Beds – Support means for discrete portion of user – useable with bed... – For head or neck
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-02
2001-05-22
Grosz, Alexander (Department: 3628)
Beds
Support means for discrete portion of user, useable with bed...
For head or neck
C005S655000, C005S490000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06233767
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to portable support pillows for infants, and more particularly, this invention relates to an inflatable support structure which is suitable for use as a nursing pillow and as a support pillow for infants and toddlers.
BACKGROUND ART
In the prior art, various attempts have been made to provide support pillows which have a foam body provided with different types of contours, and which have a cover to protect the foam. One problem with this type of structure is that most covers, for hygienic purposes, are made of fabrics which can be laundered; typically, fabrics for infant use range from cotton to synthetic blends. Generally speaking, such covers are of a porous nature so that any liquid or moist substance coming in contact with the cover can be transmitted through to the foam body.
The prior art also teaches that such cloth covers are removable from the foam body for the purpose of laundering the cover. However, with liquids which penetrate the foam body, or with substances which migrate from the surface of the cloth cover into the foam body, cleaning of the foam is sometimes difficult if not impossible. So, while the cover can be readily cleaned, the foam body may not be so readily cleanable resulting in the fact that such articles can become non-useable (from a hygienic point of view).
The use of foam bodies for infant pillows is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,134, which also has another disadvantage when one tries to provide a contour for the pillow to permit ready use of the product for infants. Normally, foams have a given density so that the density of the foam at e.g., a narrow end is the same as the density as the foam at the thickest part of the body. When compressed due to a given amount of weight, the foam will obviously not be of a constant depth even though the same foam density is employed, due to the varying thickness of the foam for the body. It would be desirable, even when the pillow has varying thicknesses, to have the same degree of compressibility whether at a thin portion of the pillow or at its thickest part.
The present invention solves the above problems of the above type of prior art (such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,134) in reducing or eliminating the permeability of the fabric covers over a foam body and at the same time, providing an infant pillow which has a generally constant maximum depressibility for the product irregardless of the varying thicknesses of the product.
Other devices typical of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,649 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,429. Prior art reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,649 discloses a multiple chambered device, having at least two chambers where one of the two chambers is fully inflated. Multiple chambered devices suffer from the disadvantages of increased size and costs. Such multi-chambered pillows have increased associated costs for additional material, increased volume requirements, and, from a users point of view there is an increased amount of consumer effort and work involved in inflating and using such devices.
Prior art reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,429 also discloses such a “U-shaped” detachable pillow multiple chambered device, wherein the lower chamber is to be filled with a liquid. This device includes a removable valve and lower pillow and does not lend itself for use as a support pillow for nursing an infant.
It is therefore one aspect of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a portable device for providing support for the entire body of an infant.
It is another aspect of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a device for providing support for an older child as a backrest or cushion.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide an inflatable, readily portable device for providing infant/ child support.
The device of the present invention offers numerous advantages over the prior art. The present invention can be reduced by deflation to a have a substantially smaller size then when inflated, when not in use, for example as for storage.
The device according to the present invention has a separate removable cover which advantageously provides for its removal for ease of washing and cleaning.
The device according to the present invention allows for a manually adjustable air pressure. This permits a user to inflate the air chamber to e.g., 75% inflation for use as a nursing pillow. In an alternative embodiment, the air chamber can be fully inflated if desired for older children to use as a back rest or cushion.
A further advantage over the prior art is that the device according to the present invention provides for a constant air pressure and subsequent air support for an infant in the nursing position. In a nursing support use, the air pressure inside the support pillow automatically conforms to the users body contours, and also that of the nursing infant.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a single chambered crescent shaped support pillow is provided, which is adapted to be used for supporting a baby during breast or bottle feeding. Alternatively, the support pillow may be used by older children as a backrest or cushion.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a support pillow suitable for nursing comprising a one piece monolithic inflatable substantially crescent shaped body and an air valve therefor, the inflatable body having a substantially crescent shaped air chamber, the air chamber having an upper and lower panels including a central portion and connected opposed projecting arms having first and second ends; the air chamber when inflated being adapted to maintain a constant air pressure within the entire body, and where the central portion of the body having a vertical thickness that varies from a maximum thickness along the central portion and along said opposed projecting arms near the central portion, to a minimum thickness at each of the ends of the opposed arms, and the connecting arms projecting in opposite directions from the central portion of the inflatable body, the respective first and second ends of the arms being curved about a vertical axis to define said substantially crescent shaped body and to position the first and second end portions in an opposed relationship to one another, the arms and central portion defining an interior recess by the crescent shaped body, the arms gradually tapering from the central portion to the first and second ends of the arms in an outwardly extending manner, and the opposed arms having respective first and second downwardly and radially inwardly inclined support surfaces along and adjacent the recess; and including a removable flexible exterior cover member having a crescent shaped body adapted to fully enclose the inflatable body, the removable cover member including an upper and lower portion, the removable cover having a centrally located closable opening to permit access to the air valve.
The support pillow cover may preferably be constructed of hypoallergenic materials, and further may be selected from the group including cotton, nylon, polyester, polypropylene or the like.
Preferably, the centrally located closable opening of the removable cover is positioned along the outer curve in an opposed relationship to the recess. Likewise the air valve is centrally located along the outer curve in an opposed relationship to the recess, and most desirably, positioned so as to be accessible to a user when the closable opening is opened.
Further, it is another preferred embodiment of the present invention, that the inflatable air chamber is constructed of a plastic material, such as from polyvinyl chloride.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3911512 (1975-10-01), Plate
patent: 4161794 (1979-07-01), Darnfors
patent: 4236264 (1980-12-01), Britzman
patent: 5092005 (1992-03-01), Byrn
patent: 5154649 (1992-10-01), Pender
patent: 5239717 (1993-08-01), Sue
patent: 5261134 (1993-11-01), Matthews
patent: 5519906 (1996-05-01), Fanto-Chan
patent: 5551109 (1996-09-01), Tingley et al.
patent: 5581833 (1996-12-01), Zenoff
Grosz Alexander
McFadden Fincham
Priva Inc.
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