1. Technical Field
The invention relates to saliva suction systems, particularly to long time use/fulltime use, automatic/manual saliva suction systems with respect to saliva quantity.
2. Related Art
There are many reasons causing dysphagia, including:
a) Pharyngeal lesion, such as pharyngitis: Pharyngitis usually results in a severely sore throat, so patients who contract pharyngitis always feel painful when they are swallowing.
b) Symptom of brain lesions, such as apoplexy: These patients usually slobber because of swallowing dysfunction. This will invite obnoxious odor, poor impression and risk of lung infection.
The quality of life and health of those slobbering patients will be adversely affected if the symptom is not properly treated.
Additionally, the dental saliva suckers may be available, but they are not really suitable for the abovementioned patients because:
1. The dental saliva suckers are a kind of large and professional equipment not for home use or portable use.
2. A suction head of the dental saliva sucker is also tube-like without a suction head which may be put in mouth, so it only can suck the saliva near the suction head. If a user wants to suck saliva completely, he/she must continuously move the suction head in a patient's mouth.
3. The dental saliva suckers only can be turned on and off but cannot be automatically operated, so they are unsuitable for prolonged use.
A primary object of the invention is to provide a saliva suction system which can be automatically controlled and adjusted.
A secondary object of the invention is to provide a saliva suction system which can be intermittently functioned with adjustable time gap, duration and suction strength. Of course, the saliva suction system of the invention also can be continuously functioned.
Another object of the invention is to provide a saliva suction system can be manually operated to turn on or off for emergency.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a saliva suction system which can compute the sucked saliva quantity in a unit time for medical statistics, analysis and record.
To accomplish the above object, the saliva suction system includes a suction head, a container, a pump, a controller and two tubes. The suction head has an outline fitting a lower jaw. The suction head is provided with a plurality of inlet holes and an outlet hole. The inlet holes communicate with the outlet hole. The tubes are separately disposed between the pump and the suction head and between the pump and the container. The controller makes the pump turn on or off. The saliva suction system further includes a timer and a sensor for automatic or intermittent control.
According to the invention, the saliva suction system further comprises a sensor for detecting saliva and sending a signal to the controller. The pump can be automatically operated by the controller according to the signal from the sensor.
According to the invention, the saliva suction system further comprises a sensor, wherein the controller continuously has the pump turn on or adjust the strength of suction when the sensor also continuously detects existence of saliva, and the controller instantly or delayedly turns off the pump when the sensor does not detect any saliva. Thus an automatic adjustment can be obtained.
According to the invention, the controller has a timer by which an intermittent operation of the pump is performed. Thus the work period and rest period can be controlled by the timer.
According to the invention, the saliva suction system further comprises a switch set composed of a normally open switch and a normally close switch, wherein the normally open switch connects to the pump in series, the controller connects to the normally close switch in series and then connects to the normally open switch in parallel. Thus the pump may be immediately turned on or off for an emergency.
According to the invention, the suction head is formed by an upper flat surface and a lower cambered surface, a front side and rear side of the suction head are formed with a recess and a rear convex arc respectively, a left side and right side of the suction head are formed with a left convex arc and a right convex arc respectively. This shape may provide more suitable for being held in mouth.
According to the invention, the suction head is made of silicone. Silicone is with flexibility and no toxicity and very suitable for be held in mouth.
According to the invention, the controller has a display for showing a suction time, suction quantity and other information.
According to the invention, the sensor is a flow meter by which a saliva quantity can be recorded for analysis.
According to the invention, the container has an entrance and a cap for sealing up an opening. And the container is provided with a scale for indicating saliva volume. This will be convenient to record the saliva quantity.
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Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 4A-4C. The suction head 11 has a flat outline fitting a lower jaw of mouth, so that it may be placed in a mouth of a patient. The suction head 11 is provided with a plurality of inlet holes 111 and at least one outlet hole 112. The inlet holes 111 communicate with the outlet hole 112. In the shown embodiment, the suction head 11 is formed by an upper flat surface 113 and a lower cambered surface 114. The front side and rear side of the suction head 11 are formed with a recess 115 and a rear convex arc 116, respectively. The left side and right side of the suction head 11 are formed with a left convex arc 117 and a right convex arc 118, respectively. As shown in
The tubes 14 are separately disposed between the pump 13 and the suction head 11 and between the pump 13 and the container 12. The controller 15 makes the pump 13 turn on or off. Saliva in the mouth will be sucked into the suction head 11 through the inlet holes 111 and ejected out from the outlet hole 112. The saliva ejected from the outlet hole 112 will be transferred into the container 12 via the tube 14.
As abovementioned and shown in
Additionally, the invention further includes a sensor 16 for detecting saliva. The controller 15 may switch the pump 13 on /off according to the sensor 16. Of course, the controller 15 may continuously have the pump 13 turn on when the sensor 16 also continuously detects the existence of saliva. On the contrary, the controller 15 may instantly or delayedly turn off the pump 13 when the sensor 16 does not detect any saliva. Thus, an automatic control can be obtained. Preferably, the sensor 16 is a flow meter disposed at a position through which saliva will flow. In this embodiment, the sensor 16 is fixed in an entrance 121 of the container 12. The sensor 16 detects the saliva to send a signal to the controller 15.
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Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. The present invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.