EP0603093A1 - Distribution net for medical fluids - Google Patents

Abstract

The system includes series of fluid delivery openings (6) formed in a first distribution head (30) which is suspended from a mobile ceiling-mounted arm (4) and column (1) assembly. A second distribution head (2) is supported directly by the column and includes a second series of fluid delivery openings (7). The column is hollow, with a number of rigid fluid delivery conduits housed within its body. A branch conduit leaves each conduit within the second distribution head, and delivers fluid under the control of a cut-off valve, to a flexible conduit housed within the hollow body of the arm and leading to the first distribution head.

Description

The present invention relates to a distribution network for medical fluids, and more precisely to a network equipping a hospital room, in particular an operating theater, a recovery room or a resuscitation room.

This type of room must be supplied by a gas distribution network intended to be used during the various interventions likely to be carried out in said room. This is in particular a supply of oxygen, nitrous oxide, an oxygen-ether mixture, cyclopropane, or other anesthetic gases.

There is therefore provided inside this type of room a housing provided with a certain number of fluid outlets, on which the inhalers can be quickly connected on demand by the anesthesiologist in particular. The recovery and / or resuscitation rooms are generally designed to receive several patients, who rest on elongated beds or supports, placed side by side. In this case, the fluid distributor boxes are fixed and generally suspended from the ceiling, by a ceiling arm. The box is positioned at a certain height, between two neighboring patients, which facilitates access to the fluid distribution outlets.

There are also known pivoting ceiling assemblies, having the form of a frame provided with one or more shelves and supported by a column fixed to the ceiling. The assembly can rotate, generally 360 °, around the vertical axis of the column. The shelves are used to support different medical devices, for example an oscilloscope, a television monitor, or different monitoring and diagnostic devices.

It has also been proposed to incorporate in such a mobile assembly the distribution box for medical fluids. This is very interesting, since it is thus possible to orient the housing as well as possible, in order to make it more convenient to connect the assigned inhaler device to one of the patients in the vicinity.

The various fluids arrive at the distributor box from a fluid supply network which passes through the ceiling of the room, via conduits which pass inside the column and the arm supporting the assembly. mobile.

Of course, these conduits are flexible, to allow the movement of the assembly in rotation.

It is easy to understand that this freedom of movement of the distributor housing represents a risk of deterioration of the fluid supply conduits, and reduces their lifespan.

This is why, the regulations in the matter, and in particular the French standard NFS 90-155, require that in the care units which are supplied by an intake of medical fluid passing through a movable arm, a second outlet is available in the even local, independently of the insulation of the flexible duct of this arm.

To comply with this regulation, designers and installers of networks of this type must therefore in practice provide an additional distribution network for each of the fluids supplying the ceiling distributor box. Generally, the pipe bringing each of the fluids into the room has a bypass, one of the conduits of which passes through the ceiling, for connecting, via flexible pipes, to the ceiling distributor box, and the other of which passes through the partitions of the room to lead to an auxiliary wall outlet. An easily accessible shut-off valve for hospital staff is interposed between the bypass and the flexible conduit fitted to the ceiling light. Thus, in the event of a malfunction, in particular the rupture of one of the flexible conduits, the cut-off valve is actuated, and the wall outlet is used, so that the fluid concerned can immediately be available by means of this wall outlet (outlet rescue).

If such an installation is satisfactory in principle, it nevertheless has a certain number of drawbacks.

In the first place, it is relatively expensive, insofar as it supposes the putting into service of pipes both in the ceiling and in the partitions of the room.

Secondly, the wall outlet must be in a specific location on the periphery of the room, and its access is not always convenient, especially if the patient being cared for at the time of the breakdown is at a distance important of it.

The present invention proposes to solve these difficulties.

To this end, the medical fluid distribution network according to the invention, which equips a room and supplies a series of fluid intakes which are mounted on a distributor box, said main, the latter being supported by a movable ceiling arm mounted to pivot on a column of the room, is remarkable in that it comprises a second distributor box of fluids, said auxiliary, fixed and supported by said column, this box being provided with a series of sockets of emergency fluids.

• ladite colonne est tubulaire, et l'amenée des fluides au boîtier auxiliaire est réalisée au moyen de conduits rigides logés à l'intérieur de cette colonne ;
• les conduits rigides présentent une dérivation branchée, par l'intermédiaire d'une vanne de coupure, à un conduit flexible alimentant le boîtier distributeur principal ;
• la vanne de coupure est portée par le boîtier auxiliaire ;
• le bras mobile est tubulaire et ledit conduit flexible est logé à l'intérieur de celui-ci ;
• le boîtier distributeur principal est suspendu, avec possiblité de rotation, à l'extrémité du bras mobile ;
• le boîtier principal est porté par une colonne tubulaire dans laquelle passent les conduits flexibles ;
• le boîtier principal fait partie d'un ensemble comportant au moins une étagère de support de matériel hospitalier.

