IMPLANTABLE ADJUSTABLE VALVE
First Claim
1. A valve unit capable of being implanted in a patient and having adjustable performance settings to regulate passage of a bodily fluid, comprising:
- a casing defining a port for the bodily fluid;
a valve mechanism positioned at the port and including a movable valve member;
a rotor disposed at a first location in the casing and having an axle which turns about an axis of rotation, the rotor defining a plurality of radially flat cam surfaces, each cam surface occupying an arc about the axis of rotation; and
a spring arm unit disposed at a second location in the casing having a cam follower arm in slidable contact with the cam surfaces of the rotor and having a resilient spring element applying a closing effect with the movable valve member at the port to establish a performance setting for the valve unit;
wherein sufficient rotation of the rotor to change the cam surface in contact with the cam follower alters the closing effect with which the valve member moves relative to the port, and thereby alters the performance setting of the valve unit.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A valve unit capable of being implanted in a patient and having adjustable performance settings, such as pressure settings and/or flow control, to regulate passage of a bodily fluid. A casing defines a port for the bodily fluid, and a valve mechanism positioned at the port includes a movable valve member. The valve unit further includes a rotor disposed at a first location in the casing and having an axle which turns about an axis of rotation. The rotor defines a plurality of arcuate, radially flat cam surfaces. Each cam surface occupies an arc about the axis of rotation. A spring arm unit is disposed at a second location in the casing having a cam follower arm in slidable contact with the cam surfaces of the rotor and having a resilient spring element applying a closing effect with the movable valve member to establish a performance setting for the valve unit. Sufficient rotation of the rotor to change the cam surface in contact with the cam follower alters the closing effect with which the valve member moves relative to the port and thereby alters the performance setting of the valve unit.
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Citations
48 Claims
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1. A valve unit capable of being implanted in a patient and having adjustable performance settings to regulate passage of a bodily fluid, comprising:
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a casing defining a port for the bodily fluid; a valve mechanism positioned at the port and including a movable valve member; a rotor disposed at a first location in the casing and having an axle which turns about an axis of rotation, the rotor defining a plurality of radially flat cam surfaces, each cam surface occupying an arc about the axis of rotation; and a spring arm unit disposed at a second location in the casing having a cam follower arm in slidable contact with the cam surfaces of the rotor and having a resilient spring element applying a closing effect with the movable valve member at the port to establish a performance setting for the valve unit; wherein sufficient rotation of the rotor to change the cam surface in contact with the cam follower alters the closing effect with which the valve member moves relative to the port, and thereby alters the performance setting of the valve unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A valve unit capable of being implanted in a patient and having adjustable pressure settings to regulate passage of a bodily fluid, comprising:
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a casing defining a port for the bodily fluid; a valve mechanism positioned at the port including a movable valve member; a rotor disposed at a first location in the casing and having an axle which turns about an axis of rotation, the rotor defining a plurality of radially flat cam surfaces, each cam surface occupying an arc about the axis of rotation; and a spring arm unit disposed at a second location in the casing having a cam follower arm in slidable contact with the cam surfaces of the rotor and having a resilient spring element applying a closing force against the movable valve member to establish a pressure setting for the valve unit; wherein sufficient rotation of the rotor to change the cam surface in contact with the cam follower alters the closing force to change the pressure at which the valve member moves away from the port and thereby alters the pressure setting of the valve unit. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A valve unit capable of being implanted in a patient and having adjustable opening pressure settings to regulate passage of a bodily fluid, comprising:
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a casing defining an inlet for the bodily fluid; a ball valve mechanism positioned at the inlet including a ball and a seat for the ball; a rotor disposed at a first location in the casing, having an axle which turns about a substantially fixed axis of rotation, and having a lower cam portion defining a plurality of radially flat cam surfaces, each cam surface occupying an arc about the axis of rotation; and a spring arm unit disposed at a second location in the casing having a substantially rigid cam follower arm in slidable contact with the cam surfaces of the rotor and having a resilient spring element applying a closing force against the ball to establish an opening pressure setting for the valve unit; wherein the radially flat cam surfaces are positioned about the rotor in a successive arrangement such that a radial distance from the axis of rotation for each successive cam surface is larger than the radial distance of each preceding cam surface until a greatest radial distance is defined at an outermost cam surface, and sufficient rotation of the rotor to change the cam surface in contact with the cam follower successively changes the pressure at which the ball moves away from the seat and thereby alters the opening pressure setting of the valve unit. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. An indicator tool for use with an implanted valve unit having a plurality of performance settings, comprising:
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a housing with a readout window; an indicator wheel assembly capable of rotating within the housing on a spindle rotatably supported by the housing, and carrying indicia of performance settings sequentially viewable through the readout window; at least one magnet carried by the indicator wheel assembly to detect an actual setting of the implanted valve unit; a release mechanism which, when actuated by a user from a first position to a second position, enables the indicator wheel to rotate as the magnet is drawn toward the actual setting of the implanted valve unit; and a first gear carried by one of the release mechanism and the indicator wheel assembly and at least one catch, carried by the other of the release mechanism and the indicator wheel assembly, which drives the indicator wheel to display a single performance setting value through the readout window when the release mechanism returns to the first position. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48)
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Specification