Tongue retainer
OwnerJohn D. Summerinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tongue grasping and restraining device holds the tongue securely during sleep in order to minimize the risk of the tongue slipping back and blocking the throat. Plural tongue gripping projections are coupled to upper and lower supports. One or more of the upper and lower supports are biased together into a tongue engaging position. A tongue depressor can extend rearwardly and downwardly from the upper support to depress the user's tongue to further open the user's airway. The position of the tongue depressor can be adjustable. The upper support is coupled to the user's upper jaw, for example, to a denture, dental appliance or other form of an upper jaw coupler and can be pivoted thereto. The lower support can be hinged to, fixed to, or otherwise joined to a lower jaw coupler. A tube and rod mechanism can couple the jaw couplers together.
Claims38
An apparatus for grasping and restraining the tongue of a user, the apparatus comprising:
- a first upper support;
- the first upper support comprising an upper support body portion comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, a front, a rear, and first and second sides, the first upper support also comprising a first tongue gripping surface, the first tongue gripping surface comprising a plurality of tongue engaging projections that extend from the lower surface of the upper support body portion toward the upper surface of the front portion of the tongue of a user;
- an upper jaw coupler comprising first and second side portions each with a buccal side and a lingual side, the first side portion being shaped to receive upper teeth of a user at a first side of the user's jaw and the second side portion being shaped to receive upper teeth of the user at a second side of the user's jaw opposite to the first side of the user's jaw to couple the first upper support to the upper jaw of the user, a pivot coupling the upper support body portion to the upper jaw coupler such that the front and rear of the upper support body portion is movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the upper jaw coupler and relative to the lower jaw of the user;
- a second lower support;
- the second lower support comprising a lower support body portion comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, a front, a rear, and first and second sides, the second lower support also comprising a second tongue gripping surface, the second tongue gripping surface comprising a plurality of tongue engaging projections that extend from the upper surface of the lower support body portion toward the lower surface of the front portion of the tongue of a user;
- a lower jaw coupler adapted to couple the second lower support to the lower jaw of the user;
- and
- at least one biasing member coupled to the upper jaw coupler and to the first upper support and applying a biasing force to the first upper support to bias the movement of the first upper support and the first tongue gripping surface toward the second tongue gripping surface to grasp a front portion of a user's tongue positioned between the first and second tongue gripping surfaces so as to grasp and restrain the tongue of the user.
An apparatus for grasping and restraining the front portion of the tongue of a user, the apparatus comprising:
- a first upper support;
- the first upper support comprising a first tongue gripping surface, the first tongue gripping surface comprising a plurality of tongue engaging projections that extend toward the upper surface of a front portion of the tongue of a user;
- an upper jaw coupler adapted to couple the first upper support to the upper jaw of the user;
- a second lower support;
- the second lower support comprising a second tongue gripping surface, the second tongue gripping surface comprising a plurality of tongue engaging projections that extend toward the lower surface of a front portion of the tongue of a user;
- a lower jaw coupler adapted to couple the second lower support to the lower jaw of the user;
- at least one biasing member coupled to the first upper support and biasing the first gripping surface toward the second tongue gripping surface to grasp a portion of a front portion of a user's tongue positioned between the first and second tongue gripping surfaces so as to grasp and restrain the front portion of the tongue of the user;
- and
- a tongue depressor comprising an elongated arm comprising a first arm end portion coupled to the upper support body portion and a second distal arm end portion and a tongue engager mounted to the second distal arm end portion, the second distal arm end portion supporting the tongue engager at a location positioned rearwardly of and downwardly from the upper support body portion.
An upper jaw assembly for an apparatus for grasping and restraining the tongue of a user, the user having an upper jaw with first and second jaw sides with upper teeth projecting from the upper jaw, the assembly comprising:
- a first upper support;
- the first upper support comprising an upper support body portion comprising an upper surface, a lower surface, a front, a rear, and first and second sides, the first upper support also comprising a first tongue gripping surface, the first tongue gripping surface comprising a plurality of tongue engaging projections that extend from the lower surface of the upper support body portion that are angled toward the upper surface of the front portion of the tongue of a user;
- and
- an upper jaw coupler comprising first and second side portions each with a buccal side and a lingual side, the first side portion being shaped to receive at least some of the upper teeth of a user along the first jaw side and the second side portion being shaped to receive at least some of the upper teeth of a user along the second jaw side, a pivot comprising first and second pivot end portions, the first pivot end portion coupled to the upper jaw coupler and the second pivot end portion coupled to the upper support body portion at a location inwardly of the lingual sides of the first and second side portions, the pivot coupling the upper support body portion to the upper jaw coupler such that the front and rear of the upper support body portion is movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the upper jaw coupler.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.