A support material having an hourglass shape reduces the cost of manufacturing as well as increasing comfort and air circulation. The support material includes a primary end having a primary diameter located opposite a secondary end having a secondary diameter. A substantially central portion of the support material has a tertiary diameter being a size less than the primary and secondary diameters. Additional improvements include an improved outer wall surface of the support material having at least one recess. The at least one recess can retain a substance such as a cooling gel.

A pillow includes a first pillow cushion consisting essentially of a gelatinous elastomer that is sized and configured to support a head and neck of a person using the pillow cushion and a second pillow cushion coupled thereto. The pillow cushion has deformable wall members located and configured to define voids therebetween such that the deformable wall members may be displaced into adjacent voids upon deformation of the deformable wall members. The deformable wall members are configured to buckle when a pressure applied to a cushioning surface of the first pillow cushion, in a direction perpendicular to a first major surface, exceeds a threshold pressure level. A pillow cover covers the first pillow cushion and the second pillow cushion. A method of fabricating a pillow includes enclosing such first and second pillow cushions in a pillow cover.

The disclosure provides blowable insulation or filling material, and apparatus and methods for making same. The blowable insulation or filling material includes a plurality of discrete elongate floccules each formed of a plurality of fibers. The floccules include a relatively open enlarged medial portion. The floccules also include relatively condensed twisted tail portions extending from opposing ends of the medial portion. The floccules can be utilized by existing garment fill blowing machines without clogging thereof, and include a superior soft hand feel, thermal resistance and launderability. The floccules may be formed by forcing staple fibers through apertures of a rotating hollow drum to partially form the floccule structure within the drum. The partially formed floccules may be retained within the rotating drum for a dwell time to finalize the floccule structure.

The present invention relates to a thermal insulating structure including at least one baffle, to an article of wear and a sleeping bag including such a thermal insulating structure, and to a method for manufacturing such a thermal insulating structure. In some embodiments, the baffle includes a plurality of natural and/or synthetic down fibers and a plurality of low-melt fibers, wherein the low-melt fibers have been melted to the natural and/or synthetic down fibers by heating inside the baffle.

A blend of polyester staple fibers and insulation fill materials useful as a replacement for natural down in articles such as outdoor apparel, sleeping bags, bedding, etc. The blend includes first, second and optionally third polyester staple fiber formats that differing in terms of average diameter. A length of substantially all the fibers of the blend is in the range of about 16 to about 63 mm, alternatively 20-40 mm. At least a majority of the fibers of the blend are opened. In some embodiments, some or substantially all of the fibers of the blend are crimped and/or include a lubricant (e.g., siliconized). One non-limiting example blend includes 20-30 weight percent of not greater than 1 Denier fibers, 20-30 weight percent of greater than 1 up to 2 Denier fibers, and 40-60 weight percent of greater than 2 Denier fibers.

A support material having an hourglass shape reduces the cost of manufacturing as well as increasing comfort and air circulation. The support material includes a primary end having a primary diameter located opposite a secondary end having a secondary diameter. A substantially central portion of the support material has a tertiary diameter being a size less than the primary and secondary diameters. Additional improvements include an improved outer wall surface of the support material having at least one recess. The at least one recess can retain a substance such as a cooling gel.

A cushion filler material including a plurality of loose pieces of filler material and a plurality of gel material pieces is disclosed. The cushion filler material may be used in, for example, bedding products and furniture cushions.

In some embodiments, the inventive subject matter relates to a fiber construct suitable for use as a fill material for insulation or padding, comprising: a primary fiber structure comprising a predetermined length of fiber; a secondary fiber structure, the secondary fiber structure comprising a plurality of relatively short loops spaced along a length of the primary fiber. In some embodiments, the inventive subject matter relates to insulative fiber structures that mimic the structure and scale of natural down and thereby provide similar properties

A filling material and method for reducing the amount of filling material required for filling a soft casing to a pre-selected specification, the filling material comprising a blend of polyester fibers having two or more different deniers and providing at least a 6% reduction in the amount of filling material required as compared to an alternative fill material consisting solely of polyester fibers of a single denier wherein the soft casing filled with the filling material meets pre-selected specifications comprising a pre-selected height measurement for the filled soft casing and is substantially the same in appearance as a soft casing filled with the alternative fill material consisting solely of polyester fibers of a single denier.

A use of a nonwoven fabric made of continuous filaments for preventing the escape of down from a textile product filled with down, wherein the nonwoven fabric is obtained by a spinning method, in which multi-component fibers are deposited to form a nonwoven, whereby the multi-component fibers are split into continuous filaments with a titer of less than 0.15 dtex and the nonwoven is mechanically bonded to form a nonwoven fabric, the nonwoven fabric not being thermally or chemically bonded over the surface.