All purpose orthopedic pillow

Oct 9, 1956

E. S. MUELLER

ALL PURPOSE ORTHOPEDIC PILLOW

2,765,480

Filed Nov. 12, 1952

Sheets-Sheet 1

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ATTORNEY'S

Oct 9, 1956 _E. s. mueller 2,765,480

ALL PURPOSE ORTHOPEDIC PILLOW Filed Nov. 12, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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INVENTOR.

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ΛΤ TO ft NEY-3

2,765,480

Patented Oct. 9, 19S6

United States Patent Office

2,765,480

ALL PURPOSE ORTHOPEDIC PILLOW Eleanor S. Mueller, Houston, Tex.

Application November 12, 1952, Serial No. 319,914

Claims. (CL 5—338)

This invention relates to improvements in orthopedic pillows and refers more particularly to an all purpose pillow suitable for use both as a bed pillow for sleeping purposes and a pillow for supporting various portions of the human body during the wakeful hours in sitting positions and the like.

The pillow of this invention is not limited in its use to persons suffering from some degree of infirmity, but it is especially adaptable to alleviating discomforts and stiffness frequently encountered by many persons such as those suffering from varying degrees of arthritis. For example, frequently arthritics find it nearly essential when sleeping on their back to use no pillow at all, and when sleeping on their side to elevate their head with a pillow so that their back and spine will remain substantially straight in a horizontal plane. Also, many persons suffering from some degree of infirmity find it necessary or highly desirable to provide unusual support for various portions of their body when in a sitting position, either when sitting in bed or when sitting in the usual chairs and the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a single pillow which may be used to alleviate to some extent the conditions hereinabove discussed.

Another object is to provide a pillow having a flat intermediate section of no substantial thickness with side stuffed sections for supporting the head in the normal manner.

Another object is to provide an all purpose orthopedic pillow which, due to its novel construction, can be manipulated into varying shapes and contours to provide varying types of support under varying conditions.

Another object is to provide an all purpose orthopedic pillow which is susceptible to use under varied conditions and may be readily and handily carried from place to place.

Another object is to provide an all purpose orthopedic pillow which may be fabricated with an attractive design so as to give the general appearance of an ornamental pillow whereby not to detract from the appearance of living quarters but actually enhancing their appearance.

Other and further objects of this invention will appear from the description.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the instant specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith, and wherein like reference numerals are employed in the various views to indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one side of an orthopedic all purpose pillow embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the other side of the pillow , shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the pillow shown in Fig. 1, taken along the line 3—3 in Fig. 1, in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view, shown more or less sche- &gt; matically, of the pillow shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating ¹one shape or conformation in which the pillow may be put to use;

Fig. 5 is a perspective schematic view of the pillow shown in the other figures and illustrates another configuration in which the pillow may be placed and put to use;

. Fig. 6 is another perspective schematic view of the pillow illustrating still another form in which the pillow may be placed and used;

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate two other uses of the pillow in connection with an ordinary chair shown schematically.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, it is seen that the pillow comprises two stuffed sections 10 and 11 separated by a web of flexible flat material 12. This web may, if desired, be padded very lightly or quilted. It is not necessary that it be given any thickness other than perhaps a double thickness of the cloth or other material from which the pillow is fabricated.

Each of the pillow sections 10 and 11 is elongate and is elliptical in cross-section along a plane transverse of the longitudinal dimension of the stuffed section. The stuffing for each section may be of any of the usual materials used for this purpose such as, for example, kapoc, feathers, foam rubber, hair or the like. The ends of the stuffed sections may be cut along a bias as shown at 10« and Ila, respectively, and the ends merely sewn together in the interest of economical fabrication of the pillow.

The outer cover for the stuffed sections, as well as for the flat portion of the pillow, may be of any suitable material as, for example, ticking, plastics, or more ornamental fabrics including upholstery materials. Preferably, the stuffed sections are of equal size or substantially so and of similar contour. The width dimension of the central or flat portion of the pillow is substantially equal to one-half of the circumference of the stuffed sections. Because of this important proportioning of the relative size and shape of the stuffed sections and the relative dimension of the flat portion, the pillow is capable of 40 ^{beinS placed in several} different conformations whereby it may be put to a varied number of uses as a support for portions of the body of a user.

It is desirable that the pillow may be secured in a number of the shapes in which it may be placed, and to this end, fastening means may be provided associated with and carried by both the stuffed sections and the flat portion. In connection with the fastening means, it has been found that the usual snaps lend themselves nicely for this purpose for they are both attractive and easily manipulated. Such snaps are small and have not been found to be objectionable from the standpoint of being lumpy and, therefore, do not interfere with full use of the pillow for all purposes and yet enable the user to secure the pillow in various relationships between the stuffed sec55 tions and the flat portion.

The elements of the snaps are shown in the drawings at 13 and 14. The elements 13 of the snaps are recessed and the elements 14 are the projected ones.

Each of the stuffed sections preferably is provided with Q0 snaps adjacent one edge but the snaps on one stuffed section are on the opposite side of the pillow than are the snaps on the other stuffed section, with the pillow in its extended flat position as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The flat portion also carries some of the snap elements ad_eg jacent the joinder of the flat portion with the stuffed sections but the elements carried by the flat portion and adjacent one stuffed section are adapted to cooperate with the snap elements or fastening means of the other stuffed section. With this arrangement, the stuffed sections may 7Q be secured in superimposed relationship as shown in Fig. 4 with the flat portion lying therebetween and snapped to each of the stuffed sections.

In the Fig. 4 position, the pillow is readily usable

3,765,480

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the drawings accompanying this specification is to be in5 terpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.