Patent ID: 9713693
Date: 2017-07-25
CPC Classifications: A61M,A62B,B23P,F16K,Y10T

Claim:
1. A valve configured to exhaust flows of fluid through the valve to ambient atmosphere, the valve configured to be installed in a respiration therapy mask, the valve comprising: a valve opening formed in a first wall, wherein the first wall separates a first body of fluid on a first side of the first wall from a second body of fluid on a second side of the first wall, wherein the first body of fluid is ambient atmosphere; a member pocket formed through a second wall, wherein the second wall runs transverse to the first wall, wherein the member pocket passes through the second wall from a front opening in the side of the second wall facing toward the valve opening to a rear opening on a side of the second wall opposite the valve opening, wherein a cross sectional area of the front opening is smaller than a cross sectional area of the rear opening; a first protrusion formed at or near an edge of the front opening of the member pocket, the first protrusion protruding inwardly into the member pocket from an edge of the front opening closest to the valve opening toward the rear opening, the first protrusion being shaped to form a cavity between the first protrusion and the inner surface of the member pocket and having an angled frontmost face; a second protrusion formed at or near an edge of the front opening of the member pocket opposite the first protrusion, wherein the second protrusion protrudes from the inner surface of the member pocket toward the first protrusion; and a valve member formed substantially wholly from a flexibly resilient material, the valve member comprising: a member body configured to be seated within the member pocket, the member body comprising a wedge and a slot, the wedge being configured to rest in the cavity between the first protrusion and the inner surface of the member pocket and having an angled face configured to engage the angled face of the first protrusion, the slot being configured to receive the second protrusion therein such that the seating of the wedge in the cavity and the reception of the second protrusion into the slot hold the member body in place within the member pocket; and a valve flap that extends from the member body to cover the valve opening on the first side of the valve opening such that flows of fluid from ambient atmosphere to the second body of fluid are substantially prevented by the valve flap, wherein the valve flap is configured to resiliently flex away from the valve opening to permit flows of fluid from the second body of fluid to ambient atmosphere while the mask is being worn by a subject, wherein a portion of the member body disposed distally of the slot has an angled face, the angled face extending from a proximal end of the valve flap and angled towards the slot such that a distal cross section of the portion is smaller than a proximal cross section of the portion.