Patent ID: 7384073

Claim:
A nonremovable tube fitting for providing access for a tube through an opening of a container to access an interior of the container, the fitting and the container forming an assembly comprising: the container; a hollow body having a proximal end and a distal end, the hollow body being partially insertable from the distal end through the opening of the container into the interior of the container, the hollow body including a proximal cap near the proximal end configured to be coupled to the opening of the container, the hollow body including a hole for receiving the tube and a slot for receiving a capture member into the interior of the container, said slot having a longer side and a shorter side, wherein the hole and the slot are separated and extending from the proximal end to the distal end of the hollow body; a capture member coupled with the hollow body, said capture member having a distal end and a proximal end, the capture member comprising a proximal head having a dimension larger than the longer side of said slot, a proximal portion connecting said proximal head to a flexible region, the flexible region formed about the longitudinal centerline of the capture member and adjacent to the distal end of the capture member, and a cross member connected and centered with respect to said flexible region, the cross member having its largest dimension larger than the opening of the container, said capture member being movable between a contracted position formed by a bending of the flexible region and an expanded position formed by a returning of the flexible region to its undeformed position, the capture member in the contracted position having a lateral dimension sufficiently small to be inserted through said slot into the interior of the container, the capture member returning to the expanded position upon insertion into the interior of the container, the capture member in the expanded position protruding outwardly from a region near the distal end of the hollow body so as to prevent the capture member and the hollow body from being pulled out through the opening in the container and separated from the container; and a tube inserted through said hole in said hollow body.