Patent Application
20050109342
This invention relates to a mask and more particularly relates to a nasal mask.
Numerous masks are known to the art for conveying breathable gas such as oxygen, oxygen enriched air, anesthesia gas, to a person. Full face masks are known for covering both the nose and mouth of a person and for sealingly engaging portions of the person's face surrounding the nose and mouth. Nasal masks are known to the art for covering only the nose of a person and for sealingly engaging portions of the person's face surrounding the nose. Such masks are typically mounted to a person's face and head by head gear comprising a plurality of straps which fasten around the sides of and over the top of the person's head. It is well known that such head gear is typically uncomfortable to wear and is at last somewhat burdensome to attach and remove from the person's head. Further, when masks employing such head gear are utilized in a sleep apnea system, the person undergoing sleep apnea treatment typically has to get up in the middle of the night for various reasons and before doing so must either disconnect the mask from the sleep apnea equipment or unfasten the mask by loosening and removing the plurality of straps. When returning to bed and resuming the sleep apnea treatment, the person must reattach the mask by refastening the plurality of straps. This removal and re-attachment of the mask is both cumbersome and bothersome and can tend to make the person more awake than is desirable during the sleep apnea treatment.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new and improved mask provided with head gear which is relatively inexpensive, more comfortable for wearing and more easily attached to and removed from the person's face and head.
A mask including a shell provided with a perimeter and provided with a generally opposed and outwardly extending gas inlet conduit; a seal mounted to the perimeter; and a one-piece elastic headband provided with an opening through which the conduit extends to mount the headband and shell together.
A nasal mask embodying the present invention is shown in the drawings and indicated by general numerical designation 10. The nasal mask 10 includes a generally triangular hollow shell 12, note particularly
The shell 12, as may be noted particularly from
As will be understood from
The shell 12 may be a flexible shell made of a suitable flexible plastic material and made by suitable molding means. The seal 14 may be made of a suitable soft material of the type known to the art for being used as mask seals and may be suitably mounted or affixed to the shell perimeter 20 such as by suitable bonding. Such seal material is suitably soft so as to be able to conform to the contours of the person's face surrounding the person's nose, as shown in
In use, the headband 16 is stretched radially outwardly to surround the person's head and then released to mount the nasal mask to the person's face and head as shown in
As shown in
In the preferred embodiment, the headband 16 was approximately 1½-2″ in width. Alternatively, the portion of the elastic headband residing across the mask could be made wider than the remaining portion of the headband or shaped as a cup, or sock to encompass the entire mask.
It will be understood that the mask of the present invention may be embodied other than as a nasal mask and may be embodied, such as for example, as a full face mask.
It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and the scope thereof.
