Portable saline nasal spray

Abstract

A portable saline nasal spray is a device designed to remove allergens or other harmful substances from the human nasal cavity in effective and convenient way. The portable saline nasal spray includes a spray pump that is operated by a finger, a spray nozzle that is ergonomically designed to effectively spray into the nasal cavity, and a disposable saline pouch that can be purchased separately. Not like other existing method, instead of forcing the saline solution to flow though the nasal cavity, this invention sprays the saline solution effectively over the whole surface of the nasal cavity. Because saline solution is sprayed, it requires only small amount of solution for daily use. This invention utilizes factory prepared sterile saline solution contained in disposable pouch that makes the nasal cleaning procedure much more simple and convenient. Just one small pouch of saline solution can be used for a whole week of twice a day nasal cleaning. Furthermore, because it is designed to be a leak-free portable device, it would look nice to keep anywhere, and the user can even carry it in his/her most favorite bag and use it anytime at anywhere they want.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1( a) illustrates a 3-D view of the portable saline nasal spray.

FIG. 1( b) illustrates a cross section view of the portable saline nasal spray.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross section view of the portable saline nasal spray that is inserted into a nostril for spray.

FIGS. 3( a) and 3(b) respectively illustrate a cross section view and a 3-D view of the portable saline nasal spray with the lid on it.

FIGS. 4( a) and 4(b) respectively illustrate a cross section view and a 3-D view of the portable saline nasal spray with the lid being removed.

FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b) respectively illustrate a cross section view and a 3-D view of the portable saline nasal spray where the spraying nozzle is turned 180 degree outward and ready to spray.

FIGS. 6( a), 6(b), and 6(c) illustrate how to put disposable saline pouch into the portable saline nasal spray.

FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b) illustrate how the spray works by pressing down the spray pump.

FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) illustrate how the portable saline nasal spray sprays the saline solution into the nasal cavity.

FIGS. 9( a), 9(b), and 9(c) illustrate a variation of the spray nozzle.

FIGS. 10( a) and 10(b) illustrate a close look of the tip of the spray nozzle and spray holes on it.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN ENABLING AND PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

For a better understanding of the invention, we turn now to the drawings. FIGS. 1(a) and (b) offer a visual understanding of how the portable saline nasal spray appears to the eye. It has a base 1 that is the main platform where the spray pump 3 is installed, and spray nozzle 2, saline pouch 4, and pouch cover 5 are attached. The spray nozzle 2 has three small spray holes 11 aligned vertically on the slanted tip surface of the nozzle that allows the said nozzle produce upward angulated, vertically fanning saline spray so that it can effectively spray the saline solution to the whole nasal cavity. The spray nozzle 2 is attached to the base 1 like a turret that enables the spray nozzle rotates horizontally on the base 1.

FIG. 2 shows how the spray nozzle 2 is inserted to a nostril and ready to spray. The spray nozzle is inserted deep into the nostril until the tip touches the narrow opening into the nasal cavity and is not able to get in any further. Now the portable saline nasal spray is ready to spray deep into the nasal cavity 6.

FIGS. 3( a) and 3(b) show the portable saline nasal spray with the lid 7 on it. The lid 7 protects the spray nozzle 2 and spray pump 3, keeps them clean, and makes the device look neat when it is not in use.

FIGS. 4( a) and 4(b) show the general shape of portable saline nasal spray where the lid 7 is removed. As the FIG. 4(a) illustrates, when the spray nozzle 2 is turned toward the spray pump 3 the tube between the spray pump 3 and spray nozzle 2 is blocked at the turret point that prevents leaking of saline solution during transportation.

FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b) show the portable saline nasal spray that the lid 7 is removed and the spray nozzle 2 is turned outward that opens the blocked tube between the spray pump 3 and spray nozzle 2 at the turret point.

FIGS. 6( a), 6(b), and 6(c) illustrate how to put disposable saline pouch into the portable saline nasal spray. The pouch cover 5 is removed, the disposable saline pouch 4 is attached to the base 1, and the pouch cover 5 is re-placed. For this invention factory prepared sterile saline solution is applied because this invention does not require a lot of saline solution and the user can use one small pouch of saline solution for a whole week of twice a day nasal cleaning. The disposable saline pouch 4 is made of flexible plastic bag with rigid plastic bottle neck attached on it for connection to the base 1.

FIG. 7( a) shows the mechanism of the spray where the index finger 8 press down the spray pump 3 and the saline solution inside the pump 3 is pushed out through the tube between the pump 3 and nozzle 2 and sprays out through the spray holes. As FIG. 7(b) illustrates, when the index finger releases the spray pump 3 the saline solution from the pouch is sucked into the spray pump 3. In this procedure the saline pouch does not require air intake, instead, the bag just shrinks as the saline solution is pumped out of it that makes this device leak-free.

FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) illustrate how the portable saline nasal spray sprays the saline solution into the nasal cavity 6 when the index finger 8 presses down the spray pump 3. Because the nasal cavity is vertical flat space on both side of the nasal septum, upward angulated, vertically fanning saline spray can effectively clean almost whole surface of the nasal cavity.

