Stethoscope Hanger And Heater

Abstract

A hanger for a readily attachable and detachable stethoscope. It serves to conveniently hold and simultaneously warm the diaphragm-equipped head of a currently usable stethoscope. This hanger broadly stated is characterized by a clip which is designed and expressly adapted to lodge and support the stated head. The clip embodies a primary heat conducting plate having planar rearward and forward faces. The rearward face is equipped with self-contained heat generating and transfer means. The forward face has marginal edge portions fashioned into and providing feasible receiver means capable of supportively pocketing and suspending the head with the diaphragm residing flatwise in heating and warming contact with said forward face.

Description

The present invention relates to brackets, fixtures and racks such as are designed and adapted to accessibly hold various types of implements, tools and appliances in an out-of-the-way but ready-to-use position and pertains, more particularly, to wall type or an equivalent type hanger provided with self-contained means for suspending a conventional type stethoscope in such a manner that the diaphragm can be mildly heated and warmed for acceptably comfortable use.

There has long existed a need for a commerciably acceptable stethoscope holder. To the ends desired the concept herein revealed pertains to a hanger which functions to accommodatingly receive and suspend the headed end of a stethoscope for such period of time as is deemed to be necessary and which, in addition to accessibly suspending the stethoscope simultaneously serves to warm the diaphragm to a degree that it lends itself to unobjectionable use on a sensitive and perhaps apprehensive patient. The stethoscope hanger and warmer disclosed has been experimentally used and well serves the purposes for which it was devised and is presently being used.

The idea of providing an adaptable stethoscope holder is not in and of itself new. For general and background information and although it pertains to an entirely different and outmoded stethoscope, attention may be accorded the stethoscope holder shown in U.S. Pat. No. 742,790 granted to William Jones. Nor is it novel in this field of endeavor to embed an electrical heating element in a body made of insulative material and, under the circumstances, attention may be accorded U.S. Pat. No. 1.924,409 which has to do with a heated die for drying fibrous articles granted to George J. Manson.

An object of the present invention is to advance the field of stethoscope hangers, holders and warmers by providing a simple and practical holder or hanger wherein the headed end portion of the stethoscope can be nested with requisite nicety in a wedge-shaped receiver where, as is obvious, it will be poised and suspended in readiness for unhampered application and removal and which provides the desired heat source for warming the diaphragm and metal rim encompassing the marginal edge portion thereof.

Briefly the hanger is such in construction that it is capable of being hung on a nail or the like on a wall or other vertical support surface, or, if preferred, attached thereto by a double-faced adhesive tape or in some other acceptably reliable manner. One component part, herein referred to as a primary stainless steel or equivalent plate is fashioned into and provides a clip having a gradually narrowing body and lower end portion and having downwardly converging marginal edges provided with turned in flanges. These flanges are spaced from each other and provide communicating and open-ended channel-like receivers which conjointly provide wedge-shaped receiver means for reception of diametrically opposite segmental edge portions of the disc-like or equivalent diaphragm-equipped head of the stethoscope. The back or rearward side or face of the clip is covered, coated or otherwise equipped with a layer or lamination of appropriate non-conducting plastic material. This material has an adapter plate embedded therein and in contact with the cooperating rearward surface of the main or primary plate, said adapter plate having its intermediate portion equipped with a keeper and said keeper serving to position and retain the wire-equipped electrical heating element. The plastic member provides an appropriate backing which can be adhesively or otherwise attached to and supported from a wall or other relatively stationary support surface preferably in a position which is convenient for use of the nurse or physician as the case may be.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a stethoscope hanger and heater constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing the wedge-type receiver means.

FIG. 2 is a view based on FIG. 1 and observing the same in front elevation and presented on a slightly large scale and showing the manner in which the receiver means functions to nest and retentively, but removably, lodge the disc-like diaphragm-equipped head in its suspended ready-to-use position.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view observing the plastic backing and showing, in phantom lines, certain of the embedded component parts.

FIG. 4 is a central sectional view taken approximately on the plane of the vertical line 4--4 of FIG. 3, looking in the direction of the indicating arrows.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the plane of the section line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the views of the drawing with greater particularity, it will be evident that the aforementioned clip is preferably but not necessarily of the shape illustrated and comprises a primary plate 8 having flat or planar surfaces, the aforementioned forward face or side being denoted at 10 and the opposite or rearward face or side being denoted at 12. The upper pointed end portion of the plate may be provided with a nail hole 14. In this connection it is to be pointed out that the nail hole is optional and that some other means other than a supporting nail, hook or the like, adhesive tape means, for example, may be be employed for supporting purposes. The median body portion which could be identified as the lower half portion is gradually decreased in width and tapers downwardly toward a narrowing straight-across marginal edge 16. This plate is preferably made of 24 gauge stainless steel and is the essential part of the aforementioned hanger clip. The receiver means also tapers gradually downward to assume the wedge-shaped configuration illustrated. The receiver means, more specifically, comprises a pair of opposed duplicate properly bent and turned-in flanges 18. These flanges are bent on the downwardly converging fold lines 20 and are relatively narrow at the top and increased in width at the bottom. The flanges are spaced a requisite distance from the surface 10 and coordinate therewith in defining a nesting and lodging pocket for the disc-like diaphragm-equipped head A of the stethoscope B as shown in FIG. 2. This head is sometimes referred to as a diaphragm-equipped head, the body portion being disc-like or circular as at C whereby diametrically opposite segmental portions are lodged or nested in the pocketing receivers 18. To facilitate inserting and removing the head, the upper transverse ends of the flanges are rounded as at 22. Then, too, the lower end portions of the respective flanges are curvate and appropriately rounded as at 24. Thus these downwardly converging properly poised turned-in and overhanging flanges provide ideal nesting and suspending receivers for the aforementioned head means A. The V-shaped coupling means is denoted at D and the accompanying tubes are denoted at E. It is evident therefore that the flanged receiver means functions to accommodate the existing parts of the conventional type stethoscope B.

