FIG. 14 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a ventilation component in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 15 is an orthographic view of a ventilation component in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of another form of a ventilation component in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 17 is an orthographic view of another form of a ventilation component in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of another form of a ventilation component in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional diagram of two different forms of ventilation components for use within the noise-reducing air passage in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of different forms of a ventilation component for use within the noise-reducing air passage in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a ventilation component made of another material for use within the noise-reducing air passage in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of the ventilation component being integrally formed with the casing of the noise-reducing air passage in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 23 is an exploded schematic diagram of another form of ae ventilation component being integrally formed with the casing in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram of another form of the ventilation component being integrally formed with the casing in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the ventilation component and the blower in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a structural schematic diagram of the ventilation component within the anti-snoring device in accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To facilitate the understanding of the disclosure, a more comprehensive description will be provided with reference to the relevant drawings. The drawings illustrate typical embodiments of the disclosure. However, the disclosure can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the embodiments are provided to make the disclosure more thorough and comprehensive.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The terms used in the specification of the disclosure herein are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only rather than limiting the disclosure.

One of the most critical components in CPAP devices is the internal noise-reducing air passage. The noise-reducing air passage system includes a blower and a series of internal structures that work together to provide a constant positive pressure airflow. The blower is the core component of the CPAP device and it generates positive pressure breathable gas and delivers it to the patient's airway. The blower in CPAP devices is typically configured to be compact and efficient, capable of stably producing the required airflow pressure. The internal structures in the noise-reducing air passage play a crucial role, tasked with conveying airflow and reducing noise and vibrations. These components ensure the stability and safety of the airflow. The design and construction of the entire noise-reducing air passage system are critical, as their effectiveness and reliability directly impact the therapeutic outcomes and patient comfort. Therefore, the noise-reducing air passage system of CPAP devices has been carefully designed and rigorously tested to ensure stable, safe, and reliable performance. This efficient noise-reducing air passage system is one of the reasons why CPAP therapy is a preferred treatment method for obstructive sleep apnea.

The present disclosure addresses the issues associated with the complexity of noise-reducing structures within existing market air passages, where noise reduction is typically achieved using foam and the noise-reducing structure has suboptimal noise reduction outcomes. To address these issues, this disclosure provides a more effective, reliable, and structurally simpler ventilation component. The ventilation component provided by this disclosure not only optimizes various disadvantages of existing designs but also achieves regulatory noise levels. Therefore, this disclosure benefits patients, manufacturers, and the market by providing an advanced technical solution. This disclosure also allows for changing the shape of the peripheral wall of the ventilation component to fit more internal structures of the noise-reducing air passages, and the ventilation component can be used in various forms to achieve more advantageous noise reduction effects.

Detailed embodiments are presented below to elucidate the configurations of the ventilation component for use in an anti-snoring device.

Embodiment 1

This embodiment provides a ventilation component 2 for use within a noise-reducing air passage 1 of a respiratory-related device. This embodiment provides three-dimensional views, cross-sectional views, installation diagrams, and schematic diagrams of use of the ventilation component 2, as shown in FIGS. 1-18. This embodiment pertains to a ventilation component 2 for use in anti-snoring devices, at least one of which is provided within a noise-reducing air passage 1 of a machine for treatment of respiratory-related disorders such as a PAP machine, and is configured to divide and streamline gas that flows into the noise-reducing air passage 1. It includes multiple baffles 24 arranged at certain intervals to divide and streamline the airflow, as well as several gap channels 25 to facilitate passage of the airflow through the ventilation component 2. The gap channels 25 are formed by the walls of adjacent baffles 24 and the peripheral wall 23 of the ventilation component 2. The intake end 21 is configured to receive airflow into the ventilation component 2, and the exhaust end 22 is configured to allow airflow to exit from the ventilation component 2, with the distance from the intake end 21 to the exhaust end 22 being at least 10 mm. The ventilation component 2 is made of rigid materials, including polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate-1,4-cyclohexane dimethanol ester, polyamide, polyetheretherketone or metals, etc. Both the intake end 21 and the exhaust end 22 have the form of at least one plane, which can be inclined at any angle or be a vertical plane. A blower 4 is provided within the casing of the noise-reducing air passage 1 and the blower 4 includes an inlet.

