METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLACING FLUID IN TUBING

Abstract: A method and apparatus for conveying fluids includes tubing (12) and a tube clearing sleeve (16) surrounding the tubing. The sleeve has a slick inner surface (18) with a coefficient of friction less than that of the outer surface (12) of the tubing. The sleeve is compressed between the fingers to compress the tubing and the compressed sleeve is advanced along the tubing to displace contents in tubing.

Description: Description Method And Apparatus For Di spl a c i jτg__Fl uj d_ _I_n_ Tubj ncj Technical Field This invention relates to the conveying of fluids through tubing and more particularly to manually operated fluid displacing means for fluid conveying tubing. Tubing is used, for example, extensively in hospitals to convey fluids for various purposes including introducing fluids into the body and withdrawing fluids frGm the body. In body fluid drainage systems, for example, in chest drainage apparatus, an elastomeric tube is connected at one end to a chest drainage catheter connected to th ' e ' plural cavity of the patient, and the opposite end of the tube is connected to a fluid drainage collection bottle or chamber. Such drainage apparatus may collect drainage either by the effects of gravity alone or by a vacuum assist. In such chest drainage systems, fibrin or a blood clot may occlude the tube or restrict the fluid discharge rate of flow. .It has been common practice for the attendant to dis¬ place or clear the contents of the tube and remove the obstruction by hand. Because the tubing is generally made of a material which produces an outer surface with a relatively high coefficient of friction, such as polyvinyl chloride, latex, urethane or sili- cone, the fingers are generally first lubricated by applying an oil or grease to them. Then, while squeezing and compressing the tube between the fingers, the fingers are advanced longitudinally along the tube to move fluid and other matter through the tube thereby removing the obstruction or increasing the fluid flow rate. Clearing solids, semi-solids, or liquids from resilient, flexible tubing in various other fluid' systems is often accomplished in a similar manner. If a lubricant is not employed, the friction between the fingers and tubing would cause chafing of the skin. Even when a lubricant is used, some chafing of the sking occurs and the tubing may not be cleared as well as it should be. Also, the use of lubricants is time consuming since it requires the application, as well as, removal of lubricant from the hand. In order to avoid the above mentioned problems associated with the above manner of stripping or clearing the contents of tubing, various hand tools having rollers have been proposed. The tubing is clamped between the rollers and then the rollers are moved along the tubing to move the tubing contents longitudinally. Devices of this general type are dis- closed in U.S. Patent Numbers 3,194,452, 3,648,701, and 4,164,223, and in Switzerland Patentschrift Number 278,763, February 16, 1952. These roller devices require a number of parts that must be assembled including pivotally connected arms carrying opposed tube rollers etc. These devices are not only relatively expensive but are relatively large and generally cumbersome in use. Brief Summary Of The Invention One or more of the above mentioned problems a re over¬ come in accordance with one aspect of the present invention by providing a manually collapsible fluid displacing means, such asas over tubing adapted to. convey a fluid. The fluid displacing means has an inner surface with a relatively low coefficient of friction compared to that of the outer surface of the tubing so that it is slideable along the tubing. The sleeve can be manually clamped against the tubing to compress the tubing and then be readily slid along the tubing to displace contents of the tubing. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the outer surface of the fluid displacing means has a higher coefficient of friction than the inner surface thereof to in- crease the friction between the outer surface of the sleeve and the hand of the person using the sleeve member. Brief Description Of The Drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for conveying fluid and having a hand fluid displacing device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the fluid conveying apparatus of Figure 1 illustrating the method of manually dis¬ placing the contents of the tubing of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a tube contents dis- placing member in accordance with a modified