WO2009017316A2

WO2009017316A2 - Apparatus for regulating liquid medicine

Info

Publication number: WO2009017316A2
Application number: PCT/KR2008/004238
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyo Nam Park
Original assignee: Hyo Nam Park
Priority date: 2007-07-27
Filing date: 2008-07-21
Publication date: 2009-02-05
Also published as: KR100805556B1; WO2009017316A3

Abstract

Provided is an apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine. The apparatus includes a fixing member, a connection member, a regulation member, a purge member, an elastic member, and a locking member. The fixing member guides a flow of the liquid medicine. The connection member is fixedly inserted into an inner side of the fixing member. The regulation member is inserted into the inner side of the fixing member with surrounding the connection member in order to regulate an amount of the liquid medicine. The purge member is connected with the connection member to regulate the flow of the liquid medicine by pushing the connection member when being given a predetermined pressure. The elastic member is mounted on the connection member to return the connection member to an original position of the connection member after release of the predetermined pressure. The locking member is positioned between a top surface of the regulation member and a bottom surface of the purge member to lock movements of the purge member and the regulation member. The regulation member includes an inclined path formed on a top surface thereof and the locking member ascends along the inclined path and then is fixed, thereby locking the movements of the purge member and the regulation member. The apparatus is locked after the amount of the liquid medicine to be injected is set, so that the apparatus can be prevented from being arbitrarily operated, thereby allowing stable injection of the liquid medicine.

Description

[DESCRIPTION] [INVENTION TITLE]

APPARATUS FOR REGULATING LIQUID MEDICINE

[TECHNICAL FIELD]

The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine for a liquid medicine injection apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine, in which the apparatus is prevented from being arbitrarily operated after the amount of injection of the liquid medicine is set, thereby allowing the liquid medicine to be injected stably.

[BACKGROUND ART]

Nutrients, glucose, and/or medicines are given to patients in hospital or invalids suffering from digestion problems by means of liquid medicine injection apparatuses, often called Ringer. Liquid medicine injection apparatuses, commonly found in places such as hospitals, use a manner in which a hose's end connected to a Ringer bottle or a pack and an injection needle inserted into a blood vessel of a patient are connected with each other in order to give a liquid medicine contained in the Ringer bottle or the pack to the blood vessel of the patient.

The amount or duration of injection has to be regulated according to a patient's condition and a type of a liquid medicine, i.e., glucose, a nutrient, or other medicines. To this end, a liquid medicine regulator for regulating the amount of a liquid medicine to be injected is used.

A common liquid medicine regulator is installed such that a hose connected with an injection needle is received inside the liquid medicine regulator and the cross section of the hose is reduced or enlarged by means of a pressure roller moving within an inclined groove in order to regulate the amount of the liquid medicine.

However, in such a conventional liquid medicine regulator, the pressure roller pressurizing the hose gradually moves from its original pressure position due to a restoring force of the hose made of a soft synthetic resin material or a rubber material, as a result of which the cross section of the hose is enlarged and thus a liquid medicine may be excessively injected. Such a result may also cause an emergency situation of a patient. For this reason, protector's or nurse's careful observation is required. Moreover, for successive injections of a liquid medicine, the injection amount of the liquid medicine has to be regulated again at the time of replacement of a Ringer bottle or a pack and it is difficult to set the injection amount to be the same as before.

Another example of conventional liquid medicine regulators regulates the injection amount of a liquid medicine by using an insertion piece which has a flow path along the circumference of its side wall and a regulation member including an insertion piece which has a flow groove along the circumference of its side wall.

In such a liquid medicine regulator, however, when the cross section of the flow path is reduced for fine regulation of the injection amount, a rubber packing included in the liquid medicine regulator blocks the flow path, making it impossible to finely regulate the injection amount, or fine regulation, if at all, is performed by eye measurement, making it difficult to accurately regulate the injection amount. Recently, an injector capable of automatically and finely regulating the flow rate of a liquid medicine has been widely used. However, the injector is expensive and needs separate installation and management from a liquid medicine regulator, resulting in difficult keeping and management. Moreover, the injector has frequent malfunction and troubles, due to which the liquid medicine may not be given to or may be excessively given to the patient, inviting danger to the patient.

