JP2001190658A - Pipeline connector for medical use - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pair of pipeline connectors for medical use which can be connected and disconnected easily to and from each other, are not disconnected erroneously from each other depending upon the rotating directions of the connectors around their center axis of connection, and have sufficient connecting strengths. SOLUTION: One of the paired connectors which are used to connect two pipelines to each other has a discoid flange having a smooth outer periphery and the other connector has fixing means fixed to the connector through plate spring structures and handles on the sides of the plate spring structures opposite to the fixing means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medical plumbing connector used for a medical low pressure suction / discharge device for discharging a liquid and a gas from a body cavity such as a chest after a surgical operation mainly in a surgical treatment. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Medical suction and discharge devices are often used to maintain a constant internal pressure after a thoracotomy, and include a disposable type using a three-bottle method and an instrument with a built-in pump. Type and exists. In the disposable type, the most common type, in which the pressure adjusting section and the liquid collecting section are integrally formed, is separated from the pressure adjusting section and the liquid collecting section as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-5162. Some of them are used by connecting them, and the collection part can be exchanged. In the instrument type, the pressure adjusting section is constituted by an instrument pump, and the liquid collecting section has the same form as in JP-A-60-5162.

[0003] In either case, it is necessary to connect the liquid collecting part to a drain tube from a patient, and a connector is required in addition to the tube. One of the most common connecting tools is a cut end of the tube and a mushroom-shaped resin molded article on the other, and is fitted and connected in such a manner that the cut end of the tube is covered with the connecting tool. The advantage of this is that the number of parts and the number of assembling steps can be reduced because only one connecting tool composed of one molded product is required for the number of parts, and the tube is flexible even if the diameter of the tube is slightly different. If it is made of a material, the connection can be made because the tube diameter is flexible, but on the other hand, there may be individual differences in the insertion depth of the tube.If the insertion depth is shallow, the connection strength will be insufficient and the connection will be insufficient. There was a risk of being lifted. In the case where the tube has been connected for a long period of time, the tube and the connecting tool may adhere to each other, and in many cases, a large force is required to release the connection, resulting in poor workability.

[0004] As means for solving this, one is a cylindrical connector having an O-ring or the like for securing airtightness on the outer periphery, and the other is a cylindrical connector having a relatively large inner diameter. An airtight connection can be made by fitting male and female to each other.In addition, one has nail-shaped fixing means, and the other has a step where the fixing means physically meshes, so that individual differences in operation and airtightness are ensured. A pair of connecting tools excellent in operability of connection without causing a problem have been devised and put into practical use.

However, since there is a concave portion or a convex portion for connection or disconnection at the step where the fixing means engages, workability at the time of connection or disconnection is poor. In other words, most of the connection tools are connected by cylindrical fitting in most cases in terms of their functions, and have freedom of rotation independent of each other with respect to the center axis in the connection direction. For this reason, depending on the position of the notch or the protrusion of the fixing means and the flange, not only is the workability of connection or disconnection inferior, but also the rotation by the movement of the patient or the medical suction and discharge device causes the connection to be released accidentally. There was a possible problem.

In many cases, the position of the base of the fixing means of one connector is separated from the position of the step of the other connector in the connected state, and the operability is improved by intentionally separating them. Some of them have been put to practical use,
Since the distance between the fulcrum and the power point is large, the connection strength is insufficient such that the connection is released even by a relatively small load, and there is a problem.

[0007]

The present invention has been made as a result of various studies in order to solve such a problem of the connection between the pressure adjusting section and the liquid collecting section of the conventional medical suction / discharge device. To provide a medical plumbing connector that is easy to connect or disconnect, does not disconnect accidentally due to directionality due to rotation of the connecting tool around the connection axis, and has sufficient connection strength. It is intended for.

