Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISRUPTING SNORE
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a snore disrupting method and
system.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for
disrupting and stopping snoring, by changing the position of snorer's head
when
snoring.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Snoring is the vibration of respiratory structures and the resulting sound.
The
irregular airflow is caused by a passageway blockage and is mostly due to
relaxing
throat muscles and in some cases is extended to Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
Statistically, at least 30% of adults snore and rising to 60% of men and 40%
of
women aged 60 to 65 years; this suggests an increased susceptibility to
snoring as
age increases,
Snoring is known to cause sleep deprivation to snorers and those around them,
as
well as daytime drowsiness, irritability, lack of focus and decreased libido.
It has
also been suggested that it can cause significant psychological and social
damage to
sufferers. Multiple studies reveal a positive correlation between loud snoring
and
increased risk of heart attack by about 34%, and increased risk of stroke by
about
67% chance.
Many methods have been invented to prevent snoring. US patent 7676870B2
presets a pillow body with base, mobile seat, gear set, and motor assembly,
which
shifts horizontally to right and left when the sensors within the pillow body
detect
snoring sound.
US patent 4941478A presents mechanical pillow body that changes the angular
position of the pillow surface about a horizontal centerline, when snoring is
detected. Canadian Patent 202740193U presents a pillow body with a voice-
controlled vibrator inside that vibrates when detecting snoring sound.
The above-mentioned methods and systems have many disadvantages. They are all
contained pillow bodies limiting the pillow options of the user, where the
user might
have medical or personal preference choosing his/her pillow based on a range
of
features including size, softness, hardness, rigidity, neck support, air flow,
material
allergies, etc. In some prior art methods and systems the displacement
component
is isolated with limited effective area and may not be effective if the head
is not
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placed directly on top of the displacement component and elsewhere along the
length of the pillow. Furthermore, as enclosed pillow bodies, the mentioned
systems
place the mechanical and hydraulic components of the system, such as pumps and
motors, within the pillow body, resulting in loud noise in close proximity of
the
user's head. This noise results in disrupting the sleep of the snorer as well
as other
individuals in the proximity of the system. Including the battery and
electrical
components within the pillow body results in exposing the head of the user to
an
electromagnetic field, which can result in headaches and other symptoms.
Therefore it would be desirable to provide a new and advantageous snore-
disrupting system.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel system and method
for
disrupting snore by changing the position of snorer's head, which obviates or
mitigates at least one disadvantage of the prior art.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
method of
disrupting snore comprising an expansion unit, an air pressure supply or an
inflator
unit, and an electronic circuit. The invention may further comprise a wired or
wireless microphone transmitter or use of a cellphone or any other device that
would allow for audio transmission. The expansion unit may be placed
underneath a
pillow, inside a pillowcase. The expansion unit is inflated and deflated by
the
inflator unit and through expanding and increasing in volume and deflating and
reducing in volume changes the position of snorer's head, hence disrupting the
snoring. The expansion unit may comprise at least one bladder placed within a
sleeve structure, where the expansion and volume increase of the one or
plurality of
bladders expands the sleeve structure as well and extends and transfers the
expansion through the length of the sleeve structure, therefore displacing the
pillow
along the length of the sleeve structure.
Thus, the present invention introduces a novel snore disrupting system, where
the
expansion unit longitudinally extends and transfers an isolated expansion to
allow
for effective displacement along the length of a pillow used in conjunction
with the
system.
The present invention further does not comprise a pillow body and therefore
accommodate pillow options to be used with the system. This also makes the
devise
portable and modular in regards to the pillow bodies to be used.
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In the present invention no mechanical or electrical components is places in
the
pillow and under the head of the user, where the expansion unit is the only
component of the system that is places in the pillow or in immediate proximity
of
the head of the user, drastically reducing the issues of system noise and
electromagnetic field exposure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way
of
example only, with reference to attached Figures, wherein:
Figure 1: shows a schematic view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the
present snore disrupting system.
Figure 2: shows a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the expansion
unit
of the present snore disrupting system, in a maximum inflation position.
Figure 3: shows a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the expansion
unit
of the present snore disrupting system, in a maximum deflation position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Figure 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present snore disrupting
system,
which comprises, an expansion unit 11, an air pressure supply or an inflator
12, at
least one valve 13, an electronic circuit 14, and a microphone transmitter 15,
which
can be wired or wireless microphone transmitter or a cellphone or any other
device
that suitable for audio transmission. The expansion unit 11 comprises at least
one
inflatable bladder 16 positioned inside a sleeve assembly 17 comprised of hard
surfaces. The expansion unit 11 could also be any other assembly of components
that would allow for increase in volume when inflated and reduction of volume
when deflated. The bladder 16 is further connected to the inflator 12 through
at
least one tube 18. The expansion unit 11 may be placed underneath a pillow,
inside
the pillowcase. The inflatable bladder 16 is inflated and deflated by the
inflator 12
and through expanding and increasing in volume and deflating and reducing in
volume changes the position of snorer's head, hence disrupting the snoring.
The pressure supply or the inflator 12 of the snore disrupting system
pressurizes
the bladder 16 through at least one tube 18, which may be a flexible plastic
tube.
