Abstract:
A travel pillow is disclosed, having a compact size and a U-shape for cradling the head and neck of a user while sitting in repose in a high backed chair or seat. The travel pillow comprises a casing stuffed with a fill material, and an opening in the casing allowing the user to add or remove fill material in order to adjust the firmness of the pillow. The fill material is biologically inert and the travel pillow is completely washable. The pillow&#39;s casing is constructed of two similarly sized fabric members, one of which has the opening in it. When filled, the travel pillow has a substantially uniform cross section through most of the pillow&#39;s U-shape.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The field has long been motivated to provide pillows for use when a person is sitting in repose. For example, over a century and a quarter ago Fast (U.S. Pat. No. 98,859) disclosed a device for supporting the head and upper spine of a user. The Fast device consists of a combination of an air-cushion placed at the back of a user&#39;s neck and two arm straps. The arm straps are tied to the user&#39;s arms and utilizes their weight as a counter-balance to assist in the support of the user&#39;s head. However, this combination encumbers a user&#39;s arms in order to accomplish its utility. 
     Later efforts in the field include the Thompson device (U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,707), which discloses a cradle-shaped pillow having a plurality of interior compartments, and a smaller-sized section for receiving the back of a user&#39;s neck. Kantor (U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,347) also discloses a head/neck cushion with a depressed section for receiving the back of a user&#39;s head. In contrast, Craig (U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,863) discloses a V-shaped pillow that increases in width toward the apex of the V-shape where the back of the user&#39;s neck is received. Davis et al. disclose a relatively stiff cushion for receiving only one side of a user&#39;s neck 
     These prior devices employ various structural elements and features in order to accomplish their utility. However, none of these cushion/pillow devices disclose or teach the use of a solid fill material which the user can insert or remove in order to either modify the firmness of the pillow, or to allow washing of the casing and replacement of the fill material. It would be beneficial to have a travel pillow for use when sitting in repose which combines simplicity of construction with the ability to adjust firmness and easily be cleaned. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a travel pillow having a compact size and a U-shape for cradling the head and neck of a user while sitting in repose. The crotch of the U-shaped pillow fits around the user&#39;s neck sufficiently closely to hold the pillow in position. The travel pillow is particularly useful for supporting the head and neck of the user while sitting in an upright or semi-reclining position in a high-backed chair, such as those on an airplane, automobile, bus, or the like. Because the pillow has a substantially-uniform cross section, the pillow provides comforting support in a variety of head positions while the user is in repose. 
     The travel pillow comprises a U-shaped pillow body containing a fill material, and having a substantially uniform cross section around the U-shape of the pillow body. The two legs of the U-shaped body form a crotch between them and where they join at the base of the U-shape. The crotch defined by the two legs and the base of the U-shape is configured to receive the neck of a user sufficiently closely to hold the pillow body in position while in use. The present travel pillow utilizes a solid fill material (as opposed to being filled with air) to provide the substantially uniform cross section of the pillow body, and a closeable opening for adding or removing fill material. 
     The body of the travel pillow comprises a casing stuffed with a fill material. The casing defines the exterior surface of the pillow body. The interior surface of the casing defines the lumen or interior space of the pillow body. The lumen is a single, continuous interior compartment which contains the fill material of the pillow body. The casing comprises two fabric members of substantially the same size and shape. The fabric members of the casing typically are constructed of a washable, woven or knitted material. Materials suitable for practicing the fabric casing include man-made fibers, natural fibers, and combinations thereof, further including cottons, poly/cottons, fleeces, wools, flannels, etc. 
     The fabric members each have a perimeter edge and a horse-shoe or U-shape. The two fabric members contact and are connected to each other at their perimeter edges by a seam around their perimeter edges. The seam may be sewn together or sealed together in some other fashion compatible with the type of fabric involved. For example, some fabrics may be heat sealed together, while others may be glued. An appropriate fabric and method of connecting the perimeter seams of the members together is selectable by the ordinary skilled artisan. 
