Surgery – Body protecting or restraining devices for patients or infants – Antisnoring device
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-25
2004-03-02
Brown, Michael A. (Department: 3764)
Surgery
Body protecting or restraining devices for patients or infants
Antisnoring device
C602S902000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06698432
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a device against snoring including sleep apnea, the device being of a kind preventing the person in question to assume a supine position.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Snoring not only disturbs others but constitutes also an important medical problem since it can lead to the provision of the breathing organs with air being interrupted at times (apnea) and/or can generally be deteriorated during sleep resulting in impaired oxygenation of the blood. This, in turn, may affect blood circulation, and: usually becomes evident by the person feeling tired even after a longer period of sleep. For this reason a person with tendency of snoring or one experiencing accidental apneic episodes during sleep is called a patient.
Snoring including apnea is caused or at least promoted by the patient assuming a supine position during sleep since the root of the tongue and the uvula then are displaced rearwards and obstruct the throat. A measure against snoring and apnea during sleep thus is to prevent the patient from assuming a supine position.
In the art a number of devices are known which, by various means, seek to prevent the patient from assuming a supine position. Such a device for preventing the patient to turn in bed which functions well as such is disclosed in WO 98/23188. An important drawback with this and similar devices of same kind is that they have to be fastened, in one way or another, at the patient's bed. The bed thus must be equipped with fastening organs fixed to it, in particular to its sides. If the patient wants to sleep in another bed the fastening organs have to be dismounted and moved to the new bed. In addition, various fastening organs and fastening methods are required to allow the device being fastened at beds of varying design and construction. In case of certain bed designs it is conceivable that fixation cannot be carried out without causing permanent changes in the bed which reduce its value when used by persons other than the patient. To be fastened at a bed also may be experienced in a negative manner by a patient, and this can constitute a danger in case of fire or other accident which requires the room where the patients sleeps to be evacuated, device lacking these drawbacks thus should be desirable.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to disclose a device for impeding a patient from turning round in bed of the kind described in the preceding introduction but which need not be fastened to a bed.
Another object of the present invention is to disclose a device for impeding a patient from turning round in bed described in the preceding introduction which can be easily moved between different beds.
Further objects of the invention are evident from the following description of the invention, a preferred embodiment thereof, and the attached claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention is disclosed a device against snoring including sleep apnea, the device being of a kind preventing the person in question to assume a supine position but allowing the patient to move between lateral positions, the device comprising a pillow which can be positioned on the resting area of a bed or other place for sleeping the pillow comprising a pillow element and a rigid tensioning element disposed between the pillow element and the resting area, the tensioning element protruding laterally at both sides of the pillow element and comprising, on its protruding portions, fixation organs in each of which one of two flexible fixation means that are fastened on a upper body clothing of the patient are fixable by their free end portions. “Upper body clothing” refers to a clothing which comprises a portion covering the upper part of the body or a portion of the upper part of the body.
In this patent application the term “bed” also comprises a place where one may lay down for rest or sleep other than a bed in the traditional meaning of the term, for instance a mattress on the floor, a sleeping berth, an airplane seat which can be folded back so that a passenger may relax on it and sleep, and the like. Such places where one may lay down for rest or sleep have real or imaginary lateral limits corresponding to the edges of a bed; the orientation of the device according to the invention on these places for rest or sleep corresponds to that on a bed in its traditional meaning. From this flows that the device according to the invention is fit for being carried with when travelling; in order to further facilitate this the device can be carried out so as to be collapsible, which is within the reach of a person skilled in the art. “Lateral(ly)” indicates a transverse direction of the bed or place for rest.
It is preferred for the fixation means to be fastened at the clothing at areas corresponding to left and right lateral portions, respectively, of the latissimus dorsi. Thereby the fixation means can be easily moved under the armpits. A fixation at the centre of the clothing only is insufficient.
It is furthermore preferred for the fixation means to be fixable in the fixation organs in a manner allowing the length of the fixation means portion clamped between the clothing and the fixation organs to be varied; in particular the clamped length should be adjustable to allow the patient to move from one lateral position to the other lateral position via an abdominal position but not via a supine position. According to the invention the device allows the patient-him/herself to fasten the fixation means in the fixation organs while resting with his head on the pillow, and to adjust their proper length. In doing this the patient occupies one of the two lateral positions at start—it is immaterial whether the lateral position chosen is the left or the right lateral position—and fastens the right fixation means when in a right lateral position, and vice-versa, in the right and left fixation organ, respectively, in a manner that the clamped portion is substantially stretched; then the patient turns via an abdominal position to the other lateral position and proceeds in a corresponding manner with the other fixation means. If the patient wants to rise the fixation means are loosened in the opposite order. The property of the device to permit the patient to move between lateral positions without the need to occupy an intermediary supine position is valuable from a medical standpoint and important in view of comfort. Thus it is preferred for the length of the fixation means to be adjustable to permit the patient to move from both lateral positions towards the abdominal position but not towards the supine position. The pillow element is fixable or fixed at the tensioning element. It can also be fixable or fixed at a support element. Preferably the pillow element is fixable or releaseably fixed at the support element to allow it to be cleaned and washed. It is also preferred for the pillow element to be provided, at least at its top side facing the patient, with a removable textile cover. The cushion element maybe made of various materials provided that it substantially keeps its form comprising a central ridge and slanting resting areas when used, with the proviso that it is resiliently compressible at least at its slanting rest areas to provide for compression of the area against which the head of the patient rests. Preferably the cushion element is made of polymer foam or comprises a core of polymer foam. To provide for optimal comfort the polymer foam may be arranged in several layers of different compressibility.
According to a preferred aspect of the invention the cushion element and the support element are releaseably fixable at each other.
According to another preferred aspect of the invention the cushion comprises a central ridge extending in the longitudinal direction of the bed, and resting areas slanting from the central ridge towards the sides of the cushion; it is preferred for the resting areas of the cushion to slant by an angle of from about 50° to about 20° towards the resting area of the bed
Brown Michael A.
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Silent Sleep AB
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