JP7670946B2 - Arm pillow - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act. Disclosed by the applicant at the home of Mr. Takeshi Okumura, 370 Higashikujo, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, on April 6, 2022.

The present invention relates to an arm pillow that allows the user to keep their arms resting on it while sitting in a chair, sofa, wheelchair, car seat, etc., and is particularly useful when used in a wheelchair.

Elderly people who lack the muscle strength required to maintain body posture, and people with disabilities who have skeletal abnormalities or muscle contractures due to some kind of illness, often have difficulty not only standing up and walking, but also maintaining a seated posture.

When sitting, supporting the heavy arms on the armrests stabilizes posture and reduces fatigue, but sitting for long periods of time on chairs or sofas without armrests, or even on wheelchairs where the height and position of the armrests are not suitable for the person's physique, places a great strain on the body. In particular, wheelchairs generally use small armrests due to limitations on the overall width and to prevent interference with the arms operating the wheels, leaving the arms unsupported and tiring, or the elbows often accidentally dropping off the armrests, causing poor posture.

If the upper body is left leaning forward for a long period without the arms supporting it, the internal organs are compressed. Conversely, if the upper body is leaned back and weight is placed on the backrest, the pelvis tends to shift forward, causing poor posture, which can lead to falling out of a chair or wheelchair, and the weight being concentrated on one part of the buttocks can also cause bedsores.

To solve this problem, Patent Document 1 discloses an armrest for a chair on which a seated person can rest with their arms resting, and this prior art has been commercialized and is widely used.
JP 2006-55526 A

The chair arm pillow of this prior art is made of a cushioned material that is placed on the user's thighs, and has an inclined surface on the underside that corresponds to the forward inclination of the upper surface of the thighs, so that the upper surface is kept approximately horizontal, and a curved part that covers the thighs ensures stability. The chair arm pillow also allows both arms to rest on the upper surface, preventing the upper body from leaning too far forward and losing posture, and is also expected to have the effect of preventing the lower body from sliding forward by maintaining a moderate forward inclination of the upper body while seated and raising the pelvis, and relieving pressure around the ischium and coccyx by resting the weight of the upper body on it. Furthermore, a clamping member that is clamped by the thighs is provided detachably near the front end of the underside, preventing pain from both knees coming into contact and stabilizing the arm pillow.

However, the chair arm pillow according to the prior art is designed to be placed on the user's thighs, and although it has a curved surface that comes into contact with the user's abdomen, it does not have any special structure for keeping the arm pillow in constant contact with the body. As a result, every time the user moves their legs, it moves with the movement, becoming unstable and prone to slipping off the thighs and falling off. For example, in patients with contractures of the muscles in their legs, it may not be possible to place the arm pillow evenly on both thighs, and it may be difficult to keep it stable continuously. Furthermore, when the user picks up an object with their hands or twists their upper body, the chair arm pillow may move away from the abdomen and fall off unintentionally, so it is necessary to readjust the position each time to prevent this.

Of course, if the user always places both arms on the top of the chair arm rest and presses them down against the top of their thighs, it will be possible to prevent the arm rest from slipping or falling. However, this restricts the freedom of the user's arms, and since the user is forced to always lean forward while using the chair arm rest, it is not necessarily suitable in terms of fixing posture. In caregiving for the elderly or disabled, it also requires the caregiver to constantly check the position of the chair arm rest, which could be an additional burden.

In addition, the armrest for chairs according to the prior art has the effect of preventing the knees from coming into contact and causing pain by using a clamping member located near the front end of the underside that is clamped by the thighs, but this clamping part can only prevent the knees from coming into contact. However, depending on the user, the insides of the thighs may rub against each other while sitting for long periods of time, causing bedsores, or the hip joints may become stiff in the direction of the thighs turning inwards, and this clamping part alone cannot necessarily prevent these.

