US3503388A

US3503388A - Respiration appliance

Info

Publication number: US3503388A
Application number: US631309A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jesse A Cook
Original assignee: JESSE A COOK
Current assignee: JESSE A COOK
Priority date: 1967-04-17
Filing date: 1967-04-17
Publication date: 1970-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 1987-03-31

Description

March 31, 1970 J. A. COOK 3,503,388

RESPIRATION APPLIANCE Filed April 17, 1967 I ma 6 ATTORNEY$ United States Patent 3,503,388 RESPIRATION APPLIANCE Jesse A. Cook, Mooresville, NC, assignor of one-half to Leo B. Skeen, Mooresville, N.C. Filed Apr. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 631,309 Int. Cl. A61h 31/00 US. Cl. 12828 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A patient actuated manually operable appliance including an elongate band encircling the rib cageof a patient and adapted for construction thereabout, to partially collapse the lungs and thus expel air therefrom, and a lever arrangement operatively connected to the band for constricting the same upon manual actuation thereof by the patient.

In a normal respiration process, an increase in the capacity of the thoracic cavity upon contraction of the diaphragm and thoracic muscles results in a negative pressure within the lungs and thus the inspiration of air thereinto. Upon relaxation of the contracted muscles and with some cooperating contraction of abdominal and intercostal muscles, the volume within the cavity is decreased, and expiration of air from the lungs occurs.

It has become increasingly apparent that this normal respiration process is seriously impaired by certain types of lung disease, such as emphysema and bronchial asthma, where there is an enlargement of the airspaces within the lungs and the lungs remain in a distended condition following the inspiration of air thereinto or control over expiration is otherwise lost. While the use of oxygen enrichment of the air involved in the respiration process will provide more comfort for a patient having such a disease, by providing adequate oxygen to support life even though the tidal volume or air displaced during the respiration process has been reduced, such therapy is both relatively expensive and confining for the patient, particularly where very heavy reliance is placed upon such use of oxygen.

While the difliculties caused by the reduced tidal volume of air involved in the respiration process of such a patient have been recognized herebefore, no solution has heretofore been readily available to such a patient other than oxygen enrichment therapy. In particular, no means has been provided which is readily operable solely by the patient, so as to free him from reliance upon other-s to provide the necessary oxygen.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of this invention to provide a patient actuated manually operable appliance for aiding the respiration process of a patient having a lung disease such as emphysema, which application frees such a patient from reliance solely upon oxygen enrichment thereapy and thereby permits greater freedom. In realizing this object, an elongate band is provided for encircling the rib cage of a patient and adapted for con striction thereabout by a patient actuated manually operable constricting means comprising a pair of lever members. By a particular cooperation of the lever members and a finger grip means, finger and palm grip portions are positioned for engagement by a single band of the patient, and a gripping motion made by the patient will constrict the band about his rib cage to thus expel air from the lungs. By thereby permitting a patient to increase the tidal volume of air flowing into and out of his lungs during the respiration process, sufficient oxygen is obtained by the patient without the necessity of resorting to oxygen enrichment therapy.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated, others will appear as the description 3,503,388 Patented Mar. 31, 1970 proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the appliance of this invention as applied to and actuated by a patient;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view similar to FIGURE 1, illustrating an elongate band and means for constricting the .band;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view through a portion of the means for constricting the band, taken generally along the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing, the appliance of the present invention is there shown and gen erally indicated at 10. In use, an elongate band portion 11 of the appliance 10 encircles the rib cage of a patient P and the appliance 10 is actuated by a manual operation of the patient for aiding the respiration process of the patient. More particularly, this invention provides a means, generally indicated at 12, for constricting the band 11 about the rib cage of the patient to thereby partially collapse the lungs and expel air therefrom, aiding the respiration process of a patient suffering from a lung disease as described above by increasing the tidal volume involved in respiration.

The elongate band 11 preferably is formed from a length of substantially inelastic material, such as a layer 14 of leather strapping or belting, and has two free ends. An inelastic quality such as that typical of leather belting is preferred, in order to assure proper constriction of the band 11 about the chest of a patient P when the two free ends of the band are drawn together. In order to contribute to patient comfort, a resilient padding layer 15 is provided on the inner surface of the leather layer 14, to be interposed between the leather belting and the body of the patient during use of the appliance 10. Adjacent each of the free ends of the band 11 are provided a plurality of connectors 16, for purposes to be described more fully hereinafter.

In order to permit ready manual operation of the appliance 10 of this invention by a patient P suffering from a lung disease such as emphysema, the means 12 provided for constricting the band 11 about the chest of the patient is constructed to be actuable by a single hand of the patient. More particularly, the means 12 comprises a pair of

lever members

20, 21 pivotally connected together intermediate the extremities thereof as by a pivot pin 22. At one extremity of each of the

lever members

20, 21 is provided a transversely extending

bar portion

24 and 25, respectively. Each of these

bar portions

24 and 25 is of proper dimensions and configuration to be received within the connectors 16 at the free ends of the leather layer, thereby providing a disconnectable operative connection between the means 12 for constricting the band and the free ends of the band 11. Adjacent the opposite extremity of one of the lever members, namely the lever member 20, is provided a palm grip portion 26, for engagement by the patients hand. While the palm grip portion 26 may take any suitable configuration adaptable to ready engagement with the palm portion of the patients hand, a simple transverse bar is acceptable (FIGURE 2).