Furthermore, since the conventional liquid medicine regulator does not provide a separate safety device, non-expert's mistaken manipulation of the liquid medicine regulator during supply of the liquid medicine to the patient may lead to a fatal accident.

For replacement of a Ringer bottle or a pack containing the liquid medicine, air contained in the hose has to be first taken out of the hose and then the liquid medicine is filled in the hose. At this time, when using the conventional liquid medicine regulator, the injection amount has to be set maximum or the liquid medicine regulator has to be opened so as to take out the liquid medicine, and then regulation has to be performed again for a desired amount of injection. [DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION]

[TECHNICAL PROBLEM]

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine, in which the apparatus is prevented from being arbitrarily operated after the amount of injection of the liquid medicine is set, thereby allowing the liquid medicine to be injected stably. [TECHNICAL SOLUTION]

An apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine according to an embodiment of the present invention to solve the foregoing technical problem includes a fixing member, a connection member, a regulation member, a purge member, an elastic member, and a locking member. The fixing member guides a flow of the liquid medicine. The connection member is fixedly inserted into an inner side of the fixing member. The regulation member is inserted into the inner side of the fixing member with surrounding the connection member in order to regulate an amount of the liquid medicine. The purge member is connected with the connection member to regulate the flow of the liquid medicine by pushing the connection member when being given a predetermined pressure. The elastic member is mounted on the connection member to return the connection member to an original position of the connection member after release of the predetermined pressure. The locking member is positioned between a top surface of the regulation member and a bottom surface of the purge member to lock movements of the purge member and the regulation member. The regulation member includes an inclined path formed on a top surface thereof and the locking member ascends along the inclined path and then is fixed, thereby locking the movements of the purge member and the regulation member.

The locking member may include an inclined-path insertion hole into which the inclined path is inserted when the purge member is pressed.

The regulation member may further include a settling groove formed in a highest position of the inclined path, and the locking member may further include a settling protrusion which ascends along the inclined path and then is settled in the settling groove.

The regulation member may further include a support protrusion formed adjacent to the settling groove to prevent movement of the settling protrusion in such a way that the settling protrusion does not pass by the settling groove.

[ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS]

As described above, an apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine according to an embodiment of the present invention is locked after the amount of a liquid medicine to be injected is set, so that the apparatus can be prevented from being arbitrarily operated, thereby allowing stable injection of the liquid medicine.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS]

FIG. 1 illustrates a general liquid medicine injection apparatus;

FIGS. 2A through D illustrate an apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 4A through 4C are perspective views of a fixing member, a connection member, and a regulation member illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an assembled view of the fixing member, the connection member, and the regulation member;

FIGS. 6A through 6C are perspective views of the regulation member, a locking member, and a purge member illustrated in FIG. 3; and FIG. 7 is an assembled view of the regulation member, the locking member, and the purge member.

[BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION]

To fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and objects achieved by the working of the present invention, reference should be made to the drawings and descriptions on the drawings.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail by describing an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1 illustrates a general liquid medicine injection apparatus 100. The liquid medicine injection apparatus 100 includes a pack 110, a hose 130, a liquid medicine regulator 150, and an injection needle 170. The pack 110 contains a liquid medicine which is introduced into the hose 130 connected under the pack 110 and then is injected to a patient. The liquid medicine regulator 150 is installed on the hose 130 to regulate the amount of the liquid medicine injected to the patient. The injection needle 170 is connected to the end of the hose 130 to be inserted into a vessel of the patient. The present invention relates to the liquid medicine regulator 150 of the liquid medicine injection apparatus 100. A detailed description will now be made of a liquid medicine regulator (or an apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A through 2D illustrate an apparatus 200 for regulating a liquid medicine according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a front view, FIG. 2B is a rear view, FIG. 2C is a side view, and FIG. 2D is a perspective view. As illustrated in FIGS. 2A through 2D, the apparatus 200 may have a grip 195 installed therein for user's convenience. In the apparatus 200, there are installed an upper via portion 140 to which the hose 130 connected to the pack 110 (or a Ringer bottle) is connected and a lower via portion 160 to which the hose 130 connected to the injection needle 170 is connected. The apparatus 200 regulates the amount of a liquid medicine introduced to the upper via portion 140 and let the liquid medicine flow through the lower via portion 160. Hereinafter, the structure and operation of the apparatus 200 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 through 7. FIG. 3 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the apparatus 200 for regulating a liquid medicine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 200 includes a fixing member 210, a connection member 230, a regulation member 250, a locking member 270, and a purge member 290.

