JPH0340274B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tube coupling, sometimes suitable for medical applications.

Tube cut springs are used in both medical settings, in hospital settings and in home care. For example, connecting an ostomy bag to a drainage tube, connecting an ataxic urine collection device to a drainage tube, connecting a drainage tube to a drainage bag, or connecting a catheter to a drainage tube. A coupling element is required. Such couplings should ideally provide a fluid-tight seal, be easy to handle to provide quick connection and disconnection, and be adaptable to patient movements. It has to be something.

Various designs of tube cutter springs for medical applications have been proposed. However, most such prior designs were difficult to handle and eliminated rotation between the coupling parts to maintain a fluid-tight seal.

According to the invention, the invention comprises three parts: a female tube element, a male tube element which is freely rotatable when engaged into the female element, and at least one longitudinally extending latching arm.
A tube coupling of synthetic plastic material is provided comprising an intermediate ring carrying a. The intermediate ring is dimensioned to snap fit into the outer annular groove of either the male or female element, and the latch arm has an inwardly extending hook portion that extends from the outer annular groove of either the male or female element. It can engage the flanges of the mold elements and hold them together. The latch arm is deformable by finger pressure to bring its hook out of engagement with the flange (rim).

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the annular groove is on the female element and the flange (rim) is on the male element. According to an advantageous feature of the invention, the female element has an internal deflectible seal skirt.
a sealing-skirt which engages the outer surface of the male element when the elements are coupled together.

Next, the tube coupling of the present invention will be explained based on the accompanying drawings.

1 is an axial sectional view of a female coupling element used in the present invention; FIG. 2 is an intermediate ring; FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view of a male coupling element that complements the element shown in FIG. 1; is an end view of the female element shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is an end view of the intermediate ring, FIG. 6 is an end view of the male element shown in FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a medical coupling according to the invention. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of the female coupling element of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a view of a male coupling element of the present invention, illustrating some possible applications in the field. FIG. 4 is a diagram similar to FIG. 3 of another embodiment;

The coupling shown in FIGS. 1-6 is comprised of a male element 50, a female element 52, and an intermediate ring 100. The male element 50 is a female element 52.
It is a tube body, one end of which forms a spigot 56 for insertion into the tube. A rim 58 extends radially outwardly around the perimeter of the spigot 56. one or more ridges 60
(these are optional and may be omitted for certain coupling designs) are provided on the outside surface of the tube body and the open end of a plastic tube is connected to another tube or equipment unit by a coupling. (open end) male element to facilitate push-fitting insertion. The second flange or rim 200 has a plastic tube formed by the male element 5.
When pushed into the zero ridge 60, it acts as an end stop to the end of the tube. Figures 1 and 3 show the arrangement for pushing the plastic tubes onto the outside of the male and female coupling elements, but it is not perfectly practicable to fit the tubes inside the cylindrical portions of both coupling elements. This is a clear array. Such an arrangement is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

A female element 52 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, which is a hollow body housing a spigot 56. When the two parts are engaged, the spigot 56 connects to the element 52.
It can be rotated freely within. Two peripheral ridges 92 are integrated into the tube body, which ridges cooperate with the inner wall of the tube or cylindrical recess to which the female coupling element is connected. Element 52 also has a peripheral depression or groove (annular groove) 90 in the channel section.

The surface 99 of element 52 is such that ring 101 is
2 and is chamfered to allow a snap fit into the groove 90.

In the illustrated coupling, the narrower bore portion 9 of the female coupling element 52
A good seal is achieved through the use of an annular deflectable skirt 94 integral with the tube body extending downwardly and slightly inwardly from 6. In FIG. 3, a male coupling element 50 is shown having a cylindrical spigot 56 with one end chamfered. When the two elements are joined, the female spigot element 52 is pushed, forcing the skirt 94 slightly outwardly. As an example, Spigots 56
The OD (outer diameter) may be 0.335 inches (approximately 8.509 mm), and the narrow bore cylinder portion 96 of the female element 52
The ID (inner diameter) of the skirt 94 may be 0.340 inches, and the minimum ID of the skirt 94 may be 0.330 inches. The male and female elements may be molded from polypropylene. Polypropylene is preferred, although other polyolefins, nylons, and polyvinyl chloride are also suitable.
Element 52 and skirt 94 should preferably be of synthetic plastic material having a Shore hardness range of 65-95.