In order to facilitate actuation of the means for constricting the band 11 by a single hand of the patient, finger grip means are provided at the extremity of the other lever member 21 remote from the connecting bar 25, which means extends from the lever member 21 toward the palm grip portion 26 so as to lie adjacent thereto and within a handspan distance thereof. In providing the finger grip means, a link member 28 is pivotally connected to the other lever member 21, adjacent the extremity thereof,

as by the provision of a pivot pin 29, and includes a finger grip portion 30 for engagement by the fingers of the patients hand. While the finger grip portion 30 may take 3 any suitable configuration adapted for gripping by the patients fingers, a simple transverse bar is acceptable.

In order to permit adaptation of the appliance of the present invention to operation by either hand of the patient P, to various degrees of constriction, and to various extents of handspans, a number of adjustments are provided. For example, a plurality of pivot location openings are provided intermediate the length of the lever members and 21, to permit placement of the pivot pin 22 connecting the same in any of several locations, thereby determining the relative movements of opposite extremities of the lever members for constriction of the band 11. Similarly, a. plurality of pivot location openings are formed in the link member 28 and the cooperating extremity of the other lever member 21, for placement of the pivot pin 29 in a desired location. By such adjustments, the palm grip portion 26 and the finger grip portion 30 may be placed appropriately to be spanned by a single hand of the patient P, and to provide that the extremities of the

lever members

20, 21 are drawn together sufliciently to constrict the band 11. Further, the interconnection of the connectors 16 adjacent the free ends of the band 11 and the engagement portions24, of the lever members 20 i and 21 permit reversal of the constricting means 12, for actuation of the appliance by either the right hand (as shown in FIGURE 1) or the left hand of the patient.

In order to avoid injury to the patient P otherwise possibly caused by abutting ends of the band 11, the

lever members

20 and 21 include roller means 31 and 32 spaced from the engagement portions connectable with the band connectors 16. More particularly,

curved bar portions

33 and 34 extend from the upper and lower extremities of respective vertical bar portions 24, 25 (FIGURE 2), and

roller axles

37 and 38 extend between respective pairs of

curved bar members

33 and 34 at the terminal extremities thereof.

Roller members

39 and 40 are mounted on

respective axles

37 and 38 for rotation thereabout and engage the leather member 14 of the band 11 at a location spaced from the free ends thereof. Due to the engagement of the

roller members

39 and 40 with the band 11 and the bow or curvature of the bar members 3-3 and 34. the free ends of the band 11 are drawn outwardly and away from the body of the patient P upon constriction thereabout, to thereby avoid unnecessary pinching or abrasion.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Iclaim-z 1. A patient actuated manually operable appliance for aiding the respiration process of a patient having lung disease such as emphysema comprising:

an elongate band for encircling the rib cage of a patient and having two free ends, said band being adapted for constriction about the rib cage to partially collapse the lungs and expel air therefrom, and

means actuated by a single handed gripping motion of the patient for constricting said band about the rib cage comprising a pair of lever members pivotally connected together intermediate the extremities thereof and each having'one extremity operatively connected to an engaging said band adjacent one of said free ends for constricting said band upon the extremities of said lever members being drawn together one of said lever members including a transversely extending portion defining a palm grip at the other extremity thereof for engagement by the patients hand, and said constricting means further comprising a link member pivotally connected to the other of said lever members adjacent the other extremity thereof and having a transversely extending portion defining a finger grip disposed adjacent said palm grip portion and within a handspan thereof for engagement by the patients hand, whereby reduction in thoracic cavity capacity on relaxation of the diaphragm and thoracic muscles is aided by the gripping motion of a single hand of the patient and the patient achieves an increase in the tidal volume of air flowing into and out of his lungs during respiration. 2. An appliance-according to claim 1 wherein said lever members are operatively connected to said band by a disconnectable connection so that said lever members maybe interchanged and said constricting means positioned for operation by either of the patients hands.

3. An appliance according to claim 1 wherein said band is substantially inelastic and has a resilient padding layer on the inner face thereof.

4. An appliance according to claim 3 wherein said band is of leather and said padding layer is of foamed polymeric material.

5. An appliance according to claim 1 further comprising means included in each of said lever members for providing a plurality of pivotal connection locations therebetween so that the spacing of said members is adaptable to an individual patient.

6. An appliance according to claim 1 wherein each of said lever members is operatively connected to said band by a disconnecta ble connection and includes means projecting beyond said connection for engaging said band at a location spaced from the corresponding free end thereof to draw said free end outwardly and away fromthe body of the patient upon constriction thereabout.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 443,204 12/ 1890 Davis 1282-8 651,962 6/1900 Boghean 128-28 1,464,898 8/1923 Beard 128-32 2,071,215 2/ 1937 Petersen 12828 2,754,817 7/ 1956 Nemeth 12860 FOREIGN PATENTS 597,212 5/1934 Germany. 624,118 1/ 1936 Germany.

1 1,693 1 898 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Barach, AJL., Pulmonary Emphysema Emphysema Belt and Allied Respiratory Aids (copy received in gr. 335 on May 13, 1966) p. 7 relied on.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner KYLE L. HOWELL, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 1 28-6O; 2.72'80