Patent Application
20150068522
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to medical equipment, more particularly to a nebulizer mouthpiece.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
Referring to
Since the bellows tube 103 is corrugated, since the smallest inner diameter of the bellows tube 103 is smaller than that of the sections 104, 106 and since the mouth-receiving piece 102 is tapered away from the section 106, once the connecting tube 101, the mouth-receiving portion 102 and the bellows tube 103 are connected together, the inner annular surface of the conventional nebulizer mouthpiece 1 in a horizontal direction initially goes through a repeated increasing/decreasing change in the bellows tube 103, then increases from the bellows tube 103 to the section 104 and then decreases in mouth-receiving piece 102 thus leading to the following drawbacks.
a) The inner diameter of the section 104 is 20 millimeters, so when the medicine is transported from the container 2 through the section 105 into the conventional nebulizer mouthpiece 1 under high pressure, the mist-form medicine will impact the top side of the section 104 and even condense into liquid form and flow back into the container 2, thereby reducing the amount of mist-form medicine inhaled by a user and affecting its dose and effect.
b) Due to the inconsistently changing inner diameter of the conventional nebulizer mouthpiece 1 in the horizontal direction (i.e. , from small to large to small) not only might the mist-form medicine be trapped and turned into liquid form, but unbalanced and disturbing air flow may also be created.
c) The length of the bellows tube 103 is too long and easily interferes with nearby objects and people, causing discomfort and inconvenience.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a nebular mouthpiece that can eliminate the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the present invention, there is provided a nebulizer mouthpiece including a hollow main body and a connecting tube. The main body is formed into a one-piece element, and includes an annular wall. The annular wall defines an inner space and has a middle section, an outlet section, and a storage section. The outlet section is connected to an end of the middle section. The storage section is connected to another end of the middle section. The middle section has an inner diameter that is not smaller than 30 millimeters.
The connecting tube is adapted for interconnecting the middle section of the main body and a liquid container, and surrounds a central axis. A distance between the central axis and a distal end of the storage section is not greater than three times the inner diameter. Liquid received in the liquid container is turned into mist and introduced into the inner space through the connecting tube.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
The main body 10 is formed into a one-piece element, and includes an annular wall 11. The annular wall 11 defines an inner space 12, and has a middle section 13, an outlet section 14, a storage section 15, a connecting section 16 and a guide section 17. The outlet section 14 is connected to an end of the middle section 13 by the connecting section 16 which is curved in a longitudinal direction of the main body 10, and the guide section 17 which is generally frustoconical and tapers from the middle section 13 toward the outlet section 14. The storage section 15 is connected to another end of the middle section 13. The middle section 13 is aligned with the connecting tube 20, has a smooth inner surface and an inner diameter (d1) that is not smaller than 30 millimeters. The outlet section 14 has an internal diameter (d2) that is smaller than the inner diameter (d1) of the middle section 13. The storage section 15 has a smooth inner surface facing the inner space 12 and an interior diameter (d3) greater than the inner diameter (d1) of the middle section 13.
The connecting tube 20 is adapted for interconnecting the middle section 13 of the main body 10 and the liquid container 200 and surrounds a central axis (L). A distance (D) between the central axis (L) and a distal end of the storage section 15 is not greater than three times the inner diameter (d1) of the middle section 13. Liquid received in the liquid container 200 is turned into mist and introduced into the inner space 12 through the connecting tube 20. In this embodiment, the distance (D) is 62.5 millimeters, and the main body 10 and the connecting tube 20 are integrally formed into one piece. When the liquid container 200 contains liquid-form medicine, the pipe 300 uses pressurized gas to turn the liquid-form medicine into mist-form, which is then transported through the connecting tube 20 into the middle section 13 of the nebulizer mouthpiece 100, and flows toward the connecting and guide sections 16, 17 and out into a user's mouth through the outlet section 14.
The advantages of this invention can be summarized as follows.
It is worth mentioning that even though the main body 10 is a one-piece structure that is simple and easy to manufacture, it allows the mist-form medicine to be guided even more smoothly than the prior art, which enhances the effectiveness of the dose inhaled.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
