Most headrest cushions in luxury cars contain foam padding and can be adjusted only by curving the sides forward to more securely hold and support the occupant’s head. In a recent filing with the European Trademark Office, BMW proposes an inflatable headrest cushion with extendable wings that can deploy not only to support the head, but to fill the area between the headrest and the window, and toward the middle of the vehicle.
Levelling Up The Head Game
The patent describes a headrest cushion that rests flush against the headrest body when not in use. The cushion has side wings that are folded in when not deployed, with padding on their outer surface to rest the head against the main headrest body when the headrest is in its default configuration. An air supply that can simply be plumbed into an existing air feed that powers the seat’s ventilation and/or massaging functions can then be used to inflate the headrest.
When inflated, the headrest cushion moves closer to the head to support it, but the inflatable wings can then be extended to increase the surface area of the headrest horizontally toward the window and the middle of the car, providing additional head support in areas where there would normally be none. The inner surfaces of the wings are also padded to provide a soft surface to rest the head against when they are deployed. The level of adjustment and inflation can be finely and continuously adjusted for optimum comfort.
Interesting Times For The Humble Headrest
BMW’s inflatable headrest puts a new spin on existing headrest design by adding options not previously available. These include being able to position the head on a bigger surface and providing a comfortable padded area where there wouldn’t otherwise be one, on either side of the regular headrest. It’s an added advantage that this design should be fairly easy to incorporate in seats already equipped with ventilation and massaging functions that rely on an air supply by syphoning off some of the air to inflate the headrest.
