Positionable pillow
AssigneeThe First Years Inc.
InventorsJames J. Britto, Richard M. Foley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A nursing pillow has a flexible, positionable spine that allows the pillow to be deformed into a number of stable shapes. The spine is enclosed within a resilient body forming a medial region and first and second cantilever arms extending from opposite ends of the medial region to define a central opening between the arms in an unloaded, nominal shape. The spine is of sufficient stiffness to keep the pillow from returning from an adjusted shape to its nominal shape when unloaded. The spine may be formed of articulating links, or a malleable rod.
Claims51
A pillow having a medial region and first and second cantilever arms extending from opposite ends of the medial region to define a central opening between the arms in an unloaded, nominal shape, the pillow comprising
- a resilient body with a covering extending about the medial region and arms, the body being sufficiently flexible to allow the arms to be manually moved to adjust the pillow shape;
- and
- a flexible spine comprising an articulated series of links, each link pivotably secured to at least one adjacent link to form a chain extending across the medial region and into both arms, the spine of sufficient stiffness to keep the pillow from returning from an adjusted shape to its nominal shape when unloaded.
A method of nursing a child, the method comprising
- placing a nursing pillow about an abdomen of an adult, the pillow having a medial region and first and second cantilever arms extending from opposite ends of the medial region to define a central opening between the arms in an unloaded, nominal shape, the pillow comprising
- a resilient body with a covering extending about the medial region and arms, the body being sufficiently flexible to allow the arms to be manually moved to adjust the pillow shape;
- and
- a flexible spine extending across the medial region and into both arms, the spine of sufficient stiffness to keep the pillow from returning from an adjusted shape to its nominal shape when unloaded;
- adjusting the pillow to a desired, stable shape other than the nominal shape;
- placing an infant upon the medial portion of the pillow;
- and
- nursing the infant with the infant supported on the pillow.
A pillow having a medial region and first and second cantilever arms extending from opposite ends of the medial region to define a central opening between the arms in an unloaded, nominal shape, the pillow comprising
- a resilient body with a covering extending about the medial region and arms, the body being sufficiently flexible to allow the arms to be manually moved to adjust the pillow shape;
- and
- a flexible spine comprising an articulated series of links, each link pivotably secured to at least one adjacent link to form a chain extending across the medial region and into both arms, the spine of sufficient stiffness to keep the pillow from returning from an adjusted shape to its nominal shape when unloaded;
- wherein the spine comprises a non-articulated, elongated central portion extending along the medial portion of the pillow, a first series of articulated links extending from one end of the central portion of the spine down one of the arms, and a second series of articulated links extending from the other end of the central portion of the spine down the other of the arms.
A pillow having a medial region and first and second cantilever arms extending from opposite ends of the medial region to define a central opening between the arms in an unloaded, nominal shape, the pillow comprising
- a resilient body with a covering extending about the medial region and arms, the body being sufficiently flexible to allow the arms to be manually moved to adjust the pillow shape;
- and
- a flexible spine comprising an articulated series of links, each link pivotably secured to at least one adjacent link to form a chain extending across the medial region and into both arms, the spine of sufficient stiffness to keep the pillow from returning from an adjusted shape to its nominal shape when unloaded;
- wherein a central portion of the spine comprises a first series of articulated links extending along the medial portion of the pillow, and ends of the spine each comprise an additional series of articulated links extending from one end of the central portion of the spine down one of the arms, links in the arms articulable to form a greater curvature than those of the central portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.