Intermediate ring 100 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5
has a substantially hollow cylindrical ring portion 101 whose lower inner edge is chamfered at 45° as shown at 102. The upper part is step 1
04, and the axial length of the inner surface 106 is arranged to be comparable to or only slightly smaller than the axial dimension of the recess 90 on the outer surface of the female element. At two points diametrically opposite to each other, the ring portion 101
is integrated with two outwardly extending lugs 108 each coupling a latch arm 110 to ring 100. Each latch arm 110 has a front inwardly extending hook portion 112 and a rear lever arm portion 114. The latter arm portion may be knurled on its outer surface as indicated at 116. Latch arm 110
are integrated with the ears 108 and the ring portion 101. The hook portion 112 is in a position to spring the rim 58 (FIGS. 3 and 6) when the male and female coupling elements are pushed together. To this end, each hook portion has an inclined surface 118. The intermediate ring is made in a single molding operation from a synthetic plastic material (eg, polypropylene) with suitable resilience, flexibility, and strength. In use, the lever arm portion 1 of the latch arm is used to separate the male coupling element from the intermediate ring and to separate it from the female element.
14 toward each other (e.g., with finger and thumb pressure) to further shorten the spacing of the hook portions 112 upwardly and outwardly and release the rim 58.

It will be appreciated that the connection of the tube coupling shown here can be made very simply by a simple push in the axial direction. It is also extremely easy to separate, simply grip the ring 100, align the latch arms and squeeze, and the element 5
The element 50 is pulled out axially from 2. Of course, ring 100 remains on element 52 and is free to rotate there.

Peripheral ridges 60 and 92 are not required and may be omitted. In this case, friction between the outer cylinder surfaces of the female and male elements and the inner surface of the tube (or other equipment unit) to which they connect is relied upon to hold the female and male elements in place. .

In other embodiments of the invention, the deflectable seal skirt need not be integral with the female coupling element. It could be a separate plastic body (for example made by injection molding), which could be press-fitted into the female element or could be fixed therein with adhesive.

An alternative arrangement for connecting plastic tube material to male and female coupling elements is shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Instead of pushing the plastic tube material onto the substantially cylindrical portions of both elements, it is pushed into both elements. As shown in FIG. 8, the female element 52 includes an internal ridge 192 (which will be recessed into the cylindrical exterior surface of the tube), and an internal rim 194 (which serves as an end stop for the tube).
have. As shown in FIG. 9, male element 50 has an internal ridge 160 (which also holds the tube in place) and an internal rim 202 (which serves as an end stop).
In other respects, the female and male coupling elements are similar to those described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 3. It would also be possible, if desired, to use a female coupling element (see FIG. 8) for internally fixing the tube together with a male coupling element (see FIG. 3) for pushing the tube. It would also be possible to use the female coupling element according to FIG. 1 with the male element according to FIG. 9 if it is necessary to couple two tubes of different diameters.

FIG. 7 schematically shows some possible applications of the coupling according to the invention in the medical-surgical field. Both coupling elements here are indicated by elements 300 and 302. One coupling element 300 may be used with a female ataxia device 304, a catheter 306, a male ataxia device 308, or an ostomy bag 310. The other coupling element 302 may be used for a leg bag 312 or a night drainage bag 314. Other uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

According to another feature of the invention, not shown in the above-described drawings, a breathing hole is provided in the cylinder wall of the female coupling element, just above the uppermost ridge 92 (as shown in FIG. 1). It's okay to be rejected. This hole is covered with a patch of microporous material that is permeable to air but not liquid. In this way, the drainage tube can be infiltrated with air to reduce the potential for negative pressure build-up within the tube due to liquid flow. A suitable microporous material is the adhesive patch tape commercially available under the trade name "Micropore". Alternatively, a breathing hole covered by a patch of microporous material could be provided in the male coupling requirement, for example between the lowermost ridge 60 and the rim 200 shown in FIG.