embodiment; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a tube contents displacing member in accordance with another modified embodi¬ ment of the invention. Detailed Description Of The Drawing Refering now to the drawing and particularly to Figure 1, there is illustrated medical tubing apparatus, in¬ dicated generally at 10, including tubing 12 and a fluid dis¬ place or tube clearing member 14 on the tubing 12. Apparatus 10 is especially well suited for use in a chest drainage system. Tubing 12 may have one end connected to a catheter (not shown) that is connected to the plural cavity of the patient. The opposite end of tubing 12 may be connected to a fluid drainage collection bottle or chamber (not shown). Drainage flow from the patient to the collection chamber may be effected by gravity or assisted by a suitable vacuum applied to the collection chamber. The tubing 12 may be of any suitable rubber or plastic, for example, it may formed or extruded from a material which includes latex, polyvinyl chloride, silicone, urethane, latex or the like. The tubing 12 is an elastomeric tube whic is flexible, resilient, and elastic, and which is collapsible or compressible, and returns to its original shape after de¬ formation. Preferably, the opposed walls can be totally col¬ lapsed to effect a closure across the. inside o the tube by manually pinching the tubing. Latex and polyvinyl chloride tubing is often used in chest drainage systems. All of the above material can be extruded to produce tubes, such as tubing 12. Such tubing has an outer surface which has a re¬ latively high coefficient of friction with respect to the human skin such as on the fingers of the hand. The fluid displacing or tube clearing member 14 is shown including a sleeve 16 surrounding the tubing 12 and having an inner diameter slightly greater than the outer diameter of tubing 12. For example, the outer diameter qf tubing 12 may be .65 inch and the inner diameter of sleeve 16 .75 inch. Sleeve 16 is formed of a material that pro¬ duces an inner surface 18 which has a relatively low co¬ efficient of friction with respect to the outer surface 20 of the tubing 12 so that even when pressed together with some force, the sleeve 16 is readily slideable relative to the tubing 12. The sleeve 16 may be made from a plastic and is preferably made .from Teflon, that is either tetra fluoroethylene (TFE) or fluoroethylenepropylene (FEP). TFE is generally more economical than FEP. Either may be extruded to produce tubing from which sleeves, such as sleeve 16 can be cut. Such sleeves - "have a slick or low friction- inner surface 18, as well as a slick or low friction outer surface 22. The sleeve may be relatively thin, for example, a wall thickness of .015 inch will generally be suitable. Since sleeve 16 is to be grasped by the hand or fingers of the person or attendant operating the fluid drainage system, as will be discussed hereafter, a suitable longitudinal length for the sleeve is about three inches. In use, if a blockage or partial occlusion of tube 12 occurs due, for example, to chest drainage matter clogging the tube, or if it is otherwise desired to increase the fluid flow rate of the tube contents, the operator hand grasps sleeve 16, such as between the fingers as shown in Figure 2. With the fingers engaging the outer surface 22, the sleeve 16 is pinched to compress or collapse the sleeve and tube to either occlude or partially occlude the tube 12. While maintaining the tube compressed, the fingers and sleeve 16 are advanced longitudinally along the tube 12 thereby causing the contents of the tube to advance and to generally displace tube contents into the collection chamber. This can break up a blockage and open the tube lumen for the free flow of fluid. Dislodging drainage matter may also be accomplished by first pinching the tube 12 with one hand to occlude it, and simultaneously compressing the sleeve and tube, as indicated above, and advancing the compressed sleeve in a direction away from the occlusion. The creates a reduced or negative pressure in the tube 12 between the pinched zone and the compressed sleeve zone. When the one hand releases the pinched area of the tube, the pressure differential created on opposite sides of the occluding matter can cause such matter to be released or dislodged. Because the inner surface 18 of the fluid displacing sleeve 16 has a low coefficient of friction compared to the outer surface 20 of tubing 12, the sleeve readily slides along the tubing 12 while it and the tubing 12 are compressed by the fingers. Since the fingers and sleeve move together there is no chafing or wear of the skin of the operator during the rela¬ tive movement