IE45940B1 - Control devices for liquid collectors - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to control devices for use with liquid collectors, especially liquid collectors whereby medical personnel may collect and keep convenient and reliable record of the liquid output of a patient and extract samples of the liquid without compromising the sterility of the apparatus. In a preferred form of the invention the collector is especially designed for monitoring the volumetric urine output of the patient at regular hourly intervals, for example for a total period longer than the usual work shift of hospital personnel.

The importance of knowledge of the patient's renal output is well-known in medicine. A knowledge of the volumes of urine excreted by a patient over particular periods of time is extremely helpful in the management of fluid imbalances or electrolytic abnormalities. In cases where the patient has been in shock and the renal function is questionable, as in severe burn cases, urine output measurement is very important. Also, in virtually any serious illness or injury or operational procedure where a reduction in blood volume is anticipated, accurate measurement of small urinary volume output is either mandatory or highly desirable.

Accurate urine measurements are an aid in recognizing the onset of impeding post-surgical shock. For this reason, the urine volumes of many post-surgical patients are measured hourly, particularly those who have undergone cardiac, thoracic, neurological, or genital-urinary surgery. - 3 In a first aspect the present invention provides a control device for a liquid collector comprising a plurality of liquid collection chambers each fed through a valvable means (as herein defined), the control device comprising: a plurality of valving means positioned respectively to control respective ones of said valvable means thereby sequentially to prevent passage of liquid therethrough into the respective collection chambers; releasable means which in one condition prevent operation of selected one or ones of the valvable means and in another condition permit said operation; control means for releasing said releasable means in a predetermined sequence to effect operation of said valving means to close the respective valvable means in sequence and to keep closed each of the valvable means thus closed while any of the valvable means remain to be closed and timing means to actuate said control means in said predetermined sequence at time intervals which are independent of the amount of liquid in the collection chambers.

In a second aspect the invention provides a control device for a substantially flat liquid collector comprising a plurality of elongated parallel chambers in side-by-side relationship, each fed through a valvable means (as herein defined), the control device comprising: (i) a plurality of valving means positioned respectively for alignment with said valvable means and resiliently operable into engagement therewith to close said valvable means and thereby prevent passage of liquid therethrough ; - 4 (ii) releasable means for preventing operation of said valving means; (iii) control means adapted to release said releasable means in a predetermined sequence to effect operation of each of said valving means to close the respective valvable means in sequence and to keep closed each of the valvable means thus closed while any of the valvable means remain to be closed and (iv) timing means to actuate said control means in said predetermined sequence of time intervals which are independent of the amount of liquid in the collection chambers.

The term valvable means as used herein means a conduit which can be operated upon to prevent or to permit, as desired, passage of a liquid therethrough.

In a preferred form the invention has the advantages of completely automatic operation to control collection in sequential chambers the excretions for ten successive hours, in a form resembling a bar graph or histogram for convenient observation. Provisions can be made for sampling the liquid in any chamber at any time, in a closed or sealed system adapted either for emptying and resterilizing or for disposable use, the manipulations at the end of the total collecting period to prepare for a second collection period being simple, convenient and sanitary. Provision is made for applying suction if this is desired, and the arrangement includes a control unit powered by a battery which is re-chargeable for long service.

There is now described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, an apparatus comprising a liquid collector in conjunction with a control unit or device which is a preferred embodiment of the - 5 invention, in a drainage monitor.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the drainage monitor; Figure 2 is an elevation of the collector; Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2, to a larger scale; Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view along the line 4-4 of Figure 1 to a larger scale; Figure 5 is a fragmentary view like Figure 4, showing a different position of parts; Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the electrical circuit of the control unit; and Figure 7 is a fragmentary view of the drainage monitor when in typical use.

As shown in the drawings, the monitor comprises a collector 10 and a control unit 11 which supports the collector and controls the flow of liquid thereto. As shown in Figure 2, collector 10 has an upper, manifold section 12 and a lower, storage section 13. The collector is formed of relatively rigid plastics such as a vinyl resin, and may be constructed from two sheets of material sealed together around their edges and at other locations as necessary. Each of front sheet 14 and back sheet 15 is preformed so that together they define the chambers and passages about to be described. Preferably, front sheet 14 is transparent and colorless, and carries volume graduations 16, while back sheet 15 is translucent and white.

