Eye Pressure Relief Pillow

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/634,236, filed Apr. 15, 2024, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof.

The present invention generally relates to the field devices to treat eye conditions. More particularly, the invention relates to a pillow configured to support the head in a side or prone position without providing additional pressure to the orbital area of the face.

Glaucoma is a disease that damages the eye's optic nerve. It usually happens when fluid (aqueous humor) builds up in the front part of the eye, raising the normal intra ocular pressure (IOP). The elevated eye pressure can then damage the optic nerve leading to vision loss.

Keratoconus is a vision disorder that occurs when the normally round cornea (the front part of the eye) becomes thin and irregularly (cone) shaped. Keratoconus leads to visual loss due to irregularity of the cornea. Treatments include hard contact lenses, collagen cross linking and corneal transplant in severe cases.

Additional external pressure to the orbital area of the face and specifically the eyes can aggravate both conditions as well as conditions related to floppy eyelid syndrome, post glaucoma valve placement, post-blepharoplasty eyelid surgery, post-ptosis surgery, and post-cataract surgery. The body position during affects Intra Ocular Pressure (IOP). Elevation of IOP can occur with going from upright to a recumbent position. Furthers sleeping with a pillow directly placing pressure on the eye can worsen glaucoma field loss. Several also have observed that keratoconus can progress from eye rubbing and from distortion placed on the eye from pressure, such as when sleeping with facedown on a pillow. One study showed worsening progression of keratoconus on the side that the patient slept on.

The present invention seeks to remedy the shortcomings of pillows in the prior art by providing a structurally stable pillow configured to support the head in a side or prone position without providing additional pressure to the orbital area of the face.

In light of the foregoing a pillow configured to support the head in a side or prone position without providing additional pressure to the orbital area of the face is provided.

In a first aspect the pillow comprises a support portion and a relief portion nested within the support portion. The support portion has a support volume bound by a support portion front side, a support portion rear side, an outer support perimeter, and an inner relief perimeter.

The support portion further comprises a support filling disposed within the support portion volume.

The relief portion has a relief volume bound by a relief portion front side, a relief portion rear side, and the inner relief perimeter. In some aspects, the inner relief perimeter may comprise an elongated arch shape. The elongated arch shape is configured to accommodate the facial orbital area.

In another aspect, the relief portion further comprises a relief filling disposed within the relief portion.

In yet another aspect, the relief portion may have a relief volume thickness from the relief portion front side to relief portion rear side of about one third of an inch in an uncompressed state.

In another aspect, the relief volume height is less than the support volume compressed height.

In one example, the pillow shape is generally rectangular having pillow length, pillow width, a pillow top edge, a pillow bottom edge, a first pillow side edge, a second pillow side edge, a front pillow surface, and a rear pillow surface. In this example, the relief portion is disposed proximal the pillow bottom edge. Further, the relief portion may be disposed at approximately one third the length of the pillow length as measured from the pillow bottom edge. In other examples, the relief portion may be disposed proximal the pillow top edge, or a third of the length of the pillow length as measured from the pillow top edge. In yet another aspect, the relief portion may be disposed centrally between the pillow top edge and bottom edge.

The methods, systems, apparatuses are set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or can be learned by practice of the methods, apparatuses, and systems. The advantages of the methods, apparatuses, and systems will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the methods, apparatuses, and systems, as claimed.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, wherein similar structures have similar reference numerals.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the invention rather than limiting, the scope of the invention being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

As shown inin a first aspect, the pillowcomprises a support portionand a relief portionwithin the support portion. The support portion has a support portion volumebound by a support portion front side, a support portion rear side, an outer support perimeter, and an inner relief perimeter. The support portion front sideand support portion rear sidemay be comprised of any textile or synthetic material. In some aspects, the relief portionis nested within the support portion, while in other aspects, the at least a portion of the relief portionextends to the outer perimeter of the pillow. The support portion front sideand support portion rear sidemay further comprise a coveringmade of quilted microfiber blend with a zipper on at least one side as shown in. It may be beneficial but optional for the coveringfabric to be soft, breathable, machine washable, and thick enough to mask filling lumps. In some examples, the coveringmay comprise a moisture wicking or hydrophobic material.

