JP2014023873A - Medical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simply-structured medical connector capable of providing comparatively soft touch during its use.SOLUTION: A medical connector comprises: a medical tube 3 that is made of a flexible material; and a male connector 1 that is provided at an end part of the medical tube 3 and is made of a rigid material. The male connector 1 comprises: a hollow male lure part 4 that has a diameter reduced to a tip; a cylindrical outer cylinder part 5 that surrounds the male lure part 4 with a gap; and a female screw part 8 that is formed on an inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder part 5. The medical tube 3 comprises a covering part 9 that is formed integrally at the end part thereof and at least covers an outer peripheral surface on a rear end side of the outer cylinder part 5.

Description

  The present invention relates to a medical connector.

  In a medical tube such as an infusion tube, a medical connector is used to connect predetermined medical tubes.

  Conventionally, this type of medical connector includes a male connector provided at the connection side end of one medical tube and a female connector provided at the connection side end of the other medical tube. By connecting the connectors to each other, both medical tubes are connected (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

  In this medical connector, the male connector includes a hollow male luer portion that gradually decreases in diameter toward the tip, and an outer cylinder portion that surrounds the outer side of the male luer portion with a gap. The outer cylinder part is provided integrally with the male luer part, and a female screw part is formed on the inner peripheral surface thereof. The female connector includes a female luer part into which a male luer part is inserted, and a male screw part is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the female luer part.

  Then, by inserting the male luer part into the female luer part and rotating the male connector and the female connector in the relative direction, the male luer part and the female luer part are connected and the female screw part and the male screw part are screwed together. Thus, the male connector and the female connector are connected to each other, whereby both medical tubes can be easily connected.

Japanese Patent No. 4619366

  However, according to the configuration of the conventional medical connector, the outer cylindrical portion of the male connector is exposed at the end of the medical tube. In general, the male connector is formed of a hard synthetic resin or the like. For this reason, when the outer cylinder part of a male connector contacts a patient's skin, there exists a problem which gives discomfort to a patient by the hard touch.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a medical connector that can provide a relatively soft contact during use with a simple structure.

  In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a medical connector comprising a medical tube made of a soft material and a male connector made of a hard material provided at an end of the medical tube, wherein the male connector is A hollow male luer part that is reduced in diameter toward the tip, a cylindrical outer cylinder part that surrounds the male luer part with a gap, and a female screw part formed on the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder part The medical tube is provided with a covering portion that is integrally formed at an end portion thereof and covers an outer peripheral surface of at least the rear end side of the outer cylinder portion.

  According to this, since the outer cylinder portion of the male connector is covered with the covering portion of the medical tube made of a soft material, a relatively soft contact can be obtained even when the male connector touches the patient, and the outer portion made of the hard material is obtained. It is possible to prevent the patient from feeling uncomfortable as when the tube portion is in direct contact with the skin or the like. In addition, since the medical tube is provided with a covering portion that covers the outer cylinder portion, it is not necessary to increase the number of parts. Therefore, the structure of the medical connector can be made extremely simple, and a medical connector that can obtain a relatively soft contact during use can be provided.

  In the present invention, the outer tube portion includes a small-diameter tube portion in the rear half, and a large-diameter tube portion that reaches the tip adjacent to the small-diameter tube portion, and the covering portion of the medical tube is The outer cylinder part is covered with an outer peripheral surface of the small diameter cylinder part.

  According to this, when the small diameter cylinder part of the outer cylinder part is covered with the covering part of the medical tube, the covering part can be easily covered with the outer cylinder part, and the manufacture of the medical connector can be facilitated. And the outer diameter of the coating | coated part when the outer peripheral surface of a small diameter cylinder part is coat | covered becomes comparatively small, and a male connector can be formed compactly.

  In the present invention, a female connector connectable to the male connector is provided. The female connector includes a female luer part into which the male luer part is inserted, and the male luer part is attached to the female luer part. When inserted, the first entry part that enters between the male luer part and the small diameter cylinder part, and the entry between the male luer part and the large diameter cylinder part adjacent to the first entry part And a male screw part formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second input part, and the female screw part of the male connector is formed only on the inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter cylindrical part. It is characterized by.

