Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G9/00—Bed-covers; Counterpanes; Travelling rugs; Sleeping rugs; Sleeping bags; Pillows
  • A47G9/10—Pillows
  • A47G9/1081—Pillows comprising a neck support, e.g. a neck roll
  • A47G9/109—Pillows comprising a neck support, e.g. a neck roll adapted to lie on the side and in supine position
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G9/00—Bed-covers; Counterpanes; Travelling rugs; Sleeping rugs; Sleeping bags; Pillows
  • A47G9/10—Pillows
  • A47G2009/1018—Foam pillows

Definitions

• the present invention relates to pillows intended to improve personal comfort and in particular a pillow allowing the user a position avoiding the problems of lordosis and cervical osteoarthritis.
• this lordosis increases the pinching of the posterior articular processes of the cervical vertebrae which can lead to real "arthrosic beaks" of the cervical spine, which limits their movements, is painful and leads to contractures and neuralgia.
• the pillows mentioned above have insufficient support for the occiput which is then cantilevered and poor adaptation of the height of the support, which varies with each individual.
• they leave the upper dorsal part without support at the location of the seventh cervical vertebra and prevent any movement of the head, in particular the rotation which is blocked by a curvature molding the nape of the neck and the support of the skull.
• the object of the invention is to provide a pillow of the type with two bumps which does not have these drawbacks.
• Another object of the invention is to provide a pillow of the above type having a shape and a consistency allowing alignment of the cervical vertebrae of one user.
• Yet another object of the invention is to provide a pillow of the above type which has a shape and a consistency such that it avoids the user the problems of lordosis and cervical osteoarthritis generally presented by conventional pillows of this guy.
• the object of the invention is therefore a pillow of the type comprising two portions in the form of bumps separated by a hollow portion, in which the first upstream portion forms a bump intended to serve as a support for the head of the user. and is higher than the second hump-shaped portion intended to serve as support for the seventh cervical vertebra.
• At least the first bump-shaped portion consists of an elastic foam having a return time after compression of at least 5% greater than 1 second and an indentation resistance according to the NFT 56-111 standard of between 1.5 Kpa and 3.5 Kpa.
• the hollow portion of the pillow has a slot allowing on the one hand a better behavior of the material when the user is supported on the two portions in the form of bumps and on the other hand allows a folding of the pillow bringing the two portions one on the other and allowing the user to sleep in lateral support.
• FIG. 1 represents a longitudinal section of the pillow according to the invention
• FIG. 2 is a view view from above of the pillow according to the invention showing the portions serving to support the user as well as the deformation, during use, of the slot located in the hollow of
• FIG. 1 shows a section of the head of the user resting on a pillow according to the invention showing the deformation of the portions serving as support
• Figure 4 is a diagram showing the return time after compression of the foam used in the pillow according to the invention as a function of the compression rate before release
• FIG. 5 is a diagram representing the curve of the return time after compression as a function of the index of the foam for a given compression rate
• FIG. 6 represents a longitudinal section of a preferred embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 7 represents a section of the pillow according to the invention when it has been folded so as to be used when the user is in lateral support
• FIG. 8 represents the pillow according to the invention placed in a pillowcase the parts of which covering the hump-shaped portions contain polyester fibers
• FIG. 9 is a representation of a particular embodiment of a pillow two parts, the upstream portion of which is included in a part made of polyester fibers.
• the pillow according to the invention comprises a first upstream portion 10 and a second downstream portion in the form of bumps, the upstream portion 10 being higher than the downstream portion 12 when the pillow is on a horizontal surface.
• the two boss-shaped portions 10 and 12 are separated by a hollow portion 14 which, in the preferred embodiment, has a slot 16.
• the slot 16 of a depth preferably between about 2cm and 6cm, extends between the two lateral edges of the hollow portion and ends in notches 18 and 20 which facilitate the folding the pillow as we will see later.
• the slot 16 has widened along the dotted outline 26 so that there is no lateral force exerted on the support zones 22 and 24 capable of reducing the comfort of the user as is the case with a pillow with two bumps of the prior art.
