The invention relates to a liquid-accommodating container for a device, which can be worn on the body of a user and additionally operated in a stationary manner, for providing a vacuum for medical applications, in particular for vacuum treatment of wounds in the human or animal body, wherein the device comprises a first housing part having a vacuum-generating apparatus and the container, which can be discarded after use, for collecting bodily fluids in the interior of the container, in particular wound secretions suctioned from a wound, wherein the container comprises a second housing part of the device, which can be manually fastened to and manually detached from the first housing part of the device and, when in the fastened state, a vacuum can be applied to the interior of the container from the vacuum-generating apparatus, and wherein a connection is provided on the container for a suction line leading to the body, such that a vacuum communication can be produced between the vacuum-generating apparatus, the container and the suction line leading to the body, wherein the container comprises two half-shell parts, which are permanently joined to each other and bound the interior of the container in the joined state, wherein a region for accommodating a filter is also formed in the interior of the container.
Vacuum treatment means that a region of the body or wound exposed to the ambient atmosphere is sealed in a pressure-tight or vacuum-tight manner from the environment, i.e. the atmosphere in which we live and breathe, by means to be described in more detail, wherein, within the sealed wound region, a pressure that is lower than the atmospheric pressure, therefore a vacuum relative to the atmosphere, can be applied and permanently maintained. When we speak of a vacuum in this context, we mean a pressure range that is typically between 0 and 250 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) below the surrounding atmospheric pressure. This has been shown to be beneficial to wound healing. For the vacuum-tight sealing, a vacuum dressing is typically used, which can comprise, for example, a pressure-tight or vacuum-tight layer of film, which is typically glued onto an unaffected region of the body surrounding the wound, so that a tight seal can be achieved.
The object of this invention is to accommodate and mount a filter in an economic manner and also to ensure safety of operation.
This object is inventively achieved in a liquid-accommodating container of the type stated above in that the filter lies against an inner region of the half-shell part facing away from the first housing part on one side and against a sealing element on the other side under axial stress in an axial direction extending approximately perpendicularly to a dividing plane of the half-shell parts, which sealing element is attached to the half-shell part facing the first housing part, wherein the axial stress is formed by the joining of the half-shell parts and associated deformation of the sealing element by the filter.
Because the filter is accommodated under axial stress between the two half-shell parts, secure positional fixture of the filter within the container is achieved. Due to the axial pressure, secure sealing between the filter and the sealing element is also achieved. Dimensional tolerances in the filter can be compensated or secure sealing achieved despite dimensional tolerances. The filter can be easily mounted because the filter can be disposed between the half-shell parts before they are joined. It is also conceivable for the filter to be inserted through a correspondingly large opening in a wall of the half-shell part of the container facing the first housing part and then positionally fixed by disposing the seal in this opening.
In an advantageous further embodiment of the invention, the filter preferably lies against multiple ribs that are constituted in the interior of the half-shell part facing away from the first housing part. Compared to seating over a large surface area, this has the advantage that a larger active filter surface can be exposed to the remaining interior space, that is, the liquid-accommodating space of the container.
The filter itself can be, for example, block or disk-shaped. It proves advantageous if the filter is constituted cylindrically, pot-shaped, conically, or as a tapered cylinder because this provides a larger penetration area of the filter. Irrespective of the specific shape of the filter, it is advantageously made of a rigid and dimensionally stable material. Suitable filter materials include, for example, porous plastic solids (for example, polyethylene or polypropylene), ceramics or metal.
Admixture of an expandable substance (for example, carboxymethyl cellulose) can also be provided, which closes the pores in the filter material after contact with liquid, thus preventing penetration of further liquid through the filter. Admixture of an odor-absorbing substance (for example, active carbon), which retains gaseous substances, which can cause a olfactory nuisance, is also advantageous. The odor-absorbing substance can also be a coating.
The filter is advantageously accommodated in a chamber that is bounded in the interior of the container by a closed wall. This wall can advantageously have one or more openings, by which it communicates in a fluid-dynamic connection with the remaining interior of the container or with a splash-water-protected antechamber.
It also proves advantageous if the sealing element is an injection-molded part made of elastically compliant material, which is retained, preferably by a positive connection, in an opening in a wall of the first half-shell part of the container. The sealing element can, for example, be glued on or clipped in or fixed in its operating position by means of further mounting elements.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sealing element is an injection-molded part made of elastically compliant material, which is disposed in an opening in a wall of the first half-shell part of the container and overmolded onto the wall. By overmolding the sealing element it is also possible to achieve a positively connected back grip.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sealing element has an axial opening.
