Bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance

Abstract

To provide a bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance that is worn in the mouth of a user to reduce the effects of snoring and sleep apnea.SOLUTION: An oral appliance 1 includes an upper arch tray assembly 3 against which a user's upper set of teeth are received, and a lower arch tray assembly 5 against which a user's lower set of teeth are received. An intermediate arch tray assembly 4 is located between the upper and lower arch tray assemblies. The upper arch tray assembly is hingedly connected to the intermediate arch tray assembly so as to be rotatable with the user's upper set of teeth upwardly relative to the intermediate arch tray assembly. The lower arch tray assembly is adapted to move with the user's lower set of teeth in a horizontal direction relative to the upper and intermediate arch tray assemblies by which a user's lower jaw is advanced relative to a user's upper jaw to maintain an airway to a user's throat.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Background of the Invention 1. Technical Field The present invention relates to a bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance that is worn over a user's teeth in their mouth during sleep to reduce the effects of snoring and / or sleep apnea. The jaw displacement oral appliance includes an upper arcuate tray assembly and a lower arcuate tray assembly, in which the user's upper and lower teeth are received. The lower arcuate tray assembly is adapted to move horizontally (i.e., back and forth) with the user's lower teeth, and the upper arcuate tray assembly is adapted to rotate vertically (i.e., up and down) with the user's upper teeth relative to the lower arcuate tray assembly. This allows the upper arcuate tray assembly to remain engaged with the user's upper teeth even if the user's mouth is open while sleeping. Furthermore, the position of the user's lower jaw can be adjusted forward of the upper jaw to maintain a patent airway to the user's throat. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Background technology Oral appliances are known that are inserted into a user's mouth and worn over the user's teeth to maintain a patent airway through the appliance to the user's throat and improve the user's breathing during sleep. Examples of such oral appliances are available by reference to U.S. Patent No. 8,833,374, issued September 16, 2014, and U.S. Patent No. 10,849,783, issued December 1, 2020. The aforementioned patented oral appliances are particularly used by individuals seeking to reduce the effects of snoring and / or sleep apnea. Each appliance includes an upper arcuate tray assembly and a lower arcuate tray assembly in which the user's upper and lower teeth are seated during use. To keep the aforementioned airway open to the user's throat as the user's condition changes over time, the lower arcuate tray assembly is horizontally slidably adjustable relative to the upper arcuate tray assembly to correspondingly advance the position of the user's lower jaw relative to the user's upper jaw.

[0003] Depending on the user's sleeping position and movements, the position of the oral appliance may shift relative to the user's upper and lower teeth within the user's mouth. In particular, if the user opens their mouth while sleeping, the upper arcuate tray assembly of the appliance may move away from the user's upper teeth. When the user closes their mouth, the appliance may move out of alignment with the user's upper teeth, which may reduce the effectiveness of the appliance by no longer maintaining the user's lower jaw in front of their upper jaw. In the case of the above-referenced Patent No. 10,849,783, the upper arcuate tray assembly is adapted to slide vertically (i.e., up and down) along posts relative to the lower arcuate tray assembly, which allows the upper arcuate tray assembly of the oral appliance to remain engaged with the user's upper teeth throughout the night, regardless of whether the user's mouth is open or closed, thereby maintaining a patent airway. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, a bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance is disclosed for placement over a user's teeth in their mouth during sleep to reduce the effects of snoring and / or sleep apnea. The oral appliance includes an upper arcuate tray assembly, a lower arcuate tray assembly, and a middle arcuate tray assembly disposed therebetween. Each of the arcuate tray assemblies has an arcuate configuration with a curved front portion and a pair of opposing side portions to conform to the bite pattern of the user's teeth. Each of the upper and lower arcuate tray assemblies includes a dental impression material into which the user's upper and lower teeth are received during sleep.

