Patent Application
20140116432
This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Patent Application DE 10 2012 020 917.7 filed Oct. 25, 2012, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention pertains to an elbow for a respiration mask for the artificial respiration of a patient, and to a mask system and to a respiration system.
Artificial or assisted respiration of patients is necessary for various medical applications. Respirators are used for the artificial respiration of patients. The expiration gas expired by the patient can be used again at least partly as inspiration gas in some respirators, which are used especially in the area of anesthesia, i.e., these respirators are respiration systems with a breathing air circulation system.
Artificial respiration of patients is performed in the clinical area or even in case of respiration at home. For this, the breathing gas is to be fed to the patient through at least one breathing tube, especially the inspiration tube. The inspiration tube and an expiration tube are connected here, in general, to a Y-piece, and this is in turn connected to an elbow. The breathing gas is fed through the elbow to a respiration mask, which lies on the area of the face of the patient. The angular tube defines a breathing gas duct, through which the breathing air can be fed to the patient and the expired air can be removed. A breathing tube or the Y-piece can be connected to a tube port of the elbow and the respiration mask can be connected to a mask port of the elbow. The elbow has an anti-suffocation valve and carbon dioxide expiration openings. The anti-suffocation valve is used to prevent the patient from suffocating, especially in case of a defect of or damage to the respirator. The patient can thus draw breathing air directly from the environment of the elbow. Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide shall be prevented from building up in dead spaces of the elbow with the carbon dioxide expiration openings. It may be necessary for various applications of the elbow to have both the anti-suffocation valve and the carbon dioxide expiration openings opened or activated or to have only the anti-suffocation valve opened and to have the carbon dioxide expiration openings closed or deactivated. A complicated activation and deactivation by means of different switching members at the elbow is disadvantageously necessary for this. An elbow with an anti-suffocation valve is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,355. The anti-suffocation valve makes possible an automatic connection to the ambient air in case of a defect and has a primary inlet and a secondary inlet as well as an outlet.
An object of the present in invention is to make available an elbow for a mask system or a respiration system, which can be handled easily and can be switched into different opened and closed states for the anti-suffocation valve and the carbon dioxide expiration openings.
This object is accomplished with an elbow, comprising an angular tube, which defines a breathing gas duct, with a tube port with an inlet opening for connecting a breathing tube or Y-piece and with a mask port with an outlet opening for connecting the respiration mask, an anti-suffocation valve, and carbon dioxide expiration openings, wherein the elbow comprises only one switching member for activating and deactivating the anti-suffocation valve and carbon dioxide expiration openings. The elbow has only one switching member for activating and deactivating both the anti-suffocation valve and the carbon dioxide expiration openings. As a result, the elbow can be actuated in an especially simple manner, because both the anti-suffocation valve and the carbon dioxide expiration openings can be activated and deactivated, i.e., opened and closed, with the only one switching member. The elbow can thus be handled especially simply and comfortably for opening and closing the anti-suffocation valve and the carbon dioxide expiration openings.
In an additional embodiment, the angular tube has a first straight section with an inlet opening, a second straight section with an outlet opening and a tube bend, e.g., with a curvature between 30° and 120°, especially in the range of 90°. The angular tube advantageously has the first and second sections and no bend. The angular tube is thus designed as a straight piece of tube in this embodiment. The bend preferably has a curvature at an angle between 0° and 180°.
The switching member is designed especially as a ring, especially a rotating ring, a lever, a slide or a rotating wheel. A ring, especially a rotating ring, at the elbow can be actuated by the user of the elbow in an especially simple manner; in particular, the ring may be mounted pivotably about an axis of rotation and/or mounted movably in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the elbow for different switching positions of the switching member.
In another embodiment, the elbow comprises a first actuating element for activating and deactivating the anti-suffocation valve at the anti-suffocation valve and a second actuating element for activating and deactivating the carbon dioxide expiration openings at the carbon dioxide expiration openings.
