Tube coupling device for connecting a tubular rigid stem to a flexible catheter tube

• US 6,221,064 B1
• Filed: 07/23/1999
• Issued: 04/24/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: B. Braun Celsa
• Original Assignee: B. Braun Celsa
• Inventors: Nadal, Guy
• Primary Examiner(s): Coggins, Wynn Wood
• Assistant Examiner(s): MENDEZ, MANUEL A
• Application Number:
  US09/359,674
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 604/533-538, 604/285, 604/264, 604/905, 285/248, 285/259
• US Class Current: 604/533
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2039/1027 Quick-acting type connectors
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 39/0208 Subcutaneous access sites for injecting or removing fluids transcutaneous access sites A61M39/0247; implantable infusion devices A61M5/14276
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 39/12 for joining a flexible tube to a rigid attachment
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 604/905 Aseptic connectors or couplings, e.g. frangible, piercable

Abstract

The invention relates to a tube coupling device for connecting a tubular rigid stem to a flexible catheter tube which is adapted to be arranged around said tubular rigid stem, the flexible catheter tube having a proximal free end, the tube coupling device having a main axis, a wall, at least an inner lumen extending along said main axis, through the wall, and two opposite radially non-deformable distal and proximal free ends, said inner lumen axially widening out towards the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, so that the proximal free end of the flexible catheter tube radially expands in the widening when arranged around the tubular rigid stem, said widening being delimited, along the main axis, at a first end, by the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, and, at a second opposite end by an internal annular flange extending from the wall of the tube coupling device, at a location along the main axis which is intermediate between the proximal and the distal free ends of the tube coupling device, wherein the flange comprises slots, so that said flange is divided into different sectors.

Claims

1. A tube coupling device for connecting a tubular rigid stem to a flexible catheter tube which is adapted to be arranged around said tubular rigid stem, the flexible catheter tube having a proximal free end, the tube coupling device having a main axis, a wall, at least one inner lumen extending along said main axis, through the wall, and two opposite radially non-deformable distal and proximal free ends, said inner lumen axially widening out towards the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, so that the proximal free end of the flexible catheter tube radially expands in the widening when arranged around the tubular rigid stem, said widening being delimited, along the main axis, at a first end, by the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, and, at a second opposite end by an internal annular flange protruding from the wall of the tube coupling device, in said at least one inner lumen, at a location along the main axis which is intermediate between the proximal and the distal free ends of the tube coupling device, wherein the flange comprises slots, so that said flange is divided into different sectors.

2. The tube coupling device of claim 1, wherein the inner annular flange axially ends, within said inner lumen:

at a first end opposite to the widening of the inner lumen, in a shoulder substantially perpendicular to the main axis, so that the lumen has, there, a sharp increasing of diameter, and

at a second end, adjacent the widening, in a chamfered edge.

3. The tube coupling device of claim 1, wherein, beyond the inner annular flange and towards the distal end of the tube coupling device, the lumen extends within an axial cylindrical skirt dimensioned for receiving therein a tubular ring adapted to be arranged around the flexible catheter tube.

4. A medical coupling assembly, comprising:

a tubular rigid stem, said stem having an annular outer excrescence located towards a first free end thereof,

a catheter tube having a proximal free end, said flexible catheter tube being adapted to be arranged around the stem, and being made of a deformable material, and

a tube coupling device adapted to be arranged around the catheter tube for connecting the catheter tube to the tubular rigid stem, the tube coupling device having a main axis, a wall, at least one inner lumen extending along said main axis, through the wall, and two opposite distal and proximal free ends, said inner lumen widening out towards the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, the widening being delimited, along the main axis, at a first end by the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, and, at a second opposite end, by an inner annular flange protruding from the wall of the tube coupling device, in said at least one inner lumen at a location along the main axis which is intermediate between the proximal and the distal free ends of the tube coupling device, so that when the catheter tube is arranged around the tubular rigid stem, beyond the annular outer excrescence, and when the tube coupling device is arranged around the catheter tube, the catheter tube expands radially at its proximal free end within the widening of the tube coupling device,

wherein the inner annular flange of the tube coupling device is provided with slots, and the material of the catheter tube is deformable in such a way that when the catheter tube is arranged around the stem and when the tube coupling is arranged around the catheter tube, a portion of the catheter tube is jammed and wedged into said slots.

5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein a stop means is provided adjacent the tubular rigid stem, and when the catheter tube and the tube coupling are respectively arranged substantially in contact with said stop means, in an engaged position:

the inner annular flange of the tube coupling device and the annular outer excrescence of the tubular rigid stem are axially set off, and

the inner annular flange is axially located closer to the stop means than the annular outer excrescence.

6. The assembly of claim 5 wherein:

the stem is a rigid tube extending from a port opening of a port catheter system adapted to be subcutaneously implanted,

the stop means of the tubular rigid stem is defined by an external surface of a housing of said port catheter system containing the port opening, and

the catheter tube is a catheter adapted to be implanted in a blood vessel.

7. The medical assembly according to claim 4, wherein:

the annular outer excrescence of the rigid stem has a first shoulder which sharply reduces the external diameter of the stem,

the inner annular flange of the tube coupling axially ends in a second shoulder sharply enlarging the diameter of the inner lumen of the tube coupling device, and

when the catheter tube is arranged around the tubular rigid stem and when the tube coupling device is arranged around the catheter tube, the first shoulder of the excrescence is axially facing the second shoulder of the inner annular flange, the first and second shoulders having substantially equal diameters.

8. A medical coupling assembly, comprising:

a tubular rigid stem, said stem having an annular outer excrescence located towards a first free end thereof,

a catheter tube having a proximal free end, said catheter tube being adapted to be arranged around the stem and being made of a deformable material,

a tube coupling device adapted to be arranged around the catheter tube for connecting the catheter tube to the tubular rigid stem, the tube coupling device having;

a main axis,

a wall,

at least one inner lumen extending along said main axis, through the wall,

two opposite distal and proximal free ends, said at least one inner lumen widening out towards the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, the widening being delimited, along the main axis, at a first end by the proximal free end of the tube coupling device, and, at a second opposite end, by an inner annular flange extending from the wall of the tube coupling device in said at least one inner lumen, at a location along the main axis which is intermediate between the proximal and the distal free ends of the tube coupling device, so that when the catheter tube is arranged around the tubular rigid stem, beyond the annular outer excrescence, and when the tube coupling device is arranged around the catheter tube, the catheter tube expands radially at its proximal free end within the widening of the tube coupling device,

an axial cylindrical skirt within which the lumen of the tube coupling device extends beyond the inner annular flange and at the distal end of the tube coupling device,

wherein the inner annular flange of the tube coupling device being provided with slots, and the catheter tube is deformable in such a way that when the catheter tube is arranged around the stem and when the tube coupling is arranged around the catheter tube, a portion of the flexible catheter tube is jammed into said slots,

and wherein the medical coupling assembly further comprises a tubular ring which is arranged around the catheter tube and inside the axial cylindrical skirt when said catheter tube is arranged around the stem and when the tube coupling device is arranged around the catheter tube.