[0005] A pair of pivot couplers (e.g., hooks) depend downwardly from opposite sides of the upper arcuate tray assembly and are received through respective coupler-receiving openings formed on opposite sides of the middle arcuate tray assembly. The upper and middle arcuate tray assemblies are pivotally connected together by the pivot couplers so as to be positioned one above the other when the pivot coupler carried by the upper arcuate tray assembly is pushed through the coupler-receiving opening formed in the middle arcuate tray assembly. As a result, when a user of the oral appliance opens and closes their mouth during sleep, the upper arcuate tray assembly can rotate on the pivot couplers so that its closed front portion moves up and down with the user's upper teeth in a generally vertical direction relative to the middle arcuate tray assembly. Thus, the user's upper teeth can remain engaged by the dental impression material of the upper arcuate tray assembly and avoid being separated from the dental impression material of the upper arcuate tray assembly. In this case, the oral appliance may remain aligned with the user's upper teeth to maintain the effectiveness of the appliance, thereby maintaining a patent airway to the user's throat.

[0006] A pair of position control blocks are disposed on the top and opposite sides of the lower arcuate tray assembly for slidable reception within respective locking channels formed in the bottom and opposite sides of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly, with the position adjustment blocks and locking channels each having teeth extending along one side thereof that are moved into mating engagement with one another to retain the position adjustment blocks within the locking channels, thereby connecting the intermediate arcuate tray to the lower arcuate tray assembly.

[0007] When it is desired to horizontally move the lower arcuate tray assembly of the bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance relative to the upper arcuate tray assembly and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly to which the upper arcuate tray assembly is coupled so as to reposition the user's mandible relative to the upper jaw, a momentary squeezing force is applied to the opposing sides of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly. As a result of the squeezing force, the intermediate arcuate tray assembly is momentarily compressed so that the teeth on one side of its locking channel are moved from their previous mating engagement with the teeth on one side of the position adjustment block of the lower arcuate tray assembly. At this time, a pushing force is applied to the lower arcuate tray assembly, causing the position control block to slide through the locking channel of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly to adjust the position of the lower arcuate tray assembly and the user's mandible relative to the upper arcuate tray assembly and the anterior position of the user's maxilla. Once the position of the lower arcuate tray assembly and the user's mandible has been adjusted as needed to meet the user's needs, the momentary squeezing force applied to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly is terminated. Thus, at this time, the middle arcuate tray assembly may automatically expand to return to its original shape, causing the teeth of the locking channel to move back into their mating engagement with the teeth of the position adjustment block, again holding the middle arcuate tray assembly and the lower arcuate tray assembly in place, one above the other. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the jaw displacement oral appliance of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an exploded top view showing an upper arcuate tray assembly, a lower arcuate tray assembly, and a middle arcuate tray assembly of the jaw displacement oral appliance of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an exploded bottom view showing the upper arcuate tray assembly, the lower arcuate tray assembly, and the middle arcuate tray assembly of the jaw displacement oral appliance of FIG. 3. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 illustrates an upper arcuate tray assembly of a jaw displacement oral appliance pivotally coupled to an intermediate arcuate tray assembly by a pair of couplers depending downwardly from the upper arcuate tray assembly. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 illustrates the upper and middle arcuate tray assemblies of the jaw displacement oral appliance after they have been joined together. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a front view of the jaw displacement oral appliance as viewed along line 7-7 in FIG. 6. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 illustrates the jaw displacement oral appliance when the user's mouth is closed and the upper arcuate tray assembly is positioned on top of the middle arcuate tray assembly. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 illustrates the jaw displacement oral appliance when the user's mouth is open and the upper arcuate tray assembly is rotated upward relative to the middle arcuate tray assembly. [Figure 10] 10 is a view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9 showing a pair of couplers of the upper arcuate tray assembly slidably received within coupler-receiving openings formed in the middle arcuate tray assembly. [Figure 11] 10 is a view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9 showing a pair of couplers of the upper arcuate tray assembly slidably received within coupler-receiving openings formed in the middle arcuate tray assembly. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a top exploded view to illustrate the alignment configuration of the jaw displacement oral appliance. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a bottom exploded view to illustrate the alignment configuration of the jaw displacement oral appliance. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, details of the bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance 1 are provided, which is sized to fit snugly against the teeth in a user's mouth so that the user's lower jaw can be selectively repositioned (i.e., advanced) horizontally relative to the user's upper jaw a variable distance as needed to maintain a patent airway to the user's throat while the user sleeps, in order to reduce the effects of snoring and sleep apnea. Furthermore, the user's upper jaw can also be repositioned vertically upward relative to the lower jaw to minimize the likelihood that the user's upper teeth may be pulled out of the oral appliance when the user opens their mouth wide while sleeping with the oral appliance. It will thus be understood that oral appliance 1 is for use by those desiring to have an adjustable device that allows a user to address the effects of snoring and / or sleep apnea while also minimizing the risk of the oral appliance moving away from the user's upper teeth, which could adversely affect the efficacy of the appliance, even if the user's mouth is open during sleep.

