GB1604168A - Tongue depressor - Google Patents

Description

(54) TONGUE DEPRESSOR (71) I, MALCOLM RICHARD RAVEN, a British Subject of Yokes Court Cottage, Yokes Court, Frinsted, Kent, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to tongue depressors, i.e. instruments for depressing the tongue to facilitate medical examination of the mouth and throat, and provides an improved tongue depressor.

At the present time the most widely used tongue depressors are flat elongate members of uniform width with rounded corners at their respective ends. The same size of depressor is usually used for both adults and children with the result that in the latter case the frequently cause discomfort to the child and unnecessarily impede the vision of the user. It is an object of this invention to provide an improved tongue depressor which has two different size tonguedepressing blades so that adult and child sized blades can be provided on the same instrument and which is convenient to use.

According to the present invention, there is provided a tongue depressor comprising an elongate handle from each end of which extends a respective blade having an essentially flat tongue-abutting surface, said blades being of different widths and the tongue-abutting surface of each blade being textured to grip the tongue.

Suitably, the blades taper towards their respective ends of the handle from which they extend and are longitudinally (with respect to the handle) elongate. Preferably, each blade is of generally sectoral outline shape.

In order to assist depression of the tongue, the tongue-abutting surface of each blade is textured for gripping the tongue.

Said surface can have a plurality of indentations, especially part-spherical dimples, to provide the desired grip on the tongue.

The edges of the blade usually will be arcuate to reduce the risk of cutting or scratching the tongue or mouth when in use.

Advantageously, the handle has a textured surface to facilitate gripping of the handle between the fingers, usually the thumb and forefinger, of a user of the tongue depressor. The said surface can have a plurality of parallel transversely extending grooves therein to provide the required grip. A handle of generally oval outline shape is presently preferred.

The tongue depressor can be made of any suitable material such as wood, ceramics or, preferably plastics.

The following is a description, by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of a tongue depressor in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tongue depressor; Figure 2 is a side view partly in section of the tongue depressor of Figure 1 but to a different scale; Figure 3 is a plan view of the tongue depressor of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a section on AA of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a section on BB of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a section on CC of Figure 3; and Figure 7 is an underneath plan view of a blade of the tongue depressor of Figure 1 but to a different scale.

Referring to the drawings a tongue depressor generally indicated at 1 is moulded as an integral article from plastics material.

It has an elongate handle 2 of generally oval outline shape with blades 3, 4 extending from its respective ends. The upper surface of the handle 2 is dished and formed with a plurality of parallel transversely extending grooves 5 to facilitate gripping of the handle between the fingers of a user.

The blades 3, 4 are of different widths whereby blade 3 is adapted for use with adults and blade 4 is adapted for use with children. Each blade is of generally sectoral outline shape tapering towards its respective handle end and has all of its edges radiused to present a smooth edge to the mouth. A respective convexly arcuate rib 6, 7 is provided at each end of the handle to reinforce the blade connection to the handle. In the undersurface of each blade 3, 4, there are a plurality of part-spherical dimples 8 to enable the blade to grip the tongue surface thereby adding depression of the tongue by the blade.

In use, the handle 2 is gripped by a user and a blade 3, 4 is selected for insertion into the patients mouth. The selected blade is placed upon the upper surface of the patients tongue and the handle moved to apply pressure to the tongue by the blade thereby depressing the tongue and facilitating inspection of the mouth and throat of the patient. The dimples restrain the blade from slipping from the tongue.

In a typical tongue depressor 1, the plastics material is polypropylene and the overall length is about 150mm. The larger blade 3 is about 50mm length and about 25mm width whilst the smaller blade 4 is about 45 mm length and about 15mm width.

Both blades 3, 4 are about 2.5mm thick and have an arcuate tip of about 20 mm radius.

The side edges of blade 3 are about 115mm radius whilst those of blade 4 are about 140 mm radius. The dimples are about 1.5mm spherical radius and 0.5mm depth and are spaced in an array as shown in Figure 7 at about 2.lmm centres.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the details described above with reference to the drawings nor to the typical dimensions given above. Indeed numerous modifications and variations can be made to those details without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A tongue depressor comprising an elongate handle from each end of which extends a respective blade having an essentially flat tongue-abutting surface, said blades being of different widths and the tongue-abutting surface of each blade being textured to grip the tongue.

2. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each blade tapers towards the respective ends of the handle from which they extend.

3. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 2 wherein each blade is longitudinally (with respect to the handle) elongate.

4. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 3 wherein each blade is of generally sectoral outline shape.

5. A tongue depressor as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the said surface has a plurality of indentations therein.

6. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 5 wherein said indentations are partspherical dimples.

7. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein all of the edges of the blades are arcuate.

8. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the handle has a textured surface to facilitate gripping of the handle between fingers of a user of the depressor.

9. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the handle has a plurality of parallel transversely extending grooves therein.

10. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the handle is of generally oval outline shape.

11. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims moulded from plastics materials.

12. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (12)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. grooves 5 to facilitate gripping of the handle between the fingers of a user. The blades 3, 4 are of different widths whereby blade 3 is adapted for use with adults and blade 4 is adapted for use with children. Each blade is of generally sectoral outline shape tapering towards its respective handle end and has all of its edges radiused to present a smooth edge to the mouth. A respective convexly arcuate rib 6, 7 is provided at each end of the handle to reinforce the blade connection to the handle. In the undersurface of each blade 3, 4, there are a plurality of part-spherical dimples 8 to enable the blade to grip the tongue surface thereby adding depression of the tongue by the blade. In use, the handle 2 is gripped by a user and a blade 3, 4 is selected for insertion into the patients mouth. The selected blade is placed upon the upper surface of the patients tongue and the handle moved to apply pressure to the tongue by the blade thereby depressing the tongue and facilitating inspection of the mouth and throat of the patient. The dimples restrain the blade from slipping from the tongue. In a typical tongue depressor 1, the plastics material is polypropylene and the overall length is about 150mm. The larger blade 3 is about 50mm length and about 25mm width whilst the smaller blade 4 is about 45 mm length and about 15mm width. Both blades 3, 4 are about 2.5mm thick and have an arcuate tip of about 20 mm radius. The side edges of blade 3 are about 115mm radius whilst those of blade 4 are about 140 mm radius. The dimples are about 1.5mm spherical radius and 0.5mm depth and are spaced in an array as shown in Figure 7 at about 2.lmm centres. It will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the details described above with reference to the drawings nor to the typical dimensions given above. Indeed numerous modifications and variations can be made to those details without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A tongue depressor comprising an elongate handle from each end of which extends a respective blade having an essentially flat tongue-abutting surface, said blades being of different widths and the tongue-abutting surface of each blade being textured to grip the tongue.

2. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each blade tapers towards the respective ends of the handle from which they extend.

3. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 2 wherein each blade is longitudinally (with respect to the handle) elongate.

4. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 3 wherein each blade is of generally sectoral outline shape.

5. A tongue depressor as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the said surface has a plurality of indentations therein.

6. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 5 wherein said indentations are partspherical dimples.

7. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein all of the edges of the blades are arcuate.

8. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the handle has a textured surface to facilitate gripping of the handle between fingers of a user of the depressor.

9. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the handle has a plurality of parallel transversely extending grooves therein.

10. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims wherein the handle is of generally oval outline shape.

11. A tongue depressor as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims moulded from plastics materials.

12. A tongue depressor as claimed in Claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.