The fixing member 210 guides the flow of the liquid medicine introduced through the upper via portion 140 in order to let the introduced liquid medicine flow through the lower via portion 160. The connection member 230 is fixedly inserted into the inner side of the fixing member 210 and is coupled with the purge member 290. The regulation member 250 is inserted into the inner side of the fixing member 210, with surrounding the connection member 230, in order to be coupled with the fixing member 210. The regulation member 250 substantially regulates the amount of the liquid medicine.

The purge member 290 is connected with the connection member 230. The purge member 290, when given a predetermined pressure (like when pressed by the hand), pushes the connection member 230 connected therewith in a direction the pressure is applied, thereby regulating the flow of the liquid medicine. Although not shown in FIG. 3, an elastic member (not shown) may be mounted in the connection member 230 in order to return the connection member 230 to the home position after release of a predetermined pressure if the connection member 230 is pushed from the home position by the predetermined pressure. A structure associated with the purge member 290 and the elastic member will be described later.

The purge member 290 may include a cover member 295. The purge member 290 may be manufactured as having an open central portion during a manufacturing stage, and the cover member 295 covers the open central portion of the purge member 290. In the following description, the structure and operation of the apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described on the assumption that the central portion of the purge member 290 is covered with the cover member 295.

The locking member 270 is installed between a top surface of the regulation member 250 and a bottom surface of the purge member 290 to lock movement of the purge member 290, so that the purge member 290, even when given a pressure, does not push the connection member 230. The detailed structure and operation of the locking member 270 associated with the regulation member 250 and the purge member 290 will be described later. Referring to FIGS. 4A through 5, a description will be made regarding an operation of regulating the liquid medicine by the apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4A through 4C are perspective views of the fixing member 210, the connection member 230, and the regulation member 250 and FIG. 5 is an assembled view of the fixing member 210, the connection member 230, and the regulation member 250. For convenience of explanation, FIG. 5 illustrates the fixing member 210, the connection member 230, and the regulation member 250 with focusing on actually connected portions.

The fixing member 210 includes the upper via portion 140, an inner via portion 211 , and the lower via portion 160 which are in an integrated cylindrical shape. The upper via portion 140 includes an upper tube connection portion 145 which is connected with the hose 130 connected to the Ringer bottle or the pack 110 in order to guide the liquid medicine to flow through the hose 130 to the inner via portion 211. The lower via portion 160 includes a lower tube connection portion 165 which is connected with the hose 130 connected to the injection needle 170 in order to guide the liquid medicine to flow through the inner via portion 211 to the hose 130.

At least one pair of protrusions 213 are formed in a side of the inner via portion 211. A fixing rod 231 of the connection member 230 is inserted into the protrusions 213, thereby fixing the connection member 230. Another side of the inner via portion 211 is opened to allow the connection member 230 to be inserted thereinto, and has at least one fixing piece 215 formed at its end. The fixing piece 215 is coupled with a fixing protrusion 254 of the regulation member 250, whereby the regulation member 250 and the fixing member 210 are coupled with each other. The connection member 230 includes a cylindrical connection rod 233 and a circular-disc shaped support plate 235. At least one fixing rods 231 are formed protruding from the support plate 235, and are fixed between the pair of protrusions 213 installed in the inner via portion 211 of the fixing member 210. The support plate 235 also has formed thereon at least one connection hole 237 through which the liquid medicine flows. The regulation member 250 includes a rotation portion 251 and an introduction regulation rod 253 which are integrated as one piece. The rotation portion 251 is in a circular-disc shape and preferably includes an indication unit (not shown) for indicating the amount of liquid medicine flow along the circumference of the circular disc.

The introduction regulation rod 253 includes a pupillary cutting piece 2531 , a pupillary cylindrical connection portion 2533, and a flow path 2535. The cutting piece 2531 has a predetermined depth inward from its side and a portion of its side is cut. The cylindrical connection portion 2533 is disposed in the center of the cutting piece 2531 , and the connection rod 233 is inserted into the pupil of the cylindrical connection portion 2533.

