Search

EP-3708217-B1 - FLUSH DEVICE AND IRRIGATION LINE

EP3708217B1EP 3708217 B1EP3708217 B1EP 3708217B1EP-3708217-B1

Inventors

  • MATSUMOTO, YASUSHI
  • MATSUMOTO, KUNIAKI

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20180911

Claims (8)

  1. A flush device (1) comprising: a first housing (6) provided with a first flow path (61) having a central axis (101) and a pair of shaft holes (88); a second housing (7) provided with a second flow path (71) extending along the central axis (101) and a pair of shaft holes (99), the second housing (7) being coupled to the first housing (6); a flow control device (3) including: - a base (31) located between the first flow path (61) and the second flow path (71); - a protrusion (32) having a base end (32a) on a side of the base (31) and a leading end (32b) located inside the first flow path (61), the protrusion (32) extending along the central axis (101, 103) from the base end (32a) toward the leading end (32b); and - a through hole (33) extending along the central axis (103) through both the base (31) and the protrusion (32) to connect the first flow path (61) to the second flow path (71) in fluid communication; an elastic member (4; 4a) provided around the base (31) of the flow control device (3) to seal off a space between the first flow path (61) and the second flow path (71); a pair of wings (5), each having a shaft portion (52), for deforming the elastic member (4; 4a), the shaft portion (52) extending parallel to the central axis (101); and a hinge mechanism, formed by the shaft portions (52) inserted into the shaft holes (88 and 99), for rotatably supporting each of the wings (5) with respect to the first housing (6) and the second housing (7), wherein the elastic member (4; 4a) is configured to be deformable to form a gap between the elastic member (4; 4a) and an outer periphery of the base (31) of the flow control device (3), thereby forming a bypass flow path (105) for further fluid communication between the first flow path (61) and the second flow path (71), the protrusion (32) of the flow control device (3) is provided on its outer periphery with a plurality of fitting projections (35), and the first housing (6) has an inner periphery defining the first flow path (61), the inner periphery being provided with a plurality of fitting receiving portions (65) each being fitted to each of the plurality of fitting projections (35).
  2. The flush device (1) according to Claim 1, wherein the protrusion (32) is disposed with a predetermined interval (104) away from the inner periphery defining the first flow path (61), and a plurality of spacers (36) are provided on the outer periphery of the protrusion (32) and on the side of the base end (32a) of the plurality of fitting projections (35) in the flow control device (3).
  3. The flush device (1) according to Claim 2, wherein the plurality of spacers (36) each butt the inner periphery defining the first flow path (61).
  4. The flush device (1) according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the first housing (6) is coupled to the second housing (7) by means of a coupling mechanism, and the coupling mechanism includes a claw (83a, 87a) provided at an end of one of the first housing (6) and the second housing (7), and a claw receiving portion (93, 97) provided at an end of the other of the first housing (6) and the second housing (7), the claw receiving portion (93, 97) being fitted to the claw (83a, 87a).
  5. The flush device (1) according to Claim 4, wherein the coupling mechanism includes an arm (94, 98) extending from the claw receiving portion (93, 97) toward one of the first housing (6) and the second housing (7), and an arm receiving portion (82b, 86) provided at an end of one of the first housing (6) and the second housing (7) to receive the arm (94, 98) for restricting relative rotation of the first housing (6) with respect to the second housing (7).
  6. The flush device (1) according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein each of the wings (5, 5) includes: a pressing portion (54) for pressing and deforming the elastic member (4).
  7. The flush device (1) according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the elastic member (4) includes a positioning marker (43) provided integrally with the elastic member (4).
  8. An irrigation line (10) comprising: the flush device (1) according to any one of Claims 1 to 7.

Description

[TECHNICAL FIELD] The present invention relates to a flush device and an irrigation line including the flush device. [BACKGROUND] In irrigation lines (also referred to as pressure monitoring tube sets) used for invasive blood pressure measurement and cerebrospinal fluid pressure measurement during surgery, blood pressure or fluid pressure is measured by converting the blood pressure or fluid pressure transmitted through a catheter and a tube into an electrical signal using a pressure transducer. Before the catheter is inserted into the body of a patient, the tube is filled with a physiological saline solution. If a thrombus is formed in the tube or in a portion of the catheter, the thrombus may enter the body of the patient through the catheter. Thus, the irrigation line is provided with a flush device which is configured to contiguously discharge a small amount of physiological saline solution to prevent any thrombi from being formed in the tube or the like. Patent Document 1 discloses a flush device including a first housing provided with a first flow path located on a side of a supply source of physiological saline solution, a second housing provided with a second flow path located on a side of the body of a patient, and a flow control device provided between the first flow path and the second flow path. The flow control device is provided with an orifice with a small diameter. The physiological saline solution in trace amounts coming from the first flow path is contiguously discharged toward the second flow path through the orifice. The flow control device is fixed to the second housing by ultrasonic welding. [PRIOR ART DOCUMENT] [PATENT DOCUMENT] [Patent Document 1] US 5,820,565 A US 5 820 565 A discloses a flush valve in which flexible arms of a clamp are integrally connected to a floor. The clamp functions as a selecting means for selectively positioning a sealing tube in open and closed positions. [SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION] [PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION] When the flow rate of the physiological saline solution discharged from the flush device is too small, a thrombus may not be prevented from being generated. On the contrary, when the flow rate is too high, a large amount of the physiological saline solution enters the body of a patient through the catheter. This may adversely affect the body of the patient. In particular, when the surgery is performed for a long time, this problem occurs remarkably. Thus, the flush device is required to discharge a physiological saline solution at a flow rate close to a defined amount. Here, it is known that an amount of a chemical liquid discharged from the flush device can be greatly changed depending on positioning of the flow control device. The flush device of Patent Document 1 employs a structure in which the flow control device is fixed to the second housing by ultrasonic bonding, the structure having room for improvement in terms of a mechanism for positioning the flow control device. The present invention is made to solve the above-described problem, and an object thereof is to provide a flush device capable of discharging a chemical liquid at a flow rate close to a defined amount. [MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM] The above object is achieved with the features of the independent claim. According to the present invention, the fitting projections of the flow control device are fitted to the fitting receiving portions of the first housing, so that the flow control device can be disposed with the through hole extending along the central axis of the first housing. Thus, a flush device can be realized for discharging a chemical liquid at a flow rate closer to a defined amount through the flow control device. [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an irrigation line provided with a flush device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the flush device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Fig. 3 is an assembly view illustrating the flush device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Fig. 4 is a plan view illustrating the flush device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Fig. 5 is a side view illustrating the flush device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Fig. 6 is a front view illustrating the flush device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A and viewed in a direction of the arrow in Fig. 6.Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a first housing.Fig. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a second housing.Fig. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a flow control device.Fig. 11 is a perspective view illustrating the flow control device.Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the flow control device.Fig. 13 is a perspective view illustrating an elastic member.Fig. 14 is a perspective view illustrating a