Tongue locking device to minimize effects of sleep apnea and to reduce snoring

A device to minimize the effects of sleep apena and significantly reduce snoring, by holding the tongue forward of its usual resting position with a vacuum holding force and resisting the tongue's tendency to fall back during sleep by means of a universally adaptable tongue sized vacuum chamber, internal sealing ridges, structural flexibility, and reactive force connection to the dental arches, comprising, in combination:

• an elastomeric material structure of size and shape to be removably positioned in the user's mouth, to be held therein by one of the user's dental arches, being shaped to provide ridges on each side of either the user's upper or lower dental arch, and a vacuum chamber of engageable means that is shaped to define a rearwardly opening vacuum chamber for receiving the tongue with oral airflow passages in parallel along both sides of the vacuum chamber to provide communication between the mouth cavity and the external environment to allow oral breathing, the vacuum chamber having a forward closed end and a rearward open end, shaped to universally fit over most tongues, therein to effect an airtight seal therewith when, upon insertion of the tongue into the vacuum chamber, air is thus displaced from the forward portion of the vacuum chamber past the tongue, such that negative pressure, created automatically, and only, when the tongue tends to withdraw during sleep relaxation, causing a vacuum, which is sealed on all sides by the internal sealing ridges near the rear end of the vacuum chamber and maintained by the flexibility of the elasotmeric material structure, which adapts to most size tongues while maintaining sufficient pressure to create a seal, aided by any slight biting pressure of the jaws that provides sealing reinforcement, whereby the tongue is then held forwardly of its usual resting position behind the teeth, thereby holding the remainder of the body of the tongue forward from its normal proximity to the soft palate, the uvula and the posterior pharyngeal wall, to form and maintain an airway of increased size through the naso- and oro-pharynx, in combination with the oral airflow passage in the body of the device, which allow passage of air through the mouth also thus lowering breathing pressure and minimizing the effects of sleep apnea and reducing snoring.