The numeral 26 designates plastic ply or lamination which is of a marginal outline conforming to the marginal shape of the metal clip. This part 26 constitures an appropriate backing member and is made of suitable moldable non-conduting plastic material. The upper end portion is also provided with a nail hole 28 cooperating with the aforementioned hole 14. Hereagain this hole means is optional because of the fact that in actual practice the final adaptation may better adapt itself to the use of double-faced adhesive tape (not shown). The backing member is appropriately bonded to the rear generally flat face of the primary plate in the manner shown in FIG. 4 in particular. This plastic backing member also serves to embed an auxiliary or secondary adapter plate 30 which may be of the outline and shape shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3. This plate can be of some other shape if desired. At the present time the adaptation shown in FIG. 3 is being used and the median portion of this adapter plate is narrowed and bent upon itself to provide a channel-like keeper 32 for the properly constructed electric heating element 34. This element appears in FIG. 4 and 5 and appropriate leads or wires are connected thereto as at 36, said wires being extensions of the wires which go to make up the conductor 38, a conductor which in actual practice is provided with a pronged plug for connection with a wall receptacle (not shown). It is reiterated that the hanger clip may be made, if desired, from 24 gauge stainless steel, the heating element being made of suitable material and the backing ply or lamination 26 being made of an appropriate grade of moldable non-conducting plastic material which as shown encapsulates the heating means and current conducting cord means.

Referring again to the adapter plate 30 which functions to properly position the heating element it may be pointed out that the plate is of an area or size to facilitate the function of requisite heat distribution.

The hanger and suspension device herein shown and comprehended well serves the office needs and purposes of physicians, technicians, nurses and others who are called upon to take and evaluate chest and other body diagnosing sounds.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since the modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. Apparatus, comprising, in combination:

a. clip means for temporarily supporting and suspending a diaphragm equipped headed end of a stethoscope, and including a heat-conducting primary plate having rearward and forward faces, the forward face having complemental receiver means constructed from a substantially rigid material suitable for supportively pocketing and suspending the stethoscope headed end with the diaphragm thereof arranged residing flatwise in heating and warming contact with the forward face;

b. a heating element arranged adjacent the rearward face of the primary plate;

c. substantially rigid positioning means arranged adjacent the primary plate for properly positioning the heating element adjacent the rearward face of the primary plate; and

d. means attached to the plate and the positioning means and attachable to a support for forming a backing member, said backing member being made of non-conducting material, said heat source comprising an electric cord-equipped electrical heating element, and said element being embedded and protectively electrically insulated, contained and confined in said backing member, the backing member including means for attachment to a support.

2. The structure defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein said positioning means is a heat conducting and distributing adapter plate, said adapter plate being auxiliary to and superimposed upon and in direct heat transferring contact with the coacting rearward face of said primary plate and being wholly embedded in said backing member.

3. The structure defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein said positioning means is a heat conducting and distributing adapter plate, said adapter plate being auxiliary to and superimposed upon and in direct heat transferring contact with the coacting rearward face of said primary plate and being wholly embedded in said backing member, said adapter plate being primarily flat, commensurate in size, generally construed, with the size of said primary plate and backing member and having a median portion narrowed in width dimension and bent crosswise into channel shape and providing an assembling and keeper seat for and containing said heating element.

4. A structure as defined in claim 3, wherein the primary and adapter plates are constructed from a metal.

5. The structure defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein a lower half-portion of said primary plate is gradually progressively decreased in width and thus tapered downwardly toward a narrowed lower marginal edge portion, said flanges having upper narrow portions and lower widened portions, the median and lower portions of said flanges converging downwardly toward said narrowed lower marginal edge portion, whereby the overall receiver is substantially wedge-shaped in front elevation.

6. The structure defined in and according to claim 5, and wherein said flanges have upper and lower corner portions which are curvate and thus rounded to minimize the likelihood of damaging said diaphragm-equipped head when it is being piloted and lodged in downwardly and in a ready-for-use place in said receiver or subsequently lifted and removed therefrom for customary use.