Exhalation valve

An exhalation valve, wherein the exhalation valve comprises:

• a base body, the base body comprising:
• a hollow passage channel with an inlet for receiving breathing gas from a ventilator and an outlet for supplying the breathing gas received from the ventilator to a patient,
• a branch tube arranged between the inlet and the outlet and having a free end,
• an annular channel externally delimited by a wall, enclosing the branch tube and likewise having a free end,
• at least one outlet opening for breathing gas exhaled by the patient, returned again via the outlet and branched off via the branch tube,
• a cap having a port for attaching a compressed air control line,
• a diaphragm arranged at the free ends of the branch tube and the wall and, as a function of pressure applied on a side of the diaphragm averted from the open ends of the branch tube and of the annular channel, makes it possible for breathing gas exhaled by the patient and branched off via the branch tube to enter the annular channel,
• the outlet opening being provided in the wall and being variable in respect of a flow direction of the breathing gas out of the outlet opening.