Adjustable Pillow Structure for Personalized Neck Alignment

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional pillows fail to provide personalized support for different body shapes and features, leading to neck soreness and discomfort due to their inability to adjust to individual users' needs.

Innovation Solution

A pillow structure featuring a bottom board with arced resilient pads controlled by an adjuster, allowing for adjustable curvature to support the buffering layer, ensuring proper neck alignment and comfort for various users.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If conventional pillows are made by mass production with fixed materials and shapes, then manufacturing efficiency is improved, but adaptability to different body shapes and features deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemanufacturing efficiencyVSAvoidadaptability to different body shapes
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the pillow surface adjustable through a mechanical system. The pillow includes a base plate, a buffering layer, and an adjusting mechanism with a rotatable adjusting member that can change the surface shape and height. This allows the pillow to dynamically adapt to different users' neck contours and sleeping positions, resolving the contradiction between mass production efficiency and adaptability to individual body shapes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Device complexity

If conventional pillows provide fixed support structure, then device complexity is reduced, but ability to provide personalized neck support deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestructural simplicityVSAvoidpersonalized neck support capability
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies the universality principle by designing a pillow with multi-functional components. The adjusting mechanism includes a base plate, buffering layer, and rotating adjusting member that work together to provide multiple functions: supporting different neck positions, adapting to various body shapes, and maintaining structural integrity. This universal design allows a single pillow structure to serve multiple users with different needs, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and personalized support capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Ease of manufacture

If conventional pillows use uniform buffering layer, then ease of manufacture is improved, but comfort for different users deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemanufacturing simplicityVSAvoiduser comfort
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the buffering layer adjustable rather than fixed. The buffering layer is connected to the base plate through an adjusting mechanism that allows users to rotate an adjusting member to change the buffering layer's position and shape. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the pillow to adapt to different users' comfort preferences while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing process for the base components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies the local quality principle by allowing different regions of the pillow to have different properties through adjustment. The adjusting mechanism enables users to create localized variations in the buffering layer's position and firmness to match specific neck contours and sleeping positions. This local customization capability improves user comfort without requiring completely different pillows for each user.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The adjustable pillow structure effectively supports the neck, preventing lopsided alignment and over-pressing, thereby enhancing comfort and reducing neck-related issues across different user sizes.

Implementation Method 1

at least one arced resilient pad (2) controlled by an adjuster (4) so that curved degrees of the pillow body (10) is adjusted

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentEP2394537B1Pillow structure
Publication Date: 2013.05.01 CHERN SHING TOP
  • EP2394537B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2394537B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2394537B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A pillow structure substantially has a bottom board 1 mounted at a bottom inside a pillow body 10 and at least one resilient pad 2 controlled by an adjuster 4 mounted on the bottom board 1. By having the resilient pad 2 to support a buffering layer 3 for neck leaning, curved degrees of the pillow 10 are adjusted corresponding to different users.