Patent ID: 9050096
Filing Date: 2015-06-09
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A tourniquet cuff apparatus with improved pneumatic passageway, comprising: a cuff including top, middle, and bottom layers of material having side edges that are sealed together to form a gas-inflatable bladder between the bottom and middle layers, wherein the seal is configured to prevent the middle and bottom layers from contacting each other at a location adjacent to a sealed edge of the bladder, thereby to provide a continuous pneumatic passageway adjacent to the sealed edge for distributing inflating gas along the length of the bladder and wherein the seal forms an enclosure between the middle and top layers; an elongated stiffener member enclosed within the enclosure, the stiffener being movable within the enclosure and arranged to compress a portion of the bladder underlying the stiffener inwardly toward the limb; wherein the width of the stiffener member is less than the distance between the sealed side edges of the cuff thereby to prevent the stiffener from overlying and compressing the continuous pneumatic passageway; a port that is connected to provide an opening into the sealed bladder; a flange member separating the middle and bottom layers adjacent the port opening, the flange member together with the bottom layer defining a channeled passageway extending away from the port opening for delivering gas through the channeled passageway, beyond the flange member and into the inflatable bladder so that pressurized gas delivered through the channeled passageway and toward the continuous pneumatic passageway will separate the layers of the bladder by an amount sufficient to pneumatically connect the channeled passageway and the continuous pneumatic passageway and thereby distribute inflating gas along the length of the bladder for inflating the bladder to the pressure of the pressurized gas.