U-Shaped Pillow With Elastic Wings for Stable Neck Support
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
U-shaped pillows often suffer from wings that splay during use, failing to provide sufficient head support, and existing solutions like straps with hook-and-loop arrangements are not always convenient or efficient.
Innovation Solution
A pillow design featuring two wings connected by a bridging section with an elastic member that can be stretched to wrap around the neck and then retract to provide support, utilizing an elastic member with low extension stiffness and a connecting means that can pass from one wing to another, allowing for easy adjustment and a neater storage configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a strap with hook-and-loop arrangement or clip, buckle or toggle fastener is used to prevent wings splaying, then the wings can be held together to support the head, but the operation becomes more complex and less convenient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the complex fastening mechanisms (hook-and-loop arrangements, clips, buckles, toggles) from the pillow design. Instead, it uses an elastic member that automatically maintains tension between the wings through its elastic properties alone, eliminating the need for additional fastening components and simplifying the overall structure while maintaining wing support stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic member serves itself by automatically maintaining tension between the wings through its inherent elastic properties. The material's elastic recovery force continuously pulls the wings together to support the head without requiring user intervention to engage fasteners or adjust mechanisms, making the pillow self-regulating and easier to operate.
2Shape
If the elastic member is made shorter to improve neatness when not in use, then the storage arrangement is neater, but the ability to extend the member for wrapping around the neck is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter of the elastic member by selecting a material with low extension stiffness (Young's modulus ≤ 0.1 GPa, preferably ≤ 0.05 GPa, more preferably ≤ 0.01 GPa). This allows the member to extend to a much greater length when needed for wrapping around the neck while still retracting to a compact, neat configuration when not in use, effectively decoupling the extension capability from the stored length.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies using elastomeric materials or woven elastic (preferably polyester woven elastic) that combine high extensibility with low extension stiffness. These composite material properties enable the elastic member to achieve both extreme extension for neck wrapping and compact retraction for neat storage, simultaneously satisfying both contradictory requirements.
3Force
If the elastic member has high extension stiffness, then it provides stronger urging force to bring wings together, but it becomes harder to lengthen the member for wrapping around the neck
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by selecting an elastic member with low extension stiffness rather than high stiffness. This counterintuitive parameter choice (Young's modulus ≤ 0.1 GPa, preferably ≤ 0.05 GPa, more preferably ≤ 0.01 GPa) allows the member to be easily extended by hand for wrapping around the neck while still providing sufficient urging force through its elastic recovery properties to bring the wings together and support the head.
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 design provides improved head support by allowing the wings to be easily adjusted for optimal positioning and allows for a more convenient and quicker lengthening of the elastic member, while also enabling a neater storage arrangement when not in use.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic member; and connecting means for connecting one portion of the elastic member to a fixing point on a wing or the bridging section and another portion of the elastic member to a fixing point on a wing or the bridging section, so that the elastic member, or the connecting means, or both, can pass from one wing to the other and the elastic member can urge the wings towards one another
Implementation Method 2
The elastic member is preferably made from a material having a low extension stiffness. For example, the material may have a Young's modulus of less than or equal to 0.1 GPa, more preferably, less than or equal to 0.05 GPa, more preferably, less than or equal to 0.01 GPa, at small strains.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention provides a pillow (1) comprising two wings (2, 3); a bridging section (4) connecting the wings (2, 3) so that the wings (2, 3) and bridging section (4) form a substantially U-shaped shape; an elastic member (7, 8); and connecting means (5) for connecting one portion of the elastic member (7, 8) to a fixing point (FP1) on a wing (2, 3) or the bridging section (4) and another portion of the elastic member (7, 8) to a fixing point (FP2) on a wing (2, 3) or the bridging section (4), so that the elastic member (7, 8), or the connecting means (5), or both, can pass from one wing (2, 3) to the other (2, 3) and the elastic member (7, 8) can urge the wings (2, 3) towards one another. The invention provides a more convenient and quicker way of lengthening the elastic member (7, 8) or connecting means (5) passing from one wing (2, 3) to the other (2, 3).