[0010] 1-11 of the drawings, bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance 1 is shown to include an upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and a lower arcuate tray assembly 5, which are held one above the other to form a continuous airway through the oral appliance and into the user's throat. Between the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 is a flexible middle arcuate tray assembly 4. As disclosed in more detail below, the upper, middle, and lower arcuate tray assemblies 3-5 are coupled to one another so that the user can move the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 back and forth horizontally relative to the upper arcuate tray assembly 3. Similarly, the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and the middle arcuate tray assembly 4 can be moved together generally vertically up and down relative to the lower arcuate tray assembly 5.

[0011] When the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 is moved horizontally by the user, as described below, the user's lower jaw is correspondingly displaced relative to the upper jaw, allowing the size of the airway to be selectively adjusted to the user's throat. When the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 move vertically upward, for example, when the user opens their mouth during sleep, the user's upper teeth may also move upward with the upper arcuate tray assembly 3. An important advantage of the present invention is that even if the user opens their mouth widely, the user's upper teeth are likely to remain engaged with the upper arcuate tray assembly 3, thereby maintaining the horizontal position of the lower jaw relative to the user's upper jaw throughout the night.

[0012] The upper arched tray assembly 3 of the bidirectional jaw displacement appliance 1 includes an upper tooth impression material 9 and an upper material receiving tray 10, which are preferably manufactured as a single piece by 3D printing such that the tooth impression material 9 is attached to the top of the material receiving tray 10. The upper tooth impression material 9 and the upper material receiving tray 10 each have a generally arched (i.e., curved) configuration to match the bite pattern of the user's teeth carried by the upper jaw.

[0013] The lower arcuate tray assembly 5 of the bidirectional jaw displacement appliance 1 includes a lower impression material 12 and a lower material receiving tray 14, which are joined together such that the material receiving tray 14 is held in place on top of the lower impression material 12. Alternatively, the lower impression material 12 and the lower material receiving tray 14 may be manufactured as a single piece by 3D printing. As with the upper impression material 9 and the upper material receiving tray 10, the lower impression material 12 and the lower material receiving tray 14 each have a generally arcuate (i.e., curved) configuration to match the bite shape of the user's teeth carried by the lower jaw.

[0014] The intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 includes a flexible coupler mounting tray 16 that is attached to the lower material receiving tray 14 of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5, as will be described shortly. The coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 also has a generally arcuate (i.e., curved) configuration to match the arcuate configurations of the upper material receiving tray 10 of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and the lower material receiving tray 14 of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5.

[0015] As shown in the drawings, each of the upper, middle, and lower arched tray assemblies 3-5 of the oral appliance 1, and their upper material receiving tray 10, lower material receiving tray 14, and coupler attachment tray 16, has a curved, closed front end and a pair of opposing sides spaced apart at an open rear end. An upper occlusal channel 18 (best shown in FIG. 2) extends across the top of the upper tooth impression material 9 of the arched upper arched tray assembly 3. The upper occlusal channel 18 is sized to receive a user's upper teeth carried by the user's upper jaw therein. A lower occlusal channel 20 (best shown in FIG. 4) extends across the bottom of the lower tooth impression material 12 of the arched lower arched tray assembly 5. The lower occlusal channel 20 is sized to receive a user's lower teeth carried by the user's lower jaw therein.

