U.S. patent number 3,591,090 [Application Number 04/869,518] was granted by the patent office on 1971-07-06 for nebulizer.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Air Reduction Company. Invention is credited to Douglas D. Carden.
United States Patent |
3,591,090 |
Carden |
July 6, 1971 |
NEBULIZER
Abstract
A mechanical nebulizer having a first reservoir for containing
bulk use fluid for nebulization and a second reservoir for
containing a medicament whereby the medicament may be selectively
and independently supplied for nebulization and wherein circulation
of fluid is provided during nebulization of either the bulk fluid
or the medicament.
Inventors: |
Carden; Douglas D. (Barneveld,
WI) |
Assignee: |
Air Reduction Company (New
York, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
25353690 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/869,518 |
Filed: |
October 27, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
239/305; 239/307;
239/338 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61M
11/06 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61M
11/06 (20060101); A61m 011/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;239/305,337,338,304--308,340,370 ;128/194 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: King; Lloyd L.
Assistant Examiner: Love; John J.
Claims
I claim:
1. A nebulizer apparatus comprising a casing, inlet means and
outlet means associated with said casing, nebulizer means adapted
to produce a mist upon introduction of a fluid thereto, first and
second fluid reservoirs associated with said casing, said first and
second fluid reservoirs being normally in open communication with
each other, tube means for normally withdrawing fluid from said
first fluid reservoir to supply a first fluid to said nebulizer
means, and means to block communication between first and second
reservoirs whereby said tube means withdraws fluid from said second
reservoir for supplying a second fluid to said nebulizer means.
2. A nebulizer apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further including
means to collect and return excess first fluid droplets from the
mist to said first fluid reservoir;
3. A nebulizer apparatus as set forth in claim 2, further including
means to collect and return excess second fluid droplets from the
mist to said second fluid reservoir.
4. A nebulizer apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tube means
comprises a downwardly extending flexible tube normally terminating
adjacent the lowermost area of said first fluid reservoir.
5. A nebulizer apparatus of claim 4, said flexible tube being
adapted to be removed from association with said first fluid and
repositioned to withdraw a second fluid within said second fluid
reservoir, and wherein said flexible tube thereby blocks fluid
communication between said second fluid reservoir and said first
fluid reservoir.
6. A high output nebulizer apparatus comprising an outer casing,
inlet means and outlet means associated with said casing, a first
fluid reservoir and a second fluid reservoir within said casing,
nebulizer means disposed intermediate said inlet means and said
outlet means for producing a mist upon the introduction of a fluid
thereto from said respective reservoirs, means for effectively and
independently introducing a first fluid and a second fluid to said
nebulizer means, and means to collect and return excess droplets of
first and second fluid from the mist to said respective first and
second reservoirs.
7. A nebulizer apparatus comprising a casing, inlet and outlet
means associated with said casing, nebulizer means located
intermediate said inlet and outlet means, said nebulizer means
being adapted to produce a mist upon introduction of a fluid
thereto, first and second fluid reservoirs within said casing for
containing, respectively, a first and a second fluid, and means
communicating with said nebulizer means for selectively and
independently supplying fluid from either of said first and second
fluid reservoirs whereby a mist may be produced having as a
constituent either of the first or second fluids.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus for the creation and
administration of a fine aerosol mist, and more particularly, to a
mechanical nebulizer having provision for separately containing and
dispensing a bulk use fluid such as water and a suitable medicament
for therapeutic purposes.
Heretofore, various means of including the nebulization of
medicaments have been used with aerosol dispensing apparatus. Among
the known methods is the addition of a separate medicament
container which selectively allows medicament to enter into an
atomized mist to thereafter be carried to the patient. Such
containers were, however, generally small in size, were costly to
include with a nebulizer and failed to provide for recirculatory
circuits whereby large droplets, collected during nebulization from
the mist stream, could be returned to the medicament container for
further circulation.
Other prior art apparatus for nebulization of a medicament include
the direct introduction into the normally very large main reservoir
of the various medicaments. Such large reservoirs are, however, not
generally suitable for use with medicaments in that such
medicaments are usually very expensive and administered in
relatively small quantities. It is, therefore, necessary to
nebulize the maximum amount of medication in order to avoid waste
and also to most accurately apply a prescribed quantity of such
medicament to a user. Large reservoirs therefore, generally failed
to utilize the maximum amount of medicament and caused waste and
uncertain distribution of small quantities of medication.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide
high output aerosol administering device of a compact and
convenient arrangement having provision to administer a medicament.
medication.
