U.S. patent number 3,838,688 [Application Number 05/212,978] was granted by the patent office on 1974-10-01 for catheter advances with clutch.
This patent grant is currently assigned to International Paper Company. Invention is credited to Edwin A. May, Geoffrey W. Wilks.
United States Patent |
3,838,688 |
May , et al. |
October 1, 1974 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
CATHETER ADVANCES WITH CLUTCH
Abstract
A device for inserting a catheter into a mammalian body,
comprising a housing member for storing a flexible catheter, a
hollow needle connected to the catheter and supported on the
housing member, at least one driven roller within said housing
member for engaging and moving the catheter through the needle, and
a detent normally preventing rotation of the driven roller in a
direction reverse of advancement of the catheter.
Inventors: |
May; Edwin A. (Ridgewood,
NJ), Wilks; Geoffrey W. (Warwick, RI) |
Assignee: |
International Paper Company
(New York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
22793221 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/212,978 |
Filed: |
December 28, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
604/159; 226/188;
254/310 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
25/0113 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
25/01 (20060101); A61m 005/00 (); A61m
025/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/214.4,348-351,221,DIG.16 ;254/15R,175.3,175.5,175.7 ;43/8
;226/127,181,187-191 ;192/82.1,82.3,82.4 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Gaudet; Richard A.
Assistant Examiner: McGowan; J. C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Flynn, Esq.; Lawrence W.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In a catheter device which comprises a housing having a chamber
containing therein an antiseptic catheter, a hollow needle
connected to the housing and communicating with the chamber, and
rotating drive means frictionally engaging the catheter for moving
the catheter through the needle,
the improvement comprising:
clutch means cooperating with the drive means comprising a
stationary member and a rotatable and axially movable member
carried by the drive means, said members being normally engaged and
when engaged, preventing movement of the catheter through the
needle in a direction toward the chamber.
2. The device of claim 1 further including means for moving the
member mounted for axial and rotational movement in its axial
direction to separate it from engagement with the other member
whereby said clutch means disengages and permits movement of the
catheter through the needle in a direction toward the chamber.
3. In a catheter device which comprises a housing having a chamber
containing therein an antiseptic catheter, a hollow needle
connected to the housing and communicating with the chamber, and
rotating drive means frictionally engaging the catheter for moving
the catheter through the needle,
the improvement comprising:
clutch means cooperating with the drive means, said clutch means
comprising a first movable member mounted for axial and rotatable
movement on said drive means, and a second stationary member, said
first and second members being normally engaged and, when engaged,
preventing movement of the catheter through the needle in a
direction toward the chamber.
4. The device of claim 3 further including means for manually
moving said movable member in an axial direction away from said
stationary member to disengage the clutch means thereby permitting
movement of the catheter through the needle in a direction toward
the chamber.
5. In a catheter device which comprises a housing having a chamber
containing therein an antiseptic catheter, a hollow needle
connected to the housing and communicating with the chamber, and
rotating drive means mounted on the housing and frictionally
engaging the catheter for moving the catheter through the
needle,
the improvement comprising:
means for mounting the rotating drive means for axial and rotatable
movement,
first clutch means carried by the housing and second clutch means
carried by the axially movable drive means which, when in
cooperative engagement, limit rotation of the drive means to that
direction which causes the catheter to move through the needle in a
direction away from the chamber, and
resilient means urging the axially movable drive means against the
first clutch means in a direction generally parallel to its axis to
cause the first and second clutch means to cooperatively engage
each other.
6. The device of claim 5 further including means for applying to
the drive means a force to axially move the drive means away from
the first clutch means thereby disengaging the first and second
clutch means to permit rotation of the drive means in that
direction which causes the catheter to move through the needle in a
direction toward the chamber.
7. In a catheter device which comprises a housing having a chamber
containing therein an antiseptic catheter, a hollow needle
connected to the housing and communicating with the chamber, and
drive means for moving the catheter through the needle, the drive
means comprising at least one roller mounted in a cut-out in the
housing, and means for manually driving the roller to cause the
roller to frictionally engage the catheter and move it through the
needle,
the improvement comprising:
means for mounting the driven roller on the housing for axial and
rotatable movement,
a first clutch means carried by a surface of the cutout and a
second clutch means carried by the axially mounted roller which
means, when engaged, cooperate to permit the roller to move only in
a direction which causes the catheter to advance through the needle
in a direction away from the chamber,
means for urging the axially movable roller, in a direction
generally parallel to its axis, against the cutout surface to cause
engagement between the first and second clutch means, and
means for manually exerting against the axially movable roller,
from the exterior of the housing, a force sufficient to axially
displace the roller and thus disengage the first and second clutch
means when desired to thereby permit movement of the catheter
through the needle in a direction toward the chamber.