Storage section 13 comprises the plurality of vertically elongated chambers 17 separated by spacing walls 20 and having individual upwardly directed nipples 21 at their upper ends. A common space 22 connects all the chambers near their upper ends, and a lateral opening 23 is formed ··*%, in one end wall of the collector.

Manifold section 12 comprises an inlet connection in the form of a drip chamber 24 extending downward to a tapping point 25. This, and other tapping points are referred to helow simply as taps. A generally horizontal passage 26 slopes slightly downward away from tap 25, to which it is connected at a sharp downward angle at 27.

A plurality of further taps 30 extend downward from passage 26 in line with the nipples of chambers 17, in a sequence, counting to the right from tap 25, the final tap 30a being in fact integral with the nipple of the final chamber.

Taps 30 are not simple right angle connections, but are formed as at 31, so that liquid flowing to the right in the passage tends to flow into the taps) rathe?; than pass by them, as will be explained more fally- belcw-.—— — Cutouts 32 are^ for-rrfed in the front and back sheets betweert hippies 21 and taps 25, 30, and supporting apertures 33 are provided ini-the sheets at each end and ~ centrally of the row of cutouts. A plurality of valvable means each comprising. a collapsible-tube 34_are connected —at their upper ends to taps 25,'30, and at their*lowest . ends to nipples 21, so that liquid may flow from passage 26 into any, of the storage chambers 17. Drip chamber 24 is formed at its upper end 35 to receive the end of an indwelling, catheter or other liquid source, not shown, and outlet 23 is similarly formed to receive an overflow or suction tube, also not shown, or a pledget of cotton to prevent contamination of the collector, which accordingly acts in the closed or sealed mode.

Some or all of the chambers may be provided near their bottoms with external self-sealing patches 36, to permit an insertion of a sampling needle without subsequent leakage. - 7 Control unit 11 comprises a metallic housing which encloses the battery and electrical circuitry of the system, and includes at its top a handle 37 by which the monitor can be conveniently carried or supported, from a bed rail, for example, its front panel 40 carries a signal lamp 41, a battery control switch 39, and such other controls as may be desired for circuit refinements not pertinent to the overall invention here. The housing may also be provided with a connection for supplying charging energy for the system battery, as is known in battery actuated equipment.

A plurality of support pins 42 project from the lower part of the front panel, spaced for engagement with apertures 33 in collector 10, so that chambers 17 are below the unit, and a recess 43 may be provided in panel 40 to accommodate chamber 24, as suggested in Figure 4.

A bar 44 of rigid material is located outside collector 10 in the area of cutouts 32 and tubes 34, and is carried on pins 42: bar 44 may be separate and metallic, or may be molded as a portion of front sheet 14. In the figure, a removable metal bar is provided with slots 45 which fit into grooves 46 in pins 42, where it is held gravitationally by its own weight: alternative fastening methods may be used as desired.

A row of chamber valving means 49 extends across the bottom of unit 11 for alignment with tubes 34 of collector 10. For each tube 34, there is an actuator 50 urged towards the tube by a spring 51 and having a finger 52 which extends through an opening 53 in panel 40 to engage the tube. The force of springs 51 is sufficient to cause fingers 52 to compress tubes 34 against bar 44 sufficiently to prevent the flow of liquid through the ., 4saiu - 8 tubes, as shown in Figure 5. Ά cushion 54 is provided to cushion the actuator 50 when the latter is released and thereby deaden sound resulting therefrom which might otherwise prove intensive in a hospital ward.

Each actuator 50 is normally retained in the position shown in Figure 4 by means including a latch 55 pivoted at 56 and having a notch 57 to receive the tip 60 of the actuator. Movement of latch 55 is accomplished by a solenoid 61 mounted on a bracket 62 and having an actuator 63 pivoted to latch 55 at 64. A cushion 65 is provided to cushion movement resulting from actuation of the solenoid and thereby to deaden sound resulting therefrom. Actuator 63 is normally retained, by the resilient means not shown, in the position shown in Figure 4.

Notch 57 is square-walled, but the front top portion of latch 55 is curved downwardly at 66. Momentary energization of relay 61 pivots latch 55 to release actuator 50, the parts then taking the position shown in Figure 5.