A further object of the invention is to provide a high output
nebulizer construction which is capable of independently receiving
and dispensing a relatively large quantity of a medicament for
nebulization, yet which efficiently utilizes the maximum quantity
of such medicament and thereby almost eliminates waste or unused
mediation.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a high output
nebulizer apparatus having means to independently receive and
nebulize a quantity of medicament, and whereby large droplets of
medicament which are collected from the mist are returned through a
recirculating circuit to be reintroduced to the mist.
Another object of the invention is to provide a high output
nebulizer having a large reservoir for retaining a suitable liquid
to be nebulized, and a relatively small separable reservoir which
may selectively be used to retain another desired liquid to be
nebulized, thereby isolating the large reservoir from the
nebulization stream during use of the small reservoir.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be
better understood by reference to the following description of the
preferred embodiment taken in connection with the attached drawings
wherein:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a nebulizer constructed in accordance with
the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the nebulizer;
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, partially broken away, taken
along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, partially in section, showing the end
of an aspirating tube of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view, partially in section, showing the same
aspirating tube arranged for receiving a medicament.
Referring now to FIGS. 1--3, there is shown a nebulizer having an
outer casing 10 which may be of a generally high impact strength
plastic material. For convenience of assembly and disassembly, the
casing 10 is constructed in separable parts, as shown, and
comprises a lower housing 12 and an upper housing 14 which is
adapted to fit over and be supported by the lower housing 12.
The lower housing 12 is so constructed such that the interior
thereof forms a large reservoir for containing a liquid to be
nebulized. In an actual construction, the total usable volume of
the large reservoir 16 may be in the order of 2500 cc. and may be
filled through a suitably located opening 18 in the upper housing
14, into which is retained a plug 20.
An air inlet means is associated with the casing 10 and comprises
an upstanding cylindrical intake tube 22 which, if desired, may be
provided with a filter, not shown, to remove particulate impurities
from the surrounding air. A control valve 24 having an external
operating knob 26 is provided to control the quantity of air
admitted through the intake tube 22 and normally allows fairly
precise control thereof.
An outlet means is also provided in association with casing 10 and
is also of upstanding cylindrically shaped outlet tube 28 which
allows distribution of an aerosol to the surrounding
atmosphere.
Both the inlet tube 22 and the outlet tube 28 are of a
predetermined internal diameter at their outer extremities in order
to be connectable, if desired, to conventional sized tubing,
conduit, or used with standard adapters for any other sized tubing.
In this manner, the nebulizer may be readily connected to a
utilization means such as an oxygen tent without further alteration
and facilitates replacement of existing nebulizers.
An intermediate, relatively small medicament reservoir 30 is
provided within the casing 10, and may conveniently be located
having its upper peripheral edge associated with the upper housing
14 as shown in FIG. 1. The medicament reservoir 30 is also
preferably formed of a high impact strength plastic. At the
lowermost extremity of medicament reservoir 30 is an opening 32
which normally provides open communication of the medicament
reservoir 30 with large reservoir 16, the purpose of which will be
explained later.
The nebulizer 34 is provided adjacent the air inlet means and
comprises an external inlet connection 36 of standard design and
which is adapted to be connected to a high pressure source of
fluid, such as oxygen or compressed air which typically may be from
30 to 50 p.s.i. As shown, the inlet connection 36 is rigidly
affixed to the body of the air inlet tube 22 and communicates with
a passageway to cylindrical jet member 38 having an orifice 40
therein. A nebulizer body 42 is provided including a tube 44 having
one end of tube 44 in open communication with the cylindrical jet
member 38 and the other end thereof in communication with a
downwardly extending aspirating tube 48. The aspirating tube 48 is
of a flexible material, such as silicone rubber, and extends
through an opening 50 in the bottom wall of medicament reservoir 30
downwardly such that its end is freely suspended adjacent a
circular depression 52 in the bottom of the large reservoir 16. A
flanged shroud 54 seals the opening 50 in the medicament reservoir
30 against the aspirating tube 48, thereby preventing other liquids
from leaking through the opening 50 into the large reservoir 16,
the purpose of which will be later explained. A baffle 56 is
provided opposite and in alignment with the orifice 40. As shown,
this baffle 56 is a cylindrical-shaped stub; however, it may be of
any desired configuration including a spherically shaped
surface.
