Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-16
2001-06-05
Mendez, Manuel (Department: 3763)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
C604S093010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241705
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a nasal irrigator, and more particularly to a nasal irrigator that can be easily operated to switch between a closed and an open state to disable and enable, respectively, a supply of saline from the nasal irrigator to wash a patient's nostril.
A nasal irrigator referred to herein generally includes a container for containing an amount of saline and a plug for extending into a patient's nostril. By squeezing the container, saline in the container could be supplied into the patient's nostril via the plug in order to wash the nostril.
FIGS. 1 and 2
are perspective and partially vertical sectional views, respectively, of a conventional nasal irrigator. As shown, the conventional nasal irrigator mainly includes a container
1
for containing an amount of saline. The container
1
is provided at a top with an upper cap
11
having an air vent
12
, and at a bottom with a conduit
13
extended downward and then inclined upward by a suitable distance. A lower cap
2
is connected to a free end of the conduit
13
and has a curved surface to define a substantially spherical recess
21
into which a spherical valve
3
is movably fitted. An opening
22
is formed on the curved surface of the lower cap
2
at a lower portion thereof to communicate the conduit
13
with the spherical recess
21
. The spherical valve
3
includes a forward extended tube
31
and a central passage
32
axially extending through the tube
31
and passing through a center of the spherical valve
3
to end at a rear end of the spherical valve
3
facing the spherical recess
21
. A plug
4
is put around a front part of the tube
31
and has a shape suitable for inserting into a patient's nostril. The plug
4
has a tapered hole
41
axially extended at a central portion of the plug
4
for receiving the tube
31
therein and communicating with the central passage
32
of the spherical valve
3
.
To use the conventional nasal irrigator of
FIG. 1
, the plug
4
and accordingly the tube
31
received therein are pulled upward relative to the conduit
13
, as shown in
FIG. 2
, so that the spherical valve
3
turns in the spherical recess
21
to allow the tapered hole
41
and the central passage
32
to align with the opening
22
on the curved surface of the lower cap
2
. At this point, saline contained in the container
1
is allowed to flow from the container
1
to sequentially pass through the conduit
13
, the opening
22
, the central passage
32
, and the tapered hole
41
into the patient's nostril to wash the same.
And, when the conventional nasal irrigator of
FIG. 1
is not in use, the plug
4
and accordingly the tube
31
received therein are pushed downward relative to the conduit
13
, as shown in
FIG. 3
, so that the spherical valve
3
turns in the spherical recess
21
and the tapered hole
41
and the central passage
32
no longer align with the opening
22
. At this point, the opening
22
is closed and the saline in the container
1
could not flow from the conduit
13
to the plug
4
and into the patient's nostril via the opening
22
, the central passage
32
and the tapered hole
41
.
The following are some of the disadvantages of the above-described conventional nasal irrigator:
1. The spherical valve
3
and the spherical recess
21
of the lower cap
2
must be associated with each other in a tight fit relation to avoid leakage of saline from any clearance between them. These two parts must therefore be manufactured with very high precision and accuracy and accordingly at very high cost.
2. When the spherical valve
3
is tightly fitted in the spherical recess
21
, it is not easy to turn the spherical valve
3
with only one hand. And, it is, of course, very inconvenient to operate the nasal irrigator by holding the container
1
with one hand and pulling or pushing the tube
31
and the plug
4
with another in order to turn the spherical valve
3
relative to the spherical recess
21
.
3. Moreover, a considerable force is needed to pull or push the tube
31
and the plug
4
in order to turn the spherical valve
3
tightly fitted in the curved lower cap
2
. As a result, the curved lower cap
2
and the conduit
13
tend to become worn and separate from each other easily. This would undesirably shorten the usable life of the nasal irrigator.
4. There is not any particular means provided to secure the plug
4
to the tube
31
, and the plug
4
tends to separate from the tube
31
while the nasal irrigator is in use that would cause inconvenience in the use of the nasal irrigator.
It is therefore desirable to provide an improved nasal irrigator to overcome the disadvantages of the conventional nasal irrigator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a nasal irrigator that can be easily handled and is therefore convenient for use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a nasal irrigator that has a simplified structure and can therefore be manufactured with general techniques and at reduced cost.
To achieve the above and other objects, the nasal irrigator of the present invention includes a container, a lower cap, and a plug. The container contains a predetermined amount of saline or other cleaning liquid therein for washing a patient's nostril and is provided at an upper end with an upper cap having an air vent, and at a lower end with a conduit which extends downward and then bends to incline upward to define an open free end. The lower cap is fitted at a rear side to the open free end of the conduit. A front side of the lower cap extends forward to form a tube portion having an annular rib provided around an outer periphery of a front end thereof. A stopper diametrically smaller than the tube portion is fixed in the front end of the tube portion, such that the stopper projects from the front end of the tube portion and a passage is formed between the stopper and the tube portion. The plug is adapted to extend into a patient's nostril and includes a front head portion being provided with an axially extended through hole into which the stopper of the lower cap may be extended to block the through hole, and a rear sleeve portion being dimensioned to fitly but movably put around the tube portion of the lower cap and having a pair of radially inward projected annular flanges provided around an inner peripheral wall of the sleeve portion at a predetermined position to define an annular groove between the pair of annular flanges. Whereby when the plug is turned while pushed toward the lower cap, the stopper is brought into a position in the through hole of the plug to block and seal the through hole and thereby brings the nasal irrigator into a closed state, and when the plug is turned while pulled in a direction opposite to the lower cap until the annular groove in the sleeve portion engages with the annular rib around the front end of the tube portion of the lower cap, the stopper is brought to a position a distance away from the through hole, so that saline or other cleaning liquid in the container is allowed to flow into the patient's nostril via the conduit, the passage between the stopper and the tube portion, and the through hole of the plug, bringing the nasal irrigator into an open state.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2135052 (1938-11-01), Rose
patent: 0410318 (1991-01-01), None
Mendez Manuel
Rabin & Champagne, P.C.
Shih-Kang Medical Instruments Co., Ltd.
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