The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 01, 2002
Filed:
Nov. 23, 1998
John Zowtiak, Coto De Caza, CA (US);
Thomas Young, Corona, CA (US);
Tony Wondka, Mountain View, CA (US);
Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc., St. Louis, MO (US);
Abstract
In accordance with the present invention, a phonation valve which is cooperatively connectable to a breathing tube connected to a patient's airway, includes a valve body having first and second ends through which gas passes into and out of the valve. The first end is connectable to the breathing tube for passage of gas between the breathing tube and the valve. A valve seat is located within the valve body between the first and second ends. A thin, flexible diaphragm is provided, which is seated against the valve seat when the patient exhales. The diaphragm has a comfort-improving structural feature which can be 1) a shape which is at least partly concave on a side of the diaphragm facing the seat, and/or 2) a web of substantially uniform thickness with a plurality of discrete areas of different thicknesses dispersed around the web, which are capable of damping resonance vibration of the diaphragm during breathing by the patient.