US3913155A

US3913155A - Adjustable head and shoulder rest

Info

Publication number: US3913155A
Application number: US500723A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sr George Daniel Eary
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-08-26
Filing date: 1974-08-26
Publication date: 1975-10-21
Anticipated expiration: 1992-10-21

Abstract

An adjustable head and shoulder rest is disclosed which is intended primarily for supporting the body while lying face down. A head or face rest consisting of three distinctly separate, removable and movable members providing a near unlimited number of variations of open areas for the eyes, nose and mouth, together with movable right and left shoulder support members permitting adjustment to different body dimensions and allowing proper weight distribution, ease of breathing and body comfort.

Description

United States Patent 1 Eary, Sr.

[ Oct. 21, 1975 l l ADJUSTABLE HEAD AND SHOULDER REST George Daniel Eary, Sr., Rte 6, Box 264, Hagerstown. Md, 2l740 [76] Inventor:

[22] Filed: Aug. 26, 1974 [2]] Appl. No: 500,723

[52] U.S. Cl. 5/327 [Sll Int. Cl. A47C 21/00 [58] Field of Search.i,,.....,.. 5/327, 327 B, 338, 337, 5/70, 66; 297/391, 4l0, 392;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,l40,497 7/[964 Carswell 5/338 3,828,377 8/1974 Fary, Sr, 5/338 Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Assistant Examiner-K. Downey [57] ABSTRACT An adjustable head and shoulder rest is disclosed which is intended primarily for supporting the body while lying face downv A head or face rest consisting of three distinctly separate, removable and movable members providing a near unlimited number of varia tions of open areas for the eyes, nose and mouth, together with movable right and left shoulder support members permitting adjustment to different body dimensions and allowing proper weight distribution, ease Of breathing and body comfort,

4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures I U.S. Patent 0.21, 1975 Sheet10f2 3,913,155

US. Patent 0.21,1975 Sheet20f2 3,913,155

FIG. 8

FIG. l2

ADJUSTABLE HEAD AND SHOULDER REST BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a support for the upper part of the body. More particularly it relates to a device which enables one to lie comfortably face-down wherein the head and shoulders are cradled in a manner providing for a comfortable distribution of weight and which enables easy, unrestricted breathing.

Many individuals have difficulty in sleeping or resting comfortably in a face-down position. This may be required during surgery or in post operation recovery. This mode of repose is helpful to ladies who have had their hair coiffeured and who wish to preserve the results of their visit to the beauty parlor as long as possible. Likewise, sleeping face down would avoid any discomfort due to the presence of hair curlers. In addition, sunbathers will find this invention useful.

2. Description of Prior Art A number of devices have been patented which are stated to enable one to lie face down in comfort. While these devices do enable one to lie face down ina greater degree of comfort than they would have in their absence, they are either not adjustable to take care of differing body dimensions or the desires of the occu pant, or are adjustable in a limited manner, or else do not properly support the head and shoulders in the best possible manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention consists of a base support having attached thereto a pair of spaced apart resilient shoulder supports which may be adjusted laterally and longitudinally relative to each other end to the base support, allowing the distance between the base support and the shoulder supports to be varied. Fastened to the base and spaced longitudinally from the shoulder supports and equidistant therefrom is a resilient face support consisting of three separate rests or movable members providing a near unlimited number of variations of open areas for the eyes, nose and mouth. Also, the face support may be tilted about an axis parallel to the base and may be raised and lowered.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the body rest.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of rests 4 and along line AA of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of rests 4 and 5 along line AA of FIG. 1 showing one of many possible alternate positions of rests 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of rest 3 along line B-B of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan views of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 illustrating two of many possible positions of

rests

3, 4 and 5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of embodiment of FIG. 1 showing only the support structure of 2, 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view along line C-C of FIG. 7 showing attachment of shoulder rests 6 and 7 to the body rest base 2.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view along line D-D of FIG. 7 showing attachment of

support members

8 and 9 to the body rest base 2.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view along line E-E of FIG. I showing attachment of rest 4 to support structure 9. (view is rotated FIG. 11 is a sectional view along line FF of FIG. 12 showing another embodiment of the head rest portion.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of another embodiment of the adjustable head and shoulder rest.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a head and shoulder rest designated generally as l, which has a base 2. Base 2 is made of flat and relatively thin material having sufficient rigidity to serve as a support for the head support elements to be attached thereon. Suitable materials for this purpose may be aluminum or other sheet metal, plywood, composition board, various resin-fiber glass laminates, etc. Attached to base 2 at its rearward portion are shoulder rests 6 and 7, attached by members l4, l4. Near the middle of base 2 are mounted resilient face supports 3, 4 and 5 and fastened to their undersides are rigid and relatively thin bases l9, l9 and 22 respectively which may be of the same composition as base 2. Shoulder rests 6 and 7 as well as

face rests

3, 4 and 5 are made from a resilient material such as foam rubber, polyurethane foam or padding, for example, and may be covered by cloth or plastic. Alternatively, they may be made of inflatable bladders of suitable configuration which can be blown up prior to use. Such bladders may be inflated with air or hot or cold liquids to the desired firmness and temperature.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views of rests 4 and 5 along line AA of FIG. 1 and illustrate their somewhat primoidal shape which exists for the length of each rest. FIG. 3 also shows one of many alternate positions of rests 4 and 5, readily allowed by attachment methods of the rests.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of rest 3 along line 8-8 of FIG. 1 and shows a notched area, 24, which is configured to receive the forehead of the user.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are plan views of