On the other hand, chair arm rests according to the prior art are considered to be particularly useful when seated in a wheelchair, but since they are used by placing them on the top of the thighs, their width must fit within the inner width of the left and right armrests of the wheelchair, and the height of the top of the chair arm rest must be high enough to support the user's elbows and forearms. Users come in a variety of shapes, particularly shoulder widths, but as mentioned above, the width of chair arm rests is limited, so while they may be suitable for small users, for relatively large users, even if they can rest their forearms on them, their elbows will not be supported, and they will end up in a forward-leaning position with their forearms floating and their shoulders dropped. In this case, the rib cage is forced into a constricted state, causing problems such as shallow breathing.

Furthermore, because the height of the armrest supports the user's forearm and elbow, when sitting at a dining table while in a wheelchair, the upper surface of the armrest will interfere with the table top, making it impossible to use a chair armrest.

This invention was created to solve the problems with the chair arm pillows of the prior art described above, and the problem to be solved is to provide an arm pillow that allows the user to keep their arms on it while sitting on a chair, sofa, etc., especially a wheelchair, and that not only stably holds the arm pillow body on which the arms are rested, regardless of the user's body shape or the degree of physical illness, but also allows the arm pillow to be kept in constant contact with the body without restricting the user's posture or movement.

In order to solve the above problems, the arm pillow described in claim 1 of the present invention is an arm pillow made of a cushioning material that is placed on the thighs of a user when sitting on a chair or wheelchair ,
A substantially rectangular plate-shaped arm pillow body having a curved portion formed on the side that contacts the abdomen of the user and a pair of protruding portions at the rear;
A support body having a substantially rectangular column shape formed of a cushioning material having a height from the seat surface of the chair or wheelchair to the upper surface of the user's thigh, and capable of supporting the arm pillow body horizontally from the underside when sandwiched between the user's crotch,
The armrest body is made of two layers of cushioning material, a lower cushioning material and an upper cushioning material, which can be joined or separated.
the lower cushion body has a width that allows it to be fitted between both armrests of a chair or wheelchair, and a thickness that allows its upper surface to not interfere with the lower surface of a table or desk top when supported by the support body,
The upper cushion body has a width such that both left and right ends are placed over both armrests of a chair or wheelchair,
When the arm pillow main body is supported by the support body , at least both side ends of the upper surface of the upper cushion body that come into contact with the user's abdomen have a thickness capable of supporting both elbows of a user with both arms resting on the upper surface of the arm pillow main body.

The arm pillow described in claim 1 is provided with a support body having a height from the seat of a chair or wheelchair to the top of the user's thigh, and the arm pillow body is supported horizontally mainly by the seat of the chair or wheelchair via the support body, and secondarily by the top of the thigh. In addition, since the support body is sandwiched between the user's legs, it does not easily shift out of position on the seat, and combined with the fact that the curved part abuts and fits against the user's abdomen, the arm pillow body is less likely to shift out of position.

The arm pillow body is made of a cushioning material, but the cushioning is only near the surface, and it is desirable that the part not supported by the support body is made of a lightweight material with enough rigidity so that it does not easily droop significantly when the user places their forearm and elbow on it. Similarly, it is desirable that the support body is also made of a lightweight material with cushioning only near the surface, and with enough rigidity so that it does not easily compress and deform even when the arm is placed on the arm pillow body. It is also desirable that the central part of the underside of the arm pillow body and the upper surface of the support body are each provided with a connecting member such as a hook-and-loop fastener, so that they can be connected or separated.

It is desirable that the width of the upper cushion body is greater than that of the lower cushion body, and that when applied to a wheelchair, the left and right ends are wide enough to cover both armrests of the wheelchair, and that the width of the protruding parts extending to the curved parts on both sides is wide enough to extend from the user's flank to the outside of the armrest. This ensures a space to support the elbow that is wider than the narrow armrests of a wheelchair, so that the armrest body can always comfortably support the forearm to elbow regardless of the user's physique, particularly shoulder width (distance between the elbows).

The lower and upper cushion bodies are constructed in a two-layer structure that can be joined or separated, so that only the upper cushion body can be removed as needed. This means that if the upper cushion body is removed while using the arm rest in a wheelchair, the user can sit down without interfering with the dining table or the like. Even in this state, the lower cushion body remains in contact with the user's abdomen under the table top, and both of the user's arms can be placed on the table.

