US3512806A - Adapter for multiple connections to intravenous fluid receptacles and the like - Google Patents

Description

, M y 19; 1910 RJH. ROMN'EY' all 3,512,806

ADAPTER FOR MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS TO INTRAVENOUS FLUID' RECEPTACLES AND THE LIKE 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1968 6 INVENTORSH Z U RUSSELL H. RCMNEY RODGER S. FULLMER I 3 BY: 50mm M. THOMAS Fi ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,512,806 Patented May 19, 1970 3,512,806 ADAPTER FOR MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS T INTRAVENOUS FLUID RECEPTACLES AND THE LIKE Russell H. Romney, 3259 Bon View Drive 84109, and Rodger S. Fullmer, 1511 East 7335 South 84121, both of Salt Lake City, Utah Filed Jan. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 699,660

Int. Cl. F161 39/00 Int. Cl. 285-137 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART For medical and surgical treatments involving injec tion of liquids into a living body, various means have been used and proposed to connect the necessary flow lines to catheters, syringes, etc., and the necessary air inlets, e.g. for intravenous injections. Commonly such connections are made to or through a multiperforate stopper or closure for a glass bottle, one line for outflow of the liquid and another for inflow of air. See for example US. Pat No. 3,014,481.

Commonly, separate devices are connected to or inserted through a rubber cork and the flow lines in turn are connected to these. Complex clamps and other retainers have been proposed to prevent inadvertent disconnections to spill the liquid, allow air to enter improperly, etc. It is highly important for sanitary as well as economic reasons to avoid leakage, and admixture of air into the liquid being administered is likely to endanger the life of the patient.

In addition, it is desirable sometimes to apply supplemental air pressure in addition to the hydrostatic pressure normally provided by elevating the container above the patient, as suggested, for example, in US. Pat. No. 3,230,954. Obviously, if pressure greater than atmospheric is supplied, the risk of fluid leakage is increased. The difliculty of maintaining suitable liquid tight and gas tight connections likewise increases. The present invention is designed to overcome these difliculties.

For the above and other reasons, several attempts have been made in the past to adapt the necessary closure connections to bottles and other containers so that they can be used for intravenous, feeding, transfusions and other body injections. Special clamps for various types of closures, e.g. with tube connectors running throughperforated rubber corks and the like have been so used.

Since at least two connections ordinarily must be made at the bottle closure, one for the liquid outflow and another for an air inlet to break the-vacuum which otherwise would be created and prevent outflow, most prior art devices have been awkward or complicated, unhandy to use, and tending to become unsanitary in service. Surgeons and nurses need to have their hands as free as possible and where feasible they should be able to make necessary safe and reliable connections with one hand. Prior art devices usually have not permitted this. Also,

it is very important, obviously, that reversal of air and llqllld connections can never be made inadvertently.

It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to design a connection adapter which makes reliable and safe connections to liquid containers possible with one hand. Another object is to provide a unitary adapter device for bottles and like containers, which facilitates making double connections, which is leak proof, and which is easy to clean and keep sanitary. Still another object is to design the adapter so that inadvertent reversal of the liquid outlet and air inflow connections is impossible. Other objects and advantages will appear in the detailed description below.

SUMMARY A unitary adapter, for connecting a pair of fluid lines to a liquid containing receptacle such as a bottle having a multi-perforate stopper, so as insure that the two lines will not be interchanged, has tubular elements fixed to a disc or like body element, the outer ends of the tubes being respectively male and female to cooperate respectively with female and male end connections on the fluid lines. The tubular elements also bear enlarged flanges to insure retention in a stopper, such as a resilient perforated cork. Quick release connections to the lines are made by angular locking motion to twist cooperative projections into spiral grooves or the like, i.e. generally similar to bayonet type locking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the adapter per se.

FIG. 2 shows the adapter in perspective, as applied to a conventional bottle having a conventional stopper.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view, taken approximately along the line 33 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings, the adapter per se comprises a base or body element, shown here as a plate or disc 11 of corrosion resistant metal, e.g. chromium or nickel plated brass, Monel metal, stainless steel or the like. Running through disc 11 are shown two tubular connectors 13 and 15. An additional opening 16 is provided for a possible third connection. Connector 13, as shown, comprises a male conical hollow tip element 17. An annular locking shroud 19 surrounds and is annularly spaced from tip 17. Parts 17 and 19 may be integral or may be made separately and secured together with silver solder or equivalent through a common cylindrical base element 18. Tip 17 is continued downwardly as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 by a cylindrical part 20 passing through the base member, plate or disc 11, to which it is secured by silver solder or the like. Below disc 11 the tube has a reduced neck or waist portion 21 adapted to fit snugly and leak-proof within an opening 23 of a conventional two hole rubber cork or stopper 25. A11 enlarged radial flange element 27 followed by a reducing taper 28 below it facilitates insertion of the connector into the rubber stopper and makes removal more diflicult, to prevent accidental or inadvertent pulling of tube 17, 20, 21 out of the stopper. An inner (lower, as seen in FIGS. 2. and 3) cylindrical part 29 extends a short distance beyond the stopper, serving as a trap to catch any small amount of sediment that may settle when the bottle 30 or other equivalent container is inverted for use where enlarged flange 27 locks it.

