Patent Application
20140077110
The present invention relates generally to connector assemblies, and more particularly to medical gas connector assemblies utilized in hospitals and the like for coupling medical gas cylinders to an authorized or approved medical gas delivery device.
In the field of medical gas connector assemblies like those utilized in hospitals for dispensing medical gases such as nitrous oxide, heliox, carbon dioxide, medical air, oxygen, nitric oxide, etc., it is clear that it would be of considerable advantage to have a rapidly attachable connector device that ensures the proper medical gas cylinder is connected to the appropriate medical devices so as to prevent inadvertent or accidental coupling of the wrong gas to a medical gas delivery device. This is particularly true in case of emergencies, where oxygen, heliox, or other medical gas may have to be administered very quickly.
While there are numerous medical gas fittings available in the medical gas field, including fittings made by the following vendors: Puritan, Schrader, Ohmeda, Chemetron, Oxequip, and DISS. Each of these medical gas fittings have unique configurations so as to differentiate the various products in the marketplace. In addition, many of the above-identified vendors provide color differentiation for fittings associated with different types of medical gases as well as configuration differences between the different fittings to prevent accidental connections of a wrong gas cylinder to the fitting.
Many of the fittings from the above-identified vendors are bayonet type fittings to ensure correct mating and locking with the appropriate gas cylinder or gas source. However, there are certain inherent disadvantages to the bayonet type construction. For example, the bayonet type fitting requires the user to correctly align the male and female portions, and this requires a careful inspection of the parts to ensure that the initial introduction of the male member will be accomplished in the correct orientation. Also, after insertion of the male member, the user must often rotate the male member in the correct direction in order to engage the bayonet joint. In an emergency situation, it is obvious that the less the user is concerned about the mechanics of engaging the coupling, the better. Ideally, the user should be able to simply shove the male member into the female member, and accomplish a snap engagement.
Still other of the above-identified medical gas fittings are quick connect type or quick disconnect type fittings with specially designed notches, pins, grooves and/or apertures to ensure correct mating and latching with the appropriate gas cylinder or gas source. However, these conventional fitting assemblies are targeted to generically address the safe coupling of a hose, conduit or breathing circuit to the correct cylinder and/or gas supply and do not ensure the gas supply is properly connected at the other end to an appropriate medical gas delivery device.
What is needed therefore is a medical gas connector assembly that provides safe, effective and unique connections at both the gas source end as well as the gas delivery end to ensure the gas delivery device is safely connected to the proper gas cylinder or gas source.
The present invention may be characterized as a connector assembly for connecting a gas cylinder with a gas delivery device. The present connector assembly comprises: (i) a hose assembly having a jacketed hose connected at one end to a gas delivery device adaptor and connected at the other end to a male quick coupling element; and (ii) a cylinder coupling valve assembly having a main body portion, a retainer body assembly, and a retainer sleeve, the retainer body assembly and retainer sleeve defining a female quick coupling portion configured to receive the male quick coupling element of the hose assembly; and (iii) a gas delivery device adaptor having an elbow shaped body with a distal end and proximal end and defining an internally disposed 90 degree threaded bore from the distal end to the proximal end; and an engagement stem projecting from a distal end of elbow shaped body configured to fluidically couple the gas delivery device to the jacketed hose via the 90 degree threaded bore.
The main body portion of the cylinder coupling valve assembly has a first end configured to threadably attach to the gas cylinder or gas regulator and includes a poppet valve, a valve spring, and O-ring seal. The cylinder coupling valve assembly is configured to permit gas flow from the gas cylinder to the hose assembly when the male quick coupling element is engaged with the female quick coupling portion thereby opening the poppet valve and to prevent gas flow from the gas cylinder to the hose assembly when the male quick coupling element is removed from the female quick coupling portion. The male quick coupling element comprises a base and a stepped body having a distal end portion, a neck portion, a mid body portion, and a large diameter aft body portion, wherein the base is in an abutting relationship with the end of the retainer body assembly when the distal portion operatively engages or opens the poppet valve.
The present invention may also be characterized as a hose assembly for a gas delivery device comprising: (i) a gas delivery device adaptor having an elbow shaped body with a distal end and a proximal end and at least one exterior flat surface and defining an internally disposed 90 degree threaded bore between the distal end and the proximal end to permit gas to flow therethrough and an engagement stem projecting from the distal end of elbow shaped body configured to engage with the gas delivery device; and (ii) a jacketed hose connected at one end to the proximal end of the gas delivery device adaptor and configured to be connected at the other end to a gas cylinder or other gas source.
