Traction pillow and method
First Claim
1. A traction pillow, comprising:
- a generally integral body of resilient material having a substantially solid cervical roll means situated generally along one side edge of said body; and
a plurality of collapsible chamber means defined within said body by angled, opposing walls which are directed generally towards another side edge of said body which is situated opposite said one side edge thereof, said chamber means being situated generally outside of said cervical roll means;
wherein said cervical roll means and said chamber means functionally respond to receipt of a patient'"'"'s head on said pillow with the cervical region of such patient received across said cervical roll means, in conjunction with manipulation of said cervical roll means for rotation towards said chamber means, for collapsing said chamber means, generally in a direction away from said cervical roll means, so that said opposing walls contact one another for substantially continuous resilient support of a patient'"'"'s head, and further for inducing a degree of traction outwardly along such patient'"'"'s spine while generally maintaining a normal cervical curve of the patient.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pillow of resilient material has a generally rotatable portion (cervical roll) for supporting the cervical region of a user. With a user'"'"'s neck received across the pillow cervical roll and the user'"'"'s head received on the pillow, rotation of the cervical roll in conjunction with collapse of angled chambers defined within the resilient pillow establishes traction in the cervical region of the user. Once its internal chambers are essentially fully collapsed, the pillow provides a generally continuous support medium for optimized resilient support of the user'"'"'s neck and head, while maintaining a degree of cervical region traction with natural cervical curvature achieved through curved support of the user'"'"'s cervical region across the cervical roll of the pillow.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A traction pillow, comprising:
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a generally integral body of resilient material having a substantially solid cervical roll means situated generally along one side edge of said body; and a plurality of collapsible chamber means defined within said body by angled, opposing walls which are directed generally towards another side edge of said body which is situated opposite said one side edge thereof, said chamber means being situated generally outside of said cervical roll means; wherein said cervical roll means and said chamber means functionally respond to receipt of a patient'"'"'s head on said pillow with the cervical region of such patient received across said cervical roll means, in conjunction with manipulation of said cervical roll means for rotation towards said chamber means, for collapsing said chamber means, generally in a direction away from said cervical roll means, so that said opposing walls contact one another for substantially continuous resilient support of a patient'"'"'s head, and further for inducing a degree of traction outwardly along such patient'"'"'s spine while generally maintaining a normal cervical curve of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A pillow for supporting the head and neck of a user while controllably inducing a degree of traction in the cervical region of such user without disrupting normal cervical curvature of such user, said pillow comprising:
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a resilient body of material defining two parallel lobes separated by a relative trough, one of said lobes being larger than the other and defining a substantially solid cervical roll means for receipt of a user'"'"'s neck region thereacross with the head of such user supported generally in said trough; and at least one collapsible chamber means, defined in said body generally beneath said trough thereof, and situated adjacent and substantially parallel to said cervical roll means, said chamber means including angled opposing wall members which are initially separated from one another but which generally contact one another by collapsing action of said chamber means responsive to receipt of the head of a user on said trough with the user'"'"'s neck received across said cervical roll means, in conjunction with twisting of said cervical roll means towards said chamber means, for imparting an amount of traction to the cervical region of such user, while the normal cervical curvature thereof is maintained through curved support thereof across said cervical roll means, and for providing generally continuous resilient support of the user'"'"'s head. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of inducing a degree of traction in the cervical region of a user whose head and neck are supported on a pillow, comprising the steps of:
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providing a pillow of resilient material, said pillow including a head and neck upper support surface, a substantially solid cervical roll situated along one side edge of said pillow and defining a generally raised lobe relative said support surface, and further including a plurality of chambers formed within said pillow by opposing side-walls which are angled away from said cervical roll; receiving a user'"'"'s head and neck on said pillow with the head generally supported on said upper surface and the neck received across said cervical roll; and rotatably manipulating said cervical roll towards said chambers while the user'"'"'s head and neck are received on said pillow, until said chambers are generally collapsed in a direction outward along the user'"'"'s cervical region such that opposing forming side-walls thereof are brought into contact to define generally continuous resilient material, which induces and maintains a degree of traction in such cervical region while maintaining the natural curvature of such region through curved support thereof across said raised lobe provided with said cervical roll. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of establishing and maintaining relatively low amounts of traction in the cervical region of a patient, comprising the steps of:
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providing a patient support surface, such as a bed; providing a traction pillow, comprising a generally rectangular construction of resilient foamed material, having a generally flat lower surface for receipt on the patient support surface, and a profiled upper surface including two relative lobes of different sizes on opposing side edges of said pillow and a relative trough therebetween, said lobes and said trough extending parallel to one another across the lateral width of said pillow, said pillow further defining internal chambers having angled walls directed for collapse of said chambers away from the larger of said lobes; placing said traction pillow on said patient support surface relatively adjacent an end of said patient support surface, and with said profiled upper surface of said pillow facing upward, and with said larger lobe thereof placed nearer the center of said patient support surface than the smaller of said lobes; situating a patient on said patient support surface in a generally supine position, and with the patient'"'"'s head and neck supported on said traction pillow, the patient'"'"'s neck in particular being received across said larger lobe, with such patient placement on said pillow tending to at least partially collapse said pillow chambers so as to pull outwardly along the patient'"'"'s cervical region; and thereafter rotatably manipulating said larger lobe by twisting same towards said pillow chambers, so as to more fully collapse same, and so as to more positively establish a degree of traction in the patient'"'"'s cervical region, whereby the curvature of said larger lobe supporting the patient'"'"'s neck maintains natural cervical curvature of the patient, while friction between said pillow lower surface and said patient support surface maintains traction established with said pillow and said situating and twisting steps.
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Specification