Figure 6 is a schematic showing of the circuitry contained in unit 11. Electrical energy for the various circuit elements is obtained from a battery 70 arranged for recharging through a connection 71, and controlled by switch 39. A timing circuit 72 of any suitable design supplies one pulse per hour on a cable 73 to a decade counter 74 of the type which resets itself to zero when de-energized. The zero count output of the counter 74 is not used. To each of the other outputs there are connected a monostable multivibrator 75 and a power amplifier 76, the latter being connected through a cable 77 to one of the solenoids 61. The solenoids are connected in sequence beginning with the one nearest drip chamber 24. Also connected to the nine count output of - 9 counter 75 is signal lamp 41.

It will be apparent that timing circuit 72 may perform further functions not involved in the present invention.

Operations A control unit having an adequately charged battery is carried to the site of use and secured by handle 37 to a suitable support, such as a bed rail. Bar 44 is removed, exposing openings 53, and actuators 50 are manually pressed inward until their tips depress latches 55 and are engaged by notches 57. A collector 10 is now supported on pins 42 by its apertures 33, and bar 44 is replaced in the grooves in pins 42. If desired, an overflow tube is inserted in opening 23 and an overflow vessel is provided therebelow, or a suction tube may be connected to opening 23 if the condition of use of the monitor warrants. The discharge end of an in-dwelling catheter or other liquid source is connected to the upper end 35 of drip chamber 24, and switch 39 is turned on, beginning operation of timing circuit 72. Liquid discharge drops through chamber 24, tap 25, tube 34, and nipple 21, into the first, lefthand chamber 17 of collector 10. Its quantity, color, and so forth can be visually observed, and if sampling is desired, a needle may be thrust into the chamber through patch 36 to extract liquid from the chamber.

At the end of an hour, timing circuit 72 supplies a pulse to counter 74, which in turn supplies a signal on the first count lead to multivibrator 75, which acts through power amplifier 76 to energize solenoid 61 associated with the chamber valving of the lefthand chamber.

Latch 55 is pivoted in a counter-clockwise direction, releasing actuator 50 to close off tube 34 by compression against bar 44. At the end of the multivibrator pulse. a 9 4 0 - 10 solenoid 51 is de-energized, but actuator 50 remains in its operated position. Liquid continues to drip into tap 25 until it fills with liquid, which then rises at 27 into passage 26 and flows into the first tap 30, which conducts the liquid through tube 34 and nipple 21 to drip into the second chamber 17. At the end of the second hour, timing unit 72 supplies second signal to counter 74, which now supplies an output on the second count conductor to cause the solenoid of the second chamber valving means to release its actuator, and this process continues.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view showing the appearance of the apparatus shortly after the end of the third hour. Liquid has been collected in the first three chambers, and the first three taps also contain liquid: newly excreted liquid now flows along passage 26 to drip into the fourth chamber. It will, of course, be understood, that the graduations on each chamber take into account the liquid trapped in the preceding tap 30.

It will be evident that the monitoring system presents very clearly to medical personnel, in bar graph form, and natural color, the renal function of the patient, that sampling is available at any time without disturbing the patient or the monitoring equipment, and that liquid from the drip chamber cannot pass into a given collecting chamber until the taps leading to all preceding chambers are closed and filled with liquid.

As shown in the drawing, collector 10 is provided with ten chambers 17, to allow for changing collectors once during each eight-hour shift for the nursing personnel. To perform the change, it is only necessary to turn off the switch 39, lift bar 44, disconnect the catheter tube at 35, and remove the collector with its contents. After - 11 45840 manually resetting the actuators 50, a new collector is suspended on pins 42, bar 44 is replaced, the catheter is re-connected at 35, and switch 42 is then turned on.

This is a clean, convenient procedure, causing minimum annoyance to patients and medical personnel. If such a regular changing procedure is followed, there is no need for an overflow tube or container.

Sometimes, however, emergencies arise which prevent the changing of the collector at eight-hour intervals.