[0008]

That is, the present invention provides a pair of connectors for connecting two pipes, one of which has a disc-shaped flange with no irregularities on the outer periphery and the other has a leaf spring structure. Characterized by having a handle on the opposite side of the fixing means with the fixing means fixed to the connecting tool and the leaf spring structure as a boundary, and at the time of connection, the positions of the flange and the leaf spring structure are close to each other; Spring structure is made of polypropylene, plate thickness 0.5mm ~ 2.0mm, plate width 3.0mm ~ 1
It is a medical plumbing connector characterized by having a length of 0.0 mm and a plate length of 1.0 mm to 8.0 mm.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are views showing an embodiment of a medical pipe connection device according to the present invention, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are views showing examples of a conventional medical pipe connection device. Generally, the connection of the suction pipe for medical use has a connection tool at at least one end of the pipe as shown in FIG. 6, and is often connected as shown in FIGS. Both ends of the pipe have respective connectors. Many of the pipes have a circular cross-sectional shape, and the connector also has a circular cross-sectional shape for ensuring airtightness at the time of connection with the pipe and connection with the connector.

As a means for ensuring airtightness at the time of connection by the two connecting tools, it is a general and effective means to use fitting by an O-ring. Because of the cylindrical shape, the two connectors have a rotational degree of freedom independently of each other in the central axis in the connecting direction, and by utilizing this degree of freedom, the positional relationship between the fixing means and the concave or convex portion of the flange is changed. A method of performing connection and disconnection is adopted. However, as described above, the conventional connection tool has problems in connection workability and reliability, strength, workability of disconnection, and the like in the embodiment of FIG. 6, and in the embodiment of FIGS. According to the connection and disconnection method using the degree of freedom of rotation, there is a possibility that not only the workability but also the connection is accidentally released. This problem is solved by the medical plumbing fitting of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the connector of the present invention comprises two connectors, a connector a, which are attached to a pipe to be connected.
(1a) and a connector b (2b). The connecting tool b (2b) has a circular flange (6a) with no cuts or irregularities on the outer periphery of the cylinder, and the connecting tool a (1a) has fixing means (7) for holding the flange from the outer circumference. 5
a), which is fixed to the connector a (1a) via a leaf spring (3a). A handle (4a) is provided on the opposite side of the fixing means (5a) with the leaf spring (3a) interposed therebetween. The fixing means (5a) and the handle (4a) are connected or connected with higher rigidity than the leaf spring (3a). It is necessary that they are integrated, and the operation of moving the handle (4a) is directly performed by the fixing means (5).
It is necessary that the connection be made with sufficient strength to enable the operation of a). The leaf spring (3a) is fixed to the fixing means (5a).
And the handle (4a) act as a fulcrum. During connection, the fixing means (5a) is moved toward the outer periphery of the connector at the slope of the flange (6a), and when disconnected, as shown in FIG. 2 (b). By manually moving the handle (4a) in the direction of the central axis of the connector, the fixing means (5a) moves in the outer peripheral direction of the connector,
The engagement with the flange (6a) is released.

When the leaf spring (6a) does not move the fixing means (5a) or the handle (4a), the fixing means (5a) and the handle (4a) are actuated by a spring as shown in FIG. 2 (a).
It is important that the leaf spring (3a) has a spring characteristic. Generally, since the connecting device is required to be an integrally molded product made of resin from the viewpoint of cost and design, the leaf spring (3a) is also necessarily a resin molded product. In order to secure spring characteristics and strength at the time of connection, at least a leaf spring (3a) of the connector of the present invention is used.
Is preferably made of polypropylene, and the thickness of the connector a (1a) is 0.5 mm to
It is desirable that the plate width is 2.0 mm, the plate width is 3.0 mm to 10.0 mm, and the plate length is 1.0 mm to 8.0 mm. Further, since the fixing means (5a) and the handle (4a) need higher rigidity than the leaf spring (3a), both the thickness and the width need to be larger than those of the leaf spring. .