[0016] An important feature of the bidirectional jaw displacement device 1 is a pair of pivot couplers 24 coextensively connected to and depending downwardly from opposite sides of the arcuate upper material receiving tray 10 at the open rear end of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3. In a preferred embodiment, each pivot coupler 24 has an L-shaped hook. However, the pivot couplers 24 may have other suitable shapes, such as, for example, a post shape. A stop 26 faces outward from the bottom of each pivot coupler 24. As best shown in FIG. 3 , a pair of coupler-receiving openings or slots 28 are formed in opposite sides of the arcuate coupler mounting tray 16 at the open rear end of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4.

[0017] As best shown in Figure 5, the pivot couplers 24 depending downwardly from the upper material receiving tray 10 of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 are axially aligned with respective coupler receiving openings 28 formed in the coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4. The upper and intermediate arcuate tray assemblies 3, 4 are coupled together vertically when the pivot couplers 24 are pushed through the coupler receiving openings 28, allowing the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 to stack vertically above and along the pivot couplers 24 relative to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4. A stop 26 facing outward from the bottom of the pivot coupler 24 prevents the pivot coupler 24 from being pulled out of the coupler receiving openings 28, preventing the upper and intermediate arcuate tray assemblies 3, 4 from separating from each other.

[0018] As best shown in Figures 10 and 11, the coupler-receiving openings 28 formed in the coupler-mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 are longer than the cross-section of the pivoting couplers 24 received therethrough. Thus, as best shown in Figure 9, the pair of pivoting couplers 24 are adapted to rock back and forth (i.e., pivot) within their coupler-receiving openings 28. Pivoting Couplers 24 is a coupler 24 It will be appreciated that the arcuate tray assembly 4 functions as a hinge, allowing the depending upper tray assembly 3 to rotate up and down in a generally vertical direction relative to the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 so as to move upward and away from the user's lower teeth.

[0019] Moreover, because coupler receiving opening 28 is longer than the cross section of coupler 24, a gap (shown as G1 and G2 in FIG. 10 ) is established on each side of coupler 24 within opening 28. The gap allows pivoting coupler 24 to slide back and forth laterally through opening 28 (best shown in FIG. 11 ), counteracting both inward and lateral movement of the user's upper jaw imparted to coupler 24 when the user is wearing oral appliance 1 and has their mouth open while sleeping, further reducing the risk that the user's upper teeth may fall out of upper arcuate tray assembly 3.

[0020] In this regard, Figures 7 and 8 show the bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance 1 when worn, as it might appear while worn by a sleeping user, with the upper teeth positioned in the upper impression material 9 of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and the lower teeth positioned in the lower impression material 12 of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5. In this case, the user's mouth is closed and the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 is positioned at the top, separated from the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 by a relatively short distance, as indicated by reference numeral 30 in Figure 8.

[0021] 9 shows a bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance 1 that covers a user's teeth when the mouth is open during sleep. The open rear end of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 is hinged to the open rear end of the arcuate coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 by a pivot coupler 24 extending therebetween, so that the closed front end of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 rotates upward with the user's upper teeth at an angle of approximately 30 to 45 degrees, depending on how wide the user's mouth is open. Thus, at this time, the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 moves away from the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4, increasing the separation therebetween by a greater distance, as indicated by reference numeral 32 in FIG. 9. Due to the foregoing and as explained above, the user's upper teeth are less likely to move away from the upper occlusal channel 18 (of FIG. 3) of the upper tooth impression material 9 of the upper arched tray assembly 3; otherwise, as the user's mouth repeatedly opens and closes throughout the night, the oral appliance 1 may move away from the user's upper teeth, affecting the position of the user's mandible relative to the user's upper jaw.

[0022] 3 and 4, details are provided of the means for coupling the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 to the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 of the bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance 1 such that the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 and the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 and the user's lower teeth, which are disposed in the lower occlusal channel 20 of the user's lower jaw and lower tooth impression material 12, can be moved back and forth relative to one another relative to the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and the user's upper teeth, which are disposed in the upper occlusal channel 18 of the user's upper jaw and upper tooth impression material 9. By virtue of the foregoing, the position of the user's lower jaw can be selectively adjusted horizontally relative to the position of the user's upper jaw to correspondingly adjust the horizontal advancement of the lower jaw and the size of the airway (shown at 34 in FIG. 7) leading to the user's throat.