• the two portions in the form of bumps serve on the one hand to support the head of the user and on the other hand to the hard part of the dorsal part where is the seventh cervical vertebra.
• FIG. 3 shows the occiput of the user pressing on the upstream portion of the pillow, and the hard part corresponding to the seventh cervical vertebra 30 bearing on the downstream portion 12.
• the two portions 10 and 12 whose original contour is shown in dotted lines in the figure are compressed and perfectly match the shape of the user's body.
• the slot 16 has widened thus avoiding lateral tensions on the areas serving as support.
• Another essential characteristic of the invention is the particularity of the material used in the pillow according to the invention. Indeed, this material must be such that it allows a lift that is well suited to the location of the supports without being too low or too high so as to obtain a sinking of the support zones as illustrated in FIG. 3. In d In other words, it must promote the alignment of the cervical vertebrae so that the dorsal part corresponding to the first cervical vertebrae remains straight while not being subjected to pressures which can cause a sensation of pain. It should be noted that, as previously mentioned, the slot 16, by widening when the user's head rests on the pillow, allows the material not subjected to lateral tensions to be better crushed in the places used support and thus not to modify the bearing capacity of the material.
• the material constituting the pillow must have a memory effect with slow return.
• the material of elastic consistency should return to its normal shape after being deformed, only after a certain delay and not instantaneously as would a foam of the latex type.
• This memory effect with slow return allows to maintain an ideal comfort in spite of the small deformations of the pillow due to the movements of the user during his sleep.
• This comfort is mainly due to the fact that the foam with slow return, on the one hand distributes the pressures better and, on the other hand keeps a memory of the forms during a certain time which allows a freedom of small movements while promoting the maintenance of the head in the same position during sleep.
• the two places where the pressure is greatest are the support areas 22 and 24 (see Figure 2) of the head and the seventh cervical vertebra. Consequently, the intermediate part corresponding to the cervical vertebrae is not subjected to any pressure.
• the distance between the vertices of the two portions which will serve as support points must correspond to the distance separating the summit of the occiput from the seventh cervical vertebra.
• the distance between the tops of the two bumps must be adapted to the size of the user or to his age, and must preferably be between 18 and 22 cm, and preferably equal to 20 cm, the ideal being for the user to make a custom pillow.
• the material constituting the pillow and having to meet the criteria mentioned above is preferably a visco-elastic foam with open cells such as a polyurethane foam.
• This foam can be obtained by the reaction of a polyol and an isocyanate.
• the foam is normally characterized by an index which corresponds to the respective percentages of polyol and isocyanate used.
• the index is 100. If, instead of 45g of isocyanate per 100g of polyol, we only puts 60% of
• the index of polyurethane foam obtained is 60.
• polyurethane foams or equivalent material are characterized by its resistance to indentation:
• Ri (Kpa) F 4 o% / S indentation expressed in Kpascals and being the ratio between the forehead F which must be exerted on an indentation surface S to arrive at a compression rate of 40%.
• this resistance to indentation must be between approximately 1.5 Kpa and 3.5 Kpa, which corresponds to an index between 60 and 70.
• the index of the foam used also determines the memory effect or the return time after compression.
• the return time after compression is longer and longer as a function of the compression rate as illustrated in the diagram in FIG. 4 which gives the value of the return time (in seconds) in function of the compression ratio for an index of around 65. Note that for a compression of 5% the return time is already 17s. It can also be estimated that a foam has a slow return if its return time after compression of at least 5% is greater than 1 second.
• the return after compression is almost instantaneous for an index of 100 (less than 1 second), but is 58 seconds for an index of approximately 65% after compression of 50%. It should be noted that the curve in Figure 4 would be confused with the x-axis for an index of 100 (instantaneous return).
• Another embodiment of the invention then consists in using different foam indices for the two bumps of the pillow, and therefore different indentation resistances.
