Infusion monitor
First Claim
1. A liquid infusion monitor system comprising a reservoir for liquid, an infusion tube assembly operatively associated with said reservoir and including an infusion tube, a single cartridge mounted adjacent the infusion tube assembly with one side of the cartridge facing said infusion tube assembly for monitoring the amount of liquid passing through said infusion tube assembly, said cartridge having contained therein:
- (a) means for pre-setting the amount of liquid, (b) means for sensing the amount of fluid passing through said infusion tube assembly and (c) means for automatically increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid infused to conform to said pre-set amounts, said sensing means comprising a pair of sensing openings located on said side of said cartridge facing the infusion tube assembly, reflecting means opposite said sensing openings, said sensing means comprising means for emitting a sensing beam through one of said sensing openings toward said reflecting means and means for receiving said sensing beam through the other of said sensing openings after said sensing beam is reflected from said reflecting means, a seating surface in a wall on said cartridge, said seating surface having an open face which faces outwardly from the said cartridge and away from said wall and adapted to receive the infusion tube assembly, said sensing opening being centrally located at the base of said seating surface, said seating surface being shaped to automatically locate said infusion tube assembly within the seating surface whereby the said infusion tube assembly will automatically be properly located with respect to said sensing openings.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An infusion monitor for feeding liquids to patients which is light weight so that it may be easily hung on a liquid dripper and which is provided with means for pre-setting the volume infused and the rate of infusion. Means are also provided for automatically varying the rate of infusion, for automatically cutting-off the infusion and for sounding an alarm to alert an attendant if any variation from pre-set limits occur.
48 Citations
81 Claims
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1. A liquid infusion monitor system comprising a reservoir for liquid, an infusion tube assembly operatively associated with said reservoir and including an infusion tube, a single cartridge mounted adjacent the infusion tube assembly with one side of the cartridge facing said infusion tube assembly for monitoring the amount of liquid passing through said infusion tube assembly, said cartridge having contained therein:
- (a) means for pre-setting the amount of liquid, (b) means for sensing the amount of fluid passing through said infusion tube assembly and (c) means for automatically increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid infused to conform to said pre-set amounts, said sensing means comprising a pair of sensing openings located on said side of said cartridge facing the infusion tube assembly, reflecting means opposite said sensing openings, said sensing means comprising means for emitting a sensing beam through one of said sensing openings toward said reflecting means and means for receiving said sensing beam through the other of said sensing openings after said sensing beam is reflected from said reflecting means, a seating surface in a wall on said cartridge, said seating surface having an open face which faces outwardly from the said cartridge and away from said wall and adapted to receive the infusion tube assembly, said sensing opening being centrally located at the base of said seating surface, said seating surface being shaped to automatically locate said infusion tube assembly within the seating surface whereby the said infusion tube assembly will automatically be properly located with respect to said sensing openings.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
- 30. A cartridge for use with a liquid infusion monitor system having an infusion tube assembly for monitoring the amount of liquid infused through the infusion tube assembly and being adapted to be mounted adjacent the infusion tube assembly with one side thereof facing the infusion tube assembly, said cartridge having contained therein (a) means for pre-setting the amount of liquid infused, (b) means for sensing the amount of liquid passing through the infusion tube assembly and (c) means for automatically increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid infused to conform to said pre-set amounts said sensing means comprising a pair of sensing openings located on said side of said cartridge facing the infusion tube assembly, reflecting means opposite said sensing openings, said sensing means comprising means for emitting a sensing beam through one of said sensing openings toward said reflecting means and means for receiving said sensing beam through the other of said sensing openings after said sensing beam is reflected from said reflecting means, a seating surface in a wall on said cartridge, said seating surface having an open face which faces outwardly from the said cartridge and away from said wall and adapted to receive the infusion tube assembly, said sensing opening being centrally located at the base of said seating surface, said seating surface being shaped to automatically locate said infusion tube assembly within the seating surface whereby the said infusion tube assembly will automatically be properly located with respect to said sensing openings.
- 58. A liquid infusion monitor assembly comprising a cartridge, means within the cartridge for pre-setting the amount of liquid infused, means within the cartridge for pre-setting the number of drops per cubic centimeter, means within the cartridge for monitoring the amount of liquid infused, means within the cartridge for automatically increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid infused to conform to said pre-set amounts, a pair of sensing openings in said cartridge through which sensing beams are emitted in order to sense the liquid drips being infused, means on the cartridge for removably mounting the cartridge on one side of an infusion conduit, the circuit components for the pre-setting, monitoring and automatic means being mounted entirely within said cartridge, said sensing openings being on the same side of said cartridge, said mounting means comprising a wire hinge on the cartridge, a dripper assembly-receiving surface is provided in the cartridge, clamp means are provided on the cartridge to cooperate with said wire hinbge to hold the cartridge in its monitoring position, said clamping means comprises a two arm lever having a clamping means on one end adapted to apply pressure to a dripper assembly, a mirror handle on the other end of the two arm lever to permit the clamping means to move away from a dripper assembly, said receiving surface is a concave seating surface and said sensing openings are in said receiving surface, said sensing means are comprised of a pair of light emitting diode and photo transistors, said diode being biased on so that the transistor is on, whereby passage of a drop of liquid through the dripper is sensed by said diode and transistor to momentarily interrupt the transistor to form a negative-going pulse, said negative-going pulse being coupled with a hex inverter by a capacitor and wherein said negative-going pulse is shaped into a square wave.
- 70. A liquid infusion monitor assembly comprising a cartridge, means within the cartridge for pre-setting the amount of liquid infused, means within the cartridge for pre-setting the number of drops per cubic centimeter, means within the cartridge for monitoring the amount of liquid infused, means within the cartridge for automatically increasing or decreasing the amount of liquid infused to conform to said pre-set amounts, means on the cartridge for removably mounting the cartridge on one side of an infusion conduit, the circuit components for the pre-setting, monitoring and automatic means being mounted entirely within said cartridge, a pair of sensing openings being provided in the carriage through which sensing beams are emitted in order to sense the liquid drips being infused, said sensing openings being on the same side of said cartridge, said sensing means comprised of a pair of light emitting diode and photo transistors, said diode being biased on so that the transistor is on whereby passage of a drop of liquid through the dripper is sensed by said diode and transistor to momentarily interrupt the transistor to form a negative-going pulse, said negative-going pulse being coupled with a hex inverter by a capacitor and wherein said negative-going pulse is shaped into a square wave.
- 72. An infusion monitor assembly as claimed in clam 71, wherein the frequency of oscillation is controlled by a potentiometer which may be pre-set, whereby the frequency of oscillation and the duration controls the number of counts that will be performed by a counter.
Specification