Gas and liquid contact apparatus – Contact devices – Liquid tank
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-03
2001-03-20
Bushey, C. Scott (Department: 1724)
Gas and liquid contact apparatus
Contact devices
Liquid tank
C261S122100, C261S124000, C261SDIG006, C128S203120
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202991
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, in general, to bubble humidifiers for humidifying gas, and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a bubble humidifier for humidifying a gas which is sent to a patient and, still more particularly, the present invention relates to a bubble humidifier which includes a valve inlet therein such that a humidifying liquid, such as water, may be added to the humidifier unit without disassembling the humidifier unit.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Bubble humidifiers are common devices used by patients having lung difficulties for humidifying a gas, such as oxygen, before the gas is sent to the patients. Often, patients require daily oxygen treatments, thus it is necessary to humidify the gas so as to prevent drying of the patients mucous membrane. Drying of mucous membranes can cause serious health problems because the patient becomes susceptible to germs, bacteria, and infection. Due to rising costs in the medical industry, many patients are currently administering the oxygen treatments to themselves at home. Hence, the disposable single patient use bubble humidifier has become a commonly purchased product in the home health care industry.
A commonly used disposable single patient use bubble humidifier comprises a container for holding a humidifying liquid, such as water, and a lid for closing the container. The lid includes a gas inlet which is capable of being attached to a gas source, such as oxygen, a means communicating with the gas inlet for transporting the gas into the liquid in the container to cause the gas to become humidified, and a gas outlet which sends the humidified gas via tubing to the patient. These devices also typically include a safety valve which activates to vent excess gas within the container should an obstruction occur in the tubing which feeds the humidified gas to the patient. Typically the lid is threadedly engageable with the container so that water, or humidifying liquid, can be added to the container as the supply therein becomes depleted during use.
Home health care providers often make service calls to their patients should the patients encounter any difficulty with their equipment. In the case of these disposable single patient use bubble humidifiers, unnecessary service calls are being made because the patients have difficulty reassembling the unit after they have added the humidifying liquid to the container. This difficultly is especially prevalent in patients who have physical impairments, such as Arthritis, Parkinson's and the like, that prevent them from manipulating the components of the humidifier, specifically screwing the lid onto the container.
Another disadvantage in the design of the currently used disposable single patient use humidifier is that the patient may not get a sufficient seal between the lid and the container, causing the gas to leak from the container resulting in the patient not receiving their prescribed flow of oxygen deleteriously affecting the patient's long-term health. A further disadvantage is that the patient could accidentally drop the container with the humidifying liquid therein, spilling its contents during reassembly of the unit. Any or all of these disadvantages could be a disincentive for the patient to use the bubble humidifier during their oxygen treatments. This, in turn, can cause other health care problems from infections due to drying out of the patient's mucous membranes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a bubble humidifier for humidifying a gas which is sent to a patient wherein the bubble humidifier includes a means for easily adding a humidifying liquid therein.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a bubble humidifier which includes a valve inlet therein such that a humidifying liquid, such as water, may be added to the humidifier unit without disassembling the humidifier unit.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a bubble humidifier design which reduces the number of service calls being made to home health care patients.
It is another object of the invention to provide a means for retrofitting currently used bubble humidifiers with a one way valve inlet such that a humidifying liquid may be added to these currently used bubble humidifiers in order to obtain any and/or all of the advantages, as enumerated above, in an economical manner.
Briefly, and in accordance with the forgoing objects, the invention comprises a bubble humidifier for humidifying a gas sent to a patient comprising a container member including a top portion, bottom wall, and at least one peripheral sidewall defining a chamber capable of containing a liquid therein, a lid engageable with the container member, a gas inlet means associated with the lid which is also attached to a gas source, a means within the container member for transporting gas fed from the gas inlet means to the liquid to cause this gas to become humidified, a gas outlet means associated with the lid which sends the humidified gas to a patient, and a valve means, preferably a one way valve means, associated with the container member to enable liquid to be added into this container member. The valve means for allowing the application of the humidifying liquid into the container member can be provided on the lid, the container member, or on a separate insert member which may be positioned between and engaged with the lid and the container member.
The invention also includes a method of retrofitting currently used bubble humidifiers with a valve for allowing the application of a humidifying liquid therein by providing an insert member having an open top portion, an open bottom portion, and at least one peripheral sidewall which can be positioned between the top portion of the container member and the bottom portion of the lid. Provided on the at least one peripheral sidewall of this insert member is a valve, preferably a one way valve, which enables the application of liquid into the container member of the bubble humidifier.
Although a number of specific objects and advantages of the present invention have been described in some detail above, various other objects and advantages of the inventive bubble humidifier including a valve means enabling the application of humidifying liquid into the bubble humidifier without disassembly of the humidifier will become much more readily apparent to those persons who are skilled in the art from the following more detailed description of the invention, particularly, when such description is taken in conjunction with both the attached drawing figures and with the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 529684 (1894-11-01), Rogers
patent: 1098623 (1914-06-01), Haeusler
patent: 3583685 (1971-06-01), Boerger et al.
patent: 3767172 (1973-10-01), Mills
patent: 3982095 (1976-09-01), Robinson
patent: 4101611 (1978-07-01), Williams
patent: 5505236 (1996-04-01), Grabenkort et al.
Coniglio Nicholas Edward
Mellon, Jr. Harry Francis
Bushey C. Scott
James Ray & Associates
LandOfFree
Bubble humidifier with valve inlet for supplying liquid therein does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Bubble humidifier with valve inlet for supplying liquid therein, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Bubble humidifier with valve inlet for supplying liquid therein will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2487609