JP3116515U - Pillow with variable cervical abutment shape - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a pillow that has a structure that reduces sleep breathing deficiency or the occurrence of snoring periodically, the shape of which can be adjusted by a simple operation by a user, and that does not lose shape.
The side of the pillow that is arranged at a constant width in the central portion of the pillow in the longitudinal direction, and that both ends are fixed at the approximate center of the depth on the front and back sides of the pillow, and abuts on the user's cervical vertebra lying on its back A pair of adjustment bands that can be loosened and a granular material that is sandwiched between the adjustment bands and has a hardness that does not lose its shape due to the weight of the user when the pair of adjustment bands are fastened is used as an intermediate material A pillow having a convex cervical vertebra support portion with which a person's neck abuts, and an outer portion of the adjustment band and left and right temporal rest portions filled with a cushioning material. A pillow characterized by that the width and height of the depth of the cervical vertebra support part can be adjusted by tightening the band, and the airway can be secured by naturally bending the neck of the user.
[Selection] Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to a pillow in which the shape of the cervical vertebra contact portion is variable, and more specifically to a pillow in which the depth, height, and hardness of the cervical vertebra contact portion can be adjusted.

  When the airway is obstructed during sleep, the air passage becomes narrow, and so-called “snoring” occurs due to the vibration of the relaxed pharyngeal muscles. When snoring becomes intense, breathing cannot be performed sufficiently and the amount of oxygen required in the body is insufficient, so that a feeling of fatigue remains while sleeping for rest. In addition, it has recently been found that there is an apnea state during sleep during intense snoring, and this is deficient in the amount of oxygen sent to the heart and the brain, etc. It is said to cause dysfunction in the system.

A person frequently turns over during sleep, and repeats a supine (backward) state and a recumbent (sideways) state. Although the optimal shape and height of the pillow differs depending on the person using the pillow in the supine state and the lying state, the conventional single-structure pillow cannot handle both the supine and lying states, and snoring and sleeping. It was the cause of the difference. Thus, for example, a pillow described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a pillow that takes into consideration both the supine and lying state.
However, snoring occurs mainly when lying on the back and is said to be difficult to occur when lying down. In the pillow of Patent Document 1, an optimal shape and height can be provided in a lying state, but when a user is snoring and sleeping in a supine state, snoring cannot be prevented. There was a point.

  So, at the level of the user's oropharynx, a U-shaped pillow for maximizing the cross-sectional area of the airway passage, the user's head is stretched in a supine position and the head is then mattressed A laterally resting part that forms two U-shaped legs resting directly resting on and connected to the central part by a transitional part, and its dimensioned U-shape The head and neck are fully stretched and the user's pharynx and chest cavity are substantially aligned even if the user rolls between lying on his back and sideways A pillow has been proposed (Patent Document 2).

By the way, recently, a pillow using low-resilience urethane has been proposed as a material capable of stably holding the head and as a material having a soft feeling and hardness (Patent Document 3). On the other hand, pillows using low-resilience urethane change in shape due to differences in elasticity of bedding (mainly mattresses, beds, tatami mats, etc.) due to the fact that the ease of use varies depending on temperature changes, and the desired shape changes. There was a problem that it was not deformed into the shape of this, and the air permeability was poor.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-253287 Japanese National Patent Publication No. 10-503403 JP 7-67757 A

  The present invention improves the psychological discomfort of the user by providing a pillow structure that reduces the degree of sleep breathing deficiency or the periodic occurrence and disturbance of snoring, as well as improving the psychological discomfort of the user and the neighbors. Improving the quality of sleep is an issue to be solved.

  In order to achieve such a purpose at a high level, the shape of the pillow needs to be optimal for individual conditions such as the body shape of each user and the bedding used. It is also a problem to be solved by the present invention to provide a pillow whose shape can be adjusted by a simple operation of the user.

  In addition, during sleeping for a long time, the pillow tends to lose shape due to the user's own weight. It is also a problem to be solved by the present invention to provide a pillow that does not lose its shape as an element for maintaining a sufficiently secured airway.

  In the normal pillow, the center of the neck is recessed and the cervical vertebra is bent inward so that the airway becomes narrow (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the airway can be secured by supporting the cervical vertebra so that the cervical vertebra is naturally curved by using a solid material at the place where the neck hits (see FIG. 2). At this time, (1) Use an adjustment band so that the user can easily adjust the height and hardness of the cervical vertebra support, (2) In order to realize a comfortable sleeping comfort when sideways, The inventor thinks that a higher level of comfort can be provided while preventing snoring by configuring a portion other than the portion supporting the cervical vertebra with a highly cushioning member, and the present invention has been devised.

