Patent ID: 7435233

Claim:
Apparatus for mechanically ventilating a patient, comprising two separate, substantially rigid components structured and arranged to be coupled to both simultaneously move and move towards and away from one another and one of said rigid components positioned adjacent a front or anterior of a torso of the patient and the other of said rigid components positioned adjacent a rear or posterior of the torso of the patient, on opposite sides of the torso of the patient, and a flexible, air-tight, elastic covering encapsulating both said components on all sides thereof and surrounding the torso when placed about the torso of the patient, such that when said components move away from one another within said air-tight, elastic covering, negative pressure is generated within said air-tight, elastic covering and influences the torso to cause the patient to draw air into the patient's lungs, and when said components no longer move away from one another, the patient's natural pulmonary elastic recoil expels the air from within the patient's lungs and, together with said air-tight, elastic covering returning to unstretched condition, causes the pressure within said air-tight, elastic covering to become positive and move said components together.