[0023] As best shown in FIG. 4, recessed locking channels 36 are formed (e.g., molded) into the bottom and each side of the arcuate coupler mounting tray 16 of the middle arcuate tray assembly 4. The locking channels 36 extend parallel to one another. A row of teeth 38 is formed (e.g., molded) along one side of each locking channel 36. As best shown in FIG. 3, a pair of position adjustment blocks 40 are positioned on opposite sides of the top of the arcuate lower material receiving tray 14 of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 and stand upright above the top of the lower material receiving tray 14. A row of teeth 42 is formed (e.g., molded) along one side of each position control block 40.

[0024] During assembly of the bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance 1, the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 The lower material receiving tray 14 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 is seated against the bottom of the coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4. To accomplish the foregoing, a pair of position adjustment blocks 40 extending upright from the lower material receiving tray 14 are slidably received within a pair of locking channels 36 formed in the bottom of the coupler mounting tray 16, respectively, thereby coupling the opposing trays 14 and 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 and the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 together and holding them in position, one above the other. In this regard, a row of teeth 42 extending along one side of the pair of upright position adjustment blocks 40 is placed into releasable locking engagement with and meshes with a row of teeth 38 extending along one side of the pair of recessed locking channels 36. However, it will be understood that any suitable interlocking pawl means may be used in place of the opposing rows of teeth 38 and 42.

[0025] The foregoing provides a user with the ability to disengage the locking interlocking engagement of teeth 42 of position adjustment block 40 with teeth 38 of locking channel 36. That is, the position of lower arcuate tray assembly 5, which engages the user's lower jaw, can be selectively altered along the horizontal direction relative to upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4, which are coupled to one another by pivot coupler 24 and which engage the user's upper jaw.

[0026] A pair of position control pads 44 are disposed or molded on opposite sides of the coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4. A position indicator scale 46 is molded or printed on each side of the lower material receiving tray 14 of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 so as to be located below the position control pads 44. The flexible coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 is responsive to a momentary compressive squeeze force, indicated by double-headed arrows 50 in FIG. 1 , applied simultaneously toward each other at the position control pads 44, temporarily compressing and changing the shape of the coupler mounting tray 16, thereby squeezing the opposite sides of the tray 16 together. At the same time, the teeth 38 of the locking channel 36 at the bottom of the coupler mounting tray 16 are temporarily moved out of their previous locking engagement with the teeth 42 formed in the position adjustment block 40 at the top of the lower material receiving tray 14. The coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 is formed with a keyhole notch 52 midway along its curved front end to encourage the opposing sides to further compress toward one another in response to a squeezing force applied thereto.

[0027] The user can then apply a pushing (or pulling) force to reposition the lower arcuate tray assembly 5, thereby horizontally advancing the user's mandible. The coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 is coupled to the upper material receiving tray 10 of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 by a pair of pivoting couplers 24 depending from the tray 10, which are received through coupler receiving openings 28, so that the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 is offset relative to both the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4. 5 By horizontally varying the position of the upper material receiving tray 10 of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3, the position of the user's mandible is correspondingly moved forward or backward relative to the upper jaw, thereby varying the size of the airway 34 (in FIG. 7) to the user's throat over time as desired.

[0028] After the position of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 has been adjusted relative to the position of the upper material receiving tray 10 of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3, the momentary compressive squeeze force 50 is terminated. Thus, the previously compressed coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 may automatically expand and return to its initial arcuate shape. Simultaneously, the teeth 38 of the locking channel 36 may move back into their interlocking engagement with the opposing teeth 42 of the position adjustment block 40 so that the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 and the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 may again be held in place and connected one above the other. The position of the position control pad 44 above the position indicator scale 46 provides the user with a visual indication of the position of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 relative to the upper and intermediate arcuate tray assembly 3 and 4, allowing the user to make periodic, controllable, and precise horizontal position adjustments of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 to correspondingly change the position of the mandible relative to the upper jaw.

