NASAL ASPIRATOR
First Claim
1. A nasal aspirator adapted to remove fluid or tissue or foreign material from a nasal passageway of a person, the nasal aspirator comprisingan aspirator tube sized to be inserted into the nasal cavity of a person,a housing coupled to the aspirator tube, the housing including a top cover and an elastic deformable squeeze bulb that cooperates with the top cover to form a variable-size material-collection air chamber located therebetween, the top cover formed to include an air-discharge port in fluid communication with the variable-size material-collection air chamber and an offset air-intake port in fluid communication with the aspirator tube, andan airflow-management unit located in the air chamber and coupled to the top cover of the housing to communicate with both of the air-discharge and the offset air-intake ports formed in the top cover, the airflow-management unit configured to provide means for discharging air from the air chamber through the air-discharge port and then drawing air and other materials by suction into the air chamber through the offset air-intake port in response to applying a shape-changing squeezing force to the elastic deformable squeeze bulb and then allowing the elastic deformable squeeze bulb to expand to resume its initial undeformed shape so that when a free end of the upright aspirator tube is placed in the nasal passageway of the person, nearby fluid, tissue, or foreign material extant in the nasal passageway will be drawn by suction into the air chamber through the aspirator tube and the air-intake port formed in the top cover of the housing.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A nasal aspirator is adapted to remove fluid or tissue from a nasal passageway. The aspirator includes an aspirator tube sized to fit in a nasal passageway.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A nasal aspirator adapted to remove fluid or tissue or foreign material from a nasal passageway of a person, the nasal aspirator comprising
an aspirator tube sized to be inserted into the nasal cavity of a person, a housing coupled to the aspirator tube, the housing including a top cover and an elastic deformable squeeze bulb that cooperates with the top cover to form a variable-size material-collection air chamber located therebetween, the top cover formed to include an air-discharge port in fluid communication with the variable-size material-collection air chamber and an offset air-intake port in fluid communication with the aspirator tube, and an airflow-management unit located in the air chamber and coupled to the top cover of the housing to communicate with both of the air-discharge and the offset air-intake ports formed in the top cover, the airflow-management unit configured to provide means for discharging air from the air chamber through the air-discharge port and then drawing air and other materials by suction into the air chamber through the offset air-intake port in response to applying a shape-changing squeezing force to the elastic deformable squeeze bulb and then allowing the elastic deformable squeeze bulb to expand to resume its initial undeformed shape so that when a free end of the upright aspirator tube is placed in the nasal passageway of the person, nearby fluid, tissue, or foreign material extant in the nasal passageway will be drawn by suction into the air chamber through the aspirator tube and the air-intake port formed in the top cover of the housing.
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11. A nasal aspirator comprising
an aspirator tube sized to be inserted into the nasal cavity of a person, a housing coupled to the aspirator tube, the housing including a top cover and an elastic deformable squeeze bulb that cooperates with the top cover to form a variable-size material-collection air chamber located therebetween, the top cover formed to include an air-discharge port in fluid communication with the variable-size material-collection air chamber and an offset air-intake port in fluid communication with the aspirator tube, and an airflow-management unit including a pressure-relief valve that is positioned to control the flow of air through the air-discharge port formed in the top cover and a vacuum-relief valve that is positioned to control the flow of air through the offset air-intake port formed in the top cover, the pressure-relief valve opens only when a predetermined pressure level is reached in the air chamber, and the vacuum-relief valve opens only when a predetermined level of vacuum is reached in the air chamber.
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18. A nasal aspirator comprising
an aspirator tube sized to be inserted into the nasal cavity of a person, a housing coupled to the aspirator tube, the housing including a top cover and an elastic deformable squeeze bulb that cooperates with the top cover to form a variable-size material-collection air chamber located therebetween, the top cover formed to include an air-discharge port in fluid communication with the variable-size material-collection air chamber and an offset air-intake port in fluid communication with the aspirator tube, and an airflow-management unit including a pressure-relief valve that opens only when a predetermined pressure level is reached in the air chamber, a vacuum-relief valve that opens only when a predetermined vacuum level is reached in the air chamber, and a binoculars-shaped valve housing coupled to the top cover of the housing that receives the pressure-relief valve and the vacuum-relief valve, wherein the binoculars-shaped valve housing is shaped to position the pressure-relief valve to control the flow of air through the air-discharge port and the binoculars-shaped valve housing is shaped to position the vacuum-relief valve to control the flow of air through the offset air-intake port formed in the top cover.
Specification