Stopcock, housing of a stopcock, and method for producing a housing of a stopcock

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12007036-B2
Application number	US-202217688411-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2022
Priority date	Mar 5, 2021
Publication date	Jun 11, 2024
Grant date	Jun 11, 2024

Abstract

A medical endoscope is an instrument having an elongate, tubular shaft. The instrument is commonly provided with a flushing device. The flushing liquid can be guided through corresponding separate liquid channels. In order to be able to control the flow of the liquid, the liquid channels have a stopcock. The stopcocks here are of complex construction, and for this reason both the production thereof and the cleaning thereof are complicated. The invention includes a stopcock and also a housing and a method for producing the housing, by way of which the production and the cleaning of the housing are simplified. This is achieved in that a housing and at least one spring element for form-fitting fixing of a plug in a position in the interior space of the housing are manufactured integrally from a single part, that is to say in one part.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A housing of a stopcock for producing and breaking a fluidic connection between at least two connection parts, the housing having at least two spring elements, and having an interior space in which a plug of the stopcock can be mounted in a rotatable manner, wherein:
the at least two spring elements are provided for form-fitting fixing of a position of the plug in the interior space of the housing, wherein the housing and at least one spring element is manufactured integrally from one part;
the at least two spring elements are formed from a housing wall of the housing;
the at least two spring elements are formed parallel to a longitudinal axis of the housing as an extension of the housing wall and forms a spring load perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
a wedge-shaped recess is formed between each of the at least two spring elements in the housing wall; and
openings of the wedge-shaped recesses are oriented towards a bottom side of the housing.

2. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , comprising three or more spring elements.

3. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , wherein the housing is produced from an amorphous metal.

4. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two spring elements are configured to move perpendicularly or transversely to the longitudinal axis of the housing.

5. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the at least two spring elements are larger than or smaller than, a wall thickness of the housing wall.

6. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two spring elements are formed in a tab-shaped manner from the housing wall.

7. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , wherein three or more tab-shaped, oppositely situated spring elements are formed from the housing wall.

8. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , wherein the at least two spring elements include at least one latching means which serves for form-fitting fixing of the plug.

9. The housing of the stopcock according to claim 1 , wherein the interior space is of conical form, wherein the housing wall converges towards a bottom side of the housing, and wherein the at least at least two spring elements follow the conical shape in this case or is formed in a cylindrical manner around the longitudinal axis, wherein the housing wall transitions into the cylindrical shape from the conical shape towards the bottom side of the housing.

10. The stopcock for producing and breaking a fluidic connection between at least two connection parts having the housing according to claim 1 .

11. A method for producing the housing according to claim 1 , wherein the housing and at least two spring elements are produced in one part.

12. A method for producing the housing according to claim 9 , wherein the housing and the at least two spring elements are injection-moulded in one part from an amorphous metal.

Assignees

• Winter & Ibe Olympus

Inventors

• Miersch Hannes

Classifications

• F16K11/0836

  having all the connecting conduits situated in more than one plane perpendicular to the axis of the plug · CPC title

• Y10S251/904

  Snap fit plug valves · CPC title

• Y10T137/86871

  Plug · CPC title

• Y10T137/86823

  Rotary valve · CPC title

• A61M39/22 Primary

  Valves or arrangement of valves {(A61M39/02, A61M39/0247, A61M39/16 take precedence; regulating valves in infusion systems A61M5/16881; in devices worn by the patient for the reception of urine, faeces, catamenial or other discharge, or in colostomy devices A61F5/4405)} · CPC title