8. The device of claim 7 wherein the axially moveable roller is the
driven roller.
9. The device of claim 8 wherein each roller includes a gear, the
roller being adapted to rotate with the gear, and wherein the gears
are disposed in meshing engagement.
10. In a catheter device which comprises a housing having a chamber
containing therein an antiseptic catheter, a hollow needle
connected to the housing and communicating with the chamber, and
drive means for frictionally engaging the catheter and moving it
through the needle, the drive means comprising at least one driven
roller mounted in a cutout in the housing,
the improvement comprising:
means for mounting the driven roller on the housing for axial and
rotatable movement,
a rising cam carried by a surface of the cutout and a cam follower
carried by the driven roller which, when engaged, cooperate to
limit rotation of the driven roller to a direction which causes the
catheter to advance through the needle in a direction away from the
chamber,
spring means urging the driven roller against the rising cam in a
direction generally parallel to its axis to cause the rising cam
and cam follower to engage, and
an opening in the housing providing access from the housing
exterior to the driven roller by which a force may be applied to
the driven roller to move it axially against the spring biasing to
cause disengagement of the rising cam and cam follower as long as
the force is maintained to thereby permit movement of the catheter
through the needle in a direction toward the chamber.
11. The device of claim 10 further including an actuating arm
passing through the opening with an end of the arm connected to the
driven roller to provide axial and rotatable movement of the driven
roll as desired.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a device for inserting a catheter into a
mammalian body and more particularly to a device for moving a
catheter through passageways, canals, or blood vessels of a
mammalian body.
In co-pending applications Ser. No. 15,039 filed Feb. 27, 1970 and
Ser. No. 212,972, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,605, issued Nov. 27,
1973, filed simultaneously herewith, devices for inserting a
catheter are disclosed which comprise a housing member, a hollow
needle supported in the housing member and drive means for engaging
the catheter and moving the catheter through the needle, wherein
the housing member defines a passage for moving a flexible catheter
to the needle. The catheter is any flexible tube designed for
insertion into a mammalian body for various medical purposes. The
devices of the co-pending applications, as well as the device of
the present invention, maintain the catheter in a sterile condition
prior to and while it is being inserted, and provide ease of
insertion and control of movement of the soft and flexible
catheters conventionally employed therewith, without bending or
binding of the catheter and without the use of stylets or
wires.
While providing new and improved structure and substantial
advantages over known catheter devices, several problems still
persist. For example, it would be desirable normally to prevent
movement of the catheter back into its housing once it has been
advanced out of the housing, in order to provide for positive
advancement and to avoid pinching and loss of sterile condition of
the catheter by such reverse movement. Moreover, prevention of
reverse movement of the catheter will also insure that the catheter
has been inserted to the extent desired, perhaps as indicated by
calibration marks on the catheter itself.
However, in some circumstances it may nevertheless be desirable to
permit reverse movement and return of the catheter into the
housing. For example, it may be desirable not to advance all of the
catheter into the patient, the housing to be retained for storage
of the coiled portion of the catheter and to maintain the sterile
condition of such portion. In this instance, it would be desirable
to provide for return of the entire catheter to the housing after
its use, for disposal of catheter and housing, rather than to
require manual removal of the catheter from the patient and
separate disposal of the housing and catheter.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a new and
improved catheter device while nevertheless generally retaining the
benefits of the devices of the co-pending applications.
Another object is to provide a new and improved device for
inserting a catheter wherein the catheter is normally prevented
from returning to its housing once it has been advanced
therefrom.
Another object is to provide a new and improved device for
inserting a catheter wherein the catheter, after advancement to any
extent from its housing, may be returned to its housing.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention
will be apparent from the specification which follows.
