JP2003180835A - Tube warmer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a simple tube warmer capable of easily warming for a long period by sandwiching the outside of a tube of an instillation fluid, etc. <P>SOLUTION: The tube warmer 10 is provided with a heater 2 for housing a heating agent for heating with the existence of air, an openable and closable housing container 3 which incorporates this heater 2 to sandwich the tube 1 for the instillation fluid, etc., to flow through from its outside with the heater 2 and which is formed in a state of being capable of sandwiching and removing the tube, a bimetal 60 to be curved according to the temperature of the instillation fluid, etc., flowing inside of the tube 1 in contact with the outer periphery of the tube 1, and an opening and closing unit 51 opening and closing with the housing container 3 according to curving of this bimetal 60. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tube warmer for warming a drip infusion solution or the like flowing in a tube used as a medical aid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, actual Kaihei 2-126652.
The device for relieving the pain of the drip shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-242242 has warmed the circulating fluid with a disposable body warmer and injected it into the body when injecting blood for transfusion or replacement fluid.

[0003]

However, it is difficult to control the heat generation temperature of the heating element at a constant level with such a conventional tube warmer using a disposable body warmer, and moreover, the drip infusion solution is accumulated, so that the flow rate is increased. It was delayed and the temperature of the infusion solution sometimes rose too much.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and can be heated at a substantially constant temperature for a long time, is easy to handle, and has a low burden on patients and nursing staff. The present invention provides a tube warmer for infusion or the like.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A tube warmer according to the present invention includes a heating element for containing a heating agent that generates heat due to the presence of air, and a tube containing the heating element and through which a drip infusion solution flows. From the sandwiched by the heating element, and openable and closable storage container sandwiched between the tube, and a bimetal that curves in accordance with the temperature of the drip infusion solution flowing in the tube in contact with the outer circumference of the tube, An opening / closing unit that opens and closes together with the storage container according to the bending of the bimetal is provided.

The tube heater according to the present invention is characterized in that a shape memory alloy is provided instead of the bimetal.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a front view of a tube warmer 10 showing a first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, 1 is a tube through which an infusion solution or the like flows, 2
Is a heating element which is provided around the tube 1 and has a heating agent inside, and 3 has the heating element 2 built-in and is sandwiched by the heating element 2 from the outside of the tube 1, so that the tube 1 can be sandwiched and removed. Openable and closable storage container 4, 4 is provided on the left and right of the storage container 3 for fixing the tube 1 in a fixed position, and 5 has a built-in bimetal (not shown), which is stored along with the bending of the bimetal due to temperature rise. Container 3
It is an opening and closing unit that opens and closes.

As an example of the heat generating agent contained in the heat generating element 2, a member such as a known disposable chemical warmer that generates heat in the presence of air can be used, and the raw material is iron powder, water, wood chips, activated carbon. , Vermulite, salt, etc. are available.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part of FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 40 is a passage hole provided in the opening and closing knob 4 in an arcuate shape on the left and right, and 50 is a protrusion provided integrally with the opening and closing unit 5. The protrusion 50 projects from the passage hole 40 and serves as a guide for the passage hole 40 when the opening / closing unit 5 is opened / closed. If the opening / closing knobs 4 on both sides are picked up and pressed, the upper part of the storage container 3 is opened, and the tube 1 is inserted into the empty space to fix the storage container 3 at a predetermined position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view around the opening / closing unit 5. Reference numeral 6 is a strip-shaped bimetal wound so as to be in close contact with the tube 1 in the opening / closing unit 5. The heat transferred to the bimetal 6 is direct heat from the heating element 2 and the tube 1
Although there is heat from the heating element 6, in the first embodiment, it is arranged as far as possible from the heating element 6 so that heat is not directly transmitted. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, it is spaced from the heating element 6 by a distance L.

FIG. 4 shows a usage state of the tube warmer 10 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, 11 is a container for infusion solution installed on a stand (not shown), 12 is an infusion tube, 13 is a flow rate controller for adjusting the flow rate of the infusion solution,
14 is an octopus tube, 15 is a patient's arm, 16 is an injection needle,
The tube warmer 1 according to the first embodiment is added to a known infusion set.
0 can be added and used.

[0012] Since the drip infusion is a small amount of drip infusion solution such as blood or drug solution from a high place, the drip administration time is long,
Even if the drip infusion solution in the drip infusion container 11 has been warmed in advance, the temperature of the drip infusion drops at the time of injection into the arm 15 of the patient. preferable.