An important advantage of the coupling structure according to the invention is that the intermediate ring can freely rotate relative to the female element and/or relative to the male element. Therefore, even if there is a constraint on the rotational position of the male and female elements, such a constraint will normally affect the position of other equipment that connects to the far ends of the tubes that support the male and female elements. Or forced by the construction, it is always possible, by rotating the intermediate ring, to position the latch arms in a place where they can conveniently be squeezed between the fingers and the thumb. Although this may seem to be a relatively minor feature at first glance, it is one of considerable practical importance. This is because these couplings are often connected and disconnected by nurses who often have only one hand available for work and who must make hundreds of such connections and disconnections during the workday. This is because it is normal. Furthermore, the free rotation setting between the male and female coupling elements allows one of the coupled tubes to rotate relative to the other. This is important to avoid kinking and, if one tube is part of or directly connected to a urine bag, undesirable deformation of said bag from its holder or hanger. Or dislodgemnt will probably occur less often.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 4 are a sectional view and an end view, respectively, showing an example of the female coupling element of the tube coupling according to the present invention; FIGS. 2 and 5 are a sectional view and an end view, respectively, showing an example of the intermediate ring; 3 and 6 are cross-sectional and end views, respectively, of an example of a male coupling element, and FIG.
The figure is a schematic diagram showing an example of the usage of the tube coupling of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing another female coupling element, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing another male coupling element. , 50... Male coupling element, 52... Female coupling element, 100... Intermediate ring, 56
...spigot, 58...rim, 60,92...
Peripheral ridge, 90... Outer peripheral depression (groove), 94...
...Skirt, 96...Boa part, 99...Surface, 1
01...Ring portion, 102...Lower inner edge, 104...
...Step, 106...Inner surface, 108...Ear, 1
10... Latch arm, 112... Hook part, 1
14...Lever arm part, 116...Knurl, 118...Slanted surface, 160, 192...Internal ridge, 194, 202...Internal rim, 200...
second flange, 300, 302...coupling element, 304...female ataxia device, 306...catheter, 308...male ataxia device, 310...
Ostomy bag, 312...Leg bag, 314...Night drainage bag.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. a hollow tubular female coupling element having an upper end adapted to receive a male coupling element; a lower end spigot dimensioned to fit within the upper end of said female coupling element; and a hollow tubular male coupling element that is freely rotatable when engaged within the female coupling element, and dimensioned to snap into an annular groove on the outer surface of the tube of either the male or female coupling element. and an intermediate ring which is freely rotatable within the annular groove independently of both coupling elements even when the male and female coupling elements are coupled, and an outer ring installed on the outer surface of the tube of the other coupling element. comprising an inwardly extending rim, said intermediate ring carrying at least one longitudinally extending latch arm having an inwardly extending hook portion capable of engaging said rim to hold two coupling elements together; A tubular coupling of synthetic plastic material, wherein said latch arm is deformable by finger pressure to remove said hook portion from engagement with said rim. 2 said annular groove is in the female coupling element;
said first rim being on a male coupling element;
Tube cut spring as described in section. 3. A tube coupling according to claim 2, wherein the upper end of the female coupling element includes an internally deflectable sealing skirt that deforms slightly outwardly in use upon insertion of the spigot portion of the male coupling element. 4. said third female coupling element having one or more ridges disposed on its outer surface near its lower end to facilitate push-fitting of said female coupling element into an open tube or equipment unit; Tube cut spring as described in section. 5. one or more ridges on the outer surface of the male coupling element near its upper end and an outwardly extending flange on the outer surface of the male coupling element on the rim, as a stop for the open tube; 4. A tube coupling according to claim 3, which facilitates push-fitting of an open tube into said male coupling element having said operative flange. 6 said annular groove is in the male coupling element;
said first rim being on a female coupling element;
Tube cut spring as described in section. 7. A tube coupling according to claim 6, wherein the upper end of the female coupling element includes an internally deflectable seal skirt that deforms slightly outwardly in use upon insertion of the spigot portion of the male coupling element. 8. A tube coupling according to claim 1, wherein near the lower end of the female coupling element there is provided a breathing hole covered with a patch of air permeable and liquid impermeable material.