Method of making an artificial airway device
First Claim
1. The method of constructing a laryngeal mask wherein a back-plate formation provides in essentially a single geometric plane an apertured base-mounting rim of generally elliptical configuration to otherwise close a ventilation lumen within an inflatable toroidal ring of flexible material the inner circumference of which is connected to the periphery of said rim, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) moulding a peripherally continuous skirt of uniformly thin flexible material, said skirt extending in an axial direction between peripherally continuous upper and lower ends, and said skirt having an outwardly bulging body portion between said ends;
(b) peripherally continuously connecting the upper end of said skirt to said rim;
(c) inverting said skirt to the extent of flexibly defining said ring peripherally continuously around said rim, with the bulging body of the skirt externally surrounding said rim and the inverted lower edge of the skirt downwardly directed within at least a portion of the inverted bulging body and into proximity with the region of said upper-end connection to said rim; and
(d) establishing a peripherally sealed connection of the inverted lower end of the skirt with the region of said upper-end connection to said rim.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A manufacturing process to produce a laryngeal mask substantially as described in UK Patent GB2205499B consists in a mould which manufactures the inflatable annular ring formation of the device in an inverted form. This allows a more rigid core in the cavity mould or alternatively a dip-moulding process, which in turn, permits greater accuracy in control of wall thickness. An alternative form of the mould eliminates the need to assemble a further component, by incorporating the latter into the same single moulding process. And in a further alternative embodiment, the same single moulding process additionally provides an integrally formed inlet for oesophagus drainage, independent of the larynx-venting function of the mask per se.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. The method of constructing a laryngeal mask wherein a back-plate formation provides in essentially a single geometric plane an apertured base-mounting rim of generally elliptical configuration to otherwise close a ventilation lumen within an inflatable toroidal ring of flexible material the inner circumference of which is connected to the periphery of said rim, said method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) moulding a peripherally continuous skirt of uniformly thin flexible material, said skirt extending in an axial direction between peripherally continuous upper and lower ends, and said skirt having an outwardly bulging body portion between said ends; (b) peripherally continuously connecting the upper end of said skirt to said rim; (c) inverting said skirt to the extent of flexibly defining said ring peripherally continuously around said rim, with the bulging body of the skirt externally surrounding said rim and the inverted lower edge of the skirt downwardly directed within at least a portion of the inverted bulging body and into proximity with the region of said upper-end connection to said rim; and (d) establishing a peripherally sealed connection of the inverted lower end of the skirt with the region of said upper-end connection to said rim. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. The method of constructing a laryngeal mask wherein a back-plate formation provides in essentially a single geometric plane an apertured base-mounting rim of generally elliptical configuration to otherwise close a ventilation lumen within an inflatable toroidal ring of flexible material the inner circumference of which is connected to the periphery of said rim, said method comprising the steps of:
-
(a) moulding a peripherally continuous skirt of uniformly thin flexible material, said skirt extending in an axial direction between peripherally continuous upper and lower ends, and said skirt having an outwardly bulging body portion between said ends; (b) inverting said skirt to the extent of flexibly defining said ring peripherally continuously around said rim, with the bulging body of the skirt externally surrounding said rim and the inverted lower edge of the skirt downwardly directed within at least a portion of the inverted bulging body and into proximity with the region of said upper-end connection to said rim; and (c) establishing a peripherally sealed connection of the inverted lower end of the skirt and the upper end of the skirt to each other and to said rim.
-
Specification