Appeal No. 1999-2553
Application No. 08/802,222
Steil discloses an anti-snoring shield for preventing
snoring and promoting the habit of breathing through the
nostrils comprising an oval plate (shield A) and prongs B for
controlling the position of the shield. Steil does not
disclose an aperture or air passage in the shield.
Moulton discloses an anti-snoring device which has as one
of its principal objects prevention of the ingress of air
through the mouth when breathing and regulation of its egress,
so as to cause the air to be admitted to the lungs and
expelled therefrom in the natural manner through nasal
passages (page 1, lines 30-37). To achieve this objective,
Moulton discloses a plate provided with a centrally-disposed
flap-valve 2 which normally closes an opening 3 formed in the
plate, the valve being adapted "to prevent the ingress of air
to the lungs through the mouth when inhaling and to permit a
relatively small quantity thereof to be expelled through the
opening 3 in the act of exhaling" (page 1, lines 71-78;
emphasis ours). Moulton also discloses that, when the nasal
passages are partly obstructed, rendering it difficult to
admit air through the nose, the plate may be reversed and
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