Headgear tubing for a patient interface

Abstract

A patient interface for treating sleep disorder breathing includes a headgear tube that provides support for the seal forming structure. The headgear tube includes a patient-contacting portion and a non-patient contacting portion that are joined along seams to form a gas passageway. The headgear tube may comprise a textile material and/or a foam material. Portions of the headgear tube may be imparted with greater rigidity than other portions.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A positioning and stabilising structure to provide a force to hold a seal-forming structure in a therapeutically effective position on a patient's head for positive pressure airway treatment of sleep disordered breathing, the positioning and stabilising structure comprising:
 at least one gas delivery tube to deliver a flow of air to an entrance of the patient's airways via a seal-forming structure, each gas delivery tube being constructed and arranged to contact, in use, at least a region of the patient's head superior to an otobasion superior of the patient's head, each gas delivery tube comprising a tube wall defining a hollow interior through which air is able to flow to the seal-forming structure, each gas delivery tube comprising:
 a patient-contacting portion configured to contact the patient's body, the patient-contacting portion comprising 1) a textile material and/or a foam material, and 2) an air-impermeable material provided to the textile material and/or the foam material to make the patient-contacting portion substantially air-impermeable; 
 a non-patient contacting portion configured to be oriented away from the patient's body in use, the non-patient contacting portion comprising 1) a textile material and/or a foam material, and 2) an air-impermeable material provided to the textile material and/or the foam material to make the non-patient contacting portion substantially air-impermeable; and 
 at least one seam to join the patient-contacting portion and the non-patient contacting portion, 
 wherein the at least one seam comprises rigidising elements embedded within or layered on the seam to provide rigidity to the gas delivery tube. 
   
     
     
         12 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one seam comprises a first seam and a second seam. 
     
     
         13 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the first seam provides greater or lesser rigidity to the gas delivery tube than the second seam. 
     
     
         14 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein in use, each gas delivery tube is configured to extend along a side of the patient's face, and the first seam is configured to be positioned anteriorly and the second seam is configured to be positioned posteriorly with respect to the patient's face. 
     
     
         15 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the rigidising elements comprise metal or plastic materials. 
     
     
         16 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the rigidising elements comprise a yarn having a lower melt temperature than surrounding yarn. 
     
     
         17 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the patient-contacting portion includes a first elongate length of material, and the non-patient contacting portion includes at least a second elongate length of material. 
     
     
         18 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 17 , wherein the non-patient contacting portion includes a third elongate length of material. 
     
     
         19 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the patient-contacting portion and the non-patient contacting portion each comprises a plurality of layers. 
     
     
         20 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein each gas delivery tube is configured to extend in use from a position on top of the patient's head, along a side of the patient's face, to a position adjacent the entrance to the patient's airways. 
     
     
         21 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein each gas delivery tube comprises a textile material and/or a foam material. 
     
     
         22 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein each gas delivery tube further comprises an inner portion covered by an outer layer, said outer layer comprising the textile material or the foam material of the patient contacting portion and/or the textile material or the foam material of the non-patient contacting portion. 
     
     
         23 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein each gas delivery tube further comprises an inner portion covered by an outer layer, said inner portion comprising a foam material and/or spacer fabric. 
     
     
         24 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 23 , wherein the outer layer comprises the textile material of the patient-contacting portion and/or the textile material of the non-patient contacting portion. 
     
     
         25 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 24 , wherein the outer layer of the gas delivery tube comprises a sleeve configured to enclose the patient contacting portion and the non-patient contacting portion. 
     
     
         26 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one gas delivery tube includes a pair of gas delivery tubes. 
     
     
         27 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 26 , further comprising a crown connector that is configured to be positioned on top of the patient's head in use to fluidly connect between the pair of gas delivery tubes. 
     
     
         28 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one seam is thermoformed or ultrasonically welded to join the patient-contacting portion and the non-patient contacting portion. 
     
     
         29 . The positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one gas delivery tube comprises:
 a superior tube portion configured to extend in use from a position on top of the patient's head to a position along the side of the patient's head or face; and   an inferior tube portion configured to extend from the position along the side of the patient's head or face to a position adjacent the entrance to the patient's airways,   wherein one of the inferior tube portion and superior tube portion has a greater rigidity than the other of the inferior tube portion and superior tube portion.   
     
     
         30 . A patient interface comprising:
 a seal-forming structure constructed and arranged to form a seal with a region of the patient's face surrounding an entrance to the patient's airways for sealed delivery of a flow of gas at a therapeutic pressure of at least 6 cmH 2 O above ambient air pressure throughout the patient's respiratory cycle in use; and   the positioning and stabilising structure of  claim 11 , to provide a force to hold the seal-forming structure in a therapeutically effective position on the patient's head for positive pressure airway treatment of sleep disordered breathing.