TECHNICAL FIELD
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The present invention relates to a pillow, and more particularly to a pillow whose height is adjustable to properly support a head and cervical vertebrae of a user of the pillow while the user lies down to have a sleep or take a rest
BACKGROUND ART
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A pillow provided with a plurality of pads for properly adjusting the height of the pillow based on the sitting height of a user of the pillow is well known. Such a pillow is disclosed, for example; in Korean Patent Publication No. 2001-0099097 entitled “METHO FOR MANUFACTURING PILLOW AND PILLOW HEIGHT ADJUSTING PAD.”
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The aforesaid pillow comprises a pillow body 1, and a proper number of pads 3 disposed below the pillow body 1 for adjusting the height of the pillow body 1, as shown in FIG. 1. It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the height of the pillow body 1 increases as the number of the pillow height adjusting pads 3 is increased, and that the height of the pillow body 1 decreases lower as the number of the pillow height adjusting pads 3 is decreased.
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FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the pillow of FIG. 1 showing the pillow body 1 and the pillow height adjusting pads 3 protected with a pillow cover 2. It can be seen from FIG. 2 that the height of a cervical vertebrae contact section 41 of the pillow body 1 and the height of a head contact section 42 of the pillow body 1 are not individually adjusted using the pillow height adjusting pads 3 when the height of the pillow body 1 is to be adjusted.
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FIG. 3 shows schematically a person with a standard Korean head shape laying his/her head on the pillow of FIG. 2. An average ratio of a front-to-back head length to a side-to-side head width is 1:0.85 according to the standard Korean head shape. A proper number of the pillow height adjusting pads 3 are disposed below the pillow body 1 to properly adjust the height of the pillow body 1 based on the sitting height of a user, and then the pillow body 1 and the pillow height adjusting pads 3 are covered with the pillow cover 2. With the pillow with the afore-stated construction, an occipital portion 55 and a cervical vertebral portion 66 of the user can be comfortably supported on the pillow body 1 since a pressure applied to the pillow body is properly divided into a partial pressure applied to a corresponding section of the pillow body contacting the occipital portion 55 and another partial pressure applied to a corresponding section of the pillow body contacting the cervical vertebral portion 66 of the user. Consequently, the user may have a very comfortable sleep or take a very comfortable rest while he/she lays his/her head on the pillow.
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FIG. 3 shows an optimum cervical vertebral angle α and an optimum facial angle β when a person with a standard Korean head shape comfortably lays his/her head on the pillow of FIG. 2. The cervical vertebral angle α is an angle defined between a line connecting the outermost point 99 of one of shoulders of the person to the tragus point 88 of the corresponding one of ears of the person and a floor when the person lies down on his/her back on the floor, and the facial angle β is an angle defined between a line connecting the brow to the philtrum of the person and the floor. It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the cervical vertebral angle α is approximately 12 degrees, and the facial angle β is approximately 5 degrees.
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FIG. 4 shows schematically a person with a low average ratio of a front-to-back head length to a side-to-side head width laying his/her head on the pillow of FIG. 2. For example, a person with a flat back of the head may have the low average ratio of the front-to-back head length to the side-to-side head width. In case that such a person lays his/her head on the pillow of FIG. 2, the pressure applied to the corresponding section of the pillow body contacting the occipital portion 55 of the person is lower than the pressure applied to the corresponding section of the pillow body contacting the cervical vertebral portion 66 of the person, which causes the head to lean excessively backward. As a result, the back of a neck of the person may ache. Furthermore, the person may sleep with his/her mouth open while he/she lays his/her head on the pillow of FIG. 2. The result is that his/her mouth may be parched, which disturbs his/her deep sleep.
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It can be seen from FIG. 4 that the cervical vertebral angle α is approximately 9 degrees, and the facial angle β is approximately 1 degree. Those angles obviously deviate from the optimum cervical vertebral angle α and the optimum facial angle β as indicated in FIG. 3. Consequently, no user may have a deep and comfortable sleep in a posture with the cervical vertebral angle α and the facial angle β as indicated in FIG. 4.
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FIG. 5 shows schematically a person with a high average ratio of a front-to-back head length to a side-to-side head width laying his/her head on the pillow of FIG. 2. In case that such a person lays his/her head on the pillow of FIG. 2, the pressure applied to the corresponding section of the pillow body contacting the occipital portion 55 of the person is higher than the pressure applied to the corresponding section of the pillow body contacting the cervical vertebral portion 66 of the person, which causes the head to lean excessively forward. As a result, the person may snore in his/her sleep.
