DEVICE FOR HUMIDIFYING NASAL AND ORAL CAVITY
Technical Field
The present invention pertains to a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities by reusing moisture emitted during a user's breathing or separately supplying moisture from an outer moisture supply source to the user so as to avoid undesirable problems occurring when the nasal and oral cavities of the user become dry.
Background Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, one of the main reasons humans feel fatigued lies in the dryness of their nasal and oral cavities due to emission of moisture from the human body when the humans breathe in and out.
Although humans drink water to replenish moisture in their bodies, dryness of the nasal and oral cavities is not sufficiently prevented. Moreover, while sleeping, humans cannot drink water, so dryness of the nasal and oral cavities is not prevented at all. Conventionally, a humidifier is used to artificially control humidity in a room to humidify the nasal and oral cavities. However, dryness of the nasal and oral cavities cannot be avoided by the humidifier in a space where the humidifier cannot be used, for example, in moving cars, in spaces without electric power supply units, or in airplanes where electric appliances such as humidifiers are prohibited in order to prevent them from affecting the electronic equipment of the airplane.
Disclosure of the Invention
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities, which humidifies the nasal and oral
cavities of a user while asleep or when the humidity of a room is not artificially controlled.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities, which reuses moisture emitted during a user's breathing or separately supplies moisture from an outer moisture supply source to the user, thereby preventing a user from feeling fatigue due to dryness of their nasal and oral cavities.
Based on the present invention, the above objects can be accomplished by providing a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities, comprising a moisture absorption unit smoothly absorbing moisture emitted during a user's breathing or separately supplied from an outer moisture supply source and being readily dehydrated when the user breathes in. A moisture storage unit is connected to the moisture absorption unit to store moisture absorbed by the moisture absorption unit or separately supplied from the outer moisture supply source. The device also comprises a wearing unit or an attachment unit connected to the moisture storage unit to fasten the moisture absorption unit and the moisture storage unit onto the user in such a way that the moisture absorption unit is located underneath the nose of a user.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a front view of a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of a part of the device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a front view of a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to a modification of the first embodiment of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 illustrates the device of FIG. 1, worn on a user;
FIG. 5 is a front view of a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a front view of a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to a modification of the second embodiment of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 8 illustrates the device of FIG. 7, worn on a user.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components. A device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to the present invention, comprises a moisture absorption unit 10 smoothly absorbing moisture emitted during a user's breathing or separately supplied from an outer moisture supply source and being readily dehydrated when the user breathes in, a moisture storage unit 20 mounted to the moisture absorption unit 10 to store moisture absorbed by the moisture absorption unit 10 or separately supplied from the outer moisture supply source, and a wearing unit
30 connected to the moisture storage unit 20 to fasten the moisture absorption unit 10 and the moisture storage unit 20 onto the user in such a way that the moisture absoφtion unit 10 is located underneath the nose 3 of a user.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIGs. 1 to 3, the moisture absoφtion unit 10 comprises a fuzzy body 11 composed of fuzz to smoothly absorb moisture emitted during a user's breathing or separately supplied from an outer moisture supply source and be readily dehydrated when the user breathes in, and the moisture storage unit 20 comprises a tubular body 21, an inner path 23 formed in the tubular body 21, and openings 22 formed on a surface of the tubular body 21 at which the fuzzy body 11 is attached to the tubular body 21.
At this time, the tubular body 21 may have holes 24 communicating with the inner path 23 so as to separately supply moisture from the outer moisture supply source to the tubular body 21.
Further, the moisture absorption unit 10 may consist of a natural fiber body 15, in place of the fuzzy body 11. The natural fiber body 15 is able to smoothly absorb moisture emitted during the user's breathing or separately supplied from the outer moisture supply source and is readily dehydrated when the user breathe in, as shown in FIG. 3.
Furthermore, the wearing unit 30 may consist of a band 32, a clip, or a headband connected to both ends of the tubular body 21 so that the user conveniently wears the tubular body 21 on his own head.
