Respiratory facial mask
First Claim
1. A facial mask assembly for covering at least the nose and nares of a patient'"'"'s face, said facial mask including:
- a rigid, cup-shaped shell dimensioned to substantially surround and enclose at least the nose and nares of the patient'"'"'s face, means for sealing the shell against the patient'"'"'s face substantially about at least the nose and nares of the patient in a sealing position substantially centered on the patient'"'"'s face, and means for attaching the shell to the patient'"'"'s head with said shell sealed against the patient'"'"'s face in said sealing position substantially centered on the patient'"'"'s face,said attaching means including a rigid plate having first and second side portions, means for mounting said rigid plate to said rigid shell with the first side portion of the rigid plate on one side of the patient'"'"'s nose and the second side portion of the rigid plate on the other side of the patient'"'"'s nose, and harness means extending substantially about the back of the patient'"'"'s head and having at least first and second flexible side straps, said first side strap being attached to the rigid plate adjacent the first side portion thereof and said second side strap being attached to the rigid plate adjacent the second side thereof, and means for permitting said rigid plate to move relative to said rigid shell in response to said side straps of said harness means applying unequal forces to the respective side portions of said rigid plate.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A facial mask assembly for covering at least the nose and nares of a patient'"'"'s face and compensating for any unequal forces that may be generated in the straps holding the mask on the patient'"'"'s face. The assembly includes a rigid, cup-shaped shell with a soft seal engaging and sealing against the patient'"'"'s face. The shell is preferably secured or attached to the patient'"'"'s head by an arrangement including a rigid plate mounted to the rigid shell and a harness. The harness extends about the back of the patient'"'"'s head and preferably has side straps attached to the top of the rigid plate. The rigid plate is loosely mounted to the rigid shell at at least three locations and can move to compensate for any unequally applied forces that would otherwise tend to rock or cock the shell off the patient'"'"'s face and create a gap or leak in the seal. The invention also includes a modified hose coupling that permits the rigid shell and the flexible hose connected to the respiratory device to rotate relative to each other about multiple axes.
-
Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A facial mask assembly for covering at least the nose and nares of a patient'"'"'s face, said facial mask including:
-
a rigid, cup-shaped shell dimensioned to substantially surround and enclose at least the nose and nares of the patient'"'"'s face, means for sealing the shell against the patient'"'"'s face substantially about at least the nose and nares of the patient in a sealing position substantially centered on the patient'"'"'s face, and means for attaching the shell to the patient'"'"'s head with said shell sealed against the patient'"'"'s face in said sealing position substantially centered on the patient'"'"'s face, said attaching means including a rigid plate having first and second side portions, means for mounting said rigid plate to said rigid shell with the first side portion of the rigid plate on one side of the patient'"'"'s nose and the second side portion of the rigid plate on the other side of the patient'"'"'s nose, and harness means extending substantially about the back of the patient'"'"'s head and having at least first and second flexible side straps, said first side strap being attached to the rigid plate adjacent the first side portion thereof and said second side strap being attached to the rigid plate adjacent the second side thereof, and means for permitting said rigid plate to move relative to said rigid shell in response to said side straps of said harness means applying unequal forces to the respective side portions of said rigid plate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A facial mask assembly for covering at least the nose and nares of a patient'"'"'s face, said facial mask assembly including:
-
a rigid, cup-shaped shell having a rear perimeter portion dimensioned to substantially surround at least the nose and nares of the patient, and sealing means attached substantially about the rear perimeter portion of said rigid shell to engage and seal against the patient'"'"'s face to enclose at least the nose and nares of the patient within said cup-shaped shell, and means for securing said cup-shaped shell in a sealing position substantially enclosing at least the nose and nares of the patient within said shell with the sealing means engaging and sealing against the patient'"'"'s face, said securing means including a substantially rigid plate and means for mounting said rigid plate to said rigid shell at at least three locations, said mounting means including means for allowing said rigid plate to selectively rotate relative to said rigid shell about a first axis extending substantially through said first and third locations and substantially about a second axis extending substantially through said second and third locations. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
- 33. A facial mask assembly having a rigid shell, a flexible hose, and a swivel hose coupling for connecting said rigid shell to said flexible hose, said coupling having first and second, rigid sections and means for attaching said first rigid section to said rigid shell for rotation relative to said rigid shell about a first rotational axis and means for attaching said second rigid section to said flexible hose for rotation relative to said flexible hose about a second rotational axis, said coupling further including means for mounting said first and second rigid sections for rotation relative to each other about a third rotational axis.
Specification