Inline muffler and positive airway pressure therapy apparatus including same
AssigneeSomnetics International, Inc.
InventorPaul Raymond Williams, JR.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inline muffler for use with a positive airway pressure (PAP) apparatus. The muffler may provide an expansion chamber with baffles that capture acoustic energy using, for instance, a disruptive gas flow path to effectively reduce downstream noise associated with a flow of pressurized gas produced by the PAP apparatus. In some embodiments, the muffler is constructed of two mostly identical halves with baffle segments being integrally formed therewith.
Claims15
-3. (canceled)
-22. (canceled)
A positive airway pressure apparatus comprising:
- a flow generator comprising a housing containing a blower, the blower adapted to produce a flow of pressurized gas at a blower outlet;
- a user interface;
- a delivery tube positioned between the flow generator and the user interface, the delivery tube adapted to communicate the flow of pressurized gas from the blower to the user interface;
- and
- an inline muffler configured to be operatively positioned between the blower and the user interface, wherein the muffler comprises a tubular member adapted to attenuate noise associated with the flow of pressurized gas as the gas passes through the muffler, the muffler comprising:
- a first end defining an inlet port adapted to receive the flow of pressurized gas from the blower outlet;
- a second end defining an outlet port adapted to convey the flow of pressurized gas to the user interface;
- and
- a body extending between the first end and the second end,
- wherein the body defines an expansion chamber, and wherein an inner wall of the expansion chamber comprises a plurality of inwardly extending baffles, and wherein at least one of the baffles comprises first and second baffle segments that define a chevron having an apex that intersects a muffler axis defined by the inlet port and the outlet port.
An inline muffler adapted to be positioned within a gas delivery path of a positive airway pressure apparatus between a blower and a user interface, the muffler including a tubular housing that comprises:
- a body extending between an inlet port and an outlet port of the housing, the inlet port adapted to operatively couple to an outlet of the blower and the outlet port adapted to operatively couple to the user interface, wherein the body defines an expansion chamber, and wherein a plurality of baffles extend inwardly from an inner wall of the expansion chamber, at least one of the baffles including first and second baffle segments that define a chevron having an apex that intersects a muffler axis defined by an axis of one or both of the inlet port and the outlet port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.