Container for physiological fluids
First Claim
1. A container for fluid comprising:
- a chamber for containing fluid;
a sensor disposed within the chamber for sensing a property of fluid in the container;
a unit that receives a signal from the sensor and communicates with a device that displays the property of the fluid in the container, the sensor including a conductive element and a resistive element, the conductive element being made of a silver-particle-based material and the resistive element being made of a carbon-particle-based material.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A container includes a chamber for containing fluid. At least one sensor is disposed within the chamber for sensing a property of fluid in the container. A unit that receives a signal from the sensor communicates with a device that displays the property of the fluid in the container. The container may include first and second chambers. A first sensor is disposed within the first chamber. The first sensor is in contact with fluid in the first chamber. The first sensor senses a volume of fluid in the first chamber. A second sensor is disposed within the second chamber. The second sensor is in contact with fluid in the second chamber. The second sensor senses a volume of fluid in the second chamber. A diverter may direct fluid from an inlet to a bottom portion of the chamber and prevents the fluid from contacting the sensor. A releasable device may prevent fluid from flowing from the first chamber to the second chamber. The releasable device permits fluid to flow from the first chamber into the second chamber upon release of the releasable device. An element of the sensor may have a first portion with an electrical resistance per unit length greater than an electrical resistance per unit length of a second portion of the element. A shunt resistor extending between lower portions of first and second elements of the sensor may have a resistance equal to approximately 0.08 times a resistance of the sensor when the chamber is empty.
96 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A container for fluid comprising:
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a chamber for containing fluid; a sensor disposed within the chamber for sensing a property of fluid in the container; a unit that receives a signal from the sensor and communicates with a device that displays the property of the fluid in the container, the sensor including a conductive element and a resistive element, the conductive element being made of a silver-particle-based material and the resistive element being made of a carbon-particle-based material.
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2. A container for fluid comprising:
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a chamber for containing fluid; a sensor disposed within the chamber for sensing a property of fluid in the container; a unit that receives a signal from the sensor and communicates with a device that displays the property of the fluid in the container, said container including a plurality of chambers having different volumes, the plurality of chambers being arranged so that fluid flows into the smallest chamber first and then fills subsequent larger volume chambers, a plurality of different length sensors sense the volume of fluid in each of the chambers, the fluid interacting with a shortest sensor of the plurality of sensors first and interacting with subsequent longer length sensors of the plurality of sensors in the subsequent larger volume chambers. - View Dependent Claims (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, 31, 32)
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33. A container for fluid comprising:
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a chamber for containing fluid; a sensor disposed within the chamber for sensing a property of fluid in the container; a unit that receives a signal from the sensor and communicates with a device that displays the property of the fluid in the container, including a plurality of different volume chambers that are adjacent to each other such that fluid fills a smallest chamber of the plurality of chambers first, then overflows to fill a subsequent larger volume chamber through a flow passage, a plurality of different length sensors sensing the volume of fluid in each of the plurality of chambers, the fluid interacting with a shortest sensor of the plurality of sensors in the smallest volume chamber first, then interacting with a subsequent longer length sensor in a larger volume chamber.
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34. A container for fluid comprising:
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a chamber for containing fluid; a sensor disposed within the chamber for sensing a property of fluid in the container; a unit that receives a signal from the sensor and communicates with a device that displays the property of the fluid in the container, the sensor including an electrode trace with a smaller width at the bottom of the container to provide increased measurement sensitivity for low volumes of fluid entering the container, a shunt resistor having an optimum resistance connecting first and second electrode traces at a bottom of the sensor substrate to provide increased measurement sensitivity for very low volumes of fluid entering the container. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A container for fluid comprising:
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a first chamber within the container for containing fluid; a second chamber within the container for containing fluid; a first sensor disposed within the first chamber, the first sensor being in contact with fluid in the first chamber, the first sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the first chamber; and a second sensor disposed within the second chamber, the second sensor being in contact with fluid in the second chamber, the second sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the second chamber. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A container for fluid comprising:
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a first chamber for containing fluid; a second chamber for containing fluid; a first sensor disposed within the first chamber, the first sensor being in contact with fluid in the first chamber, the first sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the first chamber; and a second sensor disposed within the second chamber, the second sensor being in contact with fluid in the second chamber, the second sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the second chamber, the first chamber being smaller than the second chamber, the first sensor extending along a length of the first chamber and the second sensor extending along a length of the second chamber, the first chamber and the first sensor being shorter than the second chamber and the second sensor.
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43. A container for fluid comprising:
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a first chamber for containing fluid; a second chamber for containing fluid; a first sensor disposed within the first chamber, the first sensor being in contact with fluid in the first chamber, the first sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the first chamber; and a second sensor disposed within the second chamber, the second sensor being in contact with fluid in the second chamber, the second sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the second chamber, the first chamber being smaller than the second chamber.
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44. A container for fluid comprising:
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a first chamber for containing fluid; a second chamber for containing fluid; a first sensor disposed within the first chamber, the first sensor being in contact with fluid in the first chamber, the first sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the first chamber; and a second sensor disposed within the second chamber, the second sensor being in contact with fluid in the second chamber, the second sensor sensing a volume of fluid in the second chamber, the first and second chambers being located adjacent each other, an orifice at top portions of the first and second chambers connecting the first and second chambers.
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Specification