CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Patent Application No. 108206941, filed on May 31, 2019.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a portable container, more particularly to a pillow storage device.

BACKGROUND

When traveling or camping, there may be need to stay overnight, so that one would usually check-in in a hotel or set up his/her own tent to rest in the evening. Some travelers have difficulty adjusting to the pillows provided by the hotel, or have health concerns about the pillows provided by the hotel, so that they would bring their own pillows during traveling. During camping, a traveler may choose to carry a pillow depending on the style of the sleeping bag and personal preferences. However, whether traveling or camping, the amount of luggage is always considered. Too much luggage can cause inconvenience, and is troublesome to carry.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a pillow storage device that can reduce the space occupied by a pillow and that is easy to carry.

According to this disclosure, a pillow storage device suitable for storing a pillow includes a rollable pad, a positioning unit and a fastening unit. The rollable pad includes a first end portion, a second end portion opposite to the first end portion along a first direction, and a connecting portion between the first and second end portions. Each of the first and second end portions has an inner surface, and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface along a second direction transverse to the first direction. The connecting portion has an inner surface, and an outer surface opposite to the inner surface of the connecting portion along the second direction. The rollable pad is switchable between an unfolded state, in which the first and second end portions of the rollable pad are spaced apart from each other such that the inner surfaces of the first end portion, the second end portion and the connecting portion are spread out, and a folded state, in which the rollable pad is rolled from the first end portion together with the pillow toward the second end portion along the first direction such that the inner surface of the second end portion is adjacent to the outer surface of the connecting portion.

The positioning unit is disposed on the rollable pad for positioning the pillow on the rollable pad. The fastening unit includes a first fastener disposed on the inner surface of the second end portion, and a second fastener disposed on the outer surface of the connecting portion. The first fastener and the second fastener are spaced apart from each other when the rollable pad is in the unfolded state, and are engaged to each other when the rollable pad is in the folded state to thereby fix the inner surface of the second end portion to the outer surface of the connecting portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pillow storage device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a rollable pad in an unfolded state and a pillow stored therein;

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating the rollable pad in a folded state;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a pillow storage device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrating a rollable pad in an unfolded state and a pillow stored therein;

FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but illustrating the rollable pad in a folded state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the present disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a pillow storage device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure is suitable for storing a pillow 9, and is shown to comprise a rollable pad 1, a positioning unit 2, and a fastening unit 3.

The rollable pad 1 includes a first end portion 11, a second end portion 12 opposite to the first end portion 11 along a first direction (D1), and a connecting portion 13 between the first and second end portions 11, 12. Each of the first and second end portions 11 has an inner surface 111, 121, and an outer surface 112, 122 opposite to the inner surface 111, 121 along a second direction (D2) transverse to the first direction (D1). The connecting portion 13 also has an inner surface 131, and an outer surface 132 opposite to the inner surface 131 along the second direction (D2).

The positioning unit 2 is disposed on the rollable pad 1, and is suitable for positioning the pillow 9 on the rollable pad 1. The positioning unit 2 includes a first positioning member 21 located on the inner surface 111 of the first end portion 11, and a second positioning member 22 spaced apart from the first positioning member 21 along the first direction (D1) and located on the inner surface 131 of the connecting portion 13. A distance between the first and second positioning members 21, 22 is greater than one-half of a length of the rollable pad 1 along the first direction (D1).

The first positioning member 21 is in the form of a sheet, and has two opposite first lateral sides 211 fixed to the inner surface 111 of the first end portion 11, and a first stopping side 212 connected between the first lateral sides 211 and fixed to the first end portion 11. Specifically, the first lateral sides 211 and the first stopping side 212 are fixed to a periphery of the first end portion 11. The first lateral sides 211 are spaced apart from each other along a third direction (D3) transverse to the first and second directions (D1, D2). The first stopping side 212 is located opposite to the second end portion 12. The first positioning member 21 and the inner surface 111 of the first end portion 11 cooperatively define a first pocket 213 having an opening that faces the second end portion 12. The first pocket 213 is provided for insertion therein of one end of the pillow 9, which is proximate to the first end portion 11, via the opening thereof.

The second positioning member 22 is in the form of a sheet, and has two opposite second lateral sides 221 fixed to the inner surface 131 of the connecting portion 13, and a second stopping side 222 connected between the second lateral sides 221 and fixed to the connecting portion 13. Specifically, the second lateral sides 221 and the second stopping side 222 are fixed to a periphery of the connecting portion 13. The second lateral sides 221 are spaced apart from each other along the third direction (D3). The second stopping side 222 is located opposite to the first end portion 11. The second positioning member 22 and the inner surface 131 of the connecting portion 13 cooperatively define a second pocket 223 having an opening that faces the first end portion 11. The second pocket 223 is provided for insertion therein of another end of the pillow 9, which is proximate to the second end portion 12, via the opening thereof.