In an additional embodiment, the first and second actuating elements are in functional mechanical connection, especially with a mechanism, with the switching member, so that the first and second actuating elements can be moved by means of the only one switching member between an activation position and a deactivation position, and/or the elbow comprises a mechanism for mechanically connecting the switching member with the first and second actuating elements. The first and second actuating elements are mobile or movable between an activation position and a deactivation position, and this can be performed by means of the only one switching member. Thus, both the first actuating element and the second actuating element can be moved or movable between the activation position and the deactivation position by means of the only one switching member. The mechanism is advantageously necessary for also making it possible to move both the first and second actuating elements between the activation position and the deactivation position by means of the only one switching member. If the switching member is designed, for example, as a rotating wheel, only a rotating motion can be performed with the switching member, and the first and/or second actuating element performs, on the other hand, a translatory motion between the activation position and the deactivation position and vice versa. The mechanism is necessary for this reason to convert the rotary motions of the rotating wheel as a switching member into the translatory motion of the first and/or second actuating element and vice versa.
The first actuating element is preferably designed as a flap, a roller blind or a diaphragm, especially an elastically deformable diaphragm, and/or the switching member is arranged at the elbow on the outside and/or the first and/or second actuating member is arranged at the elbow on the inside, especially within the breathing gas duct. An anti-suffocation opening at the angular tube can be opened and closed by means of a flap or diaphragm in an especially simple manner, so that the flap or diaphragm as a first actuating element is part of the anti-suffocation valve.
A fork part is fastened to the switching member, especially the ring, in one variant, so that the fork part also performs a motion of the switching member and there is no contact between the fork part and the flap or diaphragm in the activation position of the fork part and the fork part is in contact with the flap or diaphragm in the deactivation position of the fork part and an anti-suffocation opening of the anti-suffocation valve is closed because of the contact with the valve or diaphragm. The flap or diaphragm can be moved in a simple manner between the activation position and the deactivation position by means of the fork part or lever part, which is connected especially rigidly to the actuating member.
The second actuating member is preferably formed by the switching member, especially the ring, or the second actuating element is formed by a flap, a roller blind or a diaphragm. The second actuating element may be formed by the switching member itself or by a separate component, e.g., a flap, a roller blind or a diaphragm.
The switching member is mounted movably between at least three different switching positions in another embodiment.
In particular, the anti-suffocation valve and the carbon dioxide expiration openings are activated in a first switching position of the switching member, the anti-suffocation valve is activated and the carbon dioxide expiration openings are deactivated in a second switching position of the switching member, and the anti-suffocation valve is deactivated and the carbon dioxide expiration openings are deactivated in a third switching position of the switching member.
The anti-suffocation valve is deactivated and the carbon dioxide expiration openings are activated in a fourth switching position of the switching member in another embodiment.
In an additional variant, the ring is mounted movably on the outside at a straight section of the angular tube in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the straight section. The ring surrounds on the outside the angular tube, extending completely around especially a straight section of the angular tube, and the ring is preferably made coaxial and/or concentric with a longitudinal axis of the straight section of the angular tube, at which the ring is arranged.
In another variant, the ring is designed as a rotating ring and is rotatable about an axis of rotation, which corresponds to the longitudinal axis of the straight section of the angular tube and/or the ring is connected movably with the angular tube by means of a threaded connection and/or a sliding block guide and/or the mechanism and can especially be fixed detachably in the different switching positions by means of the threaded connection and/or the sliding block guide and/or the mechanism. The ring is additionally rotatable or pivotable about an axis of rotation, so that the ring can be fixed detachably as a result as a rotating ring in the different switching positions based on this rotary or pivoting motion. To move the ring as a rotating ring from the first switching position into the second switching position, the rotating ring is to be rotated, for example, at first about the axis of rotation in order to detach the ring from the first switching position in its fixed position, after which the ring is to be moved as a rotating ring in the direction of the longitudinal axis by a translatory motion, and the ring can be detachably fixed as a rotating ring in the second switching position by means of an additional rotary motion. This analogously applies to further switching positions of the rotating ring.
Mask system according to the present invention with a respiration mask and with an elbow, wherein the elbow is designed as an elbow described in this patent application.
Respiration system according to the present invention, comprising a respirator, at least one breathing tube, an elbow and a respiration mask, wherein the elbow is designed as an elbow described in this patent application.