A connector b (2) having a flange (6a)
Although the material of a) is not particularly limited, the strength of the connection is secured by the fixing means (5a) and the flange (6a).
It is preferable to use a hard material because it may cause problems in the sliding property and airtightness at the time of mating. Consider the moldability and cost from resins such as hard vinyl chloride resin, ABS resin, and polypropylene. It is preferable to determine. The combination of the leaf spring (3a), the fixing means (5a), and the handle (4a) is a part that determines the strength of holding the flange (6a) at the time of connection. It is assumed that one pair is provided for the object with respect to the axis. Of course, it is preferable to provide one or more pairs because the connection strength is further increased, but from the viewpoint of the operability at the time of disconnection and the formability, it is desirable that one pair is provided for the center axis of the connector.

Regarding the arrangement relationship between the male and female fittings of the two connecting tools, the fixing means, and the flange, it does not matter which one is arranged. As described above, the positional relationship shown in FIG. 1 may be used, or as shown in FIG. However, there is no problem even if the positional relationship is opposite to that of FIG. It may be determined according to advantages or problems in use or production, and is not particularly limited.

[0015] The connector of the present invention has no irregularities all around the flange. The fixing means physically fixes the distance between the connecting devices by engaging with the flange.However, since there is no irregularity on the circumference of the flange, the degree of freedom of rotation about the central axis in the connecting direction is reduced. Without any restraint, the connectors can rotate freely with respect to each other, so that, for example, when the position of the patient or the medical suction / discharge device is moved, the load on the piping is small, and FIGS. Unlike the structure in which the connection is released by the rotation of the connection tool as in the example, the connection is not erroneously released, so that the connection is safe. When the connection is released, FIG.
When the two handles (4a) are grasped so as to be sandwiched between the fingers as shown in (1), the engagement between the fixing means (5a) and the flange (6a) is released, and the connecting tool a (1a) and the connecting tool b (2a) are separated. Just disconnecting is very convenient.

It is important that the flange and the leaf spring, which is the operating fulcrum of the fixing means, are close to each other. If the roots of the flange (6c) and the fixing means (5c) are separated from each other as in the example of FIG. 4, if the connection is forcibly released without releasing the fixing means (5c), Due to the principle of leverage, the fixing means (5c) becomes easier to move with a weak force,
It is easy to be released. As shown in FIG.
If a) and the leaf spring (3a), which is the fulcrum of the fixing means (5a), are in a close positional relationship, a greater force is required to move the fixing means (5a). It is difficult to release. Since a large force is required to release, a large force is required for operating the handle (4a). However, by increasing the length of the handle (4a), the force required for the operation is reduced by the principle of leverage. You. However, if the length of the handle (4a) is extremely long, there is a risk of erroneous operation or damage due to increased load on the leaf spring (3a). The ratio of the length is preferably about 1: 2 to 1: 5.

[0017]

As described above, the use of the medical piping connector according to the present invention makes it easy to connect or disconnect, and the connection is erroneously released due to the direction of rotation of the connecting shaft of the respective connectors. It is extremely useful because it has no connection and has a sufficient connection strength.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of a medical pipe connection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a medical plumbing connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of a medical pipe connection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a conventional medical pipe connection device.

FIG. 5 is an example of a conventional medical pipe connection device.

FIG. 6 is an example of a conventional medical pipe connection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e. Connecting devices a 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d. Connecter b 3a, 3b. Leaf spring 4a, 4b. Handle 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d. Fixing means 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d. Flange 7. O-ring 8. Piping 9. Convex part 10. Recess

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of connectors for connecting two pipes, one of which has a disk-shaped flange with no irregularities on its outer periphery, and the other of which has a leaf spring, a fixing claw and a handle. A medical plumbing connection device provided at least. 2. The medical tubing connection device according to claim 1, wherein the position of the flange and the leaf spring at the time of connection are close to each other. 3. The leaf spring structure is made of polypropylene, and has a thickness of 0.5 to 2.0 mm and a width of 3.0 to 1 mm.
The medical plumbing connection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plate length is 0.0 mm and the plate length is 1.0 to 8.0 mm.