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It can be seen from FIG. 5 that the cervical vertebral angle α is approximately 17 degrees, and the facial angle β is approximately 18 degrees. Those angles obviously deviate from the optimum cervical vertebral angle α and the optimum facial angle β as indicated in FIG. 3. Consequently, no user may have a deep and comfortable sleep in a posture with the cervical vertebral angle α and the facial angle β as indicated in FIG. 5.
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In the above description, the terms ∓a front-to-back head length” and ∓a side-to-side head width” are used to indicate sizes of parts of the human body measured on the basis of a human body measuring method of Korean Agency for Technology and Standards.
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As such, FIGS. 6 and 7 show the front and the side of a head shape of a person having a side-to-side head width 89 and a front-to-back head length 90. The side-to-side head width 89 is a measure of a straight line connecting one of outermost parts at both sides of the head of the person to the other, and the front-to-back head length 90 is a measure of a straight line connecting an outermost point 91 of the furrow between the eyebrows of the person to an outermost point 92 of the back of the head of the person, according to a definition given in the human body measuring method for the Korean national physical standards.
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When the height of the pillow body 1 is adjusted with the height adjusting pads 3 on the basis of the sitting height of a person, he/she can have a comfortable sleep if he/she has the aforesaid standard Korean head shape. On the contrary, a person with a head shape other than the standard Korean head shape, i.e., a person having a flat or protruding back of a head may not have a comfortable sleep since the height of the head contact section 42 of the pillow body 1 is changed depending upon his/her head shape.
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In the pillow disclosed in the aforementioned Korean Patent Publication No. 2001-0099097, the height of the pillow is properly adjustable with the height adjusting pads on the basis of the sitting height of a person. However, the conventional pillow has problems in that the height of the head contact section of the pillow body is changed depending upon his/her head shape, especially the shape of the back of the head since the height adjusting pads support the pillow body as a whole, i.e., the height adjusting pads can not separately support the pillow body. Consequently, the conventional pillow fails to provide a comfortable sleep.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
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Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a pillow whose height is precisely and conveniently adjustable based on the sitting height and the head shape of a user of the pillow so that the user may have a comfortable sleep on the basis of his/her physical characteristics.
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In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a pillow comprising: a pillow body bag 13 filled with stuffing materials 11; a cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23 attached to the pillow body bag 13 below a cervical vertebrae contact section 51 of the pillow body bag, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23 being filled with cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21; and a head height adjusting bag 33 attached to the pillow body bag 13 below a head contact section 52 of the pillow body bag, the head height adjusting bag being adjacent to the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag, the head height adjusting bag being filled with head height adjusting materials 31.
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Preferably, inlets of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 may be closed by means of slide fasteners 100, respectively.
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Preferably, inlets of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23 and the head height adjusting bag 33 may be closed by means of Velcro fasteners 101, respectively.
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Preferably, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 filled in the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and/or the head height adjusting materials 31 filled in the head height adjusting bag 33 may be formed in the shape of pads.
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Preferably, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 filled in the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and/or the head height adjusting materials 31 filled in the head height adjusting bag 33 may be formed in the shape of pipes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
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FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional pillow comprising a pillow body and a plurality of pillow height adjusting pads disposed below the pillow body;
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FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the pillow of FIG. 1 showing the pillow body and the pillow height adjusting pads protected with a pillow cover;
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FIGS. 3 to 5 are schematic views showing persons with different head shapes laying their heads on the pillow of FIG. 2, respectively;
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FIG. 6 is a front view showing a head shape of a person;
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FIG. 7 is a side view showing a head shape of a person;
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FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are perspective views of a pillow according to the present invention showing the pillow filled and unfilled with materials, respectively;
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FIGS. 9 a and 9 b are cross sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 8 a showing the pillow filled with different materials, respectively; and
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FIGS. 10 a and 10 b are longitudinal sectional views taken along line B-B of FIG. 8 a showing the pillow having no filled materials therein and the pillow having at least a portion of each of a pillow body bag, a cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag, and a head height adjusting bag folded, respectively.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
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FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are perspective views of a pillow according to the present invention showing the pillow filled and unfilled with materials, respectively. FIGS. 9 a and 9 b are cross sectional views taken along line A-A of FIG. 8 a showing the pillow filled with different materials, respectively, and FIGS. 10 a and 10 b are longitudinal sectional views taken along line B-B of FIG. 8 a showing the pillow having no filled materials therein and the pillow having at least a portion of each of a pillow body bag, a cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag, and a head height adjusting bag folded, respectively.
