APPAREL WITH INFLATABLE NECK PILLOW

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is directed to apparel with one or more integrated features, such as a neck pillow.

BACKGROUND

A person that sits for extended periods of time, e.g., a traveler, a person with a job sitting at a desk, or a medical patient receiving treatment such as chemotherapy, dialysis, etc., may experience neck and shoulder pain from supporting his or her head without significant movement. Although the person may be able to recline slightly in his or her chair, often the degree to which the chair reclines may be limited, such that the weight of supporting the head remains.

This problem may be exacerbated if the person attempts to sleep either while sitting upright or slightly reclined. As the person sleeps, the head may fall into a position that leaves the person with a stiff neck and/or muscle soreness when the person wakes up.

Neck pillows that envelop at least a portion of the person's head are available, but these can be bulky to transport. Particularly with respect to air travelers, as airlines become more stringent on the limits of what a person can bring into the cabin of a plane, these pillows can take up valuable space in the person's luggage, and they may be bulky to store when not in use.

What is needed is a method and apparatus for neck support that overcomes the drawbacks described above.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a neck portion having an interior side and an exterior side comprising an inflatable bladder; a first side portion having an interior side designed to rest against a user's body during use and an exterior side designed to face away from the user during use, the first side portion extending outward from an end of the neck portion; and a second side portion extending outward from an opposite end of the neck portion as the first side portion, wherein the inflatable bladder has a valve disposed proximate a lowermost and outermost portion of the inflatable bladder, and wherein a top and bottom of the inflatable bladder are angularly curved and only a portion of a first side and a second side of the inflatable bladder are angularly curved.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a neck supporting scarf, comprising: a neck portion; at least one body portion; an inflatable bladder disposed within the neck portion; and a valve coupled to the inflatable bladder, the valve configured to inflate and deflate the bladder, wherein the valve is coplanar with or planarly offset from the inflatable bladder wherein a top and bottom of the inflatable bladder are angularly curved and only a portion of a first side and a second side of the inflatable bladder are angularly curved, and wherein a radius of curvature of a central region of the top of the inflatable bladder is larger than a radius of curvature of the first and second sides.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, neck supporting apparel, comprising: a neck portion having a lower end having a first radius of curvature; at least one body portion, the at least one body portion having an interior side designed to rest against a user's body during use and an exterior side designed to face away from the user; an inflatable bladder spanning within the neck portion, the inflatable bladder having a lower end having a second radius of curvature substantially similar to the first radius of curvature; and a valve, the valve configured to inflate and deflate the bladder, wherein the valve is disposed in the interior side of the neck portion only.

These and other features and advantages are evident from the following description of the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various objects, features, and advantages of the disclosed subject matter can be more fully appreciated with reference to the following detailed description of the disclosed subject matter when considered in connection with the following drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements.

FIG. 1 is a front, perspective view of a piece of apparel with an inflatable neck cushion including a bladder, the apparel in the form of a scarf including a hooded portion with the bladder deflated.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparel of FIG. 1 including a hooded portion around the neck of a user with the bladder inflated.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparel of FIG. 1 including a hooded portion with the bladder inflated.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the apparel of FIG. 1 including a hooded portion with the bladder deflated.

FIG. 5 is a front, perspective view of the apparel of FIG. 1, highlighting a location of a valve for inflating and deflating the bladder.

FIG. 6 is a rear review of the apparel of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is one embodiment of a deflated bladder usable with the apparel of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is the bladder of FIG. 7 inflated.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the valve depicted in FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is a left, front, perspective view of the valve of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a left, rear, perspective view of the valve of FIG. 9, depicting a plunger of the valve in a depressed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject matter described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the various features, concepts, and aspects described herein may be implemented and practiced without these specific details.

Before any aspects of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other aspects and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.

It is also to be understood that any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first,” “second,” and so forth does not limit the quantity or order of those elements, unless such limitation is explicitly stated. Rather, these designations may be used herein as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements may be employed or that the first element must precede the second element in some manner.

