Economical Nasal Dilator and Method of Manufacture

A nasal dilator in which the components thereof are fabricated to dimensional criteria, including:

• a) dimensions suitable for engaging nasal outer wall tissues and providing effective dilation thereto,
• b) dimensions that allow continuous fabrication of said components or members in close proximity to one another and/or along common lines which define at least a portion of the peripheral edges of said components, and
• c) dimensions that create lateral and longitudinal registration of dilator components to their respective layers and to each other simultaneous with said fabrication as part of a continuous process thereof.

A method of economically fabricating nasal dilator components from continuous material webs, including:

• a) die cutting successive rows of even numbers of a first dilator component having at least one group thereof aligned along their longitudinal centerlines, said group or groups each divided in half by a lateral centerline perpendicular to said longitudinal centerline,
• b) said dilator components on one side of each said lateral centerline corresponding to dilator components on the opposite side of each said lateral centerline to form successive pairs thereof, and
• c) die cutting a continuous succession of a second dilator component, registering said second component laterally to said successive groups and horizontally to said successive pairs.

A method of economically fabricating a nasal dilator including:

• a) slitting a continuous laminate of base layer and interface material into pairs of strands spaced apart by their respective widths, said pairs forming the base of a fabrication matrix,
• b) laminating one resilient member out of consecutive equally numbered groups thereof, die cut from a continuous resilient material web, onto said fabrication matrix base at equally spaced apart intervals thereon, thus further forming said fabrication matrix,
• c) laminating at least one continuous cover layer material strand to said fabrication matrix, and die cutting individual finished dilator units therefrom.

The pre-fabricated components of an economical nasal dilator configured to be assembled by a user into finished nasal dilator units, including:

• a) end region components die cut from a continuous material web into continuous rows thereof and releasably secured to a continuous paper liner, said components dimensionally configured, including spacing, if any, between at least a portion of their peripheral edges, such that every other end region component within each row forms a pair, said pair corresponding substantially to first and second end regions of truss, and
• b) a plurality of resilient member components releasably secured to a continuous paper liner.

A method of assembling a nasal dilator by hand from pre-fabricated components and adjusting its length, including affixing each of two end portions of a resilient member onto a first pair of spaced apart end region components releasably secured to a paper liner, such that the length of each component so engaged determines, at least in part, the total length of the dilator.