The flow path 2535 is formed along the outer circumference of the cutting piece 2531 , with a progressively increasing width. In an embodiment of the present invention, the flow path 2535 may be formed by cutting a portion of a cylinder along the lateral circumferential face of the introduction regulation rod 253 inserted into the fixing member 210, and in particular, the flow path 2535 preferably has a progressively increasing width along the circumference of the cylinder.

In this case, if the rotation portion 251 is rotated in a predetermined direction (e.g., in a clockwise direction), the flow path 2535 having a width and/or depth corresponding to the liquid medicine amount indicated in the indication unit (not shown) is connected with an upper via hole 141 of the upper via portion 140. In this way, the flow path 2535 having a width and a depth corresponding to the liquid medicine amount indicated in the rotation portion 251 is connected with the upper via hole 141 of the fixing member 210, thereby regulating the liquid medicine amount. Referring to FIGS. 4A through 5, a description will be made regarding an operation of guiding the liquid medicine introduced through the upper via hole 141 to a lower via hole 151 of the lower via portion 160. Once the liquid medicine of the amount indicated in the rotation portion 251 is introduced by rotation of the rotation portion 251 , a space of the cutting piece 2531 is filled with the liquid medicine. The liquid medicine filled in the space of the cutting piece 2531 flows to an empty space of the inner via portion 211 through the connection hole 237 of the support plate 235 and then flows to the hose 130 through the lower via hole 161.

With reference to FIGS. 6A through 7, a description will be made regarding an operation of regulating the flow of the liquid medicine by the purge member 290. FIGS. 6A through 6C are perspective views of the regulation member 250, the locking member 270, and the purge member 290, and FIG. 7 is an assembled view of the regulation member 250, the locking member 270, and the purge member 290. As shown in FIG. 7, the connection rod 233 of the connection member 230 is inserted into the pupillary cylindrical connection portion 2533 formed in the center of the regulation member 250 in order to be connected with the purge member 290. More specifically, a connection protrusion 239 formed at an end of the connection rod 233 is coupled with a connection groove 291 of the purge member 290, whereby the connection member 230 and the purge member 290 are connected with each other and thus move together.

For regulation of the flow of the liquid medicine, once the purge member 290 is pressed by a pressure such as a press by the hand, the connection member 230 connected with the purge member 290 also moves in a direction the pressure is applied. Referring to FIG. 5, when the purge member 290 is pressed, the connection member 290 moves downwardly and thus a space is formed between the support plate 235 and the introduction regulation rod 253. As a result, the liquid medicine flowing through the upper via hole 141 flows through the space formed between the support plate 235 and the introduction regulation rod 253 without regulation of the amount of the liquid medicine by means of the flow path 2535, thereby regulating the flow of the liquid medicine.

In other words, when the Ringer bottle or the pack 110 is replaced or a bubble present in the hose 130 has to be removed, the flow of the liquid medicine can be regulated by pressing the purge member 290 as described above. After the flow of the liquid medicine is regulated, the purge member 290 is returned to the original position by releasing the pressure, e.g., by removing the hand from the purge member 290, and then the amount of liquid medicine can be regulated by using the regulation member 250. As previously described, although not shown in the figures, an elastic member for returning the purge member 290 to the original position may be further included in the apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art can easily implement a constitution for returning the purge member 290 to the original position by using the elastic member.

For example, by mounting an elastic member such as a spring in a space (A of FIG. 7) between the regulation member 250 and the connection member 230, the constitution for returning the purge member 290 to the original position may be implemented. Alternatively, the constitution for returning the purge member 290 to the original position may be implemented by mounting the elastic member between the support plate 235 or the fixing rod 231 and a bottom surface of the fixing member 210. As shown in FIG. 5, the fixing piece 215 of the fixing member 210 is coupled to the fixing protrusion 254 of the regulation member 250, whereby the regulation member 250 and the fixing member 210 are coupled with each other. At this time, the support plate 235 of the connection member 230 is supported by a lower portion of the introduction regulation rod 253, thereby preventing the connection member 230 from being deviated outside.