  By forming the female screw portion on the inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter cylindrical portion of the male connector, the male screw portion of the female connector can be screwed without providing the female screw portion in the small-diameter cylindrical portion. This eliminates the need for a space for providing the female screw portion on the inner peripheral surface of the small-diameter cylindrical portion, so that the outer diameter of the small-diameter cylindrical portion can be made sufficiently small, and the male connector can be formed compactly.

  In addition, since the female connector is provided with a first entry part that enters between the male luer part of the male connector and the small-diameter cylindrical part, the insertion distance of the male luer part into the female luer part is relatively large. And a reliable connection state can be obtained.

  Furthermore, since the male screw portion of the female connector is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the second entry portion, the formation range of the male screw portion is relatively small with respect to the entire length of the female luer portion, and the female screw portion of the male connector is also a large diameter cylindrical portion. Therefore, the formation range of the female thread portion is relatively small with respect to the entire length of the outer cylinder portion. From this, the amount of rotation operation at the time of screwing operation for screwing the male screw portion of the female connector and the female screw portion of the male connector can be reduced.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, a reliable connection state can be obtained while having a compact configuration, and the connection operation between the male connector and the female connector can be performed quickly.

  Moreover, in this invention, it is preferable to provide the said coating | coated part with the slit extended along the axial direction of the said medical tube. According to this, a slit can be expanded and a coating | coated part can be smoothly mounted | worn with an outer cylinder part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Explanatory longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the medical connector in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the medical connector in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing which shows the other coating state of the coating | coated part in 2nd Embodiment. The side view which shows the other example of the coating | coated part in 2nd Embodiment.

  First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the medical connector A of the first embodiment includes a male connector 1 and a female connector 2 that can be connected to each other. A medical tube 3 is connected to each of the male connector 1 and the female connector 2. The medical tube on the female connector 2 side is not shown.

  The male connector 1 is formed of a hard synthetic resin, and includes a hollow male luer part 4 that is reduced in diameter toward the tip, and a cylindrical outer cylinder part 5 that surrounds the male luer part 4 with a gap. Is integrated.

  The outer cylinder part 5 includes a small diameter cylinder part 6 and a large diameter cylinder part 7. The small diameter cylindrical portion 6 is provided in the rear half of the outer cylindrical portion 5. The large-diameter cylindrical portion 7 is provided at the tip half of the outer cylindrical portion 5. A step is formed at the boundary between the small diameter cylindrical portion 6 and the large diameter cylindrical portion 7 due to the difference in the outer diameters of the two.

  A relatively wide annular gap is formed between the large-diameter cylindrical portion 7 and the male luer portion 4 of the outer cylindrical portion 5, and the inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 7 corresponding to this void is inward. A female thread portion 8 is formed by a thread projecting toward the surface.

  Between the large diameter cylinder part 7 and the male luer part 4 of the outer cylinder part 5, an annular gap narrower than the gap between the large diameter cylinder part 7 and the male luer part 4 is formed. No thread is formed in the gap, and the outer diameter of the small diameter cylindrical portion 6 is thereby reduced.

  Further, the female threaded portion 8 of the outer cylindrical portion 5 is provided in a very narrow range along the tip of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 7, and in the present embodiment, a screw of about one round in the circumferential direction of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 7 is provided. It is formed by a strip.

  The medical tube 3 is formed of a soft synthetic resin, and a covering portion 9 having an enlarged diameter is formed at an end portion. The covering portion 9 covers the outer surface of the small diameter cylindrical portion 6 of the outer cylindrical portion 5 of the male connector 1, whereby the male connector 1 is connected to the end portion of the medical tube 3.