     One of the fabric casing members has a closeable opening set into it, the opening being removed from the perimeter edge of the fabric member. The opening is located on the fabric member along a chord removed from the perimeter edge in the crotch section of the horseshoe or U-shaped fabric member. The opening of the fabric member is made reversibly closeable by any of a number of means known to one of ordinary skill in the art, including zipper closures, buttons or snaps, hook-and-loop fasteners, laces, etc. The opening and the means for opening and closing the opening is covered with a fly. 
     The lumen of the pillow body casing is a single, continuous interior compartment. The lumen is packed with a sufficient amount of fill material to provide the substantially uniform cross section around the U-shape of the body. The fill material can be any of a variety of fibrous or fluent materials selectable by the ordinary skilled artisan for stuffing in a pillow. It is intended that the fill material be biologically inert to reduce the opportunity for the growth of germs, molds or fungi on the fill material. Also, it is intended that the fill material be washable and/or replaceable by the user. Appropriate biologically inert fill materials include polystyrene, polyester, and similar man-made materials. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the travel pillow of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a combination cross sectional and front elevation view of the pillow body of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3A is a top plan view of a casing fabric member. 
     FIG. 3B is a bottom plan view of a casing fabric member showing a zippered opening set into the fabric member. 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B are top plan views of two fabric pattern pieces that may be combined to accomplish a casing fabric member with a closeable opening. 
     FIG. 5 is a top plan view showing an example of how the two fabric pattern pieces of FIGS. 4A and 4B may be fitted with a zipper and combined to accomplish a casing fabric member having a closeable opening. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, the details of preferred embodiments of the present invention are graphically and schematically illustrated. Like elements in the drawings will be represented by like numbers. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the travel pillow  10  is of a compact size and is configured in a horseshoe or U-shape, for receiving and cradling the neck and head of a user. The travel pillow comprises a pillow body  20  configured in a U-shape. The cross section has a length L that is substantially uniform around the U-shape of the pillow body  20  (see FIG. 2) until proximate the ends of the legs  30 . The U-shape pillow body  20  has two legs  30  and a base  32 . The two legs  30  join the base  32  and form a crotch  34  between them and where they join the base  32 . The crotch  34  is a space defined by the exterior surface  42  of the pillow body between the legs  30  and the base  32 . The crotch  34  is the space where the neck of a user is received, the crotch  34  is configured to receive the neck of a user sufficiently closely to hold the pillow body  20  in position while the user is sitting in repose. The compact size of the travel pillow  10  rests on a user&#39;s shoulders, without draping down the front or back of the user&#39;s body. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the pillow body  20  comprises a casing  40  and fill material  60 . In the embodiment shown, the fill material  60  is a fluent solid material such as Styrofoam beads. The casing  40  has an exterior surface  42  that defines the exterior surface of the pillow body  20 . The interior surface  44  of the casing  40  defines the interior space or lumen  48  of the pillow body  20 . The lumen  48  is a single, continuous compartment without partition which contains a fill material  60 . When the lumen  48  is substantially filled with a fill material  60 , the pillow body has a relatively uniform cross section, as indicated by the length L shown in FIG.  2 . The fill material  60  is a solid as opposed to a gas. 
     As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the casing is constructed of two horseshoe or U-shaped fabric members  46  of substantially the same size. The casing fabric members  46  preferably are constructed of washable, woven or knitted material. Materials suitable for practicing the fabric members  46  of the casing  40  include man-made fibers, natural fibers, and combinations thereof, further including cottons, poly/cottons, fleeces, wools, flannels, etc. Each casing fabric member  46  has a perimeter edge  50 . The two fabric members  46  contact each other and are secured together by a seam  51  (See FIGS. 1 and 2) around their perimeter edges  50 . The seam  51  preferably is sewn together. However, other means for securing the perimeter edges of the fabric members  46  to form a seam  51  are known to and practicable by the ordinary skilled artisan, such as heating or glueing. 
