CPAP Pillow Shell Design for Mask Seal Stability and Neck Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pillows provide initial pre-load and resistance that can disrupt the seal of CPAP masks during sleep, and lack adjustability and proper distribution of fill material to support the body effectively, leading to discomfort and inefficiency in maintaining airway openness.
Innovation Solution
A pillow design featuring a shell with adjustable fill made of buckwheat hulls that can be customized by redistributing the granular material to fit the user's profile, using barriers and concavities to maintain fill distribution and reduce sound transmission, allowing for uniform pressure support without pre-load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional pillows provide initial pre-load and resistance, then they offer support, but they disrupt the seal of CPAP masks during sleep
Solution Approach 1:
The pillow uses a granular fill material that can be redistributed to create a conforming shape that adapts to the user's head and neck profile. This dynamic adaptation allows the pillow to provide support without exerting concentrated pre-load forces that would disrupt the CPAP mask seal.
Solution Approach 2:
The pillow design incorporates barriers and concavities that create localized regions of different fill distribution. This allows different areas of the pillow to have different properties - some areas provide firm support while others provide softer, more conforming contact that doesn't disrupt the mask seal.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional pillows use fixed fill material, then they are simple to manufacture, but they lack adjustability to fit different user profiles
Solution Approach 1:
The pillow shell is divided into multiple chambers or compartments separated by barriers. This segmentation allows the fill material to be distributed in specific patterns and prevents it from shifting uniformly, enabling customized fit for different user profiles while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The pillow allows users to adjust the distribution and quantity of granular fill material to change the pillow's shape and firmness parameters. This provides adaptability for different users without requiring multiple different pillow designs or complex adjustment mechanisms.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional pillows use uniform fill distribution, then they are easy to manufacture, but they do not provide proper pressure distribution for body support
Solution Approach 1:
The pillow incorporates barriers and concavities that create non-uniform fill distribution patterns. These local variations in fill density provide different levels of support in different areas, conforming to the natural contours of the head, neck, and shoulders for improved comfort and ergonomics.
4Stability of the object's composition
If conventional pillows lack fill material containment, then they are simpler in design, but fill material migrates and loses its supportive shape
Solution Approach 1:
The pillow shell includes internal barriers and partitions that segment the fill material into different zones. This prevents the granular fill from migrating freely and maintains the customized shape and pressure distribution patterns that provide effective body support.
Solution Approach 2:
The pillow uses a flexible outer shell that can be molded into specific shapes with integrated barriers and concavities. This shell structure contains the fill material while allowing the pillow to conform to the user's body, providing both stability and adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
A CPAP pillow relies on a shell shaped to provide large reservoirs of fill particles near or against the shoulders of a user and around and under the neck. The system and method uncouple the spring forces supporting a user from the forces used to configure the shape of the pillow in use. Thus, a user can fit the pillow to the body profile in three dimensions with substantially no residual pre-loading to cause discomfort, pressure points, or unsupported regions. The pillow supports, contacts, and cradles the head and neck. It accommodates shoulder intrusion without moving the pillow away from supporting the neck.