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Publication Number
US-9138572-B2
Publication Date
2015-09-22
Expiration Date
Abstract
A medical valve has an open mode that permits fluid flow, and a closed mode that prevents fluid flow. To that end, the medical valve has a housing having an inlet and an outlet, and a resilient member within the housing. The resilient member has a body portion with a free state when undeformed by external mechanical forces and a deformed state when the valve is in the closed mode. The body portion is formed to return toward the free state as the valve transitions from the closed mode to the open mode and defining at least part of a fluid path through the valve.
Core Innovation
The invention relates to a medical valve that provides an open mode permitting fluid flow and a closed mode preventing fluid flow. The valve includes a housing with an inlet and an outlet, and a control member located within the housing. The control member has an outer radial width and a control member body portion with a first length when the valve is in the closed mode and a second length when the valve is in the open mode, where the first length is greater than the second length.
The outer radial width radially expands due to insertion of a medical implement into the inlet to transition the valve from the closed mode to the open mode. The valve further includes a resilient member within the housing, including a resilient member body portion that is formed with a free state when undeformed by the control member and having a deformed state when the valve is in the closed mode. The resilient member body portion is formed to radially expand to return toward the free state to an open state as the valve transitions from the closed mode to the open mode.
Expansion of the outer radial width of the control member allows the resilient member body portion to return toward the free state to the open state, and the resilient member body portion defines at least part of a fluid path through the valve. In related embodiments, the resilient member is formed with a proximal aperture and a distal aperture, and the distal aperture is biased toward an open state. In the closed mode, the control member deforms the resilient member to close the distal aperture and prevent fluid flow through the valve; as the valve transitions from the closed mode to the open mode, the resilient member returns toward the free state such that the distal aperture returns to its open state.
Claims Coverage
The partial document shows three independent claims: one device claim for the medical valve, a second device claim with apertures in the resilient member, and a third method claim for using the valve with a medical implement. Across these independent claims, the inventive features center on a control member whose outer radial width expands to change lengths between closed and open modes, a resilient member that transitions between a free state and a deformed closed mode and returns by radial expansion, and a resilient-member aperture arrangement that closes in the closed mode and returns to an open state as the valve opens.
Control member length change with radial expansion during insertion
A housing having an inlet and an outlet; a control member located within the housing and having a control member body portion with an outer radial width, a first length when the valve is in the closed mode and a second length when the valve is in the open mode, the first length being greater than the second length, the outer radial width radially expanding due to insertion of a medical implement into the inlet to transition the valve from the closed mode to the open mode.
Resilient member free state and deformed closed state with return to open state
A resilient member within the housing and having a resilient member body portion, the control member at least in part containing the resilient member body portion, the resilient member body portion being formed with a free state when undeformed by the control member and having a deformed state when the valve is in the closed mode, the resilient member body portion being formed to radially expand to return toward the free state to an open state as the valve transitions from the closed mode to the open mode, expansion of the outer radial width of the control member allowing the resilient member body portion to return toward the free state to the open state, the resilient member body portion defining at least part of a fluid path through the valve.
Resilient member apertures with distal aperture biased open and closed by deformation
A resilient member within the housing and having a proximal aperture and a distal aperture, the resilient member being formed with a free state when undeformed by the control member and in which the distal aperture is biased toward an open state to allow fluid flow through the valve when in the open mode, the resilient member being deformed by the control member when the valve is in the closed mode to close the distal aperture and prevent fluid flow through the valve, the resilient member returning toward the free state such that the distal aperture returns to its open state as the valve transitions from the closed to open mode, expansion of the outer radial width of the control member allowing the resilient member to return toward the free state and the distal aperture to return to the open state.
Method of transitioning closed to open by distal movement of a medical implement
A method comprising connecting a medical valve to a patient, inserting a medical implement through the inlet, moving the medical implement distally within the housing to transition the valve from the closed mode to an open mode, distal movement of the medical implement causing the outer radial width to expand generally radially to allow the resilient member to return toward the free state and the distal aperture to return to the open state, and transferring fluid between the medical implement and the patient through the valve.
Overall, the independent claims collectively require a control member whose insertion-driven radial expansion changes its length between closed and open modes; a resilient member formed with a free state and a deformed closed state that returns toward the free state as the valve opens; and, in the second and third independent claims, a proximal aperture and a distal aperture arrangement in which the distal aperture is biased open and is closed by deformation in the closed mode and reopened as the valve transitions to the open mode.
Stated Advantages
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