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US 2025/0134703 A1Published application
Thermally controlled collar
AssigneeNeuron Guard S.r.l.
InventorEnrico GIULIANI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The thermo-adjustable collar (10) designed to surround the neck (N) of a patient (P) comprises a flexible body (12) having, in a wrapped configuration, an annular shape, and temperature control means (13) associated with said flexible body (12) in a removable manner and connected to a control unit (16).
Claims15
1:
- Thermo-adjustable collar (10) designed to surround the neck (N) of a user (P) and comprising a flexible body (12), of the disposable or reusable type, configured to be filled with a thermally conductive liquid (L), which in a wrapped configuration has an annular shape and contacts said neck (N), said collar is characterized in that it comprises temperature control means (13) for controlling the temperature of said liquid (L), of the reusable type, associated with said flexible body (12) in a removable manner and connected to a control unit (16) configured to control the thermo-regulation of said liquid (L), and in that it comprises a duct (19) and a valve (20) through which a desired quantity of liquid (L) can be inserted into said flexible body (12) in order to adjust its stiffness.
2:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 1, characterized in that said flexible body (12) is provided with quick coupling means (22) onto which a support structure (24) couples in a removable manner for the temporary support of said temperature control means (13).
3:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 1, characterized in that said quick coupling means (22) are provided on an external wall (14) of said flexible body (12) so that said temperature control means (13) are associated with said external wall (14) in a removable manner.
4:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 1, characterized in that said flexible body (12) comprises at least two bags (17a, 17b), each of which is filled with said liquid (L) by means of said duct (19) and is in contact with said temperature control means (13) which thermo-regulate said liquid (L) by conduction/contact.
5:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 4, characterized in that said temperature control means (13) comprise at least two refrigeration and/or heating units (13a, 13b), each of which comprises a thermoelectric module, configured as a Peltier cell (28), and an exchanger module configured as a liquid exchanger (29);
- each refrigeration and/or heating unit (13a, 13b) is associated with a respective one of said bags (17a, 17b).
6:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 5, characterized in that each of said refrigeration and/or heating units (13a, 13b) can be managed by the control unit (16) in a selectively independent manner.
7:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 5, characterized in that said refrigeration and/or heating units (13a, 13b) are provided with respective temperature detection sensors (33), of which at least two are disposed on a first heat exchange surface (28a) of said Peltier cell (28) which, during use, is in contact with said flexible body (12), and at least one is disposed on said liquid exchanger (29).
8:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 5, characterized in that said support structure (24) comprises a strap (25) that connects said bags (17a, 17b) to each other and is sized so that the flexible body (12) wraps around said neck (N).
9:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 8, characterized in that each refrigeration and/or heating unit (13a, 13b) comprises a shell (30) which contains said Peltier cell (28) and said liquid exchanger (29), said shell (30) being provided with releasable coupling means (31) for the temporary connection with said strap (25) or directly with said bags (17a, 17b).
10:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 8, characterized in that said bags (17a, 17b) have section widenings, or convex zones (18), which, during use, are disposed in correspondence with blood vessels of said neck (N) in order to improve the heat exchange efficiency of said collar (10).
11:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 10, characterized in that each of said bags (17a, 17b) comprises two convex zones (18), disposed at opposite ends of the bag, separated by a central portion (21), wherein the height of said convex zones (18) is greater than the height of said central zone (21).
12:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 11, characterized in that said duct (19) enters a respective one of said bags (17a, 17b) in correspondence with one of said two convex zones (18).
13:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 10, characterized in that each of said bags (17a, 17b) comprises internal welds or channels configured to direct said liquid (L) from and toward said convex zones (18).
14:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 5, characterized in that each of said bags (17a, 17b) is connected to a respective one of said refrigeration and/or heating units (13a, 13b) by means of magnetic or ferromagnetic elements.
15:
- The thermo-adjustable collar (10) as in claim 1, characterized in that said valve (20) is a one-way or non-return valve, or a two-way valve also configured to allow to empty said liquid (L) from said flexible body (12).