As shown in FIG. 7, the regulation member 250 and the locking member 270 are positioned between the connection member 230 and the purge member 290, wherein the purge member 290 moves in the space between the regulation member 250 and the purge member 290 to regulate the flow of the liquid medicine in an embodiment of the present invention. As previously mentioned, the locking member 270 prevents the liquid medicine from being injected to a patient at a time by locking the purge member 290.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking member 270 is positioned in the space between the regulation member 250 and the purge member 290 to prevent the purge member 290 from moving in this space and at the same time, to prevent the regulation member 250 from moving in this space. Hereinafter, the locking operation of the locking member 270 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 6A through 6C, the regulation member 250 includes on its top surface, an inclined path 255 which has a progressively increasing height. In an embodiment of the present invention, the locking member 270 ascends along the inclined path 255 by its rotation and is fixed at the highest position of the inclined path 255, thereby preventing the purge member 290 from being pressed. The locking member 270, because of being fixedly inserted between the purge member 290 and the regulation member 250, prevents the purge member 290 from being pressed and at the same time, prevents the regulation member 250 from moving, thereby preventing the apparatus 200 from being arbitrarily manipulated after the amount of the liquid medicine is set. To be more specific about the structure and operation of the locking member

270, the locking member 270 may include an inclined-path insertion hole 271 into which the inclined path 255 is inserted when the purge member 290 is pressed. In other words, when the purge member 290 is not locked, the locking member 270 and the regulation member 250 are positioned such that the inclined path 255 and the inclined-path insertion hole 271 correspond to each other in position. Thus, when the purge member 290 is pressed, the inclined path 255 is inserted into the inclined-path insertion hole 271 , whereby the purge member 290 can move up and down in the space between the regulation member 250 and the purge member 290. On the other hand, when the purge member 290 is locked, the locking member 270 is rotated to cause the inclined path 255 not to be inserted into the inclined-path insertion hole 271 , thereby preventing the purge member 290 from moving up and down in the space between the regulation member 250 and the purge member 290. To effectively lock the purge member 290, the regulation member 250 may further include a settling groove 257 formed in the highest portion of the inclined path 255, and the locking member 270 may further include a settling protrusion 273 which ascends along the inclined path 255 and then is settled in the settling groove 257. In this case, for stable settlement, it is preferable that the periphery of the settling groove 257 and the settling protrusion 273 are formed in parallel with each other (see FIG. 6). FIG. 7 is an assembled cross-sectional view illustrating a case where the settling protrusion 273 is settled in the settling groove 257 to lock the purge member 290. In this case, the locking member 270 is fixed in the space between the regulation member 250 and the purge member 290 such that the purge member 290 cannot move up and down.

When the purge member 290 is not locked, the inclined path 255 and the inclined-path insertion hole 271 have to be positioned to face each other. To this end, the regulation member 250 may be formed adjacent to the settling groove 257 and further include a support member 259. The support protrusion 257 prevents the movement of the settling protrusion 271 in such a way that the settling protrusion 271 does not pass by the settling groove 257, thereby positioning the inclined path 255 and the inclined-path insertion hole 271 to face each other.

The embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed in the drawings and specification. Although specific terms are used in the foregoing description, these terms are merely for purpose of illustration and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention. Accordingly, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

[INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY]

The present invention can be applied in the manufacturing field of liquid medicine injection apparatuses.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

1. An apparatus for regulating a liquid medicine, the apparatus comprising: a fixing member guiding a flow of the liquid medicine; a connection member fixedly inserted into an inner side of the fixing member; a regulation member inserted into the inner side of the fixing member with surrounding the connection member in order to regulate an amount of the liquid medicine; a purge member connected with the connection member to regulate the flow of the liquid medicine by pushing the connection member when being given a predetermined pressure; an elastic member mounted on the connection member to return the connection member to an original position of the connection member after release of the predetermined pressure; and a locking member positioned between a top surface of the regulation member and a bottom surface of the purge member to lock movements of the purge member and the regulation member, wherein the regulation member comprises an inclined path formed on a top surface thereof and the locking member ascends along the inclined path and then is fixed, thereby locking the movements of the purge member and the regulation member.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the locking member comprises an inclined-path insertion hole into which the inclined path is inserted when the purge member is pressed.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the regulation member further comprises a settling groove formed in a highest position of the inclined path, and the locking member further comprises a settling protrusion which ascends along the inclined path and then is settled in the settling groove.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the regulation member further comprises a support protrusion formed adjacent to the settling groove to prevent movement of the settling protrusion.