The present invention may also be characterized as a quick connect gas cylinder assembly comprising: (i) a cylinder coupling valve assembly having a main body portion, a retainer body assembly, and a retainer sleeve, the retainer body assembly and retainer sleeve defining a female quick coupling portion; (ii) a male quick coupling element comprising a base and a stepped body having a distal end portion, a neck portion, a mid body portion, and a large diameter aft body portion, wherein the base is in an abutting relationship with an end of the retainer body assembly when the distal portion operatively engages or opens the poppet valve in the main body portion of the cylinder coupling valve assembly. The neck portion of the male quick coupling element is configured to aligned with one or more ball bearings disposed in the female quick coupling portion of the cylinder coupling valve assembly and the mid body portion and large diameter aft body portion are slideably disposed within corresponding spaces within the retainer sleeve, and wherein the engagement of the neck portion and the ball bearings holds the male quick coupling element within the female quick coupling portion.
The main body portion of the cylinder coupling valve assembly has a first end configured to threadably attach to a gas cylinder or gas regulator and includes a poppet valve, a valve spring, and O-ring seal. The quick connect gas cylinder assembly is configured to permit gas flow from the gas cylinder when the male quick coupling element is engaged with the female quick coupling portion thereby opening the poppet valve and to prevent gas flow from the gas cylinder when the male quick coupling element is removed from the female quick coupling portion;
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following, more detailed description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:
Turning now to the drawings and in particular
As more clearly seen in
The illustrated engagement stem 54 is a cylindrical tube that functions much like a push-in fitting that is sized or configured to only engage with a mating receptacle in the appropriate medical gas delivery device 15 while allowing flow of medical gas from the adaptor 24 to the delivery device 15. The stem 54 also includes a hexagonal base 57 and threaded end 59 adapted to threadably connect with the elbow shaped body 54. By customizing the size and configuration of the cylindrical stem 54, one can use the medical gas connector assembly 10 only with an authorized medical gas device 15.
Turning now to
In practice, the size and type of threads on the male threaded end 31 of the cylinder coupling valve assembly 30 as well as the color of the cylinder coupling valve assembly 30 should be customized per Compressed Gas Association (CGA) standards to match or fit only selected gas cylinders so as to prevent use of the medical gas connector assembly 10 and/or the medical gas device 15 being used with the wrong gas. Similarly, the size and configuration of the engagement stem 54 is customized to only engage with a mating receptacle in the appropriate medical gas delivery device 15. In this manner, one can control or manage which gas cylinders can be used with the medical gas connector assembly 10 and/or the medical gas device 15 thus ensuring safe administration and delivery of the gas via the authorized delivery device to the patient.
The three way switching valve has two inlets 129A, 129B with NPT connections to hose segments 120A, 120B respectively, and one outlet 127 with an NPT connection to a female quick coupling element 134. The switching valve also includes a knob, actuator or other means to switch the gas flow path from the first path to a second path. Specifically, by actuating the switch valve the medical gas flow is switched from a first cylinder 117A via first hose segment 120A and first inlet 129A to the outlet 127 to a second cylinder 117B via second hose segment 120B and second inlet 129B to the outlet 127.
The connector assembly 110 further includes a pair of cylinder coupling elements 130A, 130B each having a first threaded male end 131 configured to attach to the regulator 119A, 119B associated with the medical gas cylinders 117A, 117B pursuant to CGA standards. The other end 133 of each cylinder coupling elements 130A, 130B have a female quick coupling element 134A, 134B configured to receive the male quick coupling elements 126 of hose segments 120A, 120B.
Similar to the embodiment shown in
As with the earlier described embodiments, the elbow shaped body 150 further includes at least one flat exterior surface 156 where designations, trademarks or other product identification labels may be prominently displayed to users of the medical gas connector assembly 110. The cylinder coupling element 130A, 130B together with the female quick coupling portions 134A, 134B, 134C and corresponding male type quick coupling elements 126 are also similar to the earlier described embodiments (See
From the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the present invention thus provides a gas connector assembly for specialized coupling of pressurized gas cylinders to selected gas delivery devices. While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations can be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims or sacrificing all of its features and advantages.
This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/701,957 filed on Sep. 17, 2012 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61701957 | Sep 2012 | US |