Specifically, the ventilation component 2 internally includes at least one form of baffles 24 spaced at certain intervals, configured to divide the airflow into multiple smaller flow units. In at least one form, the interval between at least two baffles 24 is equal. In some special cases, the baffles 24 can also have various different distances between them, and intervals between each baffle 24 create gap channels 25 through which the airflow passes. The internal space of the ventilation component 2 is divided into multiple uniform sections by the baffles 24. Typically, the baffles 24 are thin plates with a thickness of 3 mm or less. The function of the baffles 24 is to divide and streamline the air entering the noise-reducing air passage 1 (as shown in FIG. 5, streamlining originally turbulent airflow into a smooth and uniform flow). Since the basic form of the ventilation component 2 is a set of multiple baffles 24 arranged within a specific shape of the peripheral wall 23, intervals between multiple baffles 24 create gap channels 25 through which the airflow passes. Therefore, the arrangement of baffles 24 within the peripheral wall 23 of the ventilation component 2 can have multiple directions; their arrangement within the ventilation component 2 can be parallel to the horizontal plane or the baffles 24 can form an angle with the horizontal plane. Baffles 24 can also be arranged in any other direction. In one scenario, within the orthographic view from the plane of the intake end (as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 15), baffles 24 of at least two different directions are provided and the baffles 24 of different directions intersect each other (as shown in FIGS. 15 and 17, which depict two different intersection methods). This arrangement can take two forms: baffles 24 of different directions aligned along the line connecting the intake end 21 and the exhaust end 22 (as shown in FIGS. 15-17, with one ventilation component in front of another), or baffles 24 of different directions intersecting perpendicular to the line connecting the intake end 21 and the exhaust end 22 (with one ventilation component above another). The specified alignment direction of baffles 24 helps guide the flow path of the airflow and prevents backflow. There are two methods for specifying the angle of rotation of baffles 24: rotating the baffles 24 a certain angle in their alignment direction (as shown in FIGS. 12 and 18), or rotating the baffles 24 around an axis perpendicular to their alignment direction (as shown in FIG. 9). The primary function of baffles 24 is to divide the larger (incoming) airflow into smaller flow units (defined here as less than one-fourth, preferably less than one-eighth, of the original larger airflow). Thus, designing baffles 24 to have sharp corners at the intake end 21 helps better divide the airflow, effectively reducing noise generated by airflow hitting the walls. Furthermore, when both walls forming gap channel 25 at the intake end 21 have chamfers, this expands the gap area at the intake end 21 while forming an expanded opening at the intake end of gap channel 25. This configuration makes it easier for airflow to enter the ventilation component 2 and further increases the airflow's speed and volume, enhancing the efficiency of the ventilation component 2 and reducing airflow turbulence and noise, thereby achieving better noise reduction effects (as shown in FIG. 11). Additionally, baffles 24 can also have a taper; when baffles 24 are tapered, the gaps formed by multiple baffles 24 also have a taper. In one scenario, this taper allows at least one gap channel 25 to have a draft angle with a range between 0.1° to 2°, also serving to enhance the ventilation efficiency of the ventilation component 2 and reduce airflow turbulence and noise (as shown in FIG. 13). It is evident that by altering the form of baffles 24, various forms of the ventilation component 2 can be achieved. Due to its simple structure, the ventilation component 2 can be upgraded and modified to optimize the noise-reducing air passage 1 and the overall noise and comfort of use of the respiratory-related device.

