Valved vent for a liquid drainage system

A valved vent for a liquid drainage system comprising, a receptacle having a chamber to receive liquid, and a filter pervious to air and substantially impervious to the passage of bacteria, with the filter communicating with the atmosphere. The vent has a valve communicating between an upper portion of the chamber and the filter. The valve may be selectively opened to permit passage of air between the atmosphere and the chamber through the filter, and may be selectively closed to prevent passage of liquid from the chamber against the filter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to liquid drainage systems. 
Before the present invention, an assortment of urine meters have been 
proposed to collect urine which drains through a catheter and drainage 
tube from a patient. The urine meters normally comprise a receptacle 
having a chamber to receive liquid from the drainage tube, and a container 
having a cavity. Provision is made for emptying the liquid from the 
receptacle chamber into the container cavity for retention therein. During 
the emptying procedure, a negative pressure is created in the receptacle 
chamber which impedes passage of liquid from the receptacle to the 
container. Thus, vents have been placed on the receptacle to permit 
passage of air from the atmosphere to the chamber in order to alleviate 
the negative pressure in the receptacle. Such vents have been provided 
with a filter in order to remove bacteria from the air which passes into 
the chamber, and thus prevent contamination of the system. However, during 
use of the device urine from the chamber may contact the receptacle 
filter, and it has been found that repeated contact by urine against the 
filter may cause closure of the filter. Thus, the vent on the receptacle 
may be rendered inoperative in that it no longer permits passage of air 
through the filter. As a result, a negative pressure is created in the 
receptacle when attempting to empty the receptacle into the container, 
thus preventing passage of liquid from the receptacle and also rendering 
the urine meter inoperative. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The principal feature of the present invention is the provision of improved 
vent means for a liquid drainage system. 
The drainage system has a receptacle having a chamber to receive liquid, 
and the vent means has a filter pervious to air and substantially 
impervious to the passage to bacteria, with the filter communicating with 
the atmosphere. The vent means has valve means communicating between an 
upper portion of the chamber and the filter. 
A feature of the present invention is that the valve means is normally 
closed to prevent contact of liquid from the chamber against the filter. 
Thus, another feature of the invention is that the valve means prevents 
damage to the filter by the liquid during use of the device. 
Yet another feature of the invention is that the valve means may be 
selectively opened to permit passage of air between the atmosphere and the 
chamber through the filter. 
Accordingly, a feature of the present invention is that a negative pressure 
may be alleviated in the receptacle chamber by actuation of the valve 
means. 
Further features will become more fully apparent in the following 
description of the embodiments of this invention and from the appended 
claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a urine meter generally designated 
10 in a liquid drainage system having a container 12, a receptacle 14, and 
a vent 15 in an upper portion of the receptacle 14. The container 12 has a 
front wall 16 and a rear wall 18 of flexible material, such as a suitable 
plastic, being joined together around the periphery thereof and defining a 
cavity 20 between the front and rear walls 16 and 18. The front wall 16 of 
the container 12 has a vent 22 with a bacterial filter of known type 
communicating with the container cavity 20. The container 12 has a tubular 
section 24 communicating with a lower portion of the cavity 20, and having 
an outer end removably received in a pocket 26, with the tubular section 
24 having a releasable clamp 28 on the tubular section. Thus, when it is 
desirable to drain urine from the container 12, the tubular section 24 is 
removed from the pocket 26, and the clamp 28 is released to permit passage 
of urine through the tubular section 24. The container 12 also has a 
string 30 attached to an upper portion of the container 12 to permit 
hanging of the urine meter 10 from a suitable object during use. 
The receptacle 14 has a front wall 32, a rear wall 34, and a pair of side 
walls 36 and 38 defining a chamber 40 in the receptacle 14. The receptacle 
14 has a hook 42 extending from the rear wall 34 and spaced from the rear 
wall 34 to receive an upper portion of the container 12 in order to 
support the receptacle 14 on the upper portion of the container 12. The 
receptacle 14 has a lower valve 44 to permit draining of urine when 
desired from the receptacle chamber 40 to obtain a specimen of urine. The 
urine meter 10 has a flexible tube 46 having one end connected to the 
receptacle 14 adjacent the side wall 36 such that it communicates with an 
upper portion of the chamber 40, and the other end of the tube 46 is 
attached by a connector 48 to an upper portion of the container 12 on the 
front wall 16, such that the tube 46 communicates with an upper portion of 
the cavity 20. Thus, the tube 46 communicates between an upper portion of 
the chamber 40 and an upper portion of the cavity 20 for a purpose which 
will be described below. 