Also as used herein, unless otherwise limited or defined, “or” indicates a non-exclusive list of components or operations that can be present in any variety of combinations, rather than an exclusive list of components that can be present only as alternatives to each other. For example, a list of “A, B, or C” indicates options of: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; and A, B, and C. Correspondingly, the term “or” as used herein is intended to indicate exclusive alternatives only when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as, e.g., “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.” Further, a list preceded by “one or more” (and variations thereon) and including “or” to separate listed elements indicates options of one or more of any or all of the listed elements. For example, the phrases “one or more of A, B, or C” and “at least one of A, B, or C” indicate options of: one or more A; one or more B; one or more C; one or more A and one or more B; one or more B and one or more C; one or more A and one or more C; and one or more of each of A, B, and C. Similarly, a list preceded by “a plurality of” (and variations thereon) and including “or” to separate listed elements indicates options of multiple instances of any or all of the listed elements. For example, the phrases “a plurality of A, B, or C” and “two or more of A, B, or C” indicate options of: A and B; B and C; A and C; and A, B, and C. In general, the term “or” as used herein only indicates exclusive alternatives (e.g., “one or the other but not both”) when preceded by terms of exclusivity, such as, e.g., “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or “exactly one of.”

The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use aspects of the disclosure. Various modifications to the illustrated aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein can be applied to other aspects and applications without departing from aspects of the disclosure. Thus, aspects of the invention are not intended to be limited to aspects shown but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. The following detailed description is to be read with reference to the figures, in which like elements in different figures have like reference numerals. The figures, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected aspects and are not intended to limit the scope of aspects of the disclosure. Skilled artisans will recognize the examples provided herein have many useful alternatives and fall within the scope of aspects of the disclosure.

The disclosure herein is directed to an apparatus for supporting the neck and may be part of apparel 10, wearable by a user and configured to be inflated or deflated by the user whenever desired. In this regard, one version of apparel with an inflatable neck cushion is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,726,421, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

As shown in FIGS. 1-6, in one embodiment, the apparel 10 may comprise and may be referred to herein as a scarf. Scarf 10 may include a portion 12 configured to go behind the user's head, preferably substantially aligned with the user's neck. Scarf 10 further may include a first arm portion 14 extending from one end of neck portion 12 and a second arm portion 16 extending from an opposite end of neck portion 12. First and second arm portions may be substantially similarly shaped, although arm portions also may be distinct from one another. Scarf 10 may also include a hooded portion 68, which may serve as an extension of neck portion, preferably substantially aligned with the user's head. The apparel 10 can include at least one body portion where, in one aspect, the body portion includes separate first and second side portions 14, 16, such as when the apparel 10 is in the form of a scarf, cape, coat, vest, zip-up, etc., and a second aspect where the body portion may comprise a single, continuous stretch of fabric, e.g., in the case of a sweatshirt, sweater, or non-zipped hoodie.

Arm portions 14, 16 may be substantially symmetrical to one another, although differently shaped arm portions are possible. In one embodiment, arm portions 14, 16 each are about 7″ wide, although it will be understood that the arm portions 14, 16 may be wider or narrower, as desired. Arm portions 14, 16 also may have a generally constant width between neck portion 12 and first and second ends 15, 17, respectively, as seen in FIG. 1. Alternatively, one or both of arm portions 14, 16 may include tapering and/or flaring over at least a portion of their lengths.

Scarf 10 may include an interior side 18, which generally may rest against the user's body and an exterior side 20 opposite interior side 18 and facing away from the user. These designations are for description and reference only, as it clearly may be possible to rest at least a portion of the exterior side 20 against the user during use.

At least one, and preferably both, of first and second arm portions 14, 16 may include at least one pocket 22, which may be used for storage or as a receptacle for the user's hands. Preferably, both arm portions include a pocket 22 in substantially the same position on each arm portion. Each pocket may include an opening sized to receive the user's hands comfortably. Opening 24 into each pocket 22 may point upward, rearward, or both, as seen in FIG. 1. In one aspect, opening 24 may include a closure device, such as a zipper, snap, or button. In another aspect, opening 24 may remain open, without any kind of closure. In addition, scarf 10 may include an additional pocket (not shown) disposed within at least one pocket 22.

