Outlet connection assembly

Abstract

A connection assembly for a respiratory therapy system, comprising: an outlet assembly, said outlet assembly including an outlet housing and a swivelling disc located on said outlet housing, said outlet housing and said swivelling disc defining, at least in part, a recess; an outlet connector located at an end of a tube portion, said outlet connector including an electrical connector; and a cable having a first end to connect to the electrical connector and a second end to connect to at least one electrical component of the respiratory therapy system, said cable having a slack portion, wherein said outlet connector and said swivelling disc are rotatable in unison between a first position and a second position, and wherein the slack portion of the cable extends from the recess and wraps around the swivelling disc as the swivelling disc is rotated from the first position to the second position.

1 . A connection assembly for a respiratory therapy system, comprising:
 an outlet assembly, said outlet assembly including an outlet housing and a swivelling disc located on said outlet housing, said outlet housing comprising a void and an annular section; and   a cable having a first end to connect to an electrical connector and a second end to connect to at least one electrical component of the respiratory therapy system, said cable having a slack portion,   wherein said swivelling disc is rotatable relative to said outlet housing between a first position and a second position, and   wherein the slack portion of the cable is pulled from the void and wrapped around the annular section as the swivelling disc is rotated from the first position to the second position such that in the first position of the swivelling disc the slack portion is in the void and is not wrapped around the annular section and in the second position of the swivelling disc the slack portion is not in the void and is wrapped around the annular section.   
     
     
         2 . The connection assembly of  claim 1 , comprising:
 an outlet connector located at an end of a tube portion to connect the tube portion to the outlet assembly, said outlet connector including the electrical connector,   wherein said outlet connector and said swivelling disc are connectable such that said outlet connector and said swivelling disc are rotatable in unison.   
     
     
         3 . The connection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said swivelling disc includes a first pair of stop surfaces and said outlet housing includes a second pair of stop surfaces to limit the rotation of the swivelling disc relative to the outlet housing. 
     
     
         4 . The connection assembly of  claim 3 , wherein each pair of stop surfaces are arranged to limit the rotation of the swivelling disc relative to the outlet housing to less than 360°. 
     
     
         5 . The connection assembly of  claim 4 , wherein each pair of stop surfaces are arranged to limit the rotation of the swivelling disc relative to the outlet housing to greater than 180°. 
     
     
         6 . The connection assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the first pair of stop surfaces is located on either side of and adjacent to a receiver opening in the swivelling disc that receives the cable. 
     
     
         7 . The connection assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the outlet housing includes an inner wall, said second pair of stop surfaces located on the inner wall and said inner wall configured to rotatably receive said swivelling disc. 
     
     
         8 . The connection assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the void is defined, at least in part, by the inner wall and an outer wall of the outlet housing. 
     
     
         9 . The connection assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the annular section is defined, at least in part, by the inner wall and an outer wall of the outlet housing. 
     
     
         10 . The connection assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the void and annular section are on opposing sides of the inner wall. 
     
     
         11 . The connection assembly of  claim 8 , wherein a distance between the inner wall and the outer wall of the outlet housing and across the void is in the range of about 2 mm to about 5 mm. 
     
     
         12 . The connection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the cable comprises a flexible circuit board or a ribbon cable. 
     
     
         13 . The connection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the cable has a substantially rectangular cross-section, and
 wherein a major side of the substantially rectangular cross-section is oriented in parallel to an axis of rotation of the swivelling disc.   
     
     
         14 . The connection assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the swivelling disc includes an electrical connector receiver to receive the electrical connector, and
 wherein the electrical connector is electrically connectable to the cable within the electrical connector receiver.   
     
     
         15 . The connection assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the electrical connector receiver includes an opening to receive the electrical connector when the outlet connector is connected to the outlet assembly, and
 wherein the outlet connector is shaped to cover the opening of the electrical connector receiver when the outlet connector is connected to the outlet assembly.   
     
     
         16 . The connection assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the outlet connector includes a recess proximal to the electrical connector shaped to correspond to a protruding portion of the electrical connector receiver. 
     
     
         17 . The connection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the outlet housing includes a retainer, said retainer configured to retain the slack portion within the void of the outlet housing as the swivelling disc is rotated from the second position to the first position. 
     
     
         18 . The connection assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the outlet connector includes at least one retention feature to releasably connect the outlet connector to the swivelling disc via at least one corresponding notch located on the swivelling disc. 
     
     
         19 . The connection assembly of  claim 18 , wherein the outlet connector includes at least one tab, each said at least one retention feature located on a corresponding tab having a corresponding actuator, and
 wherein each said actuator is adapted to release each said retention feature from a corresponding notch of the swivelling disc.   
     
     
         20 . The connection assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the tube portion includes a heating element disposed along at least a portion of the tube portion, said heating element connected to the electrical connector.