With reference to FIG. 4, there is illustrated the device, worn by the user, according to the first embodiment of the present invention. At this time, the moisture absorption unit 10 consisting of the fuzzy body 11 or the natural fiber body 15 is positioned under the nose 3 of the user in such a way that the moisture absorption unit 10 comes into contact with a lower side of the nose 3 using the wearing unit 30.
When the user wearing the device breathes out, moisture emitted from the user is absorbed into the fuzzy body 11 or natural fiber body 15 of the moisture absorption unit
10 to allow the moisture absorption unit 10 to become damp.
On the other hand, when the user breathes in, air inhaled by the user passes through the damp fuzzy body 11 or natural fiber body 15 to flow into the nostrils of the user in conjunction with moisture evaporated from the damp fuzzy body 11 or natural fiber body 15, thereby humidifying the nasal and oral cavities of the user.
Moreover, moisture excessively absorbed in the moisture absorption unit 10 is stored in the inner path 23 of the tubular body 21, and then reabsorbed into the moisture absoφtion unit 10 in conjunction with air inhaled by the user when the user breathes in, so the moisture absoφtion unit 10 is always damp, thereby sufficiently humidifying the nasal and oral cavities of the user.
Additionally, if necessary, water is separately supplied by an outer moisture supply source through the holes 24 of the tubular body 21 into the inner path 23 of the tubular body 21 to allow the moisture absoφtion unit 10 to be damp, thereby desirably humidifying the nasal and oral cavities. Turning now to FIGs. 5 and 6, there are illustrated devices for humidifying nasal
and oral cavities of a user according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The device of FIG. 5 has a shorter tubular body 21 than that of FIGs. 1 and 3 so as to allow the user to quickly and conveniently wear the device.
The device of FIG. 6 is provided with a tubular body 21 having a bent portion 25 and a moisture absorption unit 10 connected to the tubular body 21, and the bent portion
25 functions to prevent water stored in an inner path 23 of the tubular body 21 from being drained even though the user moves his own head.
Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to a third embodiment of the present invention, which is more convenient to be transported and worn than those according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.
The device according to the third embodiment of the present invention, comprises a moisture absorption unit 10 including a fuzzy body 11 consisting of a natural fiber fuzz to smoothly absorb moisture emitted during a user's breathing or separately supplied from an outer moisture supply source and be readily dehydrated when a user breathes in. A moisture storage unit 20 is mounted to the moisture absoφtion unit 10 and consists of a sponge body body 27 holding moisture absorbed by the moisture absorption unit 10 or separately supplied from the outer moisture supply source. Furthermore, an attachment unit 40 is mounted to the moisture storage unit 20 to fasten the moisture absorption unit 10 and the moisture storage unit 20 onto a desired part of the user in such a way that the moisture absorption unit 10 and the moisture storage unit 20 are located underneath the nose of the user.
Unlike the devices according to the first and second embodiment of the present invention, the moisture absorption unit 10 and moisture storage unit 20 are simply attached under the nose of the user by use of the attachment unit 40, as shown in FIG. 8.
Moisture excessively absorbed in the moisture absorption unit 10 is stored in the sponge body 27 instead of the tubular body 21. Accordingly, when the user breathes in, moisture is inhaled from the sponge body 27 as well as the moisture absorption unit 10 into the nostrils of the user, thereby sufficiently humidifying the nasal and oral cavities of the user.
At this time, water may be separately supplied from an outer moisture supply source to the sponge body 27 to allow the sponge body 27 to be desirably damp.
Industrial Applicability
As described above, a device for humidifying nasal and oral cavities according to the present invention is advantageous in that moisture emitted during a user's breathing is reused or moisture is separately supplied from an outer moisture supply source to the device, thereby reducing a sense of fatigue of the user when the nasal and oral cavities of the user are dry.
Particularly, moisture emitted the user is reused, so the nasal and oral cavities of the user are desirably humidified during the user's sleep without using a humidifier.
Accordingly, the device may be effectively used during long-distance travel or a user's sleep, or in a space where the humidifier cannot be used.
The present invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology used is intended to be in the nature of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Therefore, it is to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.