As shown, the receptacle 14 has a raised portion 50 adjacent an upper end 
of the receptacle 14. The urine meter 10 has a drainage tube 52 for 
draining urine from the patient, with a downstream end of the drainage 
tube 52 extending through an upper wall 54 of the raised portion 50 into 
the receptacle 14 to define a drip tube 56 inside the receptacle 14. The 
receptacle 14 has the vent 15 attached to the upper wall 54. 
With reference to FIG. 2, the receptacle 15 has a tubular section 58 
attached to the upper wall 54, with the tubular section 58 having an inner 
tapered flange 60 which defines a conical valve seat 62 surrounding an 
opening 64 which communicates with the receptacle chamber 40. The vent 15 
has a housing 66 comprising a tubular section which defines a lumen 68. 
The vent 15 has a circular filter 70 of known type which is pervious to 
the passage of air, but is substantially impervious to the passage of 
bacteria. As shown, the housing 66 has a recess 72 to retain the filter 70 
in place in the lumen 68, with the filter 70 communicating with the 
atmosphere. 
The vent 15 has a valve element 74 comprising a spherical ball which has a 
larger diameter than the diameter of the opening 64. The housing 66 has a 
plate 76 retained by a recess 78 in the housing 66, such that the plate 76 
is positioned in the lumen 68 of the housing 66. As shown, the plate 76 
has a plurality of apertures 80 extending through the plate 76 to permit 
passage of air through the plate 76. The vent 15 has a rod 82 connected 
between a central portion of the plate 76 and the valve element 74, with 
the rod 82 passing through the opening 64. The rod 82 has a smaller 
diameter than the diameter of the opening 64 in order to permit movement 
of the rod 82 through the opening 64. 
The vent 15 has a helical spring 84 extending between the plate 76 and the 
flange 60 such that the spring 84 biases the housing 66 away from the 
receptacle 14. Thus, the spring 84 biases the valve element 74 against the 
valve seat 62, such that the valve element 74 normally sealingly engages 
against the valve seat 62. In this manner, the valve of the vent 15 
comprising the valve element 74 and the valve seat 62 is normally 
maintained in a closed configuration. The vent 15 also has a flexible wall 
86 of suitable material, such as a flexible plastic, extending 
peripherally around the housing 66 and extending between the housing 66 
and the upper wall 54 of the receptacle 14, such that the wall 86 closes 
the vent 15 intermediate the housing 66 and the receptacle 14. 
As previously discussed, the valve of the vent 15 is maintained in a 
normally closed configuration, with the valve element 74 sealingly 
engaging against the valve seat 62. Thus, the normally closed valve 
prevents passage of urine from the receptacle chamber 40 through the 
opening 64 and against the filter 70. In this manner, the valve of the 
vent 15 normally prevents contact of urine against the filter 70 in order 
to prevent degradation and closure of the filter 70 otherwise caused by 
the contact of urine against the filter 70. 
With reference to FIG. 4, when it is desired to empty urine U from the 
receptacle 14 into the container 12, the receptacle 14 is lifted and 
tilted to permit passage of the urine U through the tube 46 and connector 
48 into the cavity 20 of the container 12. However, at this time, a 
negative pressure is created in the upper portion of the receptacle 
chamber 40. With reference to FIG. 3, the vent housing 66 may be pressed 
toward the receptacle 14, such that the plate 76 and rod 82 move the valve 
element 74 away from the valve seat 62. In this open configuration of the 
valve, air is permitted to pass through the filter 70, the apertures 80 of 
the plate 76, and through the opening 64 into the chamber 40 of the 
receptacle 14. In this manner, the negative pressure in the receptacle 
chamber 40 is alleviated by the passage of filtered air into the 
receptacle chamber 40. During this time, the flexible wall 86 prevents the 
passage of air through the side of the vent 15, and limits the passage of 
air from the atmosphere through the filter 70 in order to assure that all 
the air passing into the receptacle has been filtered for bacteria. 
Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the valve of the vent 15 is 
normally maintained in a first closed position with the valve element 74 
sealingly engaged against the valve seat 62. However, the vent housing 66 
may be pressed in order to move the valve to a second open position, thus 
permitting passage of air through the filter 70 and the valve to alleviate 
negative pressure in the chamber 40 of the receptacle 14. When the housing 
66 is again released, the spring 84 biases the housing 66 away from the 
receptacle 14 to the normal first position of the valve, with the valve 
element 74 sealingly engaged against the seat 62 in order to again close 
the valve and prevent contact by urine against the filter 70. Thus, when 
it is desired to empty urine U from the receptacle 14 into the container 
12, the valve of the vent 15 may be actuated to alleviate negative 
pressure in the receptacle chamber 40. When the emptying procedure has 
been completed, the housing 66 of the vent 15 may be released in order to 
again close the valve of the vent 15. 
The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding 
only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, as 
modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.