[0029] It has been described herein that application of a compressive squeeze force to the position control pads 44 on opposite sides of the coupler mounting tray 16 of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly 4 causes the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 to move horizontally relative to the upper arcuate tray assembly 3. However, it should be clearly understood that in an alternative example, the coupler mounting tray 16 may be compressed first, and then the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 may be grasped and moved in the same horizontal direction relative to the lower arcuate tray assembly 5. In this case, the user's upper jaw may be positioned anteriorly or posteriorly relative to the user's lower jaw.

[0030] 12 and 13 of the drawings, bidirectional jaw displacement oral appliance 1 is shown with an alignment configuration that enables the arcuate upper material receiving tray 10 of the upper arcuate tray assembly 3 to be precisely positioned relative to the arcuate binder mounting tray 16 of the middle arcuate tray assembly 4 and the arcuate lower material receiving tray 14 of the lower arcuate tray assembly 5 during assembly of the oral appliance. More specifically, alignment pockets 54, 55, and 56 (best shown in FIG. 13) are formed (e.g., molded) into the bottom of the lower material receiving tray 14 at its front and opposite sides. Alignment pegs 58, 59, and 60 are coextensively connected (e.g., by 3D printing) to the top of the lower impression material 12 at its front and opposite sides.

[0031] The alignment pegs 58-60 are axially aligned with the alignment pockets 54-56 such that the pegs 58-60 on the top of the lower impression material 12 are press-fit into each of the pockets 54-56 on the bottom of the lower material receiving tray 14. The positioning block 40 on the top of the lower material receiving tray 14 is slidably received by the knurled locking channel 36 on the bottom of the coupler attachment tray 16. The pivoting couplers 24 of the upper material receiving tray 10 are pushed through the coupler-receiving openings 28 of the coupler attachment tray 16. Thus, the upper, middle, and lower arcuate tray assemblies 3-5 can be packaged and shipped aligned one above the other to a user of the oral appliance 1.

Claims

1. 1. A jaw displacement oral appliance to be inserted into a user's mouth to adjust the position of the user's lower jaw relative to the user's upper jaw so as to maintain a patent airway to the user's throat through which the user can breathe while sleeping, the oral appliance comprising: an upper arched tray assembly having an upper tooth impression material configured to receive the upper teeth of the user's maxilla during sleep; a lower arched tray assembly having a lower tooth impression material configured to receive the lower teeth of the user's mandible during sleep; an intermediate arcuate tray assembly located between the upper arcuate tray assembly and the lower arcuate tray assembly and attached to the lower arcuate tray assembly, wherein the upper arcuate tray assembly, the intermediate arcuate tray assembly, and the lower arcuate tray assembly each have a pair of sides spaced apart and positioned opposite each other, and the oral appliance further comprises: a coupler connected to each of the pair of sides of the upper arcuate tray assembly, extending downwardly from each of the pair of sides of the upper arcuate tray assembly, and pivotally coupled to each of the pair of sides of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly, whereby the upper arcuate tray assembly and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly are pivotally connected together, and the upper arcuate tray assembly is rotatable on the coupler together with the user's upper teeth so as to pivot upward relative to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly and thereby move vertically away from the lower arcuate tray assembly and the user's lower teeth when the user's mouth is open during sleep; a jaw displacement oral appliance wherein the lower arcuate tray assembly is attached to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly such that the lower arcuate tray assembly is adapted to move back and forth with the user's lower teeth in a horizontal direction relative to each of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly and the upper arcuate tray assembly pivotally connected to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly, thereby correspondingly adjusting the position of the user's mandible relative to the position of the user's maxilla.

2. 10. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 1, wherein the upper arcuate tray assembly, the middle arcuate tray assembly, and the lower arcuate tray assembly each have an arcuate configuration with a curved anterior portion that conforms to the bite patterns of the user's upper teeth and the user's lower teeth.

