Ultrasonic welding of fabrics for sleep apnea treatment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11458271-B2
Application number	US-201916243575-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 9, 2019
Priority date	Aug 22, 2011
Publication date	Oct 4, 2022
Grant date	Oct 4, 2022

Abstract

A respiratory apparatus may employ ultrasonic welds. The ultrasonic welding may be used to join a variety of headgear, mask and accessory components. This process may enhance comfort, fit and/or performance of the joined components and/or overall mask assembly. A component may be a single layer component such as a textile or fabric, or a composite or multiple layer component such as fabric and foam composites, or outer fabric layers and inner spacer fabrics. Further, a component may be a strap, some other headgear component, a mask component, an accessory component or the like.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. At least one headgear section for a headgear for use in positioning a respiratory mask on a patient's face, the headgear section comprising:
a first headgear component including an outer textile and an inner textile and a three-dimensional (3D) spacer fabric between the outer textile and the inner textile;
a second headgear component; and
an ultrasonic welding joint interconnecting the first headgear component and the second headgear component thereby forming the at least one headgear section with a pocket;
wherein the first headgear component and the second headgear component are straps of the headgear.

2. The at least one headgear section of claim 1 , wherein the first headgear component is ultrasonically die cut and welded to round its edges.

3. The at least one headgear section of claim 1 , wherein end welds of the first and second headgear components form the pocket such that the at least one headgear section comprises a pocket component.

4. The at least one headgear section of claim 1 wherein the second headgear component comprises a pocket fabric.

5. The at least one headgear section of claim 1 , wherein a rigidizer is inserted in the pocket.

6. The at least one headgear section of claim 1 , wherein the headgear section is thermoformed with a rigidizer positioned in the pocket to fix the rigidizer to the headgear section by melting a portion of the rigidizer, wherein hardening of the portion of the rigidizer secures the rigidizer to the headgear section.

7. The at least one headgear section of claim 1 , wherein the ultrasonic welding joints comprise flush joints.

8. At least one headgear section for a headgear for use in positioning a respiratory mask on a patient's face, the headgear section comprising:
a first headgear component including an outer textile and an inner textile and a three-dimensional (3D) spacer fabric between the outer textile and the inner textile;
a second headgear component and
an ultrasonic welding joint interconnecting the first headgear component and the second headgear component thereby forming the at least one headgear section with a pocket,
wherein a rigidizer is in the pocket, and
wherein the rigidizer includes a clip for connecting the headgear to another device.

9. A method of making at least one headgear section for a headgear for use in positioning a respiratory mask on a patient's face, the method comprising:
ultrasonically welding together a first headgear component and a second headgear component to form an ultrasonic welding joint, thereby forming the at least one headgear section with a pocket,
wherein the first headgear component and the second headgear component are straps of the headgear, and
wherein the first headgear component includes an outer textile and an inner textile and wherein a three-dimensional (3D) spacer fabric is positioned between the outer textile and the inner textile.

10. The method of making the at least one headgear section of claim 9 , wherein the first headgear component is ultrasonically die cut and welded to round its edges.

11. The method of making the at least one headgear section of claim 9 , wherein end welds of the first and second headgear components form the pocket such that the at least one headgear section comprises a pocket component.

12. The method of making the at least one headgear section of claim 9 wherein the second headgear component comprises a pocket fabric.

13. The method of making the at least one headgear section of claim 9 , further comprising inserting a rigidizer into the pocket.

14. The method of making the at least one headgear section of claim 9 , further comprising thermoforming the headgear section with a rigidizer positioned in the pocket to fix the rigidizer to the headgear section by melting a portion of the rigidizer, wherein hardening of the portion of the rigidizer secures the rigidizer to the headgear section.

15. A method of making at least one headgear section for a headgear for use in positioning a respiratory mask on a patient's face, the method comprising:
ultrasonically welding together a first headgear component and a second headgear component to form an ultrasonic welding joint, thereby forming the at least one headgear section with a pocket, and
inserting a rigidizer into the pocket,
wherein the rigidizer includes a clip for connecting the headgear to another device.

Assignees

• ResMed Pty Ltd

Inventors

• Dunn Jessica Lea
• Ovzinsky Grant Milton
• Barbara Anthony Paul
• Haskard Kirrily Michele
• Formica Justin John
• Laguzza Michael Charles

Classifications

• B29C66/73521

  of different thickness, i.e. the thickness of one of the parts to be joined being different from the thickness of the other part · CPC title

• B29C66/4322

  by joining a single sheet to itself (B29C66/4332 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C66/14

  the joint having the same thickness as the thickness of the parts to be joined (B29C66/1142 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C66/723

  being multi-layered (B29C66/7292, B29C66/72941 take precedence) · CPC title

• B29C65/48

  using adhesives {, i.e. using supplementary joining material; solvent bonding} · CPC title