In other words, the first device is arranged at a constant width in the central portion of the pillow in the longitudinal direction, and both ends are fixed at the approximate center position of the depth on the front and back sides of the pillow, and the user's cervical vertebra lying on his back A pair of adjustment bands that can freely loosen the side portions of the pillow that comes into contact with, and a granular material sandwiched between the adjustment bands and having a hardness that does not cause deformation due to the weight of the user when the pair of adjustment bands are fastened. A convex cervical vertebra support portion that is in contact with the neck portion of the user who is lying on its back and the left and right sides of the adjustment band that are filled with cushioning material so that the thickness of the cervical vertebra support portion is increased. A pillow having a temporal rest portion, wherein the width and height of the cervical spine support portion can be adjusted by tightening and loosening the pair of adjustment bands, and contact the cervical spine support portion The user's neck bends naturally A pillow, characterized in that it is secured airway by.
A second device is characterized in that, in the first device, the left and right temporal rest portions have a height of 8 to 13 cm, and the cervical spine support portion has a height of 4 to 8 cm.
A third device is characterized in that, in the first or second device, the intermediate material of the cervical vertebra support portion is filled in a bag body wider than the pair of adjustment bands.
A fourth device is characterized in that, in the third device, the bag body has two or three rooms divided in a longitudinal direction.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the pillow which a user can adjust easily according to each body shape can be provided so that snoring may be prevented and optimal sleeping comfort may be obtained.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pillow of the present invention includes left and right temporal rest parts 11, 12, a cervical spine support part 13, and a occipital part placement part 14. Below, each component is demonstrated.

The left and right temporal rest portions 11 and 12 are filled with cushioning members (such as urethane foam and polyester cotton, but are not limited thereto), and are more than the cervical spine support portion 13. Highly structured. The left and right temporal resting portions 11 and 12 are portions on which the head is placed in a lying state, and thus are configured to have a height of 8 to 13 cm, preferably about 10 to 11 cm so as not to place a burden on the shoulder. To do. In other words, the side resting portions 11 and 12 can provide a comfortable sleeping comfort by filling a cushioning member thickly in a lateral posture where snoring is unlikely to occur. However, in order to carry it on a trip or the like, it is preferable to configure the temporal rest portions 11 and 12 to be compact.
In addition, although the height of the side rest part 11 and 12 considers an average Japanese body shape, it does not necessarily have a technical significance to make it a specific height, and the cervical spine support part 13 It is important to be thicker.

The cervical vertebra support portion 13 is a portion that supports the cervical vertebra, and is filled with a solid medium material compared to the temporal rest portions 11 and 12. The pillow according to the present invention can adjust the depth, height and hardness of the cervical vertebra support 13 by narrowing the adjustment bands 2 and 3. When the adjustment bands 2 and 3 are fastened, the inner material filled in the bag body 21 is compressed so as not to lose its shape, so that the airway during sleeping on the back can be secured for a long time. However, when the chin is raised, the mouth is opened and snoring is caused, so it is not necessary to raise it unnecessarily. In the pillow according to the present invention, the cervical vertebra support portion 13 can be adjusted to have a height of 4 to 8 cm, preferably about 5 to 7 cm so as to support the cervical vertebra so that the back of the head does not contact the bedding.
The height of the cervical vertebra support portion 13 is a number that takes into account the average Japanese body shape, but it does not have technical significance to a specific height, and the user's neck is naturally curved However, it is important that the airway be high enough.

  Inside the cervical vertebra support part 13, an intermediate material filled in the bag pair 21 is arranged. Since the intermediate material needs to have a hardness that does not cause deformation during long-time sleep, a highly deformable material such as low-resilience urethane is not suitable. Examples of preferable intermediate materials include expanded polystyrene beads, polypropylene or polyethylene small cylinders (pipes), round plastics, buckwheat husks, wood chips and the like.

  FIG. 4 is a view of the cervical spine support portion 13 as viewed from the side. As can be seen from the figure, the cervical vertebra support portion 13 has a mountain shape by narrowing the adjustment bands 2 and 3. Normally, depending on the weight of the head, the part that contacts the neck is recessed in a V shape, but the pillow of the present invention is filled with a relatively hard member and further tightened with the adjustment bands 2 and 3 to contact the neck. The part is not deformed.

FIG. 5 is a plan view transparently showing the pillow of the present invention. The bag body 21 is configured to be wider than the adjustment bands 2 and 3, so that the inner material filled when the adjustment bands 2 and 3 are squeezed is pressed to become an appropriate hardness. The bag body 21 is separated into the middle rooms A and B by a partition which cuts the longitudinal direction. By dividing the bag body 21 into a plurality of rooms, it is more difficult to cause shape loss. However, if the bag body 21 is divided too finely, the part in contact with the neck becomes too hard, and the sleeping comfort becomes worse. Therefore, it is preferable that the number of middle rooms is 2 or 3. The inventor also created a prototype with 1 to 4 medium rooms, but the center was easily crushed when the number of rooms was 1, and it was too hard and uncomfortable when the number of rooms was 4.
Needless to say, partitioning across the longitudinal direction is not preferable because it becomes V-shaped depending on the weight of the head.

