Sphygmomanometer and sphygmomanometer storage case

• US 7,122,009 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2003
• Issued: 10/17/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Electric Works Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Asahi Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Okada, Koichi, Fumuro, Shinichi, Yuasa, Tsuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nasser, Robert L.
• Application Number:
  US10/410,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20030220575A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,288 Days
• Field of Search: 600/485, 600/490, 600500-503
• US Class Current: 600/499
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02141 Details of apparatus construction, e.g. pump units or housings therefor, cuff pressurising systems, arrangements of fluid conduits or circuits A61B5/02233, A61B5/0235 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02233 Occluders specially adapted therefor tourniquets A61B17/132

Abstract

To facilitate carrying by making a sphygmomanometer combining a blood-constricting cuff band with a sphygmomanometer unit thin and compact when not engaged in measurement, a sphygmomanometer combines blood-constricting cuff band 1 with sphygmomanometer unit 2, and constitutes a structure that can be switched between measurement position (I) with sphygmomanometer unit 2 overlapping blood-constricting cuff band 1 and storage position (II) with blood-constricting cuff band 1 and sphygmomanometer unit 2 placed side by side.

Claims

1. A sphygmomanometer combining a blood-constricting cuff band with a sphygmomanometer unit having structure to measure blood pressure, where the sphygmomanometer unit comprises a box-shaped body having a top surface, a bottom surface, and a plurality of side surfaces;

wherein the blood-constricting cuff band and-the body are rotatably connected via a pivot such that the body and cuff may be switched between a measurement position, in which the blood-constricting cuff is positioned adjacent to the bottom surface of the sphygmomanometer unit, and

a storage position, in which the blood-constricting cuff band is positioned adjacent to one of the plurality of side surfaces of the sphygmomanometer unit, whereby the sphygmomanometer unit and the blood-constricting unit are positioned in a side-by-side configuration, and

and wherein the blood-constricting cuff band is external to the body.

2. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 1, comprising an air supply/stop module for enabling air supply from the sphygmomanometer unit to the blood-constricting cuff band when in the measurement position and disabling air supply from the sphygmomanometer unit to the blood-constricting cuff band when in the storage position.

3. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 1, comprising an expansion prevention module for preventing the blood-constricting cuff band from expanding in the storage position.

4. A sphygmomanometer combining a blood-constricting cuff band with a sphygmomanometer unit, comprising a structure that can be switched between a measurement position with the sphygmomanometer unit overlapping the blood-constricting cuff band and a storage position with the blood-constricting cuff band and the sphygmomanometer unit placed side by side,

wherein the blood-constricting cuff band freely rotates on a pivot shaft of a unit case of the sphygmomanometer unit, and the pivot shaft serves as an air pipe for supplying and expelling air from the sphygmomanometer unit to the blood-constricting cuff band.

5. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 4, wherein the blood-constricting cuff band is held by a connecting base connected pivotally to the unit case of the sphygmomanometer unit.

6. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 5, comprising a tube formed on an end of the connecting base, a connecting pipe extending perpendicular to the axial center of the pivot shaft inserted into an end of the tube, a polygonal shaft having flat faces formed on an end of the pivot shaft, and a polygonal bearing for receiving the flat faces of the polygonal shaft.

7. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 5, comprising a hook formed either on the unit case or the connecting base, and forming a hook catch on the other one for catching the hook to hold the blood-constricting cuff band in the measurement position.

8. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 5, comprising a battery storage space formed on the connecting base.

9. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 5, comprising an installed switch for switching the power source battery off only when the blood-constricting cuff band is in the storage position.

10. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 5, an installed switch for switching the power source on only when the blood-constricting cuff band is in the measurement position.

11. A sphygmomanometer, comprising:

a sphygmomanometer unit having structure to measure blood pressure;

a blood-constricting cuff band, wherein the blood constricting cuff band is external to the sphygmomanometer unit; and

a connecting mechanism pivotally connecting the sphygmomanometer unit with the blood-constricting cuff band, wherein the connecting mechanism is configured to switch between a measurement position such that the blood-constricting cuff is positioned adjacent to a bottom surface of the sphygmomanometer unit and a storage position such that the blood-constricting cuff is positioned adjacent to a side surface of the sphygmomanometer unit, whereby the blood-constricting cuff and the sphygmomanometer form a side-by-side configuration.

12. The sphygmomanometer described in claim 11, wherein the connecting mechanism comprising:

a connecting base configured to hold the blood-constricting cuff band; and

a pivot shaft pivotally connecting the connecting base.

13. A sphygmomanometer, comprising:

a sphygmomanometer unit;

a blood-constricting cuff band; and

a connecting mechanism connecting the sphygmomanometer unit with the blood-constricting cuff, wherein the connecting mechanism comprises a connecting base configured to hold the blood-constricting cuff band and a pivot shaft pivotally connecting the connecting base, thereby the connecting mechanism is configured to switch between a measurement position with the sphygmomanometer unit overlapping the blood-constricting cuff band and a storage position with the sphygmomanometer unit and the blood-constricting cuff band placed side by side, and

wherein the pivot shaft is configured to serve as an air pipe to supply air from a pump and expel the air.