US3900910A

US3900910A - Water pillow

Info

Publication number: US3900910A
Application number: US343073A
Authority: US
Inventors: Yuuichi Nakata
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-04-26
Filing date: 1973-03-20
Publication date: 1975-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 1992-08-26

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a water pillow made of flexible waterproof material having a pair of cavities formed therein, one on the top wall and one on the bottom wall, the central portions of the cavities being connected together. The bottom wall includes concave grooves therein in the form of circular arcs concentric with the cavity in the bottom wall.

Description

United States Patent Nakata 1 Aug. 26, 1975 [54] WATER PILLOW 2,728,926 1/1956 Emery 5/338 3,416,169 12/1968 Emery 5 337 Inventor: Yuuichi Nakata, 5-49, 2 chome,

Higashikaigan-Minami, Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan Filed: Mar. 20, 1973 Appl. No.: 343,073

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 26, 1972 Japan 47-48680 [52] US. Cl 5/341; 5/337; 5/348 R [51] Int. Cl. A47g 9/00; A47c 7/02 [58] Field of Search 5/337, 338, 341, 348 R, 5/348 WB, 327

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,151,894 8/1915 Meinecke 5/327 B IIIIIIIIII Primary ExaminerCasmir A. Nunberg Attorney, Agent, or Firm.lay M. Cantor [5 7] ABSTRACT The disclosure relates to a water pillow made of flexible waterproof material having a pair of cavities formed therein, one on the top wall and one on the bottom wall, the central portions of the cavities being connected together. The bottom wall includes concave grooves therein in the form of circular arcs concentric with the cavity in the bottom wall.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PNENTEU AUEZS i975 SHEET 1 BF 2 II. 0... v

WATER PILLOW This invention relates to water pillows into which cold water is poured, and which would be used for cooling a persons head.

A water pillow is generally made from a flexible and flat hollow bag. Accordingly, the head of its user is unstable and made uncomfortable due to moving about of the water inside the pillow.

In order to overcome the problems of prior art water pillows, it was attempted to make the water pillow with some flexible leg parts in the form of concentric circles on its bottom and with a concave curve on its surface in order to make the head of users stable therein when putting the head of the user on the central part of the concavity of the water pillow, however, it was noted that the user complained of feeling uncomfortable due to loss of flexibility and feeling a pressure against the head from both sides.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a water pillow which overcomes the above mentioned problems.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new water pillow which accepts weighting on it flexibly and removes the feeling of uncomfortableness due to water moving about within the pillow.

Other objects of the invention would be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, which is provided by way of example and not by way of limitations, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an external view of the water pillow of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section of the pillow of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the pillow of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4. is an enlarged longitudinal section, showing changing of shape of the pillow with use.

Referring now to the figures, the water pillow l is made of a flexible waterproof material such as rubber or polyvinyl chloride. The back wall 1a is relatively wide and the front wall 1b is relatively narrow. The top wall 1c includes a concavity 2 at its central part. The bottom of the concavity 2 is connected with the top of a cavity 3 which is placed at the central part of the bottom wall 1d. On the bottom wall 1d, the concave grooves 4 are placed in the form of circular arcs and concentric with the cavity 3 to form hollow flexible ridges extending into the enclosure. These concave grooves 4 are made by lifting or indenting some parts of the bottom wall 1d.

Though two grooves 4 and ridge 4' are shown bilaterally on the figures, the number of the and ridges would be variable in accordance with materials and size of the water pillow.

As is obvious from FIG. 4 when a users head is placed on the pillow, water is displaced and instead of moving away to another part of the enclosure to cause the latter to bulge thus leaving the part on which the head rests with very little water, the displaced water tends to collapse the ridge thus maintaining the water balanced within the enclosure. Furthermore, the ridges minimize sloshing about of the water by movement of the users head.

Inlet 5 is a mouth at the upper central part of the back wall 1a for receiving and removing water from the pillow. A removable cap 6 is threaded on the mouth 5. The surface of the top wall 10 has a rough region 7 which is useful for removing the inconvenience such as sticking and slipping of a cover placed over the water pillow. The head of user A is shown on the pillow in FIG. 4.

When using the water pillow, cold water is poured therein. The form of the top wall 1c is changed as shown by the phantom line on FIG. 4 by the weight of the users head A. Moving of some water in the pillow changes the form of the concave grooves 4 and the cavity 3. Because of placing the concave grooves 4 concentric with the cavity 3, however, the water pillow would be made hollow and balanced. Accordingly, the head A of the user would be kept on the concavity 2 the water pillow being prevented against forming a hollow region without water on one side thereof.

As discussed above, the user would not have the feeling of pressure on his head due to the concavity at the center of the water pillow. And, furthermore, the pillow provides a feeling of softness and comfort for the user. It is also pointed out as an excellent feature that the water pillow is adequate not only for cooling the head but also for reforming a distortion of the skull in an infant. V

Though the invention has been described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment thereof, many variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore the intention that the appended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to include all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is: l. A water pillow comprising: a flexible waterproof hollow enclosure in the form of a pillow,

the upper surface of the enclosure having a concavity therein substantially centrally thereof, for receiving the head of a user,

the lower wall of the enclosure being provided with a plurality of upwardly projecting hollow flexible ridges about the concavity terminating short of the top wall of the enclosure, said ridges being compressible in response to pressure applied to the water by a users head to provide space for receiving the volume of water displaced by such pressure, said enclosure being provided with an inlet for the water.

2. A water pillow according to claim 1 wherein said ridges are of arcuate shape substantially concentric with the center of the concavity.

3. A water pillow according to claim 1 wherein the outer surface of the bottom wall of the enclosure is indented to form said ridges within the enclosure.

4. A water pillow according to claim 3 wherein said indentations and resulting ridges are of arcuate shape substantially concentric with the center of the concavity.

5. A water pillow according to claim 1 wherein the upper surface of the pillow is provided with a roughened area for preventing slipping of a cover disposed,

thereon.

Claims

1. A water pillow comprising: a flexible waterproof hollow enclosure in the form of a pillow, the upper surface of the enclosure having a concavity therein substantially centrally thereof, for receiving the head of a user, the lower wall of the enclosure being provided with a plurality of upwardly projecting hollow flexible ridges about the concavity terminating short of the top wall of the enclosure, said ridges being compressible in response to pressure applied to the water by a user''s head to provide space for receiving the volume of water displaced by such pressure, said enclosure being provided with an inlet for the water.

5. A water pillow according to claim 1 wherein the upper surface of the pillow is provided with a roughened area for preventing slipping of a cover disposed thereon.