  In this embodiment, the medical tube 3 is formed of a thermoplastic synthetic resin, and the covering portion 9 is formed by heating and deforming the end portion to expand the diameter. Then, a covering portion 9 is formed in advance at the end of the medical tube 3, and after inserting the small diameter cylindrical portion 6 of the outer cylindrical portion 5 of the male connector 1 into the covering portion 9, the covering portion 9 and the outer cylindrical portion 5 are inserted. And join. The bonding at this time is performed by applying vibration energy by ultrasonic waves from the outer surface of the covering portion 9 by an ultrasonic bonding apparatus (not shown), for example. That is, frictional heat associated with ultrasonic vibration energy is generated between the inner peripheral surface of the covering portion 9 and the outer peripheral surface of the small-diameter cylindrical portion 6 of the outer cylindrical portion 5 to melt-bond them. Thereby, the coating | coated part 9 and the small diameter cylinder part 6 of the outer cylinder part 5 can be joined, without using an adhesive agent etc.

  The female connector 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a hard synthetic resin, and includes a female luer part 10 into which a male luer part 4 is inserted. The female connector 2 includes a first entry portion 11 and a second entry portion 12.

  The first entry part 11 is provided on the distal end side of the female luer part 10, and when the male luer part 4 is inserted into the female luer part 10, a gap is formed between the male luer part 4 and the small diameter cylindrical part 6. enter in. The second entry part 12 is provided on the rear end side of the female luer part 10 continuously to the first entry part 11. When the male luer part 4 is inserted into the female luer part 10, It enters into the space between the large-diameter cylindrical portion 7.

  On the outer peripheral surface of the second entry portion 12, a male thread portion 13 is formed by a thread projecting outward, and enters the gap between the male luer portion 4 and the large diameter cylindrical portion 7. Screwed into the female screw portion 8. The male screw portion 13 is provided in a very narrow range on the outer peripheral surface of the second entry portion 12, and in the present embodiment, is formed by a screw thread of about one turn in the circumferential direction of the second entry portion 12.

  In the medical connector A according to the first embodiment having the above configuration, the covering portion 9 formed integrally with the end portion of the medical tube 3 covers the small diameter cylindrical portion 6 of the outer cylindrical portion 5 of the male connector 1. Since the rear end side corner portion of the outer cylinder portion 5 which is easy to contact with the patient is covered with the covering portion 9, the rear end side corner portion of the hard outer cylinder portion 5 comes into contact with the patient and makes the patient uncomfortable. Giving can be prevented.

  Furthermore, by providing a small-diameter cylindrical portion 6 on the outer cylindrical portion 5 of the male connector 1 and covering the small-diameter cylindrical portion 6 with the covering portion 9 of the medical tube 3, the diameter of the covering portion 9 can be increased. It can be made comparatively small, and mounting | wearing of the coating | coated part 9 to the outer cylinder part 5 becomes easy. Moreover, by providing the covering portion 9 on the small diameter cylindrical portion 6 of the outer cylindrical portion 5, the outer diameter of the covering portion 9 becomes relatively small, the maximum outer diameter of the male connector 1 is reduced, and the medical connector A is made compact. be able to.

  Further, the female threaded portion 8 of the outer cylindrical portion 5 of the male connector 1 is formed in a narrow range on the distal end side of the inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 7, and the male threaded portion 13 of the female connector 2 is the outer peripheral surface of the second entry portion 12. Therefore, the screwing operation of the male screw portion 13 to the female screw portion 8 can be reduced, and the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 can be quickly connected. At this time, since the first entry part 11 of the female connector 2 enters the gap between the male luer part 4 and the small diameter cylinder part 6, the male luer part 4 is inserted deeply into the female luer part 10. A reliable connection state between the male luer part 4 and the female luer part 10 can be easily obtained.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the medical connector B of the second embodiment includes a male connector 15 and a female connector 16 that can be connected to each other. The male connector 15 is formed of a hard synthetic resin, and includes a hollow male luer portion 17 that is reduced in diameter toward the tip, and a cylindrical outer tube portion 18 that surrounds the male luer portion 17 with a gap. Is integrated. On the inner peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical portion 18, a female screw portion 19 is formed by a thread projecting inward.

  The male luer part 17 is connected to the end of the medical tube 20. The medical tube 20 is formed of a soft synthetic resin, and a covering portion 21 having an enlarged diameter is formed at an end portion. The covering portion 21 covers the outer surface of the outer cylinder portion 18 of the male connector 15.