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As shown in the aforesaid drawings, the pillow according to the present invention basically comprises a pillow body bag 13, a cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and a head height adjusting bag 33.
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The pillow body bag 13 has a stuffing materials filling space 12 in which the stuffing materials 11 are filled. The cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23 has a cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials filling space 22 in which the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21, for example a plurality of pads, are filled. The cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23 is attached to the pillow body bag 13 below a cervical vertebrae contact section 51 of the pillow body bag 13. Similarly, the head height adjusting bag 33 has a head height adjusting materials filling space 32 in which the head height adjusting materials 31, for example a plurality of pads, are filled. The head height adjusting bag 33 is attached to the pillow body bag 13 below a head contact section 52 of the pillow body bag 13.
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As best shown in FIGS. 9 a and 9 b, the stuffing materials 11, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21, and the head height adjusting materials 31 are filled in the stuffing materials filling space 12 defined in the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials filling space 22 defined in the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting materials filling space 32 defined in the head height adjusting bag 33, respectively.
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Subsequently, a portion of each of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 is folded and fitted between the stuffing materials 11 and the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 and between the stuffing materials 11 and the head height adjusting materials 31, as shown in FIG. 10 b.
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The stuffing materials 11 include cotton, grain, minerals, wood, synthetic resin, or other suitable pillow materials. The cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 and/or the head height adjusting materials 31 are formed in the shape of flat pads, which are preferably made of compressed cotton, although the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 and/or the head height adjusting materials 31 may include cotton, grain, minerals, wood, synthetic resin, or other suitable pillow materials like the stuffing materials 11. Alternatively, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 and/or the head height adjusting materials 31 may be formed in the shape of pipes, which are made of synthetic resin having a diameter of 8 mm, for example, as shown in FIG. 9 b.
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Generally, the height of a pillow increases 0.5 mm for each cm of a user's height. In case that the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 and the head height adjusting materials 31 formed in the shape of pipes are used, therefore, the height of the pillow body 1 can be easily adjusted by increasing or decreasing the number of the pipes. The cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 and/or the head height adjusting materials 31 may be realized by various different pipes made of suitable materials other than the aforesaid synthetic resin. In addition, the pipes may have various different sections, such as a circular section, a square section, a pentagonal section, a hexagonal section, and an octagonal section.
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It should be understood that the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 and the head height adjusting materials 31 may be different from each other in shape. For example, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 may be formed in the shape of pipes when the head height adjusting materials 31 are formed in the shape of pads.
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Naturally, the heights of the cervical vertebrae contact section 51 and the head contact section 52 of the pillow body bag 13 can be separately adjusted depending upon the amounts of the stuffing materials 11, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21, and the head height adjusting materials 31.
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The pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 may be made of commonly available cloths. In an example of the present invention, each of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 is made of an elastic cloth, and the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 are combined with one another by sewed lines 60 formed by sewing using a sewing machine.
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Preferably, a closing member 100, such as a zipper or a slide fastener, is attached to an inlet of each of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33, as shown in the drawings, so that the inlet of each of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 can be easily closed by the closing member 100.
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Instead of the aforesaid slide fastener, a Velcro fastener may be attached to the inlet of each of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 so that the inlet of each of the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33 can be easily closed by the Velcro fastener with sufficient elasticity depending upon the amounts of the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 filled in the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23 and the head height adjusting materials 31 filled in the head height adjusting bag 33 when the stuffing materials 11, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21, and the head height adjusting materials 31 are filled in the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting bag 33, respectively.
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The pillow according to the present invention may be further conveniently used by the provision of written instructions for use in which the heights and the sitting heights of users, and standard weights based on the heights of the users are indicated by sex and age on the basis of a ratio of a front-to-back head length to a side-to-side head width of each of the users depending upon the amounts of the stuffing materials 11 filled in the pillow body bag 13, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials 21 filled in the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag 23, and the head height adjusting materials 31 filled in the head height adjusting bag 33.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
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As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a pillow comprising a pillow body bag filled with stuffing materials, a cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag attached to the pillow body bag below a cervical vertebrae contact section of the pillow body bag, the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag being filled with cervical vertebrae height adjusting materials, and a head height adjusting bag attached to the pillow body bag below a head contact section of the pillow body bag, the head height adjusting bag being adjacent to the cervical vertebrae height adjusting bag, the head height adjusting bag being filled with head height adjusting materials, whereby the height of the pillow can be precisely and conveniently adjusted on the basis of the physical characteristics of a user of the pillow so that the user may have a comfortable sleep.
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Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