Pockets 22 may be disposed at a height that allows for a plurality of users of different heights and/or arm lengths to wear scarf 10 and to use pockets 22 comfortably. For example, middle of pockets 22 may be disposed generally at waist height for an average sized person, but pockets may have a large enough depth to accommodate users with different arm lengths. Bottoms of pockets 22 may be between about 20 inches and about 40 inches from a transition between neck portion 12 and first and second arm portions 14, 16, preferably between about 24 inches and about 30 inches, and in one embodiment, about 28 inches. Pockets may be between about 4 inches and about 12 inches deep, preferably between about 6 inches and about 10 inches deep, and in one embodiment, about 8½ inches deep.

Scarf 10 may be sized such that pockets 22 may be proximate first and second ends 15, 17, although one or more of first and second arm portions 14, 16 may extend a significant distance beyond a bottom of the pockets 22.

Turning now to FIGS. 1-6, scarf 10 may include one or more inflatable bladders 32. Preferably, bladder 32 is disposed within an internal pocket (not shown) within neck portion 12. Bladder 32 may be operatively coupled to valve 36, so that the bladder may be inflated and deflated by valve 36. In use, the bladder 32 is configured to sit on the back of a user's head. The height of the bladder 32 at a midpoint is about 8″ and had a width of about 21″ at its widest point, although it will be understood that these dimensions may vary, e.g., if the scarf is made in adult vs. child sizes or if it is made in different sizes for a group, e.g., small, medium, large, etc.

As seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, the valve 36 may be disposed proximate a lowermost and outermost portion of the bladder 32, where it may be easily reachable to the user when the scarf 10 or other piece of apparel is worn. Specifically, and as seen in FIG. 5, the valve 36 may be located at a height generally at or within about 2-5″ below a lowest height of the wearer's chin. In the event the apparel 10 includes some form of closure between the two sides of apparel on opposite sides of the bladder 32, e.g., the two arm portions 14, 16, the valve 36 may be disposed at approximately a same height as an upper end of the closure. In addition, as seen in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8, the valve 36 may be generally coplanar with or slightly planarly offset from the interior surface of the bladder 32. When these features combine, the valve 36 may be located and configured so that a user may easily be able to reach the valve 36 when the scarf 10 is worn, e.g., by simply turning and bending his or her head slightly to the side and down to reach the valve 36. In addition, given the dimensions of the bladder 32 and the location of the valve 36 relative to the bladder 32, the valve 36 also may be positioned low enough and/or forward enough of the wearer's face that the wearer's head and/or face may not contact and/or push against the valve 36 when the wearer tilts their head and rests it against the side of the bladder 32 on which the valve 36 is disposed.

In addition, the valve 36 may be generally flush with the rest of the scarf 10 so that its presence is unobtrusive. As a result, the filling/emptying mechanism of the scarf 10 may be confined to essentially a single point and is less likely to be felt by the user when wearing the scarf 10 and/or when wearing additional items over the scarf 10 that depress on the scarf 10 such as, e.g., a backpack. As shown in FIG. 9, a side view of valve 36 is depicted. As shown in FIG. 10, a left, front perspective view of the valve of FIG. 9 is shown. As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the valve 36 may have a fixed exterior housing 37 surrounding a spring-loaded plunger 39 configured to sealingly engage with the housing 37, where the plunger 39 is configured to depress to receive a user's breath to fill the bladder 32 and/or to release air from the bladder. The plunger 39 may be used to adjust the amount of air in the bladder 32.

Returning to FIGS. 5, 7 and 8, bladder 32 and valve 36 may be fixedly coupled to one another in an airtight manner to prevent the bladder 32 from leaking. For example, the material forming the bladder 32 and a material forming a periphery of the valve 36 may be adhesively secured to one another or bonded to one another, e.g., via melting, sonic welding, or some other process. Alternatively, the valve 36 may include one or more of an interior and/or an exterior gasket, and stitching may pass through one or more of the gaskets and the bladder material in a manner sufficient to produce a sufficiently airtight seal.

Bladder 32 may span a substantial height of user's head and neck portion 12. As such, bladder 32 may be made of a relatively thin, flexible material so that when the bladder is deflated, the user may be able to fold neck portion 12 over, forming a collar, without the bladder attempting to return to an unfolded configuration, as seen in FIG. 2.