• the bump 10 upstream that is to say the highest (corresponding to the head of the user) made of a foam having a resistance to indentation greater than the resistance to indentation of the foam filling the bump 12 downstream, that is to say the lowest (corresponding to the user's 7 th cervical vertebra).
• This embodiment provides flexible support for the upper shoulders and the seventh cervical vertebra while the head support (occiput) is higher and harder due to the greater resistance to indentation. This added to the absence of foam between the two bumps (hollow portion 14) allows the cervical spine to align naturally with the weight of the neck and reduce the physiological curvature.
• the values of index and resistance to indentation are the following:
• a pillow whose two portions corresponding to the upstream and downstream bumps are made of foam having different indices (or resistance to indentation), illustrated in FIG. 6, is manufactured using a mold whose inner wall corresponds to the shape of the pillow.
• This mold thus has two recesses corresponding to the two bosses 10 and 12 separated by the slot 16.
• the appropriate proportions of the two constituents, polyol and isocyanate, are mixed in each hollow of the mold.
• the reaction causes an upward expansion of the mold, which causes a juxtaposition of the two portions of foam on the line 17 shown in dotted lines in the figure.
• the slot 16 of the pillow according to the invention can also be used to facilitate the folding of the pillow. It is indeed possible as shown in Figure 7, to fold the pillow by passing the downstream portion 12 under the upstream portion 10 by folding the pillow at the location of the slot 16 which then becomes an outer edge after folding, this folding being facilitated by the two lateral notches 18 and 20.
• This arrangement of the pillow allows the user to have his head 32 in an elevated position and therefore allows him to sleep with the head turned to the side c ' ie in the lateral decubitus position.
• the pillow according to the invention can be wrapped in a pillowcase provided that this does not modify the properties due to the shape of the pillow as well as to the consistency of the material composing it. It is however possible to provide a reinforced pillowcase as illustrated in FIG. 8.
• the pillowcase 38 which surrounds the pillow then comprises a part 40 covering the upstream pillow portion 10 and a part 42 covering the downstream portion 12 containing aerated fibers polyester and therefore of a certain thickness. Parts 40 and 42 being softer than the two bumps underneath, contact is more pleasant for the user.
• the two lower and upper layers of fabric surrounding the polyester fibers forming a sort of cover.
• the intermediate part 44 covering the slot 16 does not include polyester so as not to prevent the slot from playing its role as mentioned previously.
• the pillow is in two separate parts. Only the upstream portion 50 is made of polyurethane foam having the properties defined above, while the second part of the pillow forms a sort of polyester fiber pillowcase, part 52 of which covers the portion 50 as in the case of the Figure 5 and the rest forms a lower downstream portion 54. The portion 50 is located as in a tunnel in the portion 54.
• the pillow according to the invention makes it possible to obtain supports from the occipital part of the user's skull as well as support from the seventh cervical vertebra perfectly optimized thanks to a material having an adequate bearing capacity and a memory effect with slow return, so as to align the cervical spine, to open the posterior conjugation holes of the vertebrae, and thus facilitate the exit of the spinal roots, which limits the pinching of the articular processes of the cervical vertebrae and ensures the prevention of formation osteoarthritic beaks of the spine.

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• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Otolaryngology (AREA)
• Pulmonology (AREA)
• Bedding Items (AREA)
• Orthopedics, Nursing, And Contraception (AREA)
• Thermotherapy And Cooling Therapy Devices (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=9508930

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

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Family Cites Families (7)

• 1997
  • 1997-07-07 FR FR9708568A patent/FR2765464B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1998
  • 1998-07-07 DE DE69804831T patent/DE69804831T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1998-07-07 WO PCT/FR1998/001458 patent/WO1999002077A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1998-07-07 AT AT98936465T patent/ATE215792T1/de active
  • 1998-07-07 EP EP98936465A patent/EP1021115B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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