JP4536013B2 - Respiratory aid - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a respiratory assistance device, and more particularly, to a respiratory assistance device that promotes nasal breathing by expanding a nostril, and is useful for preventing snoring and improving exercise ability.

  When the nostrils narrow due to various causes such as obesity and alcohol consumption, humans breathe in the mouth. This mouth breathing makes it easier to snore when sleeping. For this reason, various respiratory aids that promote nasal breathing by expanding the nostril, thereby preventing snoring or improving exercise ability have been proposed.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a respiratory assistance device including a pair of cylindrical bodies that are inserted into a nostril. However, this auxiliary tool simply inserts the cylindrical body into the nostril, and is easily removed from the nostril during use. In addition, the cylindrical body is made of polyethylene, has poor flexibility, and does not limit the insertion depth into the nostril, which may damage the inside of the nostril.

Patent Document 2 discloses a U-shaped breathing aid having a pair of elastic arms. This auxiliary tool inserts an elastic arm into a nostril and tries to expand the nostril while being held in the nostril by its spring force. Although the elastic arm is made of flexible silicone rubber, the spring force must be increased in order to exert its function, and the nasal wings are partially pressed and expanded. The feeling of discomfort increases. A respiratory aid similar to this conventional technique is disclosed in Patent Document 3.
JP-A-11-151262 JP-A-8-280728 JP 2002-301153 A

The present invention has been made based on the technical background as described above, and achieves the following object.
An object of the present invention is to provide a respiratory aid that can effectively expand a nostril to promote nasal breathing, is securely held in the nostril and does not easily come out, and has an excellent wearing feeling. It is in.

The present invention employs the following means in order to achieve the above object.
That is, the present invention is a respiratory aid made of an elastic material having flexibility,
A cylindrical body (1) that is inserted into the nostril and expands the nostril, and the cylindrical body has a bulging portion (3) in which a part of its peripheral wall bulges radially outward both inside and outside , The breathing aid is characterized by being formed from the axially intermediate portion of the cylindrical body to the distal end in the insertion direction into the nostril .

Moreover, this invention is a respiratory aid made of an elastic material having flexibility,
A pair of cylindrical bodies (1, 1) that are inserted into the nostrils and expand the nostrils, and a stopper (2) that connects the rear end portions in the insertion direction of these cylindrical bodies,
Each tubular body has a bulging portion (3, 3) in which a part of the peripheral wall bulges outward in the radial direction on both the inner and outer surfaces, and the insertion direction from the axially intermediate portion of each tubular body to the nostril It exists in the respiratory assistance device characterized by being formed over the front-end | tip .

More specifically, the stopper (2) is on a plane including the axes of the pair of cylindrical bodies (1, 1), and the bulging portion (3, 3) has a circumferential center thereof , When the plane is made to coincide with a horizontal plane, the stopper (2) is formed so as to be at an obliquely upper position on the side separated from the stopper in the horizontal direction .

The bulging portion (3) has a peripheral wall (5) in which the inner space gradually expands toward the distal end in the insertion direction of the cylindrical body (1) into the nostril . The peripheral wall (5) is curved along the axial direction and the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body (1) . The bulging portion (3) has a pair of upright walls (4, 4) formed along the axial direction of the cylindrical body (1) , and the peripheral wall (5) is interposed between the upright walls. Is formed.

  According to the present invention, the cylindrical body inserted into the nostril can expand the nostrils by expanding the entire nose wings by the restoring force due to its elasticity. In particular, since the tubular body has a bulging portion formed on the distal end side thereof, the nostril is greatly expanded deeply, and nasal breathing can be promoted.

  Moreover, since the bulging portion presses the nose wing with a larger spring force than the other cylindrical body portions, the cylindrical body is securely held in the nostril and does not easily come out. In addition, the nostril spreading action is caused not by partial pressing of the nasal wing but by pressing the entire nasal wing by the tubular body including the bulging portion, so that the user does not feel particularly uncomfortable. Can give an excellent feeling of wearing.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a front view, FIG. 4 is a side view taken along line BB in FIG. 3, and FIG. FIG.

