Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – Means joining flexible indefinite length or endless bodies...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-25
2002-10-15
Gray, Linda (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
Means joining flexible indefinite length or endless bodies...
C156S158000, C156S159000, C156S258000, C156S304600, C156S308400, C156S308200, C156S365000, C156S510000, C156S556000, C425S108000, C269S002000, C269S037000, C269S043000, C269S058000, C269S059000, C269S071000, C269S072000, C269S329000, C277S314000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06463979
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tube connecting apparatus for melting to cut flexible tubes and for connecting the tubes by mutually contacting the cut end faces.
2. Description of the Related Art
A tube connecting apparatus is used, for instance, for providing a dialysis solution into an abdominal cavity of a patient who requires Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) by providing connection between a transfer tube connected with the abdominal cavity and a tube connected with a dialysis pack.
An example for connecting operations of a tube connecting apparatus will be briefly explained below. As exemplarily shown in
FIG. 18
, two tubes
7
,
8
are grasped at two portions, that is, between a fixed clamp
311
and a movable clamp
312
of a first tube holder
301
and between a fixed clamp
313
and a movable clamp
314
of a second tube holder
302
. The movable clamps
312
,
314
are moved into contact with, and away from, the fixed clamps
311
,
313
. The tubes
7
,
8
grasped by the first tube holder
301
and the second tube holder
302
are squeezed flat in cross section, closing the interior of the tubes.
Then, a heated cutting plate (hereinafter referred to as “wafer”)
6
is moved upwards between the first tube holder
301
and the second tube holder
302
, thereby melting to vertically cut the tubes
7
,
8
.
In the first tube holder
301
is provided a pair of semicircular rotor pieces
303
,
304
which are made into contact with each other to constitute a clamp rotor
305
.
After the cutting of the tubes
7
,
8
, the rotation of the clamp rotor
305
grasping the cut tubes (
7
a
,
8
a
) of one side of the tubes (
7
,
8
), as shown in
FIG. 19
, inverts the cut tubes
7
a
,
8
a
while allowing their cut end faces to slide along a side surface of the wafer
6
.
Upon completion of inversion of the cut tubes
7
a,
8
a
, the wafer
6
is retracted when the cut end faces of mutually different tubes (
7
a
and
8
b
,
8
a
and
7
b
) are positioned coaxially, facing each other, and the cut end faces of the different tubes are pressed to each other to be welded. Thus, two tubes
9
,
10
are formed as illustrated in FIG.
20
.
The above described tube connecting apparatus is arranged such that inversion of the cut tubes is performed by the clamp rotor
305
structured of the pair of rotor pieces
303
,
304
.
FIG. 21
is a sectional view of the clamp rotor
305
mounted in the first tube holder
301
.
The clamp rotor
305
is constructed of the pair of semicircular rotor pieces
303
,
304
with teeth formed on the periphery thereof, and is so constituted as to make one gear when the rotor pieces
303
,
304
come in contact with each other. At a center of the clamp rotor
305
, that is, at the center of the contact surfaces of the rotor pieces
303
,
304
, U-shaped grooves
331
,
332
are formed deep enough to allow the insertion of one tube, and closing portions
333
,
334
are provided forming shallow grooves to squeeze and grasp the tubes.
Such the rotor pieces
303
,
304
are respectively mounted in rotor mounting portions
323
,
324
formed in blocks
321
,
322
constituting the fixed clamp
311
and the movable clamp
312
.
On the other hand, a drive gear
306
which is in mesh with the rotor piece
303
(
304
) is rotatably mounted in a gear mounting portion
325
formed continuously to the rotor mounting portion
323
. The drive gear
306
is further connected to a motor shaft of a driving motor (not illustrated).
When the tubes
7
,
8
are grasped and then cut as shown in
FIG. 18
, the unillustrated driving motor is driven at a specified timing such that rotation is transmitted to the driving gear
306
. In this manner, the clamp rotor
305
is rotated within the first tube holder
301
and the rotor pieces
303
,
304
is turned to change places of cut tubes
7
a
,
8
a.
However, the conventional tube connecting apparatus mentioned above has the following disadvantages.
(1) The first and second holders
301
,
302
need to be moved closer to each other for securing operations of pressing the cut end faces of the tubes to each other after retracting the wafer
6
. Therefore, for clamping the tubes
7
,
8
by the first tube holder
301
and the second tube holder
302
, the movable clamp
312
is fixed to the fixed clamp
311
and, separately therefrom, the movable clamp
314
is fixed to the fixed clamp
313
. In this way, in order to fix the movable clamps
312
,
314
to the fixed clamps
311
,
313
, similar works need to be repeated, regardless of manually or automatically, thereby causing useless redundancy in view of operation as well as structural arrangement.
(2) The conventional tube connecting apparatus employing the clamp rotor
305
is arranged such that the rotor pieces
303
,
304
are exposed to the exterior when the blocks
321
,
322
are separated. In case the user presses the rotor pieces
303
,
304
, therefore, the rotor pieces
303
,
304
will be displaced from each position after tube connection where the tubes are held symmetrically with respect to each other.
Thus, in case the rotor pieces
303
,
304
should be made contact with each other as being still displaced, either one will be pushed by the other to be slightly rotated. Thus the clamp rotor
305
will be misaligned relative to a reference condition in which the rotor pieces
303
,
304
are accurately mounted in symmetric relation to each other in the blocks
321
,
322
as shown in FIG.
21
. Accordingly, if the apparatus is actuated in this condition with the tubes
7
,
8
being not clamped symmetrically, misalignment of the cut end faces of the tubes
7
,
8
is caused by inversion of the clamp rotor
305
, which may result in connection errors.
(3) While the tubes
7
,
8
are clamped by the first and second tube holders
301
,
302
, if the movable clamps
312
,
314
are erroneously separated from the fixed clamps
311
,
313
before the tubes
9
,
10
are alternately joined to each other, the tubes
7
,
8
will be released from the first and second holders
301
,
302
. As a result, the alternate joining of the tubes
9
,
10
can not be ensured. It is therefore necessary to prevent the fixed clamps
311
,
313
from being separated from the movable clamps
312
,
314
before completion of alternate connection of the tubes. However, the conventional apparatus is provided with no functions for reliable such the prevention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and has an object to overcome the above problems and to provide a tube connecting apparatus capable of reliably perform connection of tubes.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the purpose of the invention, there is provided a tube connecting apparatus including: a first tube holder provided with a pair of holding members for holding a plurality of flexible tubes; a second tube holder provided with a pair of holding members for holding the plurality of flexible tubes; cutting and connecting means for heating and melting the plurality of flexible tubes held in the first tube holder and the second tube holder to cut the tubes by a heated cutting plate which is moved between the first tube holder and the second tube holder and to connect the tubes cut by the cutting plate by contacting cut end faces of the cut tubes held in the first tube holder with those of the cut tubes held in the second tube holder, the cut tubes to be connected being parts of originally different tubes; and joining members for integrally connecting one of the pair of holding members of the first tube holder to one of the pair of holding members of the second
Iguchi Akihiko
Minatani Takeshi
Nakada Narukuni
Sano Hiroaki
Yamada Yoshiyuki
Gray Linda
Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha
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