The support portionfurther comprises a support fillingdisposed within the support portion volume. The support fillingmay comprise but is not limited to, layers or volumetric pieces of polyurethane foam and/or polyester gel fiber, feathers, down, down alternative, cotton, latex, kapok, buckwheat, wool, memory foam, or polyfill. In one example, the support filling comprises a combination of polyurethane foam geometric shapes mixed with polyester gel fiber in an approximately 80% to 20% ratio as shown in.

In one aspect, the support portionmay have a support volume thicknessextending from the support portion front sideto the support portion rear side. In some examples the support volume thicknessranges from of about three inches to about five inches in an uncompressed state. In some examples, the amount of support fillingand support volume thicknessis user adjustable to maintain comfort for the individual user.

The relief portionhas a relief volumebound by a relief portion front side, a relief portion rear side, and the inner relief perimeter. In some aspects, the inner relief perimetermay comprise an elongated arch shape. The elongated arch shape is configured to accommodate the facial orbital area of a person using the pillow as shown in. In some examples, the elongated arch may have a height H (or relief portion gap from a relief portion lower edge to a relief portion upper edge) of about two to three inches as shown in. One of skill in the art would recognize that the inner relief perimetermay be a variety of shapes spanning at least a portion of the width of the pillowas long as height portion can accommodate the facial orbital area. The relief portion front sideand relief portion rear sidemay be comprised of any textile or synthetic material including. The relief portion front sideand relief portion rear sidemay further comprise a coveringmade of quilted microfiber blend. It may be beneficial but optional for the covering fabric to be soft, breathable, machine washable, and thick enough to mask filling lumps.

As shown inThe relief portion further comprises a relief fillingdisposed within the relief portion. The relief fillingmay comprise but is not limited to, layers or volumetric piece of polyurethane foam and/or polyester gel fiber, feathers, down, down alternative, cotton, latex, kapok, buckwheat, wool, memory foam, or polyfill. In one example, the relief portionmay be amillimeter thick flexible foam core to give the relief portionstructure and prevent collapsing.

In yet another aspect, the relief portionmay have a relief volume thicknessextending from the relief portion front sideto relief portion rear side. In another aspect, the relief volume thickness is less than the support volume thickness compressed height. In another aspect the relief volume thicknessis about one third of an inch in an uncompressed state.

In one example, the pillow shape is generally rectangular having pillow length, pillow width, a pillow top edge, a pillow bottom edge, a first pillow side edge, a second pillow side edge, a front pillow surface, and a rear pillow surface. In this example, the relief portionis disposed proximal the pillow bottom edge. Further, the relief portionmay be disposed at approximately one third the length of the pillow lengthas measured from the pillow bottom edge.Further in this example, the pillow lengthand pillow widthmay be approximately eighteen inches by twenty-eight inches to accommodate a queen pillow case. One of skill in the art would recognize that the pillow size and dimensions can scale to other industry standard pillow sizes. In other examples, the relief portion may be disposed proximal the pillow top edge, or a third of the length of the pillow length as measured from the pillow top edge. In yet another aspect, the relief portion may be disposed centrally between the pillow top edge and bottom edge.

In one aspect, as shown in, the relief portion, is disposed towards the rear pillow surface, however in other aspects as shown inthe relief portion, is disposed between the support volume thickness, making the pillow reversible.

In use, as shown inthe narrower section, or lower support portion, of the support portion disposed under the relief portion, is placed under the neck and lower face of the user, allowing the gap to be at the level of the eye orbits. This creates a “bridge” between the lower face and the forehead at an upper support portion that keeps the weight of the whole head off of the globe (eyeball) and protects the globe (eyeball) from pressure during sleep. As shown, the bridge is configured to prevent contact between the eyeball and pillow. The arch design of the relief portionis configured for different size faces to find the proper “bridge” to remove pressure from the globe(s). One of skill in the art would recognize that other shapes of the relief portion such as an elongated rectangle may serve a similar purpose.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand and appreciate the aforementioned description of the invention has been made with reference to a certain exemplary embodiment of the invention, which describe an eye pressure relief pillow and method of use. Those of skill in the art will understand that obvious variations in construction, material, dimensions or properties may be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the claims appended hereto.