  The covering portion 21 is formed by expanding and deforming the end portion of the medical tube 20. Then, the covering portion 21 is formed in advance on the end portion of the medical tube 20, and after the outer cylinder portion 18 of the male connector 15 is inserted into the covering portion 21, the covering portion 21 and the outer cylinder portion 18 are joined. As the bonding at this time, the ultrasonic bonding described above can be employed.

  The female connector 16 is formed in a cylindrical shape from a hard synthetic resin, and includes a female luer portion 22 into which the male luer portion 17 is inserted. The female connector 16 has a male thread portion 23 formed by a thread projecting outward on the outer peripheral surface thereof.

  In the medical connector B according to the second embodiment having the above-described configuration, the covering portion 21 formed integrally with the end portion of the medical tube 20 covers the outer cylinder portion 18 of the male connector 15 and contacts the patient. Since the easy outer cylinder part 18 is covered with the covering part 21, it is possible to prevent the hard outer cylinder part 18 from coming into contact with the patient and giving discomfort.

  Furthermore, the male connector 15 can be provided at the end of the medical tube 20 simply by covering the outer cylindrical portion 18 of the male connector 15 with the covering portion 21 of the medical tube 20, and the outer side of the outer cylindrical portion 18 is soft. Since it can be touched, the medical connector B can be provided at low cost as easy to manufacture.

  In addition, in the male luer part 17 of 2nd Embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, in addition to coat | covering all the outer peripheral surfaces of the outer cylinder part 18 with the coating | coated part 21 of the medical tube 20, it shows in FIG. As described above, the rear half of the outer peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical portion 18 may be covered with the covering portion 21 of the medical tube 20. Also by this, since the rear end side corner part of the outer cylinder part 18 which is easy to contact the patient is covered with the covering part 21, the rear end side corner part of the hard outer cylinder part 18 contacts the patient and is uncomfortable to the patient. Can be prevented.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, a slit 24 extending along the axial direction of the medical tube 20 may be provided in the covering portion 21 of the medical tube 20. According to this, the slit 24 is expanded and the covering portion 21 can be smoothly attached to the outer cylinder portion 18.

  A, B ... medical connector, 1,15 ... male connector, 2,16 ... female connector, 3,20 ... medical tube, 4,17 ... male luer part, 5,18 ... outer cylinder part, 6 ... small diameter cylinder 7, large diameter cylindrical portion, 8, 19, female screw portion, 9, 21, covering portion, 10, 22, female luer portion, 11, first entry portion, 12, second entry portion, 13, 23, male screw Part, 24 ... slit.

Claims (4)

A medical connector comprising a medical tube made of a soft material and a male connector made of a hard material provided at an end of the medical tube,
The male connector is formed on a hollow male luer portion that is reduced in diameter toward the tip, a cylindrical outer cylinder portion that surrounds the male luer portion with a gap, and an inner peripheral surface of the outer cylinder portion. A female screw part,
The medical connector is provided with a covering portion that is integrally formed at an end portion thereof and covers an outer peripheral surface of at least a rear end side of the outer cylinder portion. The outer cylinder part includes a small-diameter cylinder part in the rear half, and a large-diameter cylinder part that reaches the tip adjacent to the small-diameter cylinder part,
The medical connector according to claim 1, wherein the covering portion of the medical tube covers an outer peripheral surface of the small-diameter cylindrical portion of the outer cylindrical portion. A female connector connectable to the male connector is provided,
The female connector includes a female luer part into which the male luer part is inserted, and when the male luer part is inserted into the female luer part, the female connector enters between the male luer part and the small diameter cylindrical part. A first entry portion, a second entry portion that enters between the male luer portion and the large-diameter cylindrical portion adjacent to the first entry portion, and a male screw portion formed on an outer peripheral surface of the second entry portion And
The medical connector according to claim 2, wherein the female screw portion of the male connector is formed only on an inner peripheral surface of the large-diameter cylindrical portion.   The medical connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the covering portion is provided with a slit extending along an axial direction of the medical tube.

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