3. 2. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 1, further comprising coupler receiving openings formed on each of the pair of sides of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly such that the couplers extending downwardly from the pair of sides of the upper arcuate tray assembly are received through respective coupler receiving openings formed on the pair of sides of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly, whereby the upper arcuate tray assembly and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly are pivotally connected together, and the upper arcuate tray assembly is rotatable on the couplers together with the user's upper teeth in an upward direction relative to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly so as to pivot away from the lower arcuate tray assembly.

4. 4. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 3, wherein the couplers extending downwardly from the pair of sides of the upper arcuate tray assembly and received through respective coupler receiving openings formed in the pair of sides of the middle arcuate tray assembly have an L-shape.

5. 4. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 3, wherein the coupler receiving openings formed in the pair of sides of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly are longer than a cross-section of the coupler received through each of the coupler receiving openings such that the coupler is slidable laterally through the coupler receiving openings.

6. 2. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 1, wherein the lower arcuate tray assembly has a position adjustment block disposed on each of the pair of sides thereof, and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly has a locking channel disposed on each of the pair of sides thereof, the position adjustment block being received in and slidable through each of the locking channels when the lower arcuate tray assembly moves in the horizontal direction relative to each of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly and the upper arcuate tray assembly pivotally connected to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly.

7. 7. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 6, wherein each position adjustment block and each locking channel disposed on each of the sides of the lower arcuate tray assembly and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly has teeth, the teeth of the position adjustment block and the locking channel being positioned in interlocking engagement with one another, whereby the lower arcuate tray assembly and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly are interlocked with one another in releasable locking engagement.

8. 8. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 7, wherein the intermediate arcuate tray assembly is responsive to a squeezing force simultaneously applied to the pair of sides thereof to compress the intermediate arcuate tray assembly, thereby moving the teeth of the locking channel from their interlocking engagement with the teeth of the position adjustment block to allow the position adjustment block to slide through the locking channel and the lower arcuate tray assembly to move in the horizontal direction relative to each of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly and the upper arcuate tray assembly pivotally connected to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly.

9. 1. A jaw displacement oral appliance to be inserted into a user's mouth to adjust the position of the user's lower jaw relative to the user's upper jaw so as to maintain a patent airway to the user's throat through which the user can breathe while sleeping, the oral appliance comprising: an upper arcuate tray assembly including an upper dental impression material configured to receive the upper teeth of the user's maxillary region during sleep, the upper arcuate tray assembly having an arcuate configuration including a curved front portion and a pair of side portions spaced apart and positioned opposite each other; a lower arcuate tray assembly including a lower dental impression material configured to receive a set of lower teeth of the user's mandible during sleep, the lower arcuate tray assembly having an arcuate configuration including a curved front portion and a pair of side portions spaced apart and positioned opposite each other, and the oral appliance further comprising: an intermediate arcuate tray assembly located between the upper arcuate tray assembly and the lower arcuate tray assembly, the intermediate arcuate tray assembly having an arcuate configuration with a curved front portion and a pair of spaced-apart and opposite side portions; the upper arcuate tray assembly is hingedly connected to the pair of sides of the upper arcuate tray assembly and to the pair of sides of the intermediate arcuate tray assembly so that the upper, intermediate, and lower arcuate tray assembly are positioned one above the other, and the upper arcuate tray assembly is rotatable upwardly relative to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly together with the user's upper teeth so as to pivot away from the lower arcuate tray assembly and the user's lower teeth when the user's mouth is open during sleep.

10. 10. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 9, wherein the lower arcuate tray assembly and the user's lower teeth are horizontally movable relative to each of the upper arcuate tray assembly and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly to which the upper arcuate tray assembly is hingedly connected.

11. 10. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 9, wherein the upper arcuate tray assembly has a coupler extending downwardly from each of the pair of sides thereof, and the intermediate arcuate tray assembly has a coupler-receiving opening formed in each of the pair of sides thereof, the coupler being received through each of the coupler-receiving openings, whereby the upper arcuate tray assembly is hingedly connected to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly and is rotatable upwardly relative to the intermediate arcuate tray assembly together with the user's upper teeth.

12. The jaw displacement oral appliance of claim 11 , wherein each coupler extending downwardly from each of the pair of sides of the upper arcuate tray assembly has an L-shape.

Images