     As shown in FIG. 3B, one of the fabric casing members  46  has an opening or passage  52  through it. The opening  52  enables access to the lumen  48  of the pillow body  20 , after the casing  40  is constructed from the casing fabric members  46 . The opening  52  is set into the fabric member  46  at a location away from its perimeter edge  50 . The opening  52  is linear and preferably located along a cord of the larger curve of the base  32  of the U-shape of the fabric member  46 . It also is preferred that the opening  52  is reversibly closeable. This feature permits a user to add or remove fill material to or from the lumen  48  of the pillow body  20 . This enables a user to adjust the firmness of the travel pillow  10  by adding or removing fill material  60  to or from the lumen  48  of the pillow body  20  through the casing opening  52 . To accomplish this feature, the casing opening  52  further comprises a reversible closure device  54 , which in the preferred embodiment of the figures is a zipper. However, other closure devices  54  are known to and practicable by one of ordinary skill in the art, including button or snap closures, hook-and-loop fasteners, laces, etc. Also, the casing opening  52  and the closure device  54  preferably are covered by a fly  56 . The fly  56  is preferably constructed of the same fabric or material as the casing fabric member  46 . A pillow cover (not shown) may also be included with the device to extend the period between cleaning of the pillow body as appropriate. 
     The interior space or lumen  48  of the pillow body  20  is a single, continuous interior compartment for containing the fill material  60 . The single, continuous compartment nature of the lumen  48  allows a degree of malleability or sculpability of the travel pillow  10  when it contains a fluent fill material  60  such as polystyrene or plastic beads, or bubbles. 
     The fill material  60  can be any of a variety of fibrous or fluent solid materials as noted above. It is preferable that the fill material  60  be biologically inert to reduce the opportunity for the growth of germs, molds, mildew, fungi or the like. Appropriate biologically inert fill materials  60  can include polystyrene, polyester, nylon, and similar man-made materials. Additionally it is preferred that the fill material  60  be washable and replaceable by the user. It is intended that the fill material  60  be washable in situ in the casing  40 . This enables the travel pillow  10  to be washable as a unit. Alternatively, the user may remove the fill material  60  from the casing  40  and wash them separately. To facilitate removing and replacing the fill material  60 , it may be separately contained in a porous sack or bag (not shown). 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an example of how a casing fabric member  46  may be constructed from two fabric pattern pieces, one being the major pattern piece  62 , and the other being the minor pattern piece  64 . In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the minor pattern piece  64  provides for the fly  56  covering the casing opening  52  of the pillow body  20 . However, by shifting the placement of the closure device  54 , the major pattern piece  62  can be made to provide the fly  56 , and the fly opening would face in the opposite direction from that shown in FIG. 1. A hook-and-loop type fastener such as VELCRO may also be used as a closure device  54 , especially where the fill material  60  is fibrous or is separately contained as noted above. 
     In a preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 3A, a casing member is constructed from a fleece-like material such as POLARFLEECE. The casing member has an over all width W. The width W ranges from about fourteen to twenty inches, depending on how large a potential cross section length L is desired. The crotch space  54  of the fabric member  46  has an entrance O of about four inches. The base  32  portion of the fabric member  46  has a depth D ranging about five to nine inches. The depth D is substantially uniform around the curvature of the base  32  section of the fabric member  46  as shown in FIG.  3 A. 
     In a preferred embodiment, for a normal adult, the width W is about eighteen inches, the depth D is about seven and one half inches and the entrance O is about four inches. In this embodiment, the seam  51  is sewn on a stitch line  66  about one quarter inch from the edge  68  of the perimeter  50  of the fabric member  46 . 
     While the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of one or another preferred embodiment thereof. Many other variation are possible, which would be obvious to one skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, and not just by the embodiments.