US 4,306,743 AGranted

Safety connection for breathing tubes

OwnerWilliam E. Hinshaw, Arnold M. Heymaninventors

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Abstract

An improved connector arrangement for breathing circuit endotracheal tubes or the like in which one tube end is inserted into the other tube end. A secure connection is provided by means of a lug, groove and slot arrangement on the adjacent surfaces. When the tubes are moved axially together a lug protruding from one of the surfaces is engaged by a slot in the other and slides along the slot to a circumferential groove, thereby securing the two tubes together so that one can still be moved radially with respect to the other but not be disconnected by an inadvertent force exerted in an axial direction. A quick disconnect capability is provided by having the distance to the groove from the end of the tube along one side of the slot be less than that along the other side of the slot. Rotation of one tube relative to the other in the appropriate direction accompanied by the application of a slight axial pulling force will cause the lug to strike the longer of the two slot walls thereby enabling a quick separation of the two tubes to be made by the subsequent application of an axial pulling force.

Claims6

Dependent claims

An improved connecting system for breathing circuit tubes or the like, comprising:

a first tube having on one surface a radial lug located near one end and a circumferential sealing surface located nearer said one end than said lug and on the same surface;
a second tube slidably engageable with the first tube to provide a frictional connection between the ends thereof, said second tube including on one surface a generally circumferential groove extending around said second tube near one end thereof, an access groove connecting the one end of the second tube with the circumferential groove, said access groove having a sidewall intercepting said circumferential groove, and a circumferential sealing surface located further from said one end than said generally circumferential groove and on the same surface, whereby said sealing surface cooperate to seal the inside of said tubes from the environment when the tubes are secured together by initially moving the lug along the access groove to the circumferential groove and subsequently rotating one of the tubes with respect to the other so as to move the lug within the circumferential groove and away from the access groove, said tubes being freely rotatable approximately 360 degrees with respect to each other when so secured. and whereby said tubes are disconnected by rotating the tubes with respect to one another until said lug contacts said sidewall of the access groove and thereafter pulling them apart.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.