At the lowermost end of aspirating tube 48, there is included a
filter 58 for eliminating undesirable impurities from the
nebulizing liquid prior to its introduction into aspirating tube
48. In the preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, this filter 58
is removable from the aspirating tube 48 and may easily be made
removable by a force fit between an inwardly tapered internal
surface of the filter 58 and a complementary tapered external
surface of fitting 60 attached to the aspirating tube 48.
In the operation of the high output nebulizer of the present
invention, high pressure air or oxygen is introduced into external
inlet connection 36 and thereby through the cylindrical jet member
38 and emerges through orifice 40. As this gas flows through
orifice 40, it creates a suction pressure acting through the tube
44 which causes fluid to thereby be drawn from the large reservoir
16, through the aspirating tube 48. The fluid is therefore drawn
into the flow of high pressure air or oxygen and emerges from the
orifice 40 in the form of a mist. Large droplets, generally
undesirable for internally breathed aerosols, are caused to be
impinged against baffle 56 and are allowed to drain downwardly and
are collected in the medicament reservoir 30. This collected fluid
is prevented from following the aspirating tube 48 through opening
50 in the medicament reservoir by means of the flanged shroud 54.
The medicament reservoir 30 allows the collected fluid to drain
normally through the opening 32 into the large reservoir 16,
thereupon creating a recirculation circuit for collected fluid.
Further large droplets may be collected as the aerosol mist passes
through the medicament reservoir and exits through the outlet means
through deposition of such droplets along the internal surface of
the passageways, and again, these collected droplets will
ultimately be returned to the large reservoir 16.
In this manner, the unit functions as a high output nebulizer,
taking outside atmosphere in through the inlet means and causing a
fine aerosol mist to be exhausted through the outlet means. The
aerosol fluid is withdrawn from the large reservoir and any large
droplets that are collected and removed from the aerosol stream are
eventually returned to the large reservoir.
In order to dispense a medicament in the nebulized stream, means
are provided to interrupt the normally open communication between
the medicament reservoir 30 and the large reservoir 16 and also to
allow the introduction of medicament only into the nebulizer to be
dispersed in atomized form.
Such means are provided through the use of flexible aspirating tube
48 which is adapted to be affixed in operative position in the
opening 32 in the base of the medicament reservoir 30. As shown in
FIG. 3 by the broken lines, and in FIG. 5, this junction may be
accomplished by removal of the filter 58 which, as previously
explained, is held to the end of aspirating tube 48 through a force
fit to tapered fitting 60. After the removal of filter 58, the
aspirating tube 48 is force fitted into the opening 32 which is
tapered to accept tapered fitting 60 in a closer fitted junction.
The loss of filter 58 is not detrimental to the function of the
nebulizer due to the fact that only a medicament will now be drawn
through aspirating tube 48 as there is very little impurity in
medicaments, therefore rendering a filter as unnecessary.
A suitable medicament may now be introduced into medicament
reservoir 30 and, as shown, may be poured in through the outlet
tube 28 which is in direct communication with medicament
reservoir.
In operation the medicament is thereupon withdrawn through sump
opening 32 by the aspirating tube 48 to be nebulized in normal
manner by the nebulizer 34, the mist produced leaving the apparatus
through the outlet means.
Again, a recirculating circuit is provided for large droplets which
are collected from the mist as they impinge against baffle 56 or
are removed through deposition on the surface of passageways
leading to the outlet means.
The collected fluid is caused to drain back into the medicament
reservoir 30 and is retained there for further nebulization. As
noted, the collected fluid is not allowed to drain through to the
large reservoir 16 since the opening 32 has been closed through
introduction of fitting 60 and no further communication is allowed
between the medicament reservoir 30 and the large reservoir 16.
Due primarily to the small size of the medicament reservoir 30 and
the location of the opening 32 in the lowermost location in the
bottom of reservoir 30, the medicament may be almost entirely
nebulized. In actual practice, a unit having a medicament reservoir
30 of a fluid capacity of about 150 cc. has been found to nebulize
the fluid contained therein to all but 3 to 4 cc. of fluid, thus
achieving almost complete nebulization of fluid such as an
expensive medicament and also providing extremely accurate
application of a prescribed dosage.
Thus, the construction of the apparatus provides a normally high
output nebulizer having a means to dispense almost completely and
independently a desired medicament easily and efficiently whenever
desired, and therefore further provides a highly advantageous
compact unit for use in separately administering a normal
nebulization mist and a nebulized medicament mist.
While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been shown and
described herein, it will be understood that other modifications
thereof will readily occur to those skilled in the art and that the
invention is intended to be limited only to the appended claims and
to equivalent structure thereto.
* * * * *