  The respiratory assistance device according to the present invention includes a pair of cylindrical bodies 1 and 1 and a stopper 2 which are substantially cylindrical. The stopper 2 restricts the cylindrical body 1 from entering the nostril more than necessary. Therefore, the stopper 2 is provided between the rear ends of the cylindrical bodies 1 and 1 in the insertion direction into the nostrils. The stopper 2 has a plate shape and is provided so as to be substantially flush with the rear end surface of the cylindrical body 1.

  The breathing assistance device including the pair of cylindrical bodies 1 and 1 and the stopper 2 is made of an elastic material having flexibility. As the flexible elastic material, an elastomer, for example, a rubber material such as silicone rubber can be used. Moreover, thermoplastic elastomers, such as a silicone type, an olefin type, ethylene type, and a polyester type, can also be used. In the case of using either a rubber material or a thermoplastic elastomer, the pair of cylindrical portions 1 and 1 and the stopper 2 can be integrally formed by molding.

  On the distal end side of each cylindrical body 1, 1 is formed a bulging portion 3 in which the peripheral wall of the cylindrical body 1 bulges outward. The bulging portion 3 is formed in a part of the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 1 over a predetermined angular range (an angular range of approximately 45 degrees in this embodiment). In addition, the bulging portion 3 is formed from approximately the center to the tip of the cylindrical body 1 in the axial direction of the cylindrical body 1. With reference to FIG. 2, the bulging portion 3 is formed such that its circumferential center is at an upper position, more specifically, at an obliquely upper position with respect to the stopper 2.

  As shown in FIG. 6 (a), the bulging portion 3 is formed between a pair of upright walls 4, 4 formed along the axial direction of the cylindrical body 1 and the upright walls 4, 4. It consists of a peripheral wall 5. The peripheral wall 5 is curved with respect to the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 1. The peripheral wall 5 is also curved in the axial direction of the tubular body 1 so that the inner space of the bulging portion 3 gradually expands toward the tip of the tubular body 1.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, the bulging portion 3 can be formed only by the peripheral wall portion 5 without providing the standing wall 4. However, as indicated by the arrows in the figure, when a radial force is applied to the bulging portion 3 from the outside, the standing wall 4 can also exhibit springiness and increase the spring force. It is a desirable mode to provide.

  The cylindrical body 1 has an inclined end face 6 at the tip. The inclined end surface 6 is an end surface that is cut obliquely so that the length dimension of the cylindrical body 1 gradually decreases from both sides of the tip of the bulging portion 3 to the stopper 2 side.

  Next, the usage mode of the respiratory aid will be described. FIG. 7A shows the inside of the human nose, and the nostril (outer nostril) 10 is a space between the nasal septum 11 and the nose wings 12 on both sides thereof. The outer surface of the entrance portion of the nostril 10 is referred to as a nasal vestibule 13, and there is an arcuate ridge at the back of the nasal vestibule 13, which is referred to as a nose limit 14.

  In order to wear the breathing aid, the tubular bodies 1 and 1 are inserted into the nostrils 10 and 10 with the bulging portion 3 as the upper side. At that time, when the cylindrical body 1 is compressed and deformed in the radial direction, the insertion into the nostril 10 which is not circular becomes smooth. The cylindrical body 1 inserted into the nostril 10 expands the nostril 10 by pushing and expanding the entire nose wing 12 by the restoring force due to its elasticity.

  In the assisting device according to the present invention, since the bulging portion 3 is formed in the tubular body 1 in particular, the bulging portion 3 reaches the raised nose limit 14 and presses the nose limit 14 outward. That is, the bulging portion 3 is formed at a position where the raised nose limit 14 can be pressed. As a result, the nostril 10 greatly expands deeply, the air permeability increases, and nasal breathing is promoted. Moreover, since the inner space of the bulging portion 3 gradually expands toward the tip, nasal breathing is further promoted.

