion  20  serves as a supporting plane that moves vertically to support the ceiling  15  of the chamber  14 . The inner space of the air cushion  20  is evenly segmented into a plurality of air cells  22  that are connected with each other and of the same size. While being charged or discharged, the air cells  22  of the air cushion  20  expand or shrink evenly so that the entire top layer  21  maintain at the same altitude to support the ceiling  15  of the chamber  14  and make the surface  11  go up and down. The valve  23  of the air cushion  20  is positioned at an opening of the chamber  14  in the pillow body  10 .  
         [0019]     To adjust the altitude of the surface  11  of the pillow  1 , users can apply any kind of air pump  2 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , to charge or discharge the air cushion  20  (the air pump  2  can be included in the product package, going with the pillow  1 ). With evenly expanding or shrinking of the air cushion  20 , the altitude of the top layer  21  changes. As achieving the optimal altitude of the surface  11 , users close the valve  23 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , and then enjoy the best degree of comfort.  
         [0020]     While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be readily understood and appreciated that numerous omissions, changes and additions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.