It further proves advantageous if the sealing element is constituted concentrically with respect to the axial direction.
It further proves advantageous if the sealing element comprises a step with respect to the axial direction against which the filter rests and which is preferably constituted radially in the interior.
It further proves advantageous if the sealing element has a tubular projection that projects into the interior of the container, in which the filter engages. This embodiment has the advantage that the filter can be inserted into the tubular projection during mounting so that it can be positioned in its correct mounting position, in particular by a frictional connection.
It further proves advantageous if the sealing element has a tubular projection that projects from the container toward the first housing part, by means of which a fluid-dynamic connection can be created to the vacuum-generating apparatus. The sealing element thereby has a dual function: It seals the filter in the container toward the outside and it also forms an interface for fluid-dynamic communication with the vacuum-generating apparatus in the first housing part.
In a further embodiment of the invention, it is proposed that a further sealing element be provided, which is disposed between an, in particular closed off chamber in the interior of the container and a medium or measuring connection in the first housing part and which projects from the container toward the first housing part with a tubular projection. This further sealing element can basically be manufactured and be disposed in the same way as the sealing element assigned to the filter. It can, in particular, be overmolded directly onto a wall of the container.
In this case, it can prove advantageous if the sealing elements are formed in the same injection-molding process and are connected at the container via a filling gate filled with elastomeric material.
The invention also concerns a device as well as a method for manufacturing a container, each in accordance with the respective dependent or independent claim.
Further characteristics, details, and advantages of the invention result from the attached claims and from the drawings and description below of a preferred embodiment of the invention.
The drawing shows:
a, b a perspective view of a device for providing a vacuum for medical applications with a container, which can be discarded after use, for collecting bodily fluids;
a the half-shell according to
b, c two views of the overmolded sealing elements;
a, b sectional views of the container.
a, b shows a device collectively designated with reference number 2 for providing a vacuum for medical applications. The device 2 can be worn on the body of a user (mobile operation), but can also be operated in a stationary manner (stationary operation). In mobile operation, the device could be carried by means of a strap or belt or similar and worn on the body, wherein for this purpose a fastening loop 3 is shown purely as an example. In stationary operation, the device can be placed on a preferably level surface. The device 2 comprises a first housing part 4, in which a vacuum-generating apparatus as well as electric or electronic control components for the device 2 as a whole are accommodated, including batteries or preferably rechargeable batteries. Moreover, the device 2 comprises a second housing part 6, which is constituted by a container 8 for collecting bodily fluids in its interior, in particular for collecting wound secretions suctioned out of a wound. The container 8 is constituted as an article, which can be discarded after use. The container 8 comprises upper connecting glands 10, 12 for a suction line (not depicted) and a line for feeding media toward the body of the patient or for forming a measuring duct. The suction line, which is not depicted, leads, in the exemplary operation of the device for the vacuum therapy of wounds, to a wound dressing that seals the wound in a pressure-tight manner and communicates at that location, for example via a port, with a wound region in order to create, maintain, or vary a vacuum in the wound region, and to suction wound exudates into the container 8. To achieve this, the container 8 communicates with the vacuum-generating apparatus in the first housing part 4.
The connecting gland 12 also leads via a tube (not depicted) which constitutes a measuring or rinsing duct, toward the body of the user, in particular, to a wound. The connecting gland 12 communicates, in a way to be described in more detail, with the first housing part 4 through the interior of the container 8 where a supplied medium, in particular a rinsing medium, can be added to it, or where it is connected to a measuring connection.
