Patent ID: 7159533

Claim:
An improved gas delivery system of the type used to deliver gas to the airway of an individual, the improvement comprising a flow indicator incorporated into the gas delivery system sufficiently close to the individual to allow the individual easily to observe said flow indicator and thereby determine whether gas is flowing through the system, wherein said flow indicator includes: a) a housing that forms a chamber through which the gas flows, said housing having at least one transparent surface; b) at least one inlet port; c) at least one outlet port; and d) at least one rotatable member mounted within said housing and visible from without said housing through said transparent surface, said rotatable member having: i) an axis of rotation; ii) at least one surface upon which the gas flowing through the flow indicator impinges; and, iii) an axle, said axle being substantially coincident with said axis of rotation; and, e) means for mounting said rotatable member within said housing such that said rotatable member rotates freely about said axle when the gas is flowing through the chamber, thereby producing a visible signal indicating the flow of gas through the chamber, said means for mounting the rotatable member having i) a first stationary crosspiece affixed to said housing adjacent said inlet port; and, ii) a second stationary crosspiece affixed to said housing adjacent said outlet port, said axle being rotatably mounted to said first crosspiece and said second crosspiece, said axle thereby oriented substantially parallel to the flow of gas through said housing such that said rotatable member rotates about said axle when gas passing through said chamber impinges on the surface of said rotatable member.