Next, the arm pillow described in claim 2 is the arm pillow described in claim 1 , further comprising a lumbar cushion body formed of a cushioning material and equipped with a pair of first fixing belts whose ends are provided with connectors and whose lengths are adjustable,
the lower cushion body includes a second fixing belt having a connector provided on each of the pair of protruding portions ,
The pair of first fixing belts of the lumbar cushion body, which is placed in contact with the user's lumbar region, and the second fixing belt of the lower cushion body are connected with respective connecting bodies, thereby making it possible to fix the cushion body to the user's abdomen.

When the lower cushion body and the upper cushion body are joined, the curved part of the upper cushion body is placed against the user's abdomen, the lumbar cushion body is placed against the lumbar region on the back side, and the first and second fixing belts are connected, so the entire arm pillow can be fixed to the user's body. The user does not need to constantly hold down the arm pillow with their arms from above, and there is no need to worry about the arm pillow shifting back and forth or side to side or falling off the thighs, so the freedom of both arms is not restricted, and movements such as twisting and tilting the upper body can be made with peace of mind. In addition, because the user is no longer forced to maintain a constantly leaning forward posture, the upper body can be tilted back and forth to move the position of the buttocks and shift weight, which relieves pressure around the ischium and coccyx, reduces fatigue, and prevents the development of bedsores on the buttocks.

When eating, as mentioned above, only the upper cushion body can be removed and the user can sit without interfering with the dining table, but in this case, the remaining lower cushion body can also be connected to the lumbar cushion with a fixing belt. This not only allows the lower cushion body to remain fixed to the user's body, but also fills the gap between the underside of the table top and the top of the user's thighs with the lower cushion body supported by the support body. For this reason, even if the user moves the upper body back and forth to shift their weight, the lower half of the user's body is held on the seat of the chair or wheelchair by the lower cushion body, making it difficult for the user's posture to be disrupted, and the body posture can be stabilized even for elderly people with weak muscles or patients with muscle contractures.

Finally, the arm pillow recited in claim 3 is the arm pillow recited in either claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the support body has a planar shape that is slightly narrower on the rear side than on the front side.

By making the support in this shape, the user's legs can be comfortably held slightly apart on the seat of a chair or wheelchair, preventing not only the knees but also the insides of the thighs from rubbing against each other, and by keeping the legs slightly apart, the left and right balance of the upper body is also comfortably maintained.

As mentioned above, if a connecting member such as a hook-and-loop fastener is provided on the central portion of the underside of the arm pillow body and on the upper surface of the support, and the two can be connected or separated, the support can be connected by reversing the front-to-back direction. In this case, the cross section of the cushioned support becomes wider on the crotch side of the user, spreading the crotch wider. This allows the user to easily perform strength training to train the muscles of the waist and thighs, especially the inner muscles, by repeating the action of consciously closing both thighs with force and opening them with the repulsive force of the support.

The arm pillow of the present invention can solve the problems of the prior art and has the following effects. That is, since the arm pillow body and the lumbar cushion body can be connected with a belt and fixed to the user's lumbar region, the arm pillow will not shift position or fall off accidentally due to the user's posture or movement, even if the user does not always hold down the arm pillow with his/her arms. Therefore, not only is the freedom of the user's arms and the movement of the upper body not restricted, but the user is not forced to always lean forward, reducing the burden on the user and the caregiver. In addition, regardless of the user's physique, the arm pillow body can always comfortably support the forearm to elbow, which increases redundancy in maintaining the posture of the upper body and reducing fatigue, making it more effective. Furthermore, the arm pillow body has a two-layer structure of a lower cushion body and an upper cushion body, and only the upper cushion body is removable, so that the user can sit on a wheelchair or the like without interfering with a table or the like when using the arm pillow.