In summary outline, the invention is a device for inserting a
catheter comprising a housing member, a hollow needle supported on
the housing member, drive means comprising at least one driven
roller for engaging and moving the catheter through the needle, and
detent means normally preventing rotation of the driven roller in a
direction reverse of advancement of the catheter.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,
combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be
exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the
scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
For a more complete understanding of the nature and objects of the
invention, reference is made to the following description, taken
with the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a device of the
invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a device of the invention;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged, partly schematic, section along the line
3--3 of FIG. 1 showing one position of displaceable elements;
and
FIG. 4 is an enlarged, partly schematic, sectional view similar to
FIG. 3 showing a second position of displaceable elements.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a device 21 of the invention
includes a hollow needle 22 which is to be inserted in a blood
vessel or other channel or member of a patient, for the purpose of
providing access to a portion of the body. After insertion of the
needle, the catheter is moved through the vessel to the required
extent and the needle is then removed from the device and the
catheter used in removing body fluids or for the administration of
fluids, in accordance with known medical procedures. Similarly, the
device may be inserted into a body canal, passageway or cavity in
order to move a catheter therethrough.
With reference to FIGS. 1-4, a device 21 comprises a hollow needle
22, and a casing or housing member 23 having a removable top member
or cover 24 and a bottom or base member 25. The cover and base
member define therebetween a chamber 26. The housing member is
contracted at one portion thereof to form a neck 27 having indented
edges 28, together providing the housing member with a shape for
convenient holding and gripping of the device. A catheter 31 is
storable within the chamber 26 and has at its proximal end a
member, such as a winged tip 32, adapted for epidermal fixing or
taping of the proximal end of the catheter to a patient. The winged
tip 32 is normally held within the body of the housing member 23
but is removable therefrom upon detachment of the cover 24. The
cover 24 preferably is press-fitted to base member 25 but
optionally may be fitted thereto with pins 33.
The storage chamber 26 leads to a first channel 34 and then to a
second channel 35, the catheter passing through these channels into
a generally semi-tubular extension 36. The semi-tubular extension
36 preferably is unitary with a slotted, generally flattened
extension 37 of base member 25 but may comprise a separate element.
The hollow needle 22 (of known construction) has a clamping member
38 comprising two wing-like members mounted on the slotted
extension 37. Other details of the needle 22 are described in the
above-cited co-pending application filed simultaneously herewith
and form no part of the present invention.
In the upper portion of housing member 23 is a pair of annular
chambers 41, one chamber of which has an opening 42 through cover
24. Within the chamber having the opening 42 is a driven roller 43
and in the second annular chamber 41 is a second roller 44. At
least an upper portion 45 of roller 43, which upper portion here
comprises a spur gear, is hollowed or slotted as at 46. Optionally,
each of rollers 43 and 44 may be provided, as shown, with upper
portions 45 and 47 comprising meshing spur gears meshing at 48 so
that the driven roller 43 may in turn drive roller 44.
Alternatively, no gearing is provided and roller 44 is an idler
roller, the upper portions 45 and 47 then being in sliding
contact.
The upper portions or spur gears 45 and 47 each have corresponding
shaft portions 43a and 44a, set into cutouts in the cover 24. The
shaft portions conveniently are formed with their corresponding
spur gears and rollers 43 and 44 to provide unitary assemblies.
The opening 42 provides access to slotted driven roller 43 for
insertion of an actuating device such as a shaft connected to a
knob, as in copending application Ser. No. 15,039. Preferably,
however, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the needle 22 is provided with a
shield 49, an end of which is structured to pass through opening 42
and to form a press-fit in the slot 46 of shaft 43a and gear 45.
When so inserted, the shield 49 is used to rotate roller 43.
Roller 43 frictionally engages catheter 31 and advances the
catheter from storage chamber 26 through lower channel 34, through
upper channel 35 into hollow needle 22, and then into the body of a
patient. The collar 51 on shield 49 facilitates removal of the
shield from the needle and gripping of the shield for actuating the
roller 43. It will also be noted that the lower (collared) end of
shield 49 is adapted to fit snugly over the semitubular extension
36 when providing its protective function.
As shown in FIG. 4 the shield 49 when inserted through opening 42
also serves as a lever to facilitate removal of cover 24 from
member 25. When so employed, the cover 24 and base member 25 are
separated and each may be discarded, thus completely removing the
catheter from the housing member. The winged tip 32 may be taped or
otherwise fastened to the epidermal surface of the patient for
convenience of medical treatment, such as administration of a blood
plasma or the like, during or after removal of housing member 23.
Alternatively, the winged tip 32 may be replaced with a conical
attachment, as in the device of application Ser. No. 15,039, for
similar medical treatment. For most medical treatments, however, it
is preferred to remove the catheter and winged tip from the needle
22, the housing member 23 and the actuator shield 49.
Preferably, at least the cover 24 is transparent so that the
feeding of the catheter 31 into the body may be observed and the
extent of the feed determined. While the housing member 23 is shown
as substantially rectangular in cross section, other shapes, such
as spherical, conical or the like, may be employed.