The design of the air inflator 12 may be diaphragm, piston cylinder, blower,
or
others known to the person skilled in the art. The inflator 12 may be covered
by
soundproof material to reduce the noise.
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The pressure supply or the inflator 12 is connected to at least one valve 13,
which
connects the outlet of inflator 12 to the atmosphere to depressurize the
inflated
bladder 16 while the inflator 12 is turned off. The valve 13 may be a normally
open
mini solenoid valve or other suitable valves known to the person skilled in
the art.
The pressure supply or the inflator 12 may further be connected to at least
one
silencer 19, which is connected to the outlet of the inflator 12 to reduce the
transfer
of the noise and vibration to the expansion unit 11.
The electronic circuit unit 14 of the snore disrupting system comprises a
power
supply 20, which could be a battery or an AC wall outlet or any other suitable
sources of electrical power, a sound receiver and processor 21, and a control
system
22. The electronic circuit unit 14 turns the inflator 12 on and off and
controls the
function of the snore disrupting system. The electronic circuit unit 14 may
further
comprise an adjustable on and off timer relay, as part of its control system,
for
setting the period of running the inflator 12.
The sound receiver and processor 21 of the electronic circuit unit 14,
receives what
might be the snore sound from the microphone transmitter 15. The control
system
22 of the electronic circuit unit 14 then turns on the inflator 12. The sound
receiver
and processor 21 may comprise a noise filter to eliminate the noise and may
further
comprise a voice recognizing memory or a voice detector to distinguishing the
individual snorer's voice. The voice recognizing memory may be utilized when
more
than one person snores in the same room and separate snore disrupting system
are
used in close proximity. In this case, the system should recognize the
individual
user's snoring sound. The snore disrupting system may work with or without
voice
recognizing memory.
The snore sound is transmitted by wired or wireless microphone transmitter 15
or
a cellphone or any other device that would allow for audio transmission, to
the
electronic circuit unit 14 and switches on the inflator 12 and closes the
valve 13,
resulting in the inflation of the expander unit's bladder 16.
What might be the snoring sound is detected by a wired or wireless microphone
transmitter 15 or a cellphone or any other device that would allow for audio
transmission, and is transmitted to the sound receiver and processor unit 21
that is
in communication with the control system 22. When signaled by the sound
receiver
and processor unit 21, the controi system 22 turns on the inflator 12 and
closes the
valve 13 for a predefined period of time, and then turns off the inflator 12
and opens
the valve 13 for a predefined period of time. The total of the on and off time
periods
of the inflator 12 make one time cycle of the system. The running on and off
of the
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inflator 12 may be done by a timer relay as part of the control system 22,
receiving
electrical signals from the sound receiver and processor unit 21.
By turning on the inflator 12, the bladder 16 is inflated, expanding the
expander unit
11, causing the snorer's head that is located on the pillow to gently move up
or in
any other direction depending on the position of the head during a predefined
period of time. After the predefined period of the inflator 12 being on and
the
expander unit 11 reaching a predefined maximum expansion, the inflator 12 is
turned off by the control system 22, allowing the bladder 16 to depressurize
through the valve 13, causing the expander unit 11 to reduce in cross
sectional area,
resulting in the snorer's head to move down or in any other direction
depending on
the position od the head.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the system does not have or
make
use of the microphone transmitter 15 and the sound receiver and processor 21
as
part of the electronic circuit unit 14. In this embodiment the electronic
circuit unit
14 may be set to periodically turn the inflator 12 on and off, independent of
the
snoring sound. The electronic circuit unit 14 may comprise an adjustable on
and off
timer relay for setting the period of running the inflator 12. By setting the
timer for
the period less than the gaps between when the devise disrupts the snoring and
when the snoring starts again, the snorer's head is periodically moved.
Figure. 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the sleeve assembly 17 of the
expansion unit 11 of Figureure.1. The sleeve assembly 17 comprises a flexible
sleeve
structure 33 and a plurality of flat bars 34 or any other semi-rigid
longitudinal
structure. The flexible sleeve structure 33 may be made of flexible plastic or
robust
fabric with parallel longitudinal sacs. The flat bars 34 may be made of light
and hard
material and may be separated in two or many segments. By inserting one flat
bar in
each sac of the flexible sleeve structure 33, the sleeve assembly 17 may form
into a
reinforced body. By inflating the bladder 16 of Figureure.1 that would be
placed
inside the sleeve assembly 17, the sleeve assembly 17 may form a rigid
cylindrical
or polygonal shape sleeve, extending and longitudinally transferring the
expansion
motion of the inflatable bladder 16 of Figureure.1, pushing up the pillow to
change
the position of the snorer's head.
Figure. 3 illustrates the sleeve assembly 17 in a position when the bladder 16
of
Figure.1 has been deflated, resulting the sleeve assembly 17 to fold and
reduce in
cross sectional area, resulting in the snorer's head to move down and back to
the
initial position.
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The above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to be examples
of
the present invention and alternations and modifications may be effected
thereto by
those of skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the present
invention.
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