At the end of the eighth hour, flow of liquid is directed into the ninth chamber. At the end of the ninth hour, flow of liquid is directed into the tenth chamber, and lamp 41 is illuminated to attract the attention of medical personnel. At the end of the tenth hour, no further operation is possible from the valving apparatus, and the fluid continues to pass into the last chamber until it overflows at opening 23. This opening also functions to afford egress for liquid poured from the collector at the end of its period of use. While it may be possible to clean and sterilize these collectors, it is more desirable simply to dispose of them in a suitable fashion.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the present invention provides, in a preferred form, a new and wholly automatic arrangement for convenient and sterile monitoring of liquid discharges, particularly discharges of urine, from patients in hospitals, which enables ready inspection and sampling of the liquid collected, and is quickly and conveniently affixed to any hospital bed and easily used with a minimum of training by hospital personnel.

Numerous characteristics and advantages of our invention have been set forth in the foregoing description. 5940 - 12 together with details of the structure and function of the invention and the novel features thereof are pointed out in the appended claims. The disclosure, however, is illustrative only, liquid collectors suitable for use with control devices of the present invention are described and claimed in Patent Specification No. 45939.

Claims (18)

1. CLAIMS : 1. A control device for a liquid collector comprising a plurality of liquid collection chambers each fed through a valvable means (as herein defined), the control device comprising: a plurality of valving means positioned respectively to control respective ones of said valvable means thereby sequentially to prevent passage of liquid therethrough into the respective collection chambers; releasable means which in one condition prevent operation of selected one or ones of the valvable means and in another condition permit said operation; control means for releasing said releasable means in a predetermined sequence to effect operation of said valving means to close the respective valvable means in sequence and to keep closed each of the valvable means thus closed while any of the valvable means remains to be closed; and timing means to actuate said control means in said predetermined sequence at time intervals which are independent of the amount of liquid in the collection chambers.

2. A control device for a substantially flat liquid collector comprising a plurality of elongated parallel chambers in side-by-side relationship, each fed through a valvable means (as herein defined), the control device comprising: (i) a plurality of valving means positioned respectively for alignment with said valvable means and resiliently operable into engagement therewith to close said valvable means and thereby prevent passage of liquid therethrough; (ii) releasable means for preventing operation of said valving means; /45940 (iii) control means adapted to release said releasable means in a predetermined sequence to effect operation of each of said valving means to close the respective valvable means in sequence and to keep closed each of the valvable 5 means thus closed while any of the valvable means remain to be closed; and (iv) timing means to actuate said control means in said predetermined sequence at time intervals which are independent of the amount of liquid in the collection 10 chambers.

3. Ά control device according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the valvable means comprises a series of deformable conduits and the valving means comprises a series of pressure members positioned so that each pressure member 15 can act against a respective one of said conduits and thereby prevent passage of the liquid therethrough, when the releasable means is released by operation of the control means.

4. A control device according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, 20 which includes a support for suspending the collector. 5. A control device according to Claim 4, in which said valving means are arranged to collapse said valvable means against a portion of said support means.

5. A control device according to Claim 5, provided 25 with cushion means to cushion the valving means when released by the release means and to deaden sound resulting therefrom.

6. 7. A control device according to Claim 3, 4, 5 or 6, in which said control unit comprises a housing containing 30 said valving means and said releasable means, and is provided with apertures through which the valving means engage said deformable conduits. 49940

7. 8. A control device according to any of Claims 3 to 7, which includes rigid means engaging the side of said deformable conduits remote from said control unit in alignment with said valving means.

8. 9. A control device according to Claim 8, in which said rigid means is integral with said chambers.

9. 10. A control device according to any of Claims 3 to 9, in which the releasable means comprises detents for engagement with the pressure members to restrain them from said action against the respective deformable conduit, said detents being biased towards said engagement.

10. 11. A control device according to any of claims 3 to 10, which has a separate releasable means for each valving means.

11. 12. A control device according to Claim 11, which has a separate control means for each of the releasable means.

12. 13. A control device according to any of Claims 3 to 12, in which the control means comprises a solenoid which when actuated serves to release the detent.

13. 14. A control device according to Claim 13, provided with cushion means to cushion movement resulting from actuation of the solenoid and to deaden sound resulting thereform.

14. 15. A control device according to Claim 13 or 14, in which the, or each, solenoid is actuated through a timing device.

15. 16. A control device according to any of Claims 3 to 15, in which the control means is actuated at pre-determined time intervals by a timing device.

16.

17. A control device according to Claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. - 16

18. A control device substantially as described herein and substantially as shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.