FIGS. 9( a), 9(b), and 9(c) illustrate a variation of the spray nozzle. Instead of the L-shaped spray nozzle 2 in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), vertically straight shape of nozzle 9 can be applied as illustrated in FIGS. 9(a), 9(b), and 9(c). In this case because there is no leak preventing stop that the spray nozzle 2 in FIG. 1 has, the spray nozzle 9 needs a nozzle cap 10 that prevents the saline solution from leaking through the spray holes 11. As it is illustrated in the FIG. 9(c), both of the spray nozzles 2 in FIG. 1 and 9 in FIG. 9 should be detachable from the base 1 for cleaning purpose.

FIGS. 10( a) and 10(b) illustrate a close look of the outer end of the spray nozzle with spray holes on it. Both type of spray nozzles (spray nozzle 2 in FIG. 1(a) and spray nozzle 9 in FIG. 9(a)) have same shape of tip at the outer end. The nozzle tip has narrowed and longitudinally slanted face where either three vertically aligned small spray holes 11 as shown in FIG. 10(a) or a vertically elongated oval spray hole 12 as shown in FIG. 10(b) in order to produce upwardly angulated, vertically fanning saline spray.

Claims

1. A portable saline nasal spray that effectively sprays saline solution into nasal cavity for the purpose of cleaning and removing allergens or any harmful substances from nasal cavity; which consists of (a) a base that works as a main platform where the finger-operated spray pump is installed, and the lid, spray nozzle, saline pouch, and pouch cover are attached; (b) spray pump which is vertically installed on the top of said base so that the user can press it down to spray by using index finger or middle finger of the same hand holding the device; (c) faced up, and vertically elongated spray nozzle of which one end is attached to the top of said base and the other end has narrowed and longitudinally slanted face where spray holes are vertically aligned that allows the nozzle produces upwardly angulated, vertically fanning saline spray that effectively sprays the saline solution to the whole nasal cavity; (d) disposable saline pouch that contains factory prepared sterile saline solution, and has a plastic bottle neck with which said pouch is connected to the bottom of said base; (e) pouch cover that is made of rigid plastic material and attached to the bottom of said base covering said disposable saline pouch so that it protects the flexible saline pouch and also it works as a flat, stable stand of the device; (f) a lid that is made of rigid plastic material that covers whole upper part of the device when it is not in use, protecting said spray nozzle and said spray pump from being pushed or becoming dirty.

2. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein the saline solution is sprayed into the nasal cavity instead of being forced to flow through the nasal cavity in order to minimize the saline solution usage and maximize the cleaning effect.

3. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein said spray nozzle has a narrowed and longitudinally slanted face at the tip of the outer end where one or more of spray holes are located.

4. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein said spray hole(s) mentioned in claim 3 is either a series of small holes located along said narrowed and longitudinally slanted face, or one vertically oval shaped hole. The purpose of said spray hole(s) is producing vertically fanning saline spray.

5. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein said spray nozzle is detachable from the said base for cleaning purpose.

6. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein said spray nozzle is able to horizontally rotate at the attach point to said base. It stops the saline flow when said spray nozzle is turned to one side, and opens the flow when said spray nozzle is turned to the other side.

7. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein said disposable saline pouch is made of flexible plastic bag therefore it does not require air intake as the content is being emptied out.

8. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein said disposable saline pouch is detachable from the said base. Said disposable saline pouch has a plastic bottle neck with which said pouch is connected to the bottom of said base;

9. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein the saline solution is factory prepared, contained in said disposable saline pouch and can be purchased separately for saline replacement.

10. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein the direction for replacement of said disposable saline pouch is as follows; remove said pouch cover from said base;remove the empty saline pouch from the bottom of said base;remove the cap from said bottle neck of new disposable saline pouch;attach new saline pouch which is full of saline solution to the bottom of said base;re-attach said pouch cover to said base.

11. A portable saline nasal spray according to claim 1 wherein the direction for use is as follows; remove said lid from said base exposing said spray nozzle and said spray pump;rotate said spray nozzle away from the said spray pump if it is designed to do so;if the said spray nozzle has a nozzle cap, remove it;hold the device up right with one hand in the manner that thumb of the same hand supports the bottom of the device, and gently insert the tip of the spray nozzle into one nostril until it touches the narrow opening of the nasal cavity and cannot move upward any further;by using index finger or middle finger of the same hand that holds the device, press down said spray pump two times to spray onto entire surface of the nasal cavity;remove said spray nozzle at the same time gently sniff in;wash the tip of said spray nozzle and gently insert said tip into the other nostril until it touches the narrow part of the nostril and cannot move upward any further;by using index finger or middle finger of the same hand that holds the device, press down said spray pump two times to spray onto entire surface of the nasal cavity;remove said spray nozzle at the same time gently sniff in;wash the tip of said spray nozzle;gently blow the nose to remove excessive saline solution, mucus, and any other foreign substance from the nasal cavity;repeat above procedures to spray again two times into each nostril and gently blow the nose;detach said spray nozzle, wash, and re-attach it to said base;press down said spray pump one time to clean up the nozzle;put said nozzle cap on said nozzle tip if it has one;put said lid back on said base of the device to protect said spray nozzle and said spray pump;keep the device at clean and safe place.