  And since the bulging part 3 presses the nose wing 12 with a larger spring force than the other cylindrical body 1 part, the cylindrical body 1 is reliably hold | maintained in the nostril 10, and does not come out easily. In addition, the spreading action of the nostril 10 is caused not by partial pressing of the nose wing 12 but by pressing the entire nose wing 12 by the tubular body 1 including the bulging portion 3, so that the user particularly feels uncomfortable. Nor.

  Moreover, since the stopper 2 is provided between the cylindrical bodies 1 and 1, the cylindrical body 1 can be prevented from entering the nostril more deeply than necessary. Furthermore, since the inclined end face is formed at the tip of the cylindrical bodies 1 and 1 and the length dimension on the stopper 2 side is shortened, the length in contact with the nasal septum 11 is shortened, and the mucous membrane and the like are damaged. Can be prevented.

  As described above, since the respiratory assistance device according to the present invention promotes nasal breathing, snoring can be prevented by wearing this device and sleeping. In addition, the ability to exercise can be improved by wearing this auxiliary tool during exercise.

  The above embodiment is merely an example, and the present invention can take various aspects. For example, in the above embodiment, only one bulging portion is provided, but a plurality of bulging portions may be provided at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the bulging part is formed by making the surrounding wall of a cylindrical body bulge outward. Not only this but a bulging part can be formed also by making a part of cylindrical body thicker than another part. However, in this case, the flow passage cross-sectional area of the respiratory air is not increased, and the above embodiment is a desirable aspect from the viewpoint of air permeability.

  Furthermore, when commercializing, not only the aspect which provided the stopper and connected a pair of cylindrical bodies like the said embodiment, it is also possible to take the aspect only of the cylindrical body which eliminated the stopper. .

It is a perspective view which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the embodiment. It is a front view of the embodiment. It is a BB arrow directional side view of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. It is a front view of a bulging part. It is a figure explaining a use condition.

Explanation of symbols

1: cylindrical body 2: stopper 3: bulging part 4: standing wall 5: peripheral wall 6: inclined end surface 10: nostril 11: nasal septum 12: nose wing 13: nasal vestibule 14: nasal limit

Claims (6)

A respiratory aid made of a flexible elastic material,
Cylindrical body to expand the inserted and the nasal holes nostril consists (1), the bulge portion a part of the peripheral wall in the tubular body formed by bulging radially outwardly in both the inner and outer surfaces (3), A respiratory aid characterized by being formed from the axially intermediate portion of the cylindrical body to the distal end in the insertion direction into the nostril . A respiratory aid made of a flexible elastic material,
A pair of cylindrical bodies (1, 1) that are inserted into the nostrils and expand the nostrils, and a stopper (2) that connects the rear end portions in the insertion direction of these cylindrical bodies,
Each tubular body has a bulging portion (3, 3) in which a part of the peripheral wall bulges outward in the radial direction on both the inner and outer surfaces, and the insertion direction from the axially intermediate portion of each tubular body to the nostril A respiratory aid characterized by being formed over the tip . The stopper (2) is located on a plane containing the respective axes of the cylindrical body of the pair (1,1), said bulging portion (3,3) is coincident the circumferential direction center, said plane and the horizontal plane 3. The respiratory assistance device according to claim 2, wherein the respiratory assisting device is formed so as to be obliquely above the stopper (2) when it is spaced apart from the stopper in the horizontal direction . The said bulging part (3) has the surrounding wall (5) in which an inner space expands gradually as it goes to the insertion direction to the nostril of the said cylindrical body (1) . 4. The respiratory aid according to any one of 3 above. The respiratory assistance device according to claim 4, wherein the peripheral wall (5) is curved along an axial direction and a circumferential direction of the cylindrical body (1) . The bulging portion (3) has a pair of upright walls (4, 4) formed along the axial direction of the cylindrical body (1) , and the peripheral wall (5) is interposed between the upright walls. The respiratory assistance device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that is formed.

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