of the sleeve and tube. Relatively high pinching pressures can be applied through the sleeve 16 by the fingers to collapse tubing 12 and yet there is no chafing of the fingers. As shown in Figure 3, fluid conveying apparatus is shown including a cylindrical fluid displacing or tube clearing member 24 of modified construction surrounding fluid conveying tubing shown in phantom at 25. The tube clearing member 24 includes a collapsible cylindrical sleeve 26 such as a thin sleeve or tube of plastic having a lower coefficient of fric¬ tion than that of the tubing 25. Preferably, the sleeve 26 is formed of Teflon ' , either TFE or FEP, so that the inner surface 28 of the sleeve will be relatively slick and readily slideable over tubing 25. The outer surface 30 of the sleeve in such case will also be relatively slick. In some cases, it is desirable to increase the friction between the fingers and the outer surface of the sleeve 26 so that there is little or substantially no relative movement between the fingers and sleeve during use of the tube clearing device. This is especially important where the attendant is subject to having water or other materials on the hands which might cause the fingers to slip off of the sleeve during use. A friction tape 32 is illustrated in Figure 3 as being applied longitudi- nalϊy along the outer surface 30 of the sleeve. The tape 32 may T '^ • be of the conventional type .which has a layer 34 coated on both sides with a non-drying adhesive, and a peel-back paper cover layer 36. The tape 32 may be applied and the cover layer 36 removed as indicated in Figure 3 to expose the outer adhesive of layer 34. A plurality of such tapes may be applied where desired. The adhesive surface prevents or reduces re¬ lative movement between the fingers and the sleeve during use. In Figure 4 a fluid conveying system is shown in¬ cluding a modified tube clearing device 38 surrounding resilient, ' compressible tubing 39. The clearing device includes an inner cylindrical sleeve 40 of material having a low coefficient of friction, preferably of TFE or FEP, and a concentric outer cylindrical sleeve 42 of a material having a relatively higher coefficient of friction than sleeve 40. The inner surface 44 of sleeve 40 has a lower coefficient of friction than tubing 39 so that it readily slides along the tubing 39 while compressing the tubing. The outer surface 46 of outer sleeve 42 provides a higher coefficient of friction between the fingers of the operator and the clearing device 38 -to prevent or reduce relative move- ent during use or prevent the fingers from slipping off of the device. The outer sleeve 42 may be formed, for example, of any of the previously mentioned materials useful in making the fluid conveying tubing. The outer sleeve 42 may be secured to the inner Teflon layer by passing the inner sleeve through an extruder dieand extruding a thermoplastic material, for example, polyvinyl chloride, onto the outer surface of the inner sleeve. Another method is to form the outer sleeve 42 of a highly elastic material such as a thin latex sleeve and stretch it onto the inner sleeve 40. In the latter case the resilience of the latex - ^REA * ^ •holds it in place. The tube clearing devices described herein are simple in construction, light weight, economical and need no special storage area. Since they can be readily packaged with and dis- posed on the drainage tubing, the tube clearing device is imme¬ diately available for use in clearing or reducing obstructions or displacing contents of the tubing. It is, of course, especially important in emergency situations to have a tube clearing device at hand. Because of the relatively low cost of the disclosed tube clearing devices, they can be employed extensively in hos¬ pitals, and can be discarded with the disposable tubing as a disposable item. While the tube clearing devices and sleeves illustrated in the drawings are circumferentially continuous and are shown circular in cross-section when in an uncompressed state, other shapes may be used. When one material or surface is stated herein to have a ■ lower or higher coefficienfof friction than a second surface or material, it is intended that the coefficient of friction of the two members or surfaces are compared when they are subjected to like pressures and moving forces when engaged against a standard surface (for example a glass surface). As various changes can be made in the above construction and method without departing from the scope, of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description and shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustra¬ tive and not in a limiting sense.