The ventilation component 2 also includes gap channels 25, formed by the spaces between baffles 24 arranged at certain intervals. Typically, the shape of the gap channel 25 is square, but it can also be circular, diamond-shaped, elliptical, or other shapes. If the path of airflow through the gap channel 25 is too short, the ventilation component 2 cannot effectively disperse the airflow, resulting in poor noise reduction. Therefore, it is specified that straight lines connecting each intake end 21 center to its corresponding exhaust end 22 center of the gap channels are parallel, and a length of the straight lines is at least 10 mm. To ensure smooth passage of gas, the intervals between the baffles are at least 0.8 mm, preferably ranging from 0.8 mm to 2.2 mm. The ventilation component 2 includes a peripheral wall 23, which surrounds the baffles 24 and gap channels 25. To allow sufficient airflow through the ventilation component 2, the total area of the gap channels 25 at the exhaust end 22 is set to be at least 0.2 times the area enclosed by the peripheral wall 23 at the exhaust end 22. Additionally, because the structure of ventilation component 2 is simple, and its primary component is not the peripheral wall 23 but its internal structure, the shape of the peripheral wall 23 can be adjusted according to the different spatial forms inside the noise-reducing air passage 1. For example, if there is a pipe structure similar to an inlet pipe inside the noise-reducing air passage 1, the peripheral wall 23 of the ventilation component 2 can flexibly be transformed into a circular shape to match the pipe structure of the inlet pipe. The ventilation component 2 can also have a square, hexagonal, or other shaped peripheral wall 23. Such designs ensure that the ventilation component 2 perfectly fits with various forms inside the noise-reducing air passage 1, thereby enhancing the applicability and flexibility of the ventilation component 2 (as shown in FIG. 10). In this way, the ventilation component 2 can adapt to the changes of the internal structure within the noise-reducing air passage 1 and provide reliable noise reduction. When its shape is square, testing comparing various length-to-width ratios of the ventilation component 2 has determined that a length-to-width ratio between 0.1 to 1 offers the best noise reduction performance.

The ventilation component 2 includes an intake end 21 and an exhaust end 22. The intake end 21 is configured to receive airflow into the ventilation component 2, and the exhaust end 22 is configured to allow airflow to exit from the ventilation component 2. The ventilation component 2 is provided within chambers formed by the casing of the noise-reducing air passage 1. The casing has an inner wall 3. To ensure better noise reduction by the ventilation component 2 within the noise-reducing air passage 1, it is crucial to position the ventilation component 2 appropriately. To ensure that there is sufficient gap space for gas to flow into the ventilation component 2, the distance between the exhaust end 22 of the ventilation component 2 and its opposing inner wall 3 of the casing is set to at least 1.5 times the width of the ventilation component 2. Typically, the distance between the exhaust end 22 of the ventilation component 2 and its opposing inner wall 3 of the casing is at least 5 mm. At least two chambers are provided within the casing of the noise-reducing air passage 1. When the noise-reducing air passage 1 is divided into upper and lower chambers, the ventilation component 2 can be placed in several ways. In one case, the ventilation component 2 can be positioned within the noise-reducing air passage 1 such that gas passes through the ventilation component 2 vertically (perpendicular to the horizontal plane). This means that the noise-reducing air passage 1 includes two chambers, the ventilation component 2 communicates with the two chambers, and parts of the ventilation component 2 are present within the two chambers. Alternatively, the ventilation component 2 may only be present in one of the chambers within the casing of the noise-reducing air passage 1, and reduce the noise of the gas in that chamber. In some instances, it is also feasible for the ventilation component 2 to be provided within the noise-reducing air passage 1 in a way that the direction of the gas passing through the ventilation component 2 is horizontal rather than vertical, as the ventilation component 2 is compact enough to be arranged efficiently within the respiratory device without occupying excessive space. Additionally, to avoid noise overlap between the exhaust end 22 of the ventilation component 2 and the blower inlet, the straight-line distance d1 between the exhaust end 22 of the ventilation component 2 and the blower inlet is set to be less than or equal to 15 mm (as shown in FIG. 25). When the direction of the gas flowing through the ventilation component 2 is parallel to the direction of the gas entering the blower 4 (as shown in FIG. 25), the noise-reducing air passage 1 achieves further noise reduction.