Bladder 32 also may span a substantial amount of the width of neck portion 12 when the hooded portion 68 is not on the user's head. Conversely, when the hooded portion 68 is on the user's head, the bladder 32 may span a substantial amount of the width of the user's head, as seen in FIG. 6. In one embodiment, bladder 32 spans at least the part of neck portion 12 located laterally inwards between arm portions 14, 16. Additionally, bladder 32 may have a lateral extent overlapping onto width of arm portions 14, 16. As seen in FIG. 5, bladder 32 may extend widthwise to about the median width of arm portions 14, 16.

Neck portion 12 may include lower arch 38 for resting on the user's neck during use. Additionally, neck portion 12 may include an upper arch 40. Lower and upper arches may have similar radii of curvature. However, lower arch 38 may have a smaller radius of curvature than upper arch 40. As such, neck portion may be narrowest proximate the apex of the arches and may widen when expanding outward toward arm portions 14, 16.

Bladder 32 may be configured to generally match the contours of hooded portion 68, i.e., it may be narrowest in a vertical direction at an apex and expand towards its ends. Alternatively, bladder 32 may have a generally uniform thickness in a vertical direction along its length. In one embodiment, neck portion 12 may be about 7″ thick at its apex, or generally about as thick as a width of arm portions 14, 16. As shown in FIG. 7, the bladder 32 is generally the same size vertically and horizontally when inflated or deflated. Deflated bladder 32 may have a width of about 61/2″ proximate its ends. Moreover, bladder 32 may have one or more radii of curvature substantially similar to radii of curvature of lower and upper arches 38, 40. These dimensions are exemplary and bladders with other dimensions and/or dimensional ratios are possible.

Alternatively, as noted above, bladder 32 may span a substantial height and/or width of neck portion 12. Relatedly, neck portion 12 may generally follow the same contours as bladder 32, such as the neck portion 12 and bladder 32 depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8. Thus, in this aspect, lower arch 38 may be generally concave when viewed from the bottom, whereas upper arch 40 when viewed from above may be generally concave at its ends to an inflection point approximately midway between each end and a center, transitioning to a convex curve between the inflection points. The variations in curvature of the upper arch 40 of the neck portion and, relatedly, of the bladder 32 permit the neck portion 12 and bladder 32 to be narrowest in a vertical direction at a point between the center and ends and generally proximate the inflection points. Doing so may provide for additional comfort and/or support to the back of the wearer's head when leaning his or her head backwards and also to side of the user's head when it is tilted to one side or the other, while reducing the material in between those two regions so as to facilitate curvature of the bladder 32 and neck portion 12 around the wearer's neck. The size and position of the bladder 32 permits cushioning along the wearer's head. For example, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the position of the bladder 32 in the scarf 10 causes the sides of the bladder 32 to be located in front of the user's ears when the device is worn (and inflated), thereby providing a larger cushioning area, e.g., more cushioning in case the wearer's head drifts forward as they sleep.) Further, the intersection between the sides and the bottom end of the bladder 32 may be positioned proximate an upper chest area or in front of the wear's collarbone and below a top of the wearer's shoulders.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the bladder 32 has at least one valve 36 located on the exterior surface, allowing the bladder to inflate and deflate. The bladder has a lower arch 38, an upper arch 40, a first side 42, and a second side 44. The lower arch 38 of the bladder 32 and the upper arch 40 of the bladder 32 may be angularly curved, e.g., following the curvature described above. In some embodiments, the radius of curvature of the lower arch 38 of the bladder 32 is smaller than the radius of curvature of the upper arch 40 of the bladder 32. In some embodiments, the radius of curvature of the lower arch 38 of the bladder 32 is larger than the radius of curvature of the side portions 42, 44. The first side 42 and the second side 44 are comprised of a curved, upper section 43 and a generally straight, lower section 45. The upper sections 43 have distal and proximate ends that are generally vertically aligned when the bladder 32 is laid flat, the lower section 45 forms a first approximately right angle with a tangent to the upper section 43 where the two intersect and a second approximately right angle with a tangent to the lower edge of the bladder 32 where those two elements intersect, so that the lower section 45 extends inwardly and downwardly from the intersection with the upper section 43 to the intersection with the lower edge of the bladder 32.