  FIG. 6 is a side view of the I-I ′ cross section of FIG. 5. As shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 7, the cervical support 13 is raised when the adjustment bands 2 and 3 are tightened, and as shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 7, the cervical support 13 is lowered when the adjustment bands 2 and 3 are loosened. Become.

  The adjustment bands 2 and 3 are made of cloth or the like, and the fasteners 4 and 5 are made of plastic or the like. When the clasps 4 and 5 come into contact with the head at bedtime, the sleeping comfort may resonate. Therefore, the pillow is placed so that the clasps 4 and 5 are positioned on the bedding side. That is, the back side of the pillow is facing upward in FIGS. FIG. 8 shows a front perspective view of a state in which the adjustment band of the pillow of the present invention is tightened, and FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the use state.

The occipital region placement part 14 is configured to be one step lower than the temporal rest parts 11 and 12 and the cervical spine support part 13. Since the user's head is supported by the cervical vertebra support unit 13, the head is not supported by the occipital region arrangement unit 14. As an example of the configuration of the occipital region 14, the left and right sides are separated by perforations 6 and 7, and polyester cotton is filled to a thickness of 1 to 2 cm so that the temporal rest parts 11 and 12 do not approach the center. To be disclosed. For users who feel uncomfortable that the occipital region floats in the air, padding may be filled as long as the support of the cervical spine is not harmed.
In addition, although the back head arrangement | positioning part 14 is cut out and it can also be made into U shape (it becomes H shape when the adjustment band is tightened), when the back head arrangement | positioning part 14 is left, the shape of a pillow is hard to collapse. There is an effect that the hair does not touch the bedding and an extra cost can be suppressed.

A pillow 30 cm long x 60 cm wide was prepared. The cervical vertebra support part 13 is 18 cm long x 20 cm wide, and the height can be adjusted within a range of 5 to 7 cm. The thickness of the temporal rest parts 11 and 12 is 11 cm, and the thickness of the occipital region 14 is 2 cm.
As an intermediate material, a cervical support portion 13 was filled with 150 g of a polyethylene small cylinder (pipe) having a diameter of 6 mm in a bag body having two chambers divided in the longitudinal direction. The temporal rest portions 11 and 12 were filled with an appropriate amount of polyethylene small cylinder 300 g and polyester cotton filled in a bag without a partition, and the occipital portion 14 was filled with an appropriate amount of polyester cotton. For hygiene, all materials that can be washed with water were used.

A user test was performed using the pillow of this example. When each user used for 10 days, the evaluation was as shown in Table 1.

  The pillow of the present invention can be adjusted for depth, height and hardness of the cervical vertebra support without adjusting the amount of the intermediate material after first filling the intermediate material. It is suitable for use in travel applications that vary. In particular, it is expected that the user will not have to worry about snoring when they share a room.

It is an image figure of the state by which the airway was obstruct | occluded. It is an image figure of the state by which the airway was ensured by supporting a cervical vertebra. It is a top view (back surface) of the pillow of this invention. It is a side view of the pillow of the present invention. It is the top view which showed transparently the middle material of the cervical vertebra support part of the pillow of this invention. It is a side view of the I-I 'cross section of the pillow of the present invention. It is I-I 'sectional drawing for demonstrating height adjustment by an adjustment band. It is a perspective view (surface) of the state which tightened the adjustment band of the pillow of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the use condition of the pillow of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body 2,3 Adjustment band 4,5 Clasp 6,7 Perforation 11,12 Side head rest part 13 Cervical vertebra support part 14 Back head arrangement part 21 Bag A, B Middle room

Claims (4)

It is arranged at a constant width in the central part of the pillow in the longitudinal direction, and both ends are fixed at approximately the center of the depth on the front and back sides of the pillow. A pair of adjustable bands,
Grain that is sandwiched between the adjustment bands and has a degree of hardness that does not lose its shape due to the weight of the user when the pair of adjustment bands are fastened, and is a convex shape that comes into contact with the neck of the user lying on his back A cervical spine support;
It is an outer part of the adjustment band, and a pillow having left and right temporal rest parts filled with cushioning materials so that the thickness comes out from the cervical spine support part,
By tightening the pair of adjustment bands, the width and height of the depth of the cervical vertebra support part can be adjusted, and the neck of the user in contact with the cervical vertebra support part naturally bends to thereby flex the airway. A pillow that can be secured.   The pillow according to claim 1, wherein a height of the left and right temporal rest portions is 8 to 13 cm, and a height of the cervical spine support portion is 4 to 8 cm.   The pillow according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the intermediate material of the cervical vertebra support portion is filled in a bag body wider than the pair of adjustment bands. The pillow according to claim 3, wherein the bag body has two or three rooms divided in the longitudinal direction.