In another embodiment, the intake end 21 and exhaust end 22 of the ventilation component 2 are formed by two or more planes, such as a step-shaped exterior of the ventilation component 2.

In yet another embodiment, the opening at the intake end 21 of the ventilation component 2 is larger than the opening at the exhaust end 22.

Embodiment 2

This embodiment provides a ventilation component 2 for use within a noise-reducing air passage 1 of respiratory-related devices like PAP machines, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20. This embodiment offers a cross-sectional diagram and usage diagram of the ventilation component 2. As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the difference between this embodiment and Embodiment 1 lies in the noise-reducing air passage 1 having two or more ventilation components 2 cooperating for noise reduction. The design flexibility of the ventilation component 2 allows it to adapt to various spatial layouts. For example, the ventilation component 2 can adopt various external forms to fit different spatial configurations. Thus, when the noise-reducing air passage 1 includes two or more spatial forms, such as an air passage with an inlet pipe, a circular-shaped ventilation component 2 within the inlet pipe can be used alongside a square-shaped ventilation component 2 within the chamber of the noise-reducing air passage 1. Moreover, the same type of noise-reducing air passage 1 can also have ventilation components 2 with baffles 24 at the same or different angles to achieve more efficient noise reduction. The coordination between the ventilation components 2 is also varied; they can be spaced apart within the noise-reducing air passage 1 in non-adjacent positions, allowing the airflow to be divided into smaller flow units, then recombined and divided again. Placing ventilation components 2 at different positions helps streamline and mitigate turbulent airflow within parts of the noise-reducing air passage 1, achieving noise reduction over a larger area. The arrangement can also be such that two or more adjacent ventilation components 2 extend the gap channels 25 for noise reduction. For instance, when two ventilation components 2 with the same structure are used adjacently (where the intake end 21 of one ventilation component 2 tightly fits against the exhaust end 22 of another ventilation component 2), they form a continuous airflow path between them, effectively lengthening the length of the ventilation component 2, resulting in a more elongated gas flow path within the channel, which prolongs the stay of the air within the channel, further enhancing noise reduction. When two different structural forms of the ventilation component 2 (with different angles of baffles 24) are used adjacently, the airflow is first divided into smaller flow units upon entering the first form of ventilation component 2, and as the second form of ventilation component 2 has baffles 24 at different angles, the airflow is again divided by the baffles 24 after exiting the first form and entering the second form. This process causes the already divided airflow to be further subdivided into even smaller flow units. Through this continuous division, the airflow gradually slows down, and the noise in the airflow is more effectively dispersed and reduced. The cooperative use of different forms of ventilation components 2 can effectively optimize the dynamic characteristics of the airflow, making the airflow within the channel smoother and quieter. This design allows for flexible combination of ventilation components 2 according to specific needs to achieve optimal noise reduction effects.

In another embodiment, baffles 24 of different directions are present within a ventilation component 2, where these baffles 24 have a front-to-back relationship inside the ventilation component 2. Near the intake end, there are multiple baffles 24 arranged parallel to the horizontal plane, followed immediately by multiple baffles 24 arranged perpendicular to the horizontal plane extending towards the exhaust end 22. The baffles 24 of different directions are connected at their adjacent ends, having the same peripheral wall 23. Alternatively, the directions of the baffles 24 can be arbitrary, and their proportional length within the ventilation component 2 can also be arbitrary.

Embodiment 3

In another embodiment, a ventilation component 2 configured for use within the noise-reducing air passage 1 of respiratory-related devices such as PAP machines is provided. Refer to FIG. 21 for a schematic diagram of the use of the ventilation component 2. This embodiment differs from Embodiment 1 in that the ventilation component 2 is made from a different material than that used in Embodiment 1. The use of different materials for the ventilation component 2 can also achieve noise reduction, for example, by using silicone to form holes, a method that follows the core structural principle of the ventilation component