The connecting gland 10 for the suction line opens out into the interior of the container 8. The interior of the container 8 communicates via a vacuum interface 14 (
In the figures, it can be seen that the interior of the container 8 extends into a region 28 adjacent to a wall 30 that bounds the grip opening 24. In the example and illustrated preferred case, this region 28 is constituted above a wall 30 that upwardly bounds the grip opening 24. This region 28 is bounded or formed by a chamber 32, which is closed off, that is, partitioned off in such a manner that it does not communicate with other adjacent chambers or regions in the interior of the container 8. This means that a body fluid suctioned into a liquid collection chamber 33 in the interior of the container 8, in particular wound exudates suctioned from a wound, cannot penetrate into this chamber 32 even if the container 8 is tipped or briefly tilted. Thus, the chamber 32 forms a kind of visual protection in the region of the grip opening 24 and in the region of the grippable web 26, when viewed from outside the container 8. In the preferred case shown by way of example, this chamber 32 extends above the entire grip opening 24 as seen from above in the vertical direction 34. The chamber 32 also extends beyond the grip opening 24 in the direction of the arrows 36 toward two opposite sides. From
Unlike chamber 32, the chamber 40, which accommodates the filter, is not fluid-dynamically closed off. It communicates with the vacuum-generating apparatus in the first housing part 4 as well as with an antechamber 45 via a vacuum communicating opening 44 in the wall 42. In respect of its walls, the second half-shell part 22 is constituted perpendicular to the dividing plane in a complementary manner to the first half-shell part 20.
Starting from the vacuum-generating apparatus, a vacuum can be built up in the interior of the container 8 through the filter (not shown in
As seen from the outside, the further connecting gland 12 opens into a further chamber 48 that is closed off from the remaining compartment of the container 8 and bounded by the walls 50 and 50′ respectively, closed in the circumferential direction, of the two half-shell parts 20, 22. A feed-through duct 52 leads from this chamber 48 in the depth direction, that is, perpendicular to the separation plane, toward the first housing part 4, that is, toward the outside of the container 8.
The interior of the container 8 is partitioned by a multiplicity of ribs (see
Moreover, there are ribs 76 of a second type that extend obliquely. With these ribs, sloshing of the liquid collected in container 8 toward the filter chamber 40 is prevented. Such a rib 76 bounds the previously mentioned antechamber 45 to filter chamber 40.
For the purposes of vacuum communication, a relatively small opening 82 is constituted in the obliquely extending rib 76, which establishes vacuum communication between the antechamber 45 and the remaining interior of the container 8, but which provides great resistance to penetrating liquid, which could block the filter.
Furthermore, there are ribs 80 of a third type, which are joined to themselves in the circumferential direction. They form, for example, the wall 42 for the chamber 40 or the wall 50 for the chamber 48. The wall 30, which is joined to itself in the circumferential direction and which bounds the grip opening 24, can also be referred to as rib 80 of the third type.
The ribs 70, 76, which extend up as far as an inclined or horizontally extending wall also preferably have an opening 84 at the very top intended for equalizing pressure and allowing gases to pass, so that no air has to be led through the liquid.
The two half-shell parts 20, 22, are joined to each other permanently so that they form a seal preferably by gluing or thermowelding and thus constitute the second housing part 6 of the container 8 that constitutes device 2. The chamber 32, which is closed off from the liquid and the remaining interior of the container 8, protects the manually grippable web or the grip area 26 from contamination from bodily fluid collected in the interior of the container 8. It also provides visual protection, which, viewed from above, extends over the area of the grip opening 24 partially or preferably completely.
a shows the configuration of the filter 100 in the container 8. It can be seen that the filter 100 is disposed between the sealing element 54 and an internal area 106 of the half-shell part 22, in an axial direction 102, which also corresponds to the joint direction of the half-shell parts 20, 22 and extends perpendicularly to a dividing plane 104 between the half-shell parts 20, 22. This internal area 106 is preferably formed from a plurality of ribs 108, which are particularly clearly visible in
Moreover, the sealing element 54 comprises a tubular projection 120 that projects from the container 8 toward the first housing part 4, by means of which a fluid-dynamic connection can be created to the vacuum-generating apparatus in the first housing part 4. For example, the tubular projection 120 can be positioned against a, for example, conical projection so that it automatically seals and creates a fluid-dynamic connection when the container 8 is placed in its intended mounting position on the first housing part 4.
b shows a sectional view that corresponds to
Both sealing elements 54, 56, are preferably manufactured according to the same injection molding process and overmolded directly onto the first half-shell part 20. In order to have to provide no more than one gate in an injection mold to be used for this process, the two sealing elements 54, 56 are interconnected via a shared filling duct 126 and filled with elastomeric material accordingly (s.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2013 208 108.1 | May 2013 | DE | national |
This application is the national stage of PCT/EP2014/058691, filed Apr. 29, 2014 and claims Paris convention priority from DE 10 2013 208 108.1, filed May 3, 2013.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2014/058691 | 4/29/2014 | WO | 00 |