Butterfly nasal interface

#The present disclosure generally relates to a breathing apparatus, and more particularly to a nasal interface for a breathing apparatus that may be used in connection with reducing snoring.

#Snoring is an affliction that affects many people. Snoring may be an ongoing, regular problem, or may occur intermittently or occasionally. Snoring may result in various problems, both to the person snoring as well as those around the person snoring. For example, snoring has been linked to sleep deprivation, in which the sleeping patterns of the person snoring may be disrupted. Such sleep deprivation may result in daytime drowsiness, lack of focus, as well as other problems. There are a number of other breathing disorders including, but not limited to, OSA, COPD, and Asthma that could be aided by the use of a supplemental breathing apparatus.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a general system that can employ a nasal interface in accordance with the present disclosure. Generally, an apparatus for treating snoring can included an air source 1, a nasal interface 3 and a connection 2, such as tubing, connecting the air source 1 and the nasal interface 3. The comfort of a user is important in the arrangement of a nasal interface. It is also important to try to minimize the amount of air flow that leaks out of the nasal interface. In other words, it is desirable to have an efficient coupling between the nasal interface the user's nose so as to try to maximize the amount of air that is transferred between the nasal interface and the user's nose.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a general system that can employ a nasal interface in accordance with the present disclosure.

#FIG. 2 is a right rear perspective view of an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure.

#FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure shown in FIG. 2.

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a front view of the illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the illustrative exemplary embodiment includes a hard base portion 5 and a soft pad portion 10. The soft pad 10 can comprise a silicon pad, and the base portion 5 can be relatively harder than the soft pad portion 10. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the soft pad portion 10 includes a butterfly shaped structure with butterfly wings 15 and 20. The butterfly wings 15 and 20 respectively include upper surfaces 25 and 30 with respective distal ends 16 and 21. The butterfly wings 15 and 20 respectively include therein air holes 35 and 40. These air holes are sized and positioned on the upper surfaces 25 and 30 of butterfly wings 15 and 20 to locate the air holes in registry with a user's nostrils. An example of one such arrangement is shown in FIG. 8. As seen in FIG. 8, the upper surfaces 25 and 30 of the butterfly wings 15 and 20 engage the underside of a user's nose. As also described below, this allows air from the butterfly nasal interface to flow to the user's nostrils. In other embodiments, the upper surfaces 25 and 30 could include protrusions or other physically noticeable features about or near the air holes 35 and 40 to aid in positioning of the nasal interface with respect to a user's nostrils.

#In an illustrative embodiment, the upper surfaces 25 and 30 may be positioned relative to each other at an angle of about 90° on the butterfly wings 15 and 20 of a nasal interface in accordance with the present disclosure. An exemplary vertex of a 90° angle corresponding to the included angle between the butterfly wings 15 and 20 is indicated by line 60 in FIG. 4. The selection of the angle is based upon ergonomic studies. Of course, in various embodiments the included angle may vary from about a 180° included angle to about a 45° included angle. The upper surfaces 25 and 30 may seal around the users nostrils as shown in FIG. 8. The upper surfaces 25 and 30 may be pressed smoothly against the user's nose by the systems pressure (e.g., mechanical pressure of the nasal interface as held against the user's nostrils as shown in FIG. 8) to form this seal.

#Referring to FIG. 2, the upper surfaces 25 and 30 of butterfly wings 15 and 20 slope from a relatively higher position at point 45 to a relatively lower position at point 50. While not necessary to practicing the invention, this slope allows a nasal interface in accordance with the present disclosure to be positioned on a user's nose to conveniently accept tubing such as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.