The angular tube is preferably a one-part or multipart angular tube.
In particular, only one carbon dioxide expiration opening, especially one large carbon dioxide expiration opening, will be considered as carbon dioxide expiration openings.
In another embodiment, the elbow consists at least partly and especially entirely of plastic.
The respirator comprises, in particular, an inspiration tube and an expiration tube and/or the respirator has a Y-piece, and the inspiration tube and the expiration tube are preferably connected to the Y-piece.
In another embodiment, the respirator comprises a feed means for feeding oxygen to the inspiration gas.
In an additional embodiment, the respirator comprises a gas delivery means. The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.
Referring to the drawings in particular,
The respirator 2 can be connected to the power supply system of a hospital with a power connection cable, not shown, as well as a power plug. In addition, the respirator 2 has gas supply lines (not shown) for connection to a central oxygen and/or air and/or nitrous oxide supply of the hospital.
The elbow 1 is provided, furthermore, with an anti-suffocation valve 18. The anti-suffocation valve 18 is formed by an anti-suffocation opening indicated by broken lines in
Carbon dioxide may collect in dead spaces of the elbow 1. The elbow 1 is additionally provided for this reason with carbon dioxide expiration openings (a carbon dioxide opening arrangement of one or more openings) 19. The carbon dioxide can be removed through the carbon dioxide expiration openings 19 into the environment. With carbon dioxide expiration openings 19 activated, these are opened, and they are closed when the carbon dioxide expiration openings 19 are deactivated. The elbow 1 is provided, furthermore, with only one switching member 20 for both activating and deactivating the anti-suffocation valve 18 as well as for activating and deactivating the carbon dioxide expiration openings 19. The switching member 20 is designed as a ring 21, which also represents a rotating ring 22, because the ring 21 is mounted not only movably through a translatory motion in the direction of a longitudinal axis 28 of the first straight section 15, but also pivotably or rotatorily movably about an axis of rotation 29. The axis of rotation 29 of the rotating ring 22 corresponds to the longitudinal axis 28 of the first straight section 15 of the angular tube 30. The rotating ring 22 is formed on the outside at the first straight section 15 of the angular tube 30.
The elbow 1 has, furthermore, a first actuating element 23 for activating and deactivating or for opening and closing the anti-suffocation opening of the anti-suffocation valve 18. The first actuating element 23 is formed by an elastically deformable diaphragm 25. The angular tube 30 has, furthermore, an opening or a slot, through which is led a fork part 26 as a mechanism 27, and said fork park 26 is connected rigidly to the rotating ring 22.
The rotating ring 22 as a switching member 20 can be moved between three switching positions. A first switching position of the switching member 20, in which both the anti-suffocation valve 18 and the carbon dioxide expiration openings 19 are activated, is shown in
The fork part 26 is rigidly connected to the switching member 20 and the fork part 26 also performs a translatory motion in the direction of the longitudinal axis 28 of the first section 15 during a translatory motion of the switching member 20 between the three switching positions. There is no contact between the fork part 26 and the diaphragm 25 in the first switching position of the switching member 20 according to
Ring 21 as a rotating ring 22 is, furthermore, pivotable about the axis of rotation 29. The switching member 20 can be fixed detachably in the three switching positions at the rest of the elbow or the angular tube 30 by means of a sliding block guide, not shown separately, and/or the mechanism 27, which is shown only partially as a fork part 26. This detachable connection is established and this detachable connection is broken (deactivated) between the switching positions by pivoting the rotating ring 22 about the axis of rotation 29.
Considered on the whole, essential advantages are associated with the elbow 1 according to the present invention. Elbow 1 is provided with only one switching member 20 as a rotating ring 22, and both the anti-suffocation valve 18 and the carbon dioxide expiration openings 19 can be activated and deactivated by means of the only one switching member 20. As a result, the elbow 1 can be operated and handled in an especially simple and practical manner. Thus, it is not necessary to actuate separate actuating members for the anti-suffocation valve 18 and the carbon dioxide expiration openings 19, but this can be performed with the only one switching member 20 in a simple and practical manner.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2012 020 917.7 | Oct 2012 | DE | national |