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, one embodiment of one way clutch
means for normally preventing rotation of driven roller 43 in a
direction reverse of advancement of catheter 31 is shown.
It will be noted that cover 24 is provided with a generally
wedgeshaped, downwardly projecting cam surface, such as a rising
cam 52. Upper roller portion 45 has a cam follower detent cut 53
which mates with the cam surface of rising cam 52. The vertical
displacement of upper portion 45 and roller 43, which obviously
results from contact of rising cam 52 and detent cut 53 upon
actuation of the roller 43, is compensated for by the space 54
below roller 43, the space 55 below roller 43, and the space 56
below the shaft member or pin 57 of roller 43. These spaces are
provided as extra area in the cutout for roller 43 in base member
25. A spring 58 such as a wave washer biases the roller 43 in an
upward direction.
In FIG. 3, the rising cam 52 and mating detent cut 53 are shown
oriented with respect to the direction of rotation of roller 43
required for advancement of the catheter 31 so as not to impede the
advancement but to prevent reverse rotation of the roller by
insertion and turning of the tip of shield 49. In this manner,
positive advancement is assured and any tendency of the roller 43
to pinch or otherwise to constrict the catheter 31 is prevented.
However, if rewind of the catheter into the housing is desired, the
roller 43 may be forced downwardly by the tip of shield 49 to
compress spring 58 as shown in FIG. 4, thereby providing clearance
between cam surface 52 and detent cut 53, such that the roller 43
then may be rotated in the reverse direction.
If desired, several pairs of rising cams and detent cuts may be
provided such as the second rising cam 59 and detent cut 61, shown
in dotted line in FIGS. 3 and 4, displaced 180.degree. from cam 52
and detent cut 53. The pairs of cams and detent cuts may be spaced
so as to indicate by suitable indicia on the housing, or solely by
the number of clicks as the catheter is advanced, the length of
catheter passed out of the housing. Moreover, although FIGS. 3 and
4 show only the roller portion 45 provided with a cam surface 52
and a detent cut 53, other roller portion 47 may be modified in a
like manner. It will also be apparent that the location of rising
cam 52 and detent cut 53 may be reversed, such that rising cam 52
is on the upper portion 53 and the detent cut is in the cover 24,
with suitable orientation of direction of the cam 52 and detent cut
in accordance with the direction of rotation required for
advancement of roller 43.
While the one way clutch means described above is a preferred
embodiment, other structure equivalent to that described will be
apparent, such as a prong, spring-loaded button, or other resilient
member cooperating with a depression in an adjoining face, or a
ratchet and pawl arrangement.
In operation, the hollow needle 22 of the device (which contains in
a sterile state a catheter 31) is inserted into the blood vessel or
other canal of the mammal, and the catheter is advanced through the
needle and into the vessel or canal to the required extent, by
turning the roller 43 as by insertion of the tip of shield 49
through the opening 42 of cover 24 into the slot 46. Advancement of
the catheter will be evident from the sound or "feel" of clicks
from the movement of cam surface 52 past detent cut 53. Normally,
the catheter will be advanced to its entire length and the needle
22 and housing 23 removed. For this purpose the needle 22 is scored
lengthwise (not shown) so that it can be split into two halves and
discarded. The cover 24 may then be removed from the bottom member
25, and the winged tip 32 and terminal end of the catheter removed.
These features of the needle and housing are described in the
co-pending applications and form no part of the present
invention.
If, during advancement of the catheter, it is desired to return all
or a portion of the catheter to its housing 23, the roller 43 is
biased against spring 58, as shown in FIG. 4, as by forcing the tip
of shield 49 beyond its normal position in slot 46, so as to
provide clearance between cam 52 and detent cut 53, and the roller
43 is rotated in a reverse direction. In these manners provision is
made both for positive advancement and rewind of the catheter, as
described.
Various materials may be used for the construction of the needle,
housing member and catheter, as set forth in the co-pending
applications, forming no significant aspect of the present
invention, and the operation of the invention is in other respects
substantially the same.
It may thus be seen that the objects of the invention set forth, as
well as those made apparent from the preceding description, are
efficiently attained. Since changes in the disclosed embodiments of
the inventinn as well as other embodiments thereof which do not
depart from the spirit and scope of the invention may occur to
others skilled in the art, the appended claims are intended to
cover all embodiments and modification to the disclosed embodiments
of the invention which do not depart from the spirit and scope
thereof.
* * * * *