It is worth to mention herein that the first lateral sides 211, the first stopping side 212, the second lateral sides 221 and the second stopping side 222 of this embodiment are fixed to the rollable pad 1 by stitching, but is not limited thereto.

The fastening unit 3 includes a first fastener 31 disposed on the inner surface 121 of the second end portion 12, and a second fastener 32 disposed on the outer surface 132 of the connecting portion 13. In this embodiment, each of the first and second fasteners 31, 32 includes at least one hook fastener 311, 321 and at least one loop fastener 312, 322. The hook and loop fasteners 311, 312 of the first fastener 31 are releasably engageable with the hook and loop fasteners 321, 322 of the second fastener 32. It should be noted herein that the each of the first and second fasteners 31, 32 may include only one hook or loop fastener, or three hook and loop fasteners, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 4, in combination with FIGS. 1 and 3, the rollable pad 1 is switchable between an unfolded state, as shown in FIG. 1, and a folded state, as shown in FIG. 4. In the unfolded state, the first and second end portions 11, 12 of the rollable pad 1 are spaced apart from each other such that the inner surfaces 111, 121, 131 of the first end portion 11, the second end portion 12, and the connecting portion 13 are spread out, and the first and second fasteners 31, 32 are spaced apart from each other. In the folded state, the rollable pad 1 is rolled from the first end portion 11 together with the pillow 9 toward the second end portion 12 along the first direction (D1) such that the inner surface 121 of the second end portion 12 is adjacent to the outer surface 132 of the connecting portion 13, after which the hook and loop fasteners 311, 321, 312, 322 of the first and second fasteners 31, 32 are mated and engaged to each other, thereby fixing the inner surface 121 of the second end portion 12 to the outer surface 132 of the connecting portion 13.

Through the positioning unit 2, two opposite ends of the pillow 9 can be respectively positioned on the first and second pockets 213, 223 of the rollable pad 1, so that during rolling of the rollable pad 1 from the first end portion 11 toward the second end portion 12, the pillow 9 is compressed, thereby effectively reducing the space occupied by the pillow 9. Hence, the pillow storage device of this disclosure is easy to carry and store. Moreover, since the distance between the first and second positioning members 21, 22 is greater than one-half of the length of the rollable pad 1 along the first direction (D1), an occupied ratio of the pillow 9 relative to the rollable pad 1 is also greater than one-half. Therefore, during rolling, more than one-half of the ratio is compressing the pillow 9, thereby obtaining a large reduction effect.

Referring to FIGS. 5 to 7, a pillow storage device according to the second embodiment of this disclosure is shown to be identical to the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the positioning unit 2 only includes the first positioning member 21, the first fastener 31 includes two spaced-apart engaging hooks 313, and the second fastener 32 includes two spaced-apart engaging rings 323 releasably and respectively engageable with the engaging hooks 313.

It should be noted herein that the first fastener 31 may include one or three engaging hooks 313, and the engaging rings 323 of the second fastener 32 correspond in number to the engaging hooks 313. Further, the positions of the first and second fasteners 31, 32 may be interchanged.

Referring to FIG. 8, in combination with FIGS. 5 and 7, the rollable pad 1 is switchable between an unfolded state, as shown in FIG. 5, and a folded state, as shown in FIG. 8. In the unfolded state, the first and second end portions 11, 12 of the rollable pad 1 are spaced apart from each other. In the folded state, the engaging hooks 313 of the first fastener 31 are respectively hooked and engaged to the engaging rings 323 of the second fastener 32, thereby fixing the inner surface 121 of the second end portion 12 to the outer surface 132 of the connecting portion 13.

The effects of the first embodiment can similarly be achieved using the second embodiment.

In sum, in the pillow storage device of this disclosure, the rollable pad 1 is rolled from the first end portion 11 together with the pillow 9 toward the second end portion 12 along the first direction (D1), and in coordination with the fastening unit 3, the inner surface 121 of the second end portion 12 and the outer surface 132 of the connecting portion 13 can be fixed to each other, thereby effectively reducing the space occupied by the pillow 9 and the rollable pad 1, so that the pillow storage device of this disclosure is easy to carry and store. Hence, the object of this disclosure can indeed be achieved.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.