Respiratory masks with gusseted cushions

1. A cushion for a full facial respiratory mask assembly comprising:

a frame-connecting portion,

a face-contacting portion, and

a gusset portion disposed between and joining said frame-connecting and face-contacting portions,

wherein the gusset portion is structured to allow relative movement of a mask frame to occur towards and away from a patient's face, and said gusset portion includes a nasal bridge perimetrical region, a mouth perimetrical region and a transition perimetrical region,

wherein said nasal bridge perimetrical region comprises a w-shaped or concertina-type fold having little or no projected area beyond the face-contacting portion of the cushion, and

wherein said mouth perimetrical region extends laterally outwardly to form an increased projected area relative to the nasal bridge perimetrical region, and

wherein said transition perimetrical region extends laterally outwardly an amount intermediate of the nasal bridge perimetrical region and the mouth perimetrical region.

2. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the gusset portion has laterally projecting exterior and interior gusset sections about all of the gusset portion so as to establish a substantially constant widthwise dimension about a perimeter of the cushion.

3. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the gusset portion includes said laterally projecting exterior and interior gusset sections along a lower perimetrical region of the gusset portion.

4. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the gusset portion has a widthwise dimension which varies about a perimeter of the cushion.

5. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the gusset portion has a minimum widthwise dimension at an upper perimetrical region of the gusset portion, a maximum widthwise dimension at a lower perimetrical region of the gusset portion, and widthwise transitions joining said upper and lower perimetrical regions.

6. The cushion as in claim 5 , wherein the gusset portion has substantially zero widthwise dimension at said upper perimetrical region.

7. The cushion as in claim 5 , wherein said widthwise transitions are curvilinear.

8. The cushion as in claim 5 , wherein the widthwise transitions are linear.

9. The cushion as in claim 5 , wherein each said minimum and maximum widthwise dimensions is substantially constant along said upper and lower perimetrical regions, respectively.

10. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the face contacting portion is adapted to form a seal around the patient's nose and mouth, the face contacting portion includes a region configured to contact the patient's nose and a mouth region configured to contact between the patient's mouth and chin.

11. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the w-shaped or concertina-type fold includes four gusset sections or side walls.

12. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the mouth perimetrical region extends laterally outward from the face-contacting portion in a direction away from a mask interior.

13. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the mouth perimetrical region includes a lowest portion of the gusset portion.

14. The cushion as in claim 1 , wherein the w-shaped or concertina-type fold includes a first tip section with a first thickness greater than a second thickness of a second tip section.

15. A patient interface for sealed delivery of a flow of breathable gas at a continuously positive pressure with respect to ambient air pressure to an entrance to the patient's airways, wherein the patient interface is configured to maintain a therapy pressure while the patient is sleeping, to ameliorate sleep disordered breathing, said patient interface comprising a frame and a cushion according to claim 1 provided to the frame.

16. A cushion for a full-facial respiratory mask comprising:

a frame-connecting portion,

a face-contacting portion, and

a gusset portion disposed between and joining said frame-connecting and face-contacting portions,

wherein said gusset portion has a perimeter having a widthwise dimension which varies between at least one region and another perimetrical region thereof,

wherein the gusset portion is structured to allow relative movement of a mask frame to occur towards and away from a patient's face, and said gusset portion includes a nasal bridge perimetrical region, a mouth perimetrical region and a transition perimetrical region,

wherein said nasal bridge perimetrical region comprises a w-shaped or concertina-type fold having little or no projected area beyond the face-contacting portion of the cushion, and

wherein said mouth perimetrical region extends laterally outwardly to form an increased projected area relative to the nasal bridge perimetrical region, and

wherein said transition perimetrical region extends laterally outwardly an amount intermediate of the nasal bridge perimetrical region and the mouth perimetrical region.

17. The cushion as in claim 16 , wherein the gusset portion has a minimum widthwise dimension at an upper perimetrical region of the gusset portion, a maximum widthwise dimension at a lower perimetrical region of the gusset portion, and widthwise transitions joining said upper and lower perimetrical regions.

18. The cushion as in claim 17 , wherein the gusset portion has substantially zero widthwise dimension at said upper perimetrical region.

19. The cushion as in claim 17 , wherein said widthwise transitions are curvilinear.

20. The cushion as in claim 17 , wherein the widthwise transitions are linear.

21. The cushion as in claim 17 , wherein each said minimum and maximum widthwise dimensions is substantially constant along said upper and lower perimetrical regions, respectively.

22. The cushion as in claim 17 , wherein the upper perimeter region is between about 15% to about 30% of the entire perimeter of the cushion, the lower perimeter region is between about 50% to about 70% of the entire perimeter of the cushion, and the transition regions are about 10% to about 30% of the entire perimeter of the cushion.

23. The cushion as in claim 22 , wherein the gusset portion has substantially zero projected area beyond the face-contacting portion at said upper perimetrical region.

24. The cushion as in claim 22 , wherein said widthwise transitions are curvilinear.

25. The cushion as in claim 22 , wherein the widthwise transitions are linear.

26. The cushion as in claim 16 , wherein the face contacting portion and the gusset portion have a projected surface area in the range of 80-140 cm 2 .

27. The cushion as in claim 26 , wherein the face contacting portion and the gusset portion have a projected surface area of about 130 cm.

28. A respiratory face mask comprising a mask frame having an inlet for supplying a breathable gas, and a cushion as in claim 16 attached to the mask frame.

29. The respiratory face mask as in claim 28 , wherein the cushion is provided in at least four sizes having dimensions that are proportional to one another.

30. A cushion for a full facial respiratory mask assembly comprising:

a frame-connecting portion,

a face-contacting portion, and

a gusset portion disposed between and joining said frame-connecting, and face-contacting portions,

wherein the gusset portion is structured to allow relative movement of a mask frame to occur towards and away from a patient's face, and said gusset portion includes a nasal bridge perimetrical region, a mouth perimetrical region and a transition perimetrical region,

wherein said nasal bridge perimetrical region comprises a w-shaped or concertina-type fold having little or no projected area relative to the face-contacting portion of the cushion, and

wherein said mouth perimetrical region extends laterally outwardly to form an increased projected area relative to the face-contacting portion of the cushion,

wherein said transition perimetrical region extends laterally outwardly an amount intermediate of the nasal bridge perimetrical region and the mouth perimetrical region, and

wherein the face contacting portion includes a membrane and an underlying rim.