face rests

3, 4 and 5 showing two of many alternate positions of each rest, relative to each other rest.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 showing

structure members

2, 8 and 9 (all rests are omitted for clarity) and when considered in conjunction with FIG. 8 taken along line C-C of FIG. 7 the method of attaching shoulder rests 6 and 7 becomes apparent. When thumb screw 20 is loosened, shoulder attachment 14 can be positioned along longitudinal axis of base 2 and/or rotated about thumb screw 20 and/or positioned latterally relative to base 2, providing the capability of changing the distance between rests 6 and 7 and/or changing the distance of either/or both rests 6 and 7 relative to the head rest which is mounted on base 2. When the users desired relative positioning of the head and shoulder rests is complete and thumb screw 20 is tightened into nut 23, star washer I6 is embedded into both shoulder attachment l4 and base 2, firmly holding the desired positions. Flat washer 11 is provided to prevent the head of thumb screw 20 from passing through the slot in attachment 14. FIG. 8 shown for the right side is also typical for the left side.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view along line D-D of FIG. 7 showing attachment of

members

8 and 9 to base 2 and

support face rests

3, 4 and 5. The heighth of the face rests may be adjusted by placing'thumb screw 10 in the desired hole in 9 support member. The choice of holes are identified with 25. FIG, 9 shows left side only but is similar to the right side of face rest supports 8 and 9. Flat washers l3 and spring clip 12 assure that support 9 and thumb screw 10 move simultaneously in the desired direction, allowing the distance between rests 4 and to be varied by turning each of two thumb screws in to close or out to spread the legs of the U shaped face support member 9.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view along line EE of FIG. 1 showing only the attachment of face rest 4 to support structure 9. (view is rotated 180) This method of attachment is typical for

face rests

3 and 5 also. When wing-nut 21 is loosened, face rest 4 may be moved laterally relative to base 2 and/or rotated as shown in FIG. 6, moving within slot b in support 9 shown in FIG. 7. Similarly, face rest 3 may be moved in two slots a, and face rest 5 may be moved or rotated within slot 0 of support 9 as shown in FIG. 7. When desired open areas have been produced by above mentioned procedure for the eyes, nose and mouth, the face rests are secured by tightening the four wing-nuts 21.

FIG. 12 is another embodiment of the adjustable head and shoulder rest showing a base 18 made of similar material as base 2 and with same shoulder rest at tachment provisions as shown in FIG. 1. Head rest 17 is permanently fixed to base 18 as by an adhesive or glueing, and is tapered from approximately one inch thickness at right and left edges to approximately two inches of thickness at the center, holding these dimensions laterally or from top to bottom as shown in FIG. 11. Head rest 17 may be made of same materials as is used in 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, all of which are shown generally to be rectangular, but other shapes may be employed as well. The thickness of rests 6 and 7 would be from three inches to seven inches generally, in both embodiments. The embodiment of FIG. 12 is intended only for placing the head on the right or left side.

What is claimed:

1. An adjustable rest for the head and shoulder of the human body comprising:

a. a base member,

b. a pair of laterally spaced apart resilient shoulder support members having adjustable attaching means, said attaching means rotatably connecting said shoulder support members for movement relative to each other and to said base member, whereby said shoulder members are adjustably spaced from each other and from said base member and adapted to support the shoulders of said human body in a predetermined position,

c. a rotatable face support member having separate interconnected movable members comprising, at least, one for the head, one for the left cheek extending below the chin, and a similar one for the right cheek also extending below the chin,

d. said rotatable face support members being rotatably attached to said base member and spaced longitudinally and generally about equidistant from each of the shoulder members, so that the head and shoulders of said human body is comfortably supported by said face and shoulder support members,

e. said face support members adapted to provide a variation of open areas adaptable to receive the eyes, nose and/or mouth of a human face by adjusting said face support members,

f. said face adjusting attaching means comprising means to raise or lower said face support members and permitting a rotational movement of said face support members about, at least, a transverse axis extending parallel to said base member, and

g. means for varying the lateral distance between said cheek members.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein one or more or the resilient support members has an inflatable bladder core of rubber, plastic, or the like and adapted to be inflated to various sizes thereof.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said core is provided with a suitable cover of polyurethane or the like.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the head support member comprises two tapered sides, whereby either of said tapered sides may be used to support the head.

Claims

1. An adjustable rest for the head and shoulder of the human body comprising: a. a base member, b. a pair of laterally spaced apart resilient shoulder support members having adjustable attaching means, said attaching means rotatably connecting said shoulder support members for movement relative to each other and to said base member, whereby said shoulder members are adjustably spaced from each other and from said base member and adapted to support the shoulders of said human body in a predetermined position, c. a rotatable face support member having separate interconnected movable members comprising, at least, one for the head, one for the left cheek extending below the chin, and a similar one for the right cheek also extending below the chin, d. said rotatable face support members being rotatably attached to said base member and spaced longitudinally and generally about equidistant from each of the shoulder members, so that the head and shoulders of said human body is comfortably supported by said face and shoulder support members, e. said face support members adapted to provide a variation of open areas adaptable to receive the eyes, nose and/or mouth of a human face by adjusting said face support members, f. said face adjusting attaching means comprising means to raise or lower said face support members and permitting a rotational movement of said face support members about, at least, a transverse axis extending parallel to said base member, and g. means for varying the lateral distance between said cheek members.