Retractable Medical Tubing Reel
AssigneeLifeline-Reel LLC
InventorDavid James Moore
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
This disclosure describes, in part, a reel assembly configured to store and automatically retract flexible medical tubing. The reel assembly may include a constant torque spring configured to bias a rotational force on a spool. The spool may have clusters of teeth alternative with tooth-less areas. The reel assembly may also comprise a pawl with an internal spring configured to interact with the clusters of teeth and tooth-less areas in order to prevent/permit retracting a portion of fed medical tubing by the constant torque spring.
Claims20
A reel for supplying medical tubing, the reel comprising:
- a case comprising a first half coupled to a second half and configured to house:
- a spool for holding a length of medical tubing and comprising:
- one or more clusters of a plurality of teeth;
- a pawl mechanism configured to interact with the one or more clusters of teeth of the plurality of teeth as medical tubing exits the spool;
- a spring mechanism configured to place a rotational force upon the spool to automatically retract the length of medical tubing;
- and
- a bracket configured to couple the case to a surface and configured to allow the case to rotate in at least 180 degrees.
A method of supplying and automatically retracting a length of medical tubing, the method comprising:
- storing the length of medical tubing on a spool, the spool comprising:
- one or more groups of a plurality of teeth position around a top perimeter of the spool and where a space between each group comprises a toothless area;
- constantly biasing, by a spring mechanism, a rotation force of the spool toward a first position;
- receiving a first indication that a first portion of the length of medical tubing is removed from the spool toward a second position;
- stopping, by a ratchet mechanism, the spool in the second position, the ratchet mechanism comprising:
- a pawl configured to secure the spool in the second position by interacting with the one or more groups of the plurality of teeth on the spool while the spring mechanism provides the constant biasing;
- receiving a second indication that a second portion of the length of medical tubing is removed from the spool toward a third position, wherein the third position places the pawl of the ratchet mechanism within the toothless area;
- and
- automatically retracting, responsive to receiving the second indication, the first portion and the second portion of the length of medical tubing toward the first position.
A reel assembly, comprising:
- a spool housed within a first half and a second half of a case, the spool configured to store a length of medical tubing and comprising a plurality of projections located on a top external portion of the spool and an apex of each of the plurality of projections substantially faced toward a central axis of the spool;
- a pawl mechanism comprising an internal spring configured to bias the pawl toward engagement with the plurality of projections on the spool;
- and
- a constant spring mechanism configured to retract a portion of medical tubing when the pawl mechanism is disengaged from the plurality of projections on the spool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.