The present invention, particularly an embodiment of an arm pillow with a two-layer structure, will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the arm pillow 1 according to the embodiment, seen diagonally from the front, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the upper cushion body 11 separated. Fig. 3 is the lower cushion body 10, Fig. 4 is a plan view and a side view of the upper cushion body 11, Fig. 5 is a plan view and a side view of the support body 12, and Fig. 6 is a plan view and a front view of the lumbar cushion body 13. Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the arm pillow 1 seen from below (lumbar cushion 13 omitted), Fig. 8 is a front view of the same (lumbar cushion body omitted), and Fig. 9 is a side view of the arm pillow 1 including the lumbar cushion body 13 in a separated state.

The lower cushion body 10, the upper cushion body 11, and the support body 12 are made of cushioning materials, and the members molded integrally from thermoplastic polyurethane foam resin with a certain degree of hardness are covered with a flexible outer skin such as a soft-touch textile fabric or synthetic leather. The materials are not limited to the above, and thermoplastic elastomer materials or padding can also be used, and a resin, metal, or wooden core material can be embedded inside the above members to suppress deformation due to load. In addition, the exterior of a lightweight, hard member can be covered with a soft, highly elastic cushion layer such as sponge and then covered with an outer skin, or each component can be made only of cushioning materials without being covered with an outer skin.

The lumbar cushion body 13 is also made of a material with similar cushioning properties, but it is desirable that it be soft enough that it fits the user's lumbar region when worn and does not cause an excessive foreign body sensation when the user sits on a chair or the like and leans against the backrest, and a configuration in which a member made of sponge or the like is covered with a flexible outer skin is preferable.

The lower cushion body 10 and the upper cushion body 11 are roughly similar in shape, with curved portions 10a, 11a on the side that contacts the user's abdomen and a pair of protruding portions 10b, 11b at the rear, and the curves of the curved portions 10a, 11a are roughly the same along the abdomen. The lower cushion body 10 has a width that allows it to be comfortably pushed between the armrests of a typical wheelchair and a thickness that allows its upper surface to not interfere with the underside of a table or desk top when supported by the support body 12. In addition, a hook-and-loop fastener (not shown) is provided in the center of the lower surface of the lower cushion body 10, allowing the upper surface of the support body 12 to be detachably joined.

On the other hand, the width of the upper cushion body 11 is larger than that of the lower cushion body, with both left and right ends being wide enough to cover both armrests of a typical wheelchair, and the width of each of the pair of protruding parts 11b on both sides being wide enough to extend from the user's flank to the outside of the armrest. In other words, the user can rest their elbows anywhere on the upper surface of the protruding parts 11b, regardless of their physique, particularly their shoulder width (distance between elbows). The thickness of the upper cushion body 11 is not particularly limited, but it is made to a height that allows the user to rest both elbows against it and support it when it is layered and joined on top of the lower cushion body 10 supported by the support body 12.

The front corners of the lower cushion body 10 and the upper cushion body 11 are curved to reduce interference with the outside, and the front end top surface of the upper cushion body 11 is inclined slightly upward. In addition, both the lower cushion body 10 and the upper cushion body 11 are provided with a pair of second fixing belts 10c, 11c with connectors 10d, 11d at their ends on the outer surfaces of the protrusions 10b, 11b.

The support 12 has a planar shape that is slightly narrower at the rear side facing the crotch area of the user than at the front side, and its upper surface is provided with a hook-and-loop fastener (not shown) that can be detachably attached to the underside of the lower cushion body 10.

As shown in FIG. 8, the lumbar cushion body 14 is provided with a pair of first fixing belts 14a near both ends, each of which has a connector 14b at its end. At least the pair of first fixing belts 14a has a length adjustment mechanism (not shown), but the pair of second fixing belts 10c, 11c may also be provided with a length adjustment mechanism.

Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing a user wearing arm pillow 1 while seated in a typical chair (the same applies to a wheelchair). Support body 12 is at a height from the seat surface to the top surface of the user's thighs, supporting lower cushion body 10 from below, and the top surface of upper cushion body 11 placed on top of it comfortably supports the user's forearm to elbow. Also, by connecting second fixing belt 11c of upper cushion body 11 to first fixing belt 13a of lumbar cushion body 13 attached to the back of the user's waist, the entire arm pillow 1 is fixed to the user's body.

