Abstract:
A gangable injection port holder including a series of receptacles for receiving swabable access valves that are themselves serially ganged together by tubing or complementary Luer slip connections. The receptacles are integrally formed onto a base with a side wall to allow the swabable access valves during use to be oriented vertically resting on the base or horizontally resting on the side wall. The base may be segmented, with each segment containing at least one of the receptacles. The segments may be easily snapped together in order to quickly assemble the desired number of receptacles intended to be used during a surgical procedure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 61/665,338, filed Jun. 28, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates to manifolds for intravenous (IV) systems. More particularly, this invention relates to IV manifolds that are particularly suited for use in administering anesthesia medications. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Background Art 
         [0005]    Presently there exist many components to intravenous (IV) systems designed to deliver medications to a patient or to draw blood from the patient. Historically, IV systems employed a variety of ports that allowed a medical practitioner to access the port via a hypodermic needle to administer fluids to the patient or to withdraw blood from the patient. In more recent years, such ports have been supplanted by needleless access ports containing a swabable valve with a Luer fitting that allowed the medical practitioner to directly connect the syringe to the needleless access port without the use of a hypodermic needle. Needleless access ports are universally preferred over ports that are accessed by means of a hypodermic needle to eliminate the risk of inadvertent needle pricks to the medical practitioner that could otherwise result in the spreading of a disease, particularly AIDS. 
         [0006]    In the cardiac field, it is often necessary to administer a number of different medicines to the patient. Hence, IV systems have been developed which employ a series of needleless access valves that are “ganged” closely together. Ganged needleless access valves allow the use of a plurality of syringes of medications to be connected in fluid communication with an IV line throughout the surgical procedure for the selective administration of the medicine as needed. Representative ganged needleless access valves by Quest Medical, Inc. are sold under the trademarks “Q2®” “Checkmate®”, “Q2 Multiport” and “Q2 T-Extension Set.” Quest&#39;s ganged needleless access valves eliminate the use of numerous needless access valves, minimize residual volume or “dead space” in the injection ports, allow easy one-handed operation and allow syringes to remain attached for selective injection throughout a surgical procedure. Quest&#39;s ganged swabable access ports further include integrated check valves to prevent retrograde flow from the patient into the respective syringes. Quest&#39;s ganged swabable access ports may be conveniently mounted on IV pole holders for easy, stable delivery of the medicine. 
         [0007]    Quest&#39;s ganged access ports have employed specialized housings for containing the needleless access valves in a variety of combinations of two-port to six-port gang arrangements. Consequently, the prior art ganged access ports are expensive to manufacture and must be stocked in a variety of arrangements. 
         [0008]    Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the ganged access port art. 
         [0009]    Another object of this invention is to provide a ganged injection port which utilizes swabable access valves that are ganged together at T-sites by tubing and then mounted in base in close proximity to one another. 
         [0010]    Another object of this invention is to provide a ganged access injection port for conventional swabable valves which are manufactured in interlocking segments to allow quick assembly of the number of segments desired for a particular surgical procedure. 
         [0011]    The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    For the purpose of summarizing this invention, this invention comprises a gangable injection port holder that includes a series of receptacles for receiving swabable access valves that are themselves serially ganged together by tubing or complementary Luer slip connections. The receptacles integrally formed onto a base with a side wall to allow the swabable access valves during use to be oriented vertically resting on the base or horizontally resting on the side wall. The present invention also includes segmentation of the base and side wall, with each segment containing one of the receptacles. The segments may be easily snapped together in order to quickly assemble the desired number of receptacles intended to be used during a surgical procedure. For example, when a four-port assembly is desired, four segments are snapped together to create a four-receptacle ganged assembly. When six are desired, six segments are snapped together, and so on. 
         [0013]    The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0015]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the gangable injection port holder of the invention showing a conventional syringe oriented for connection to one of the valves; 
           [0016]      FIGS. 1B and 1C  respectively showing typical uses of the holder laying horizontally on a table or positioned upright on the table; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of the holder and T-sites; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the swabable access valves after being removed from the holder; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4A  is a side elevational view of one of the swabable access valves,  FIG. 4B  is a cross-sectional view thereof and  FIG. 4C  is an enlarged cross-sectional view thereof showing the one-way valve incorporated therein; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5A  is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the holder with the swabable access valves being removed therefrom;  FIG. 5B  is a top elevational view thereof;  FIGS. 5C &amp; 5D  are enlarged respective frontal and rear perspective views thereof showing one of the receptacles; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6A  is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the gangable injection port holder of the invention comprising snap-together segments;  FIG. 6B  is a front elevational view thereof,  FIG. 6C  is a right side elevational view thereof;  FIG. 6D  is a top elevational view thereof and  FIG. 6E  is a bottom elevational view thereof 
           [0022]      FIG. 7A  is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the gangable injection port holder of the invention comprising snap-together segments and  FIG. 7B  is a top elevational view thereof and 
           [0023]      FIG. 8A  is a perspective view of the forth embodiment of the gangable injection port holder of the invention comprising snap-together segments and  FIG. 8B  is a right side elevational view thereof 
       
    
    
       [0024]    Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0025]    As shown in  FIGS. 1-5 , the gangable port holder  10  of the invention comprises an elongated base  12  and an elongated side  14  positioned approximately  90  degrees relative to one another. A plurality of receptacles  16  are integrally formed with the elongated base  12 . Corresponding swabable valves  18  interconnected in series by tubing  20  are positioned within the receptacles  16 . The elongated side  14  comprises a plurality of castellations  22  in alignment with the receptacles  16 . 
