cushion

Abstract

To provide a cushion that can alleviate physical discomfort for the user. [Solution] The cushion of this disclosure comprises a cushion body 2 having a seat surface for when a user sits on it, and two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B that are detachably attached to the cushion body 2. The two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are attached to the seat surface of the cushion body 2 in such a way that, when viewed from above, the distance between the two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B narrows towards the front of the seated user, forming an "inverted V" shape.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cushion for sitting use.

Background Art

[0002] Various cushions for postpartum women have been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a donut-shaped breastfeeding cushion that is worn around the waist during breastfeeding and has an opening on the back side. According to this breastfeeding cushion, it is possible to reduce the burden on the breastfeeding woman while keeping the posture of the baby stable during breastfeeding.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, women generally often experience physical discomfort, especially pain, during pregnancy and the puerperium (the period until the changes in the mother's body caused by pregnancy and childbirth return to the pre-pregnancy state). As one of the causes, "posterior pelvic tilt" is cited as a well-known fact in the fields of physical therapy and obstetrics and gynecology.

[0005] Posterior pelvic tilt refers to a state in which the pelvis is tilted backward. The pelvis is usually considered to be in a natural posture with a slight forward tilt, but posterior pelvic tilt is tilted backward, which is the opposite, and is said to have an adverse effect on the posture of the whole body. One of the factors causing this posterior pelvic tilt is said to be the breastfeeding posture. However, since the prior art including Patent Document 1 is a waist-mounted cushion aimed at stabilizing the posture of the baby, a cushion that can relieve the physical discomfort of women during pregnancy and the puerperium, including the perspective of the breastfeeding posture, has been desired.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a cushion that can alleviate physical discomfort for the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The cushion of this disclosure comprises a cushion body having a seat surface for when a user sits on it, and two auxiliary cushions that are detachably attached to the cushion body, wherein the two auxiliary cushions are attached to the seat surface of the cushion body in such a way that, when viewed from above, the distance between the two auxiliary cushions narrows towards the front of the seated user, forming an "inverted V" shape. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to alleviate physical discomfort in the user. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] (a) A perspective view and (b) A plan view of a cushion according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is an exploded perspective view of a cushion in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This figure shows the state of use of the cushion in one embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The cushion in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The cushion 1 consists of a cushion body 2, two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B, and two belt members 4A and 4B to which the two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are attached, respectively.

[0011] The cushion body 2 has a predetermined thickness (indicated by symbol s1 in Figure 2), and its interior is filled with natural materials such as cotton, synthetic resins such as polyurethane, or elastic materials such as rubber. The upper surface 20 of the cushion body 2 serves as the seating surface when the user P (Figure 3) sits on it. Considering that the main user P of the cushion 1 is a postpartum woman, a highly resilient urethane foam with strong rebound force that prevents the cushion body 2 from sinking too much when someone sits on it is desirable.

[0012] The thickness s1 of the cushion body 2 (Figure 2) should preferably be about 7 cm. The reason for this is that breastfeeding can be done in various places such as on the floor, on a chair, on a sofa, or on a bed. In particular, during the first three months postpartum, there are many opportunities to breastfeed on the floor, and during this period, women tend to experience physical discomfort due to weakened core muscles after childbirth. When breastfeeding on the floor, women often adopt the "cross-legged position" shown in Figure 3. If this "cross-legged position" is taken on a flat floor, the position of the sit bones will be lower than the position of the knees, causing the hip joints to bend deeply, the pelvis to tilt backward (posterior tilt), and the lower back to round. Consequently, the spine rounds, and the head is positioned forward (head in front of shoulders), which can lead to physical discomfort.

[0013] Therefore, by making the thickness s1 of the cushion body 2 about 7 cm, when user P is seated, the height difference between the knees and the ischial tuberosities is almost eliminated, and deep bending of the hip joint is suppressed, so the pelvis can be raised vertically and maintain posture. Furthermore, as the pelvis is raised, the ischial tuberosities bear the load (bone support), and it is expected that the pelvic floor muscles and abdominal muscles will work more easily.

[0014] The cushion body 2 may have a structure in which materials of different hardness are layered vertically. For example, if the cushion body 2 has a three-layer structure, by sandwiching a soft sponge with a lower hardness than the upper and lower layers as an intermediate layer, it is expected that the user P will be able to shift their center of gravity more easily.

[0015] As shown in Figure 1(b), the cushion body 2 is formed in an arc shape when viewed from above, with a portion of the circumference cut off. More specifically, the cushion body 2 is composed of a gently curved portion 2A when viewed from above, and a first extension portion 2B and a second extension portion 2C that extend continuously from each end of the curved portion 2A. The curved portion 2A supports the buttocks of the user P, the first extension portion 2B supports the left thigh of the user P, and the second extension portion 2C supports the right thigh of the user P (Figure 3). When the user P is seated, the cushion body 2 has a concave recess 5 on the front side of the user P when viewed from above. The presence of the recess 5 ensures that even when the user P is in a cross-legged position, both feet are within the range of the recess 5 and do not interfere with the cushion 1.

