Patent Application
20190150880
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The disclosure and prior art relates to autoclavable stethoscope assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new autoclavable stethoscope assembly for facilitating a stethoscope to be sterilized in an autoclave.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a cup that is selectively positioned against an individual thereby facilitating the cup to detect audible sounds within the individual. The cup is comprised of a heat resistant material for sterilizing in an autoclave. A bell diaphragm is removably coupled to the cup and the bell diaphragm abuts the individual when the cup is positioned against the individual. The bell diaphragm is comprised of a tympanic material to amplify the audible sounds in the individual. A grip is coupled to the cup and the grip is selectively gripped for manipulating the cup. The grip is comprised of a heat resistant material for sterilizing in an autoclave.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The cup 12 has a top wall 14 and a perimeter wall 16 extending away therefrom and the perimeter wall 16 is coextensive with a perimeter of the top wall 14. The perimeter wall 16 has a distal edge 18 with respect to the top wall 14 to define an opening 20 into the cup 12 and the opening 20 passes the audible sound through the cup 12. The distal edge 18 abuts the individual when the cup 12 is positioned on the individual. Moreover, the perimeter wall 16 is continuous such that the cup 12 has a circular cross section taken along a line extending through the top wall 14 and the distal edge 18 of the perimeter wall 16.
The perimeter wall 16 curves inwardly toward a center of the top wall 14 to define a pair of first lobes 22 on the perimeter wall 16. The first lobes 22 are spaced apart from each other and each of the first lobes 22 enhances gripping the cup 12. The pair of first lobes 22 facilitates a right handed user and a left handed user to grip the cup 12. A stem 24 is coupled to and extends away from the perimeter wall 16 of the cup 12. The stem 24 is substantially hollow such that the stem 24 is in fluid communication with the cup 12 to pass the audible sounds out of the cup 12. The stem 24 has a distal end 26 with respect to the cup 12 and the distal end 26 is open to pass the audible sounds out of the stem 24.
A bell diaphragm 28 is provided and the bell diaphragm 28 is removably coupled to the cup 12. The bell diaphragm 28 abuts the individual when the cup 12 is positioned against the individual. Moreover, the bell diaphragm 28 is comprised of a tympanic material to amplify the audible sounds in the individual. The bell diaphragm 28 has a first surface 30 and a second surface 32 and the first surface 30 is removably attached to the distal edge 18 of the perimeter wall 16 of the cup 12. The second surface 32 abuts the individual when the cup 12 is positioned against the individual. The bell diaphragm 28 may be removably retained on the cup 12 through any conventional mechanical means, including but not being limited to, an adhesive layer and tabs and grooves.
A grip 34 is coupled to the cup 12 and the grip 34 is gripped thereby enhancing manipulating the cup 12. The grip 34 is comprised of a heat resistant material, such as ceramic or the like, thereby facilitating the grip 34 to be sterilized in an autoclave. The grip 34 extends away from the top wall 14. The grip 34 has a distal surface 36 with respect to the top wall 14 and a peripheral surface 38 extending between the distal surface 36 and the top wall 14. The peripheral surface 38 is spaced from the perimeter wall 16 of the cup 12. Moreover, the peripheral surface 38 is coextensive with the perimeter wall 16 such that the peripheral surface 38 defines a pair of second lobes 40 on the grip 34. Each of the second lobes 40 enhances gripping the grip 34 for the right handed user and the left handed user.
A pair of earbuds 42 is provided and each of the earbuds 42 is removably coupled to the stem 24. Each of the earbuds 42 is in fluid communication with the bell diaphragm 28 to communicate the audible sounds within the individual. The earbuds 42 are selectively positioned in a user's ears thereby facilitating the user to hear the audible sounds within the individual. The earbuds 42 may be stethoscope earbuds of any conventional design.
In use, the bell diaphragm 28 is attached to the cup 12 prior to placing the cup 12 against the individual. The bell diaphragm 28 abuts the individual when the cup 12 is placed against the individual thereby facilitating the user to hear the audible sounds within the individual. The bell diaphragm 28 and the ear buds are removed from the cup 12 after the cup 12 is no longer being positioned against the individual. The cup 12 and the grip 34 are placed in an autoclave for sterilizing the cup 12 and the grip 34 thereby reducing the transmission of communicable diseases via the cup 12 and the grip 34. In this way cleanliness and sterility of a medical environment, such as a hospital or nursing home, is enhanced with respect to transferring bacteria between individuals and between individuals and the user.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