The operation of the configuration of the first embodiment will be described. 5 and 6 are side conceptual views for explaining the opening / closing operation of the opening / closing unit for heating the tube 1, and 51 is a fulcrum when the opening / closing unit 5 is opened / closed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tube 1 is heated while being sandwiched between left and right heating elements (not shown). When the temperature of the heating element rises and the temperature of the infusion solution in the tube 1 rises to reach the operating temperature T of the bimetal 6 or higher, the bimetal 6 gradually curves outward.

When the bimetal 6 is curved as shown in FIG. 6, the storage container 5 integrated with it is gradually opened,
An air gap is created between the tube 1 and the bimetal 6. When the temperature rise of the drip infusion solution in the tube 1 becomes small due to the void, and eventually falls below the operating temperature T of the bimetal 6, the bimetal 6 tries to return to its original shape, and as shown in FIG. 5, the opening / closing unit 5 and the storage container. Also close 3.

Therefore, the drip infusion solution in the tube 1 is heated again by the heating element. By such repetition, the infusion solution in the tube 1 fluctuates around a substantially constant temperature, but it is not overheated and a constant temperature suitable for the temperature of the human body can be obtained.

Embodiment 2. FIG. 7 is a front view of the tube warmer 20 according to the second embodiment. In FIG.
Reference numeral 32 is an opening / closing knob for fixing the storage container 3 in a fixed position of the tube 1, 41 is a guide for fixing the tube 1, and 52 is an opening / closing unit for opening / closing the storage container 3 in accordance with a temperature rise. Bimetal (not shown) in the opening / closing unit 52
Built in.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. Reference numeral 60 is a bimetal, 53 is a first protruding portion from the opening / closing unit 52, 54
Is a second protrusion from the opening / closing unit 52, and 42 is a guide 4
Reference numeral 1 denotes a first recess provided inside 1, and reference numeral 43 denotes a second recess provided inside the guide 41.

FIG. 9 is a left side view of FIG.
A notch is provided in the upper part of the so that the tube 1 can be inserted, and the tube 1 is inserted from between these. Figure 10
7 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 7, in which the tube 1 can be inserted from above by pushing the opening / closing knob 32 inward.

In the configuration like the second embodiment,
First, the tube 1 is inserted into the storage container 3 by pushing the opening / closing knob 32 inward to open the upper side of the storage container 3, and the opening / closing knob 32 is closed. Then, a fulcrum is formed by the first recess 42 of the guide 41 and the first protrusion 53 of the opening / closing unit 52, and when the temperature rises to a predetermined temperature T or higher based on this fulcrum, the upper side of the storage container 3 due to the action of the bimetal 60. Can be opened a little, and when the temperature drops, the bimetal 60 also returns to its original shape and the upper side of the storage container 3 is closed. By repeating this, the infusion solution in the tube 1 can be heated to a substantially constant temperature.

Although the opening / closing unit is opened / closed by bending the bimetal, a similar configuration can be achieved by using a shape memory alloy having a memory that returns to the original state when heated instead of the bimetal. be able to.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of mounting the bimetal 60 embedded in the opening / closing unit 51.
The bimetal 60 is processed into a shape in which the width is long and short. The opening / closing unit 51 is also formed with a groove having a similar shape so that the long width is on the outside. And bimetal 60
Is inserted into the groove of the opening / closing unit 51. With this configuration, the opening / closing unit 51 can be moved according to the bending of the bimetal 60.
Can be opened and closed around the fulcrum.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a simple tube warmer that can be easily heated at a substantially constant temperature for a long time by sandwiching the infusion solution or the like outside the tube. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a usage state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment.

9 is a left side view of the second embodiment. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line BB of the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the vicinity of a bimetal according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 tube, 2 heating element, 3 storage container, 4 opening / closing knob, 5 opening / closing unit, 6 bimetal, 10 tube warmer, 11 drip infusion container, 12 drip tube, 1
3 flow rate controller, 14 tacho tube, 15 arms, 16 injection needle, 20 tube warmer, 32 open / close knob, 40
Passage hole, 41 guide, 42 first recess, 43 second recess, 50 protrusion, 51 fulcrum, 52 first protrusion,
53 Second protrusion, 60 Bimetal.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Ohashi             2632 Tazawa, Oomura, Ogi-gun, Nagano Prefecture F term (reference) 4C066 AA07 BB01 CC01 LL01 LL05

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A heating element that contains a heating agent that generates heat due to the presence of air, and a heating element that contains the heating element and is sandwiched by the heating element from the outside of a tube through which an infusion solution or the like flows, and the tube is sandwiched and removed. An openable and closable storage container, a bimetal that contacts the outer circumference of the tube and curves according to the temperature of the drip infusion flowing in the tube, and an opening and closing that opens and closes together with the storage container according to the curvature of the bimetal A tube warmer characterized by comprising a unit. 2. The tube warmer according to claim 1, wherein a shape memory alloy is provided instead of the bimetal.