Year: 1886

page_text: ROBERT JOHN SHEPHERD M.D. M.R.C.S. and L.S.A., Medical Superintendent
St. Olave's Union Infirmary Rotherhithe London S.E. do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The appliance consists of a specially designed mouth-piece, & of a tube some five
feet long, partly elastic and partly rigid, to provide for the immediate discharge of the
urine as soon as it is voided.
The mouth-piece would be quite useless without the efferent tube but it is the most
specialised part of the apparatus. It may be made of any suitable material, such as
valcanite, ebonite, celluloid, &c. &c., but the one I have actually tried is made of tin
coated with gutta-percha. It consists of a hollow, somewhat triangular-shaped flattened
tube, the apex of the triangle forming the outlet, while the base of the triangle forms
a somewhat acutely-shaped ovate inlet. From the larger end of the inlet springs
a process which is formed of a vaginal portion, or body of the process, and of an inter-
mediate portion or neck, the neck being continuous with the tube & serving to con-
nect the body of the process to it. The hollow tube is about 4 inches long, about
To inch deep at the outlet, and about 2 inches deep at the inlet. The process is
about 1 inch wide. Its upper surface forms a continuation of the tube, & is
hollowed out somewhat, so as to correspond with the hollow tube, & its edges
are overlapped inwards as an additional precaution against the escape of urine. It is
from 3 to 4 inches long & curves gently upwards until its extremity overlooks a
line drawn through the centre of the tube. The under surface of the process is rounded
to correspond with the outside of the tube, & at about 1 or 1½ inches from the tube
is suddenly thickened so as to form the wedge-shaped body of the process. It will have
to be made in different sizes for different individuals, but the above measurements will
be found suitable for ordinary cases. The vaginal process being introduced it is found
that the instrument fits so that no urine escapes except by the outlet. The annexed
figure shews the instrument about the proper size, but a little foreshortened. The
letters refer B. to the body of the process. I. to the inlet. N. to the neck. O. to the
outlet. T. to the tube.

page_text: The
The long, or efferent, tube completes the apparatus. It may be composed of any
suitable material that is at the same time rigid enough & flexible enough.
smaller end, or outlet, of the mouth-piece being attached to one end of the long,
or efferent, tube the apparatus is ready for use. Vulcanised india-rubber tubing, about
five feet in length, such as is used by gas-fitters, or for garden hose, has been found to
answer the purpose very well.
It is flexible enough to permit of its being bent to any required position, & rigid
enough to obviate the pressure by the bed-clothes, or otherwise, which would stop the
flow of urine through it. It is long enough to reach from the mouth-piece to within
2 or 3 inches of the floor of the bed-room, & this allows the urine to escape from the
patient to the chamber utensil placed under its free extremity beneath the bed.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of my said Invention
& in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is.
1. The shape of the mouth-piece with its vaginal process.
2. The long efferent tube whereby the urine is immediately carried clear of the
patient, & of the patient's bed & bedding.
3. The self-emptying & self-retaining character of the apparatus as a whole.