Figure 11 is a schematic diagram showing a user wearing arm pillow 1 seated at a table of normal height (the same applies to a wheelchair). In this case, the upper cushion body 11 has been removed, and the upper surface of the lower cushion body 10 is at a height that does not interfere with the underside of the table top, so the user can sit with their abdomen close to the edge of the table top.

Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a user wearing the arm pillow 1 and seated in a standard wheelchair, viewed from the front. This figure is based on the assumption that the user is relatively small with narrow shoulders, and although the distance between the elbows of such a user is narrower than the width of the wheelchair's armrests, both elbows are comfortably supported by both the left and right ends of the upper cushion body 11 (specifically, the top surface of the protruding portion 11b). Conversely, even in the case of a relatively large user with wide shoulders, both elbows are still supported by the upper cushion body 11, so there is no problem.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-mentioned configuration, and can be modified and implemented as appropriate within the scope of the invention, which achieves the object and has the effect, and as long as it falls within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention, it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

The arm pillow of the present invention can be used by users of various sizes, and the inner width of the armrest may differ depending on the chair or wheelchair, so it is desirable to prepare several different sizes as appropriate. The width of the lower cushion body should be sized according to the inner width of the wheelchair armrest, and multiple interchangeable supports of different heights can be prepared, allowing the height of the upper surface of the arm pillow to be adjusted according to the user's size and the height of the table at which the user is seated.

The arm pillow of the present invention is effective in reducing fatigue and maintaining posture for people who have difficulty maintaining their posture when sitting for long periods of time, such as elderly people with weakened muscles or people with disabilities who have contracted muscles due to some kind of illness, and is particularly applicable in care facilities where there are many wheelchair users.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an arm rest according to an embodiment; A perspective view of the arm pillow with the upper cushion body separated. Plan and side views of the lower cushion body alone Plan and side views of the upper cushion body alone Plan and side views of the support Bottom view of arm rest according to embodiment Front view of arm rest according to embodiment Plan and rear views of the lumbar cushion body Side view of arm rest according to embodiment A schematic diagram showing a user wearing an armrest while seated in a chair A schematic diagram showing a user sitting at a table with an arm rest attached A schematic diagram of a person sitting in a standard wheelchair with arm rests, viewed from the front

1 Arm pillow 10 Lower cushion body 11 Upper cushion body 12 Support body 13 Lumbar cushion body

Claims (3)

An armrest made of a cushioning material that is placed on the thighs of a user when sitting on a chair or wheelchair ,
A substantially rectangular plate-shaped arm pillow body having a curved portion formed on the side that contacts the abdomen of the user and a pair of protruding portions at the rear;
A support body having a substantially rectangular column shape formed of a cushioning material having a height from the seat surface of the chair or wheelchair to the upper surface of the user's thigh, and capable of supporting the arm pillow body horizontally from the underside when sandwiched between the user's crotch,
The armrest body is made of two layers of cushioning material, a lower cushioning material and an upper cushioning material, which can be joined or separated.
the lower cushion body has a width that allows it to be fitted between both armrests of a chair or wheelchair, and a thickness that allows its upper surface to not interfere with the lower surface of a table or desk top when supported by the support body,
The upper cushion body has a width such that both left and right ends are placed over both armrests of a chair or wheelchair,
This arm pillow is characterized in that, when the arm pillow main body is supported by the support body , at least both side ends of the upper surface of the upper cushion body that abut against the user's abdomen have a thickness capable of supporting both elbows of a user with both arms resting on the upper surface of the arm pillow main body. The seat cushion further includes a lumbar cushion body formed of a cushioning material and including a pair of first fixing belts each having a length adjustable and a connector at one end thereof,
the lower cushion body includes a second fixing belt having a connector provided on each of the pair of protruding portions ,
2. The arm pillow according to claim 1, characterized in that the pair of first fixing belts of the lumbar cushion body, which is in contact with the user's lumbar region, and the second fixing belt of the lower cushion body are connected with respective connecting members, thereby making it possible to fix the arm pillow to the user's abdomen . 3. The arm pillow according to claim 1 , wherein the support member has a planar shape that is slightly narrower at its rear side than at its front side.