[0016] Next, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B will be described. In Figures 1 and 2, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B extend in one direction and have a predetermined thickness s2 (Figure 2). The material used to fill the inside of the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B can be the same material as that used for the cushion body 2, but it is preferable that the material has less hardness than the cushion body 2, that is, is softer than the cushion body 2.

[0017] As shown in Figure 1(b), the longitudinal length t of the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B is set to be approximately the same as, or at least less than, the length t in the width direction (along the length t direction) of the cushion body 2. In other words, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are sized to fit on the top surface 20 of the cushion body 2 when viewed from above. Note that the length t of the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B may be larger than the length t in the width direction of the cushion body 2.

[0018] The thickness s2 of the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B is set to be thinner than the thickness s1 of the cushion body 2. While it is preferable that the thickness s2 of the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B be 1 / 3 or less of the thickness s1 of the cushion body 2, it is not necessarily required to set the thickness in this way. Thus, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B have lower hardness and are thinner than the cushion body 2.

[0019] The belt members 4A and 4B are used to fix the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B to the cushion body 2. In FIG. 2, on one end side of the surface of the belt members 4A and 4B, a hook-and-loop fastener (male) 6 as engaging means is provided, and on the other end side of the back surface, a hook-and-loop fastener (female) 7 as engaging means is also provided. The auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are attached by sewing or the like at a position approximately in the center of the belt members 4A and 4B.

[0020] By winding the belts 4A and 4B from the width direction of the cushion body 2 (arrow a shown in FIG. 1(b)) and engaging the hook-and-loop fastener (male) 6 with the hook-and-loop fastener (female) 7, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are fixed to the upper surface 20 side of the cushion body 2 (FIG. 1).

[0021] As described above, the cushion body 2 is formed in an "arc" shape in plan view. Therefore, when the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are mounted on the cushion body 2 with the center line C of the cushion body 2 (FIG. 1(b)) as the axis, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are arranged in an "inverted V" shape in which the distance between the two decreases as they go toward the front side of the seated user P. That is, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are arranged at positions corresponding to the two ischiums (ischial tuberosities) under the buttocks, which are part of the pelvis of the user P.

[0022] Note that since the positions of the ischiums vary depending on the individual differences of the user P, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B can be aligned with the ischiums by attaching the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B to the cushion body 2 at an arbitrary position via the belt members 4A and 4B. The belt members 4A and 4B also function as adjusting means for adjusting the position for fixing the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B to the cushion body 2.

[0023] As described above, the cushion 1 in the present embodiment includes a cushion body 2 having a seating surface when the user P sits, and two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B that are detachable from the cushion body 2. Further, the two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B are mounted on the seating surface of the cushion body 2 so as to form an "inverted V shape" in which the distance between the two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B decreases as it goes toward the front side of the seated user P in a plan view. Further, the two auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B mounted on the cushion body 2 are located at positions corresponding to the sitting bones of the user P in the seated state.

[0024] By mounting (fixing) the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B at positions corresponding to the sitting bones of the user P in the seated state in this way, the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B can provide a sensory stimulus to the sitting bones, facilitating sitting bone support and reducing the burden on the lumbar region. Further, the effect that the pelvic muscles work due to the sensory input by supporting the sitting bones with the auxiliary cushions 3A and 3B can be expected. Overall, it is possible to suppress the posterior pelvic tilt and relieve the discomfort of the body of the female user P, particularly during pregnancy and the puerperium.

[0025] The cushion of the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and design changes can be appropriately made without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, a structure in which a concave portion is provided on the upper surface of the cushion body and the auxiliary cushion is fitted into this concave portion may be used. However, since there are individual differences in the position of the sitting bones, a structure that can adjust the position where the auxiliary cushion is fixed to the cushion body, as in the present embodiment, is more desirable. Further, as the engaging means, a buckle may be used instead of a hook-and-loop fastener. Furthermore, the cushion may be widely used not only by general women but also by men.

Industrial Applicability

[0026] To provide a cushion that can relieve discomfort in the user's body.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0027] 1 Cushion 2 Cushion body 3A, 3B Support Cushion

Claims

1. A cushion body having a seat surface for when the user sits, The cushion body is equipped with two detachable auxiliary cushions, The cushion is mounted on the seat surface of the cushion body such that, when viewed from above, the distance between the two auxiliary cushions narrows towards the front of the seated user, forming an "inverted V" shape.

2. The cushion according to claim 1, wherein the two auxiliary cushions attached to the cushion body are positioned to correspond to the ischial tuberosities of the user when seated.

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