Surgery – Reproduction and fertilization techniques – Artificial insemination
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-14
2001-09-25
Hindenburg, Max (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Reproduction and fertilization techniques
Artificial insemination
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293905
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns storage tubes adapted to contain animal semen and used for artificial insemination, and more particularly catheters for artificial insemination of birds, in particular turkeys.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Such catheters are well known per se; generally made of a plastics material, their length is in the order of 10 cm, their outside diameter is in the order of 4 mm and their inside diameter is in the order of 3.3 mm throughout the length of the tube, the overall thickness of the wall of the tube being 0.35 mm.
The order of magnitude of the above dimensions responds to various imperatives; such catheters are, of course, suited to the anatomy of turkeys; moreover, firstly, they are designed to be used only once, to prevent contamination; they are therefore designed to contain only one dose of semen; secondly, to simplify handling, given the viscosity of semen, the semen is retained in the tube by capillary action; thirdly, they are suited to filling devices or machines and to emptying devices or guns designed to prevent any contact of the hands with the catheters.
Documents EP-A-0 084 749, EP-A-0 066 488 and FR-A-1 488 345 disclose catheters in which one or each end has an inside diameter that is small compared to the outside diameter of the catheter.
Until now, such catheters have been very useful.
However, because of considerations of economy and therefore of cost-effectiveness, it has become necessary to dilute animal semen increasingly, up to a dilution of two volumes of diluent for one volume of semen, which reduces the viscosity of the semen to a level close to the viscosity of water; the diluted semen can then no longer be retained in the catheter by capillary action.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One aim of the present invention is to solve this problem simply and at low cost, and to propose a new catheter having all the advantages of the old one, by virtue of keeping general dimensions suiting it to the anatomy of turkeys in particular, containing only one dose of semen and being compatible with existing filling and emptying devices, retaining the semen by capillary action even though the semen is more dilute than in the past.
The invention is based on the observation that, on the one hand, it is easy to reduce the inside diameter of a plastics material tube formed by extrusion by up to two-thirds, or even three-quarters, of the inside diameter of said tube, by simple cold forming at the exit from the extruding machine, and, on the other hand, such reduction is sufficient to solve the problem as stated above encountered with catheters containing dilute semen for artificial insemination of birds, in particular turkeys.
Accordingly, a catheter in accordance with the invention for artificial insemination of birds, in particular turkeys, comprising an extruded plastics material tube, each end of the tube being shaped so that the inside diameter of the tube at its ends is small, is characterized in that the inside diameter of the tube at its ends is reduced to a value in the range from two-thirds to three-quarters the inside diameter of the tube, the reduction possibly being obtained by cold forming at the exit from the extruding machine.
None of the catheters disclosed in the documents cited above has these features; they are suitable only for undiluted semen.
The plastics material of the tube is preferably polyvinyl chloride. Other thermoplastics materials may be suitable, for example polyethylene glycol terephtalate.
Each end preferably has an eyelet obtained by turning in the terminal part of each end.
The outside diameter of the tube is advantageously in the order of 4 mm and its thickness is advantageously in the order of 0.35 mm.
The turned-in part forming the eyelet preferably extends into the tube a distance in the range approximately three times to approximately six times the thickness of the tube; the cylindrical wall of the eyelet facing the inside wall of the tube is pressed against the latter; alternatively, the cylindrical wall of the eyelet facing the inside wall of the tube is at a radial distance from the latter at most equal to seven-tenths the thickness of the tube; the cylindrical wall of the eyelet facing the inside wall of the tube advantageously terminates in a frustoconical part tapering toward the inside of the tube.
In another embodiment, each end has a globally transverse rim.
In a further embodiment, each end has a smaller diameter than the remainder of the tube.
The present invention also consists in a method of producing a catheter for artificial insemination of birds, consisting of a plastics material tube; in accordance with the invention, the method is characterized in that the tube is extruded and each end is cold formed to have the features of the above catheter.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4628783 (1986-12-01), Brownell et al.
patent: 5589120 (1996-12-01), Khan et al.
patent: 0 066 488 (1982-12-01), None
patent: 0 084 749 (1983-08-01), None
patent: 1 488 345 (1967-10-01), None
Hindenburg Max
IMV Technologies
Young & Thompson
LandOfFree
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