         [0026]    The gangable port holder  10  may be connected in-line with the IV line from the IV bag to the patient with the first-most swabable valve  18  of the series is connected to a connection line  24  having a Luer connector  26  allowing the assembly to be connected to the IV line to the patient and with the last-most swabable valve  18  being connected to the IV line to the IV bag. A leaf valve  28  may be provided on the connection line  24  to close off the operation of the swabable valves from the IV line. 
         [0027]    The gangable port holder  10  of the invention allows a plurality of syringes  30  (or other medical devices) containing medicine to be connected to the plurality of swabable valves and conveniently left in place throughout a surgical procedure, thereby allowing the selective administration of drugs to the patient via the IV line throughout the surgical procedure. As shown in  FIG. 1B , the holder  10  with the syringes  30  connected may be laid on the side wall  14  on a table. Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 1C , the holder  10  may be used vertically by resting on the base wall  12 . 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 2  compared with  FIG. 3 , the serially-connected swabable valves are assembled and then inserted as an assembly into the holder  10 . 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4A-4C , each of the swabable valves  18  comprises a swabable valve element  32  mounted within a valve body  34 . The valve element  32  and body  34  preferably comprises the type of valve element and body shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,956, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The valve body  34  is connected to a housing  36  having tubular left and right side ports  38 L and  38 R extending from diametrically-opposing sides thereof, with tubing  20  interconnecting one valve&#39;s left side port  38 L with its adjacent valve&#39;s right side port  38 R such that they are serially connected. 
         [0030]    A one-way check valve  40  is operatively positioned between the valve body  34  and the housing  36  to allow unidirectional fluid flow through the valve element  32  to flow into the side ports  38  (the reverse flow being checked by the one-way valve  40 ). While many types of one-way valves may suffice, preferably the one-way valve  40  comprises a generally circular diaphragm  40  with an enlarged annular edge  40 E. The annular edge  40 E is sealingly retained within annual groove  40 G formed between the connection of the valve body  34  and the housing  36  with diaphragm  40 D being urged into sealing engagement with the peripheral annular edge of the outlet  340  of the body  34 . A plurality of apertures  40 A are formed in the diaphragm  40 D outside of outlet  340  allowing fluid to flow therethrough when the diaphragm  40 D is unseated from the edge of the outlet  340 . 
         [0031]    As noted above, the receptacles  16  function as sockets to receive the swabable valve  18 . More particularly, as shown in  FIGS. 5A-5D , each receptacle  16  comprises two arcuate side walls  42  that define the socket for receiving the swabable valve  18 . The separation between the arcuate side walls  42  allows the side ports  38  to extend therebetween when the swabable valves  18  are installed in their respective receptacles  16 . 
         [0032]    The radius of the arcuate side walls  42  preferably corresponds to the radius of the housing  36  of the swabable valve  18 . The side walls  42  may comprise one-half of a circular cylindrical configuration  42 CC. Preferably, however, side walls  42  comprise an oval configuration including the circular cylindrical configuration  42 CC separated by a flat portion  42 F. In either configuration, the housing  36  of the swabable valve  18  is intended to snap-fit into the receptacle  16  using frictional snap grooves  42 G. 
         [0033]    It is noted that the series of swabable valves is intended to be assembled together by the interconnecting tubing  20  in the same spacing as the spacing between the respective receptacles  16 . In this regard, the use of the oval configuration composed of the two circular cylindrical side walls  42 CC and the flat wall  42 F is preferred to allow some manufacturing variance should the swabable valves  18  not be precisely separated equidistantly to correspond to the spacing of the respective receptacles  16 . 
         [0034]    The second embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in  FIG. 6A-6D , include receptacles  16  similarly configured as described above in connection with the first embodiment. However, in the second embodiment, the elongated base  12  and its integral elongated side  14  are segmented such that each segment  50  contains one receptacle  18 , with each segment  50  interlocking with adjacent segments. 
         [0035]    More particularly, the interlocking segments  50  each include at one end a male connector  52 M and at the other end a female connector  52 F that are complementarily configured to snap together. The configuration of the female connector  52 F in the first embodiment includes a blind slot  52 FB in the upper surface of the end of the base  12  that is configured and dimensioned to receive a complementary male tab  52 MT to snap-fit together. For added tightness, the blind slot  52 FB of the female connector  52 F may comprise a detent hole  52 FH and the male tab  52 MT may comprise a complementarily configured detent protrusion  52 MP that snap-fits into the female&#39;s detent hole  52 MT. 
         [0036]    The third embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in  FIG. 7A-7B , includes a base  12  composed of snap-together segments  54  as described above, but wherein the male connector  54 M at one end and the female connector  54 F at the other end are complementarily configured to snap together by virtue of a dovetail configuration. More specifically, the male connector  54 M comprises a plurality of dovetails  54 D that snap into a corresponding plurality of dovetail slots  54 S of the female connector  54 M. 
         [0037]    Finally, the forth embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 8A-8B , includes a base  12  composed of snap-together segments  56  as described above, but the male connector  56 M at one end and the female connector  56 F at the other end are complementarily configured to snap together by virtue of a tongue and groove configuration. More specifically, the male connector  56 M comprises a tongue  56 T extending outwardly from the edge of the base  12  that snaps into a corresponding a groove  56 G positioned along the edge of the base  12 . 
         [0038]    Many other configurations for snapping together the segmented base  12  may suffice without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. 
         [0039]    It can be appreciated that the interlocking segments  50 ,  54  and  56  allow any number of segments to be ganged together to correspond to the number of desired serially valves  18  to be utilized during a surgical procedure, thereby significantly reducing the inventory of the different combinations thereof. 
         [0040]    The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
         [0041]    Now that the invention has been described,