The outer or upper annular locking part 19 may be provided with a locking element 33. This is shown, in a form known in the art, as a short spiral or helical section of thread or detent, adapted to engage an outer corner of a square or other polygonal shaped female tip element 35 of a liquid flow outlet line 37 which is adapted to be connected therewith (FIG. 2). When the tip 35 is placed over the male tip 17 and pushed down into annular member 19 to a point where one corner (any upper corner) of the tip will engage under the locking element 33, a fractional turn, e.g. to the right, locks the parts securely together, the tip 17 being forced into a fluid tight fit within the complementary tapered opening in member 35. These parts per se are known and are available on the market.

The air inlet line also connects through the adapter by means of tubular element 15. The outer end of this is formed as a female taper 40. It can be complementary to the male tip 17 of part 13, though not intended to be connected therewith. Element 15 has a square or other polygonal shaped upper end part 41 which is analogous to and in some cases may be identical with part 35, FIG. 2. Below part 41 is a cylindrical portion 43 surrounding the internal taper 40. An enlarged cylindrical part 45 tapering down to a smaller cylindrical part 47 follows the cylindrical part .43. A further reduction in diameter 49 is provided to fit in and be secured to the base member 11. Below this, the connector 15 is necked down at 51 to fit snugly within the second opening 52 in the cork or closure 25 where a flange similar to 27 locks it to the closure. Here again an enlarged radial flange or annulus 53, tapered on its lower surface to facilitate insertion into the closure 25, is provided. The enlarged radial flange 53 strongly resists removal from the stopper and thus prevents accidental or inadvertent removal.

A glass or plastic tube 54 fits into the extension 55 of opening 52, extending to the bottom (top, when inverted for use) of the container 30.

An air inlet line 60, FIG. 2, is fitted with an appropri ate male connection to fit the female tip 40; except for reversal, these parts are like elements 17 and 35.

They may be conveniently of identical shapes and sizes, since reversal of the respective parts makes inadvertent reversal of connections impossible. The tip element 62 on tube 60 preferably is provided with an outer annulus and locking element equivalent or identical to the parts 19, 33, already described the locking means and associated tips per se being of known design.

Connection of the liquid flow line is made by inserting the tube end 35 inside the annulus 19 and over the male tip element 17 and giving a short angular twist. Likewise, connection to the air line (which may be at atmospheric pressure or higher pressure if desired) is made by placing the tip 62 of line 60 over the square ended female connector tip 41, 40 and giving a short angular twist to establish a tight connection.

Obviously, the connector tips may be of other designs, so long as they are reversed or otherwise designed to positively prevent inadvertent misconnection. One or both connecting elements in either or both lines may be elastic while its complementary connector is rigid, e.g. one part may be of rubber or other plastic construction or lining while the other is metallic. Instead of the particular shroud and helical thread interlock with a corner element, a bayonet type joint, well known in the art, may be used. The design in any case is one which requires only simple movements for attachment and detachment. It provides preferably for easy and secure locking or unlocking of the connections by use of only one hand.

The whole adapter preferably is formed so that it attaches very securely to the stopper, although it can be removed. by firmly pulling the prongsor. tubes 13, 15 out of the openings 23, 52.

It is desirable in some cases to provide further insurance against disconnection, particularly against inadvertent removal of the stopper itself. To prevent the rubber stopper 25 from coming out of container 30 inadvertently, a band 70 of adhesive tape or of metal may be wrapped around the flange of the cork and the neck of the container with its edges inturned, as shown in FIG. 3. A simpler fastener, usually preferred because it is very easy to apply and remove, is a simple strip of adhesive tape 72 pulled over the stopper with its ends running down and secured to the opposite sides of the container as shown in FIG. 3.

It will be understood that various modifications and adaptations may be made within the spirit and purpose of the invention,.as will readily occur to those skilled in the art. For example, the connecting parts may both be elastic, or one elastic and one rigid, etc., if. it is not desired to .use the conventional tapered connections described.

What is claimed is:

1. An adapter for connecting a pair of fluid lines having respectively female and male end connections to a liquid receptacle through a multiperforate stopper, said adapter comprising, in combination, a main body element, a pair of connector tubes secured to said body element, each tube being designed for insertion and retention in one of the perforations in said stopper, each of said tubes having a shank or neck portion of relatively reduced diameter terminated by an enlarged radially projecting flange for holding said portion firmly in the stopper, one of said connector tubes having a male end connection for fitting into the aforesaid female connection on one of said fluid lines, the other of said tubes having a female end connection for receiving the aforesaid male connection on the other of said fluid lines, and quick release means comprising cooperating groove and projection elements embodied in said male and female connections for locking said lines to said tubes by a short angular twist of respective parts at each connection, the arrangement of said male and female parts being such as to insure against'inadvertent interchange of connections between said tubes and lines.

2. An adapter according to claim 1 wherein at least one member of each male and female set of connections is of resilient material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS THOMAS F. CALLAGHAN, Primary Examiner us. 01. X.R.

12s 214; 215 79; 2ss-1sa 401

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