In some embodiments, the bladder 32 may be sandwiched between or disposed adjacent to one or more fabric members, the fabric members forming one or more of the interior side and/or the exterior side of the scarf 10. Alternatively, the bladder 32 itself may form one or both of the internal and/or the external surface of the scarf 10. In such situations, the bladder 32 may include a perimeter 46 that is not inflatable. As such, the perimeter may form a border to which other components of the scarf 10 are joined, e.g., by stitching, adhesive joining, or bonding. The perimeter 46 may have a width between about ¼″ and about 1″, preferably between about ¼″ and about ¾″, and in one aspect, about ½″. In this way, the perimeter 46 may be wide enough to receive stitching without having to worry about accidentally puncturing the bladder 32 during construction, while remaining narrow enough so as to minimize a thickness of a seam at an intersection of the bladder 32 with one or more other components of the scarf 10.

Although a single bladder 32 has been described herein, scarf 10 may include a plurality of bladders 32. For example, scarf 10 may include first and second bladders 32. As such, the user may be able to adjust each bladder 32 to a desired level for increased customization. In this example, the user may wish to sleep more on his or her side, so the user may inflate the side that will be underneath the head while not inflating the other side or inflating it to a lesser degree. Alternatively, a plurality of bladders 32 may be arranged generally vertically with respect to one another so as to allow the user to provide increased or decreased cervical or head support.

Bladder 32 may be removable from within scarf 10. Neck portion 12 may include an opening through which bladder 32 may pass into and out of pocket. Opening may be resealable, e.g., via use of a zipper or other type of closure device. In one embodiment, opening may be disposed on interior side 18 of neck portion 12, thereby concealing opening. Alternatively, opening may be disposed along exterior side 20 of neck portion. This may prevent the zipper pull from contacting and/or pressing into the user's head or neck, which may cause discomfort for some users. In one instance, the zipper may be about 7-8″ long and when closed may help to contour the neck.

Scarf 10 also may include an increased friction element such as a rubber-type portion on an exterior side of neck portion 12, e.g., in a spot overlying bladder 32. Friction element may be generally centered on neck portion and may be made of a suitable material to help prevent scarf from sliding when the user turns his or her head and when the scarf is pressed against a surface, such as a chair back or headrest. Friction element may be large enough to provide increased friction but small enough so as to avoid creating unwanted rigidity in neck portion 12, e.g., element may be between about 1″×1″ and about 2″×2″.

Scarf 10 may be made of a variety of different materials. In one embodiment, scarf 10 may include at least a portion of a LYCRA or polyester/cotton blend material with rayon, which may impart a slight degree of stretch into the scarf. This may allow for expansion of scarf 10 as bladder 32 is inflated. Alternatively, an internal bladder pocket may be sized to accommodate fully inflated bladder 32, which may decrease importance of fabric stretch.

In another embodiment, apparel 10 may comprise a vest. In yet another embodiment, apparel 10 may comprise a shirt or jacket with a collar. In a further embodiment, apparel 10 may comprise a hooded sweatshirt. Descriptions of the various aspects of the scarf may apply to these and other embodiments of the apparel 10. Although these different apparel embodiments may include more fabric than just neck and arm portions, they each may include a neck portion suitable for holding bladder, material extending downward from the neck portion in front of the user, and some form of coupling or other manner of holding this downward extending material together so as to form a collar around the user's neck.

To use scarf 10 as a neck pillow or supporter, the user may place neck portion 12 behind his or her neck, with arm portions 14, 16 draped in front. A front zipper 26 joins the arm portions 14, 16 together. The air flow initiates without pressing the valve. The user may push the valve 36, to deflate bladder 32 to the desired level. In order to provide additional support to the user's neck, the user may insert his or her hands into pockets 22. Downward force in pockets 22 may pull arm portions 14, 16 forward, which further may pull neck portion 12 against the user's neck, causing neck portion to bend inward to a greater degree and providing a greater circumferential cushioning effect.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in the foregoing illustrative aspects, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the details of implementation of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is limited only by any allowed claims that are entitled to priority to the subject matter disclosed herein. Features of the disclosed aspects can be combined and rearranged in various ways.

Other examples and uses of the disclosed technology will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. The specification and examples given should be considered exemplary only, and it is contemplated that the appended claims will cover any other such aspects or modifications as fall within the true scope of the invention.