Claims: Claims 1. Apparatus * for conveying . fluids comprising com¬ pressible elastomeric tubing adapted. to be connected to a source of fluid for conveying the fluid to fluid receiving means, and fluid displacing means including a flexible sleeve surrounding said tubing and being manually compressible to compress said tubing, the inner surface of said sleeve having a lower coeffi¬ cient of friction than that of the outer surface of said tubing so that said sleeve while being manually collapsed to collapse said tubing is simultaneously manually slideable longitudinally along said tubing for displacing tubing contents along the tubing. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sleeve is circumferentially continuous. 3.. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said sleeve is normally circular in cross-section when uncompressed. 4. The apparatus of claims 1, 2, or 3 wherein at least a portion of the outer surface of said fluid displacing means has a higher coefficient of friction than the inner sur¬ face thereof which contacts said tubing. 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sleeve has an adhesive layer on the outer surface thereof to provide a hand gripping surface with a coefficient of friction greater than the inner surface of said sleeve. 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said adhesive layer is a portion of an adhesive strip having a peelable outer backing thereon which is removable from said adhesive layer to expose said adhesive layer. 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said fluid dis¬ placing means includes an outer second cylindrical sleeve sur- rounding said first named sleeve and having an outer surface Jias a coefficient of friction greater than that of said inner surface of said first named sleeve. 8. The apparatus of claim.1 wherein said first named sleeve is of a tetra fluoroethylene plastic material. 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first named sleeve is of a fluoroethylenepropylene plastic material. . 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tubing is made of a plastic which includes a material from the group con¬ sisting of latex, urethane, silicone, polyvinyl chloride, or latex, and said sleeve is made of a material consisting of a material having a coefficient of friction substantially less than that of any of said materials. 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said sleeve comprises a layer of tetra fluoroethylene. 12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said sleeve comprises a layer of fluoroethylenepropylene. 13. A medical drainage system such as for chest drain¬ age, comprising resilient compressible elastomeric tubing con¬ nected in fluid communication between a cavity of a patient to be drained of fluid and a fluid recepticle for receiving drainage fluid, and a cylindrical flexible sleeve of predetermined length surrounding said tubing and being manually compressible to simul¬ taneously compress said tubing, said sleeve having an inner sur¬ face with a coefficient of friction less than that of the outer surface of said tubing so that said sleeve while manually com¬ pressed to compress said tubing is slideable along said tubing to displace the contents of said tubing and capable of clearing an obstruction in said tubing caused by the drainage fluid. 14. The system of claim 13 wherein said sleeve is of tetra fluoroethylene. -ll - 15. The system of claim 13 wherein said sleeve is of fluoroethylenepropylene. 16. The system of claim 13, 14 or 15 wherein said sleeve has a longitudinal length sufficient for the thumb and several fingers to engage it. 17. A tube clearing device for selectively manually displacing the contents of a tube conveying a fluid comprising a manually collapsible sleeve adapted to surround an elastomeric collapsible tube for collapsing the tube and displacing the con- tents of the tube by advancing along the tube while collapsing the tube, the inner surface of said sleeve having a substantially lower coefficient of friction than that of the tube. 18. The device claim 17 wherein said sleeve is of tetra. fluoroethylene. 19. The device of. claim 17 wherein said ' sleeve is of f1uoroeth 1enepropy1ene. 20. The device of claim 17, 18 or 19 including on the outer surface of said sleeve having coefficient of friction greater than that on the inner surface of said sleeve. 21. The device of claim 17, 18 or 19 further including a second sleeve surrounding said first named sleeve and having an outer surface with a coefficient of friction greater than that of the inner surface of said first named sleeve. 22. A method of selectively manually assisting the flow of fluid through a collapsible tube comprising the steps of connecting one end of a manually collapsible tube with a source of fluid, providing a collapsible sleeve of predetermined length onto said tube in surrounding relation therewith, said sleeve having an inner surface with a coefficient of friction "substantially less than that* of the outer surface of the tube, grasping the outer surface of the sleeve with the hand and collapsing the sleeve and the tube, and while holding the sleeve and tube collapsed advancing the sleeve longitudinally along the tube to displace contents of the tube. ' Λ

Inventors: BODICKY R
Applicants: SHERWOOD MEDICAL IND INC
Application year: 1981
Main classification: A61M27
IPC codes: A61M1, F04B9, F04B43