Furthermore, according to a certain number of additional advantageous, but not limiting, characteristics:

• said column is tubular, and the supply of fluids to the auxiliary housing is carried out by means of rigid conduits housed inside this column;
• the rigid ducts have a branch connected, by means of a cut-off valve, to a flexible duct supplying the main distributor box;
• the cut-off valve is carried by the auxiliary box;
• the movable arm is tubular and said flexible conduit is housed inside thereof;
• the main distributor unit is suspended, with the possibility of rotation, at the end of the movable arm;
• the main housing is carried by a tubular column through which the flexible conduits pass;
• the main housing is part of an assembly comprising at least one shelf for supporting hospital equipment.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the description and the appended drawings which represent a preferred embodiment.

• la figure 1 est une vue générale, en perspective, d'un appareil distributeur de fluides utilisant un réseau conforme à l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue schématique partielle de l'appareil de la figure 1, qui illustre le principe d'alimentation en gaz de chacun des boîtiers.

In these drawings:

• Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a fluid dispensing apparatus using a network according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a partial schematic view of the apparatus of Figure 1, which illustrates the principle of gas supply to each of the boxes.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 comprises a cylindrical tubular column 1, of vertical axis XX ′, which is fixed to the ceiling 100 of a hospital room by means of a mounting plate 11. This room is for example an operating room, resuscitation or recovery.

At the lower end of the column 1 is fixedly mounted a housing 2. This comprises a certain number of sockets 7 for medical fluids, for example four in number.

The housing 2 can of course be fitted with other equipment elements, for example electrical outlets and dials 21 displaying the pressure of some or all of the gases distributed.

On the column 1 is mounted a pivoting sleeve 10 which carries a movable arm 4. The amplitude of pivoting of the arm 4 around the column 1, which is symbolized by the arrow F in FIG. 2, is for example 260 °.

At the free end of the arm 4 is mounted another sleeve 50, from which is suspended a column 5 of vertical axis YY '. The column can rotate in the sleeve 50, as symbolized by the arrow G in FIG. 2. This rotational movement is possible over an angle of 360 °. Column 5 is also tubular. At its lower end is fixed a housing 30 which carries on its front face a certain number of fluid intakes 6 similar to the intakes 7 of the housing 2.

The box 30 supports, by means of vertical lateral uprights 31 several shelves 32, the assembly 3 thus constituted serving to receive a certain number of medical devices, in particular TV monitor, oscilloscope, various control and diagnostic devices, box containing surgical tools, etc., which can be used in the room.

This assembly 3 can rotate both around the axis YY ', and in block, with the arm 4, around the axis XX'. Thus, the person in charge of the use of this equipment, in particular the anesthesiologist or his assistant, can permanently have this set directly within reach.

He can in particular use one or other of the medical fluid inlet sockets 6 to supply a respiratory or inhalation device intended for his patient.

The schematic drawing in FIG. 2 illustrates the way in which one of the medical fluids distributed by the device arrives at each of the two boxes, namely the auxiliary (or emergency) box 2 and the main box, normally used, 30.

Inside the fixed column 1 are housed a series of rigid metal tubes 8, for example made of copper, arranged vertically. These tubes pass through the ceiling and each receive a determined fluid from a supply source located outside the room, in a room containing different bottles of fluids.

One of these tubes has been designated by 8A, which supplies the apparatus with a well-defined gas, for example nitrous oxide. The conduit 8A is bent at its base, at a right angle, and opens into one of the fluid intakes 7, this outlet being designated 7A. It is a plug of a type known per se, capable of being connected with a complementary plug disposed at the end of a pipe supplying a respiratory or inhalation device. Inside the housing 2, a little upstream of the elbow, the conduit 8A has a bypass 80. This is connected via a cut-off valve 81 to a flexible conduit 9. The valve 81 is accessible from the outside of the housing; it is for example disposed at the rear of the housing 2. The flexible conduit 9 is for example made of synthetic rubber. It first goes up inside the column 1, then passes into the arm 4, also tubular, through an appropriate opening 12 to finally descend, through another opening 40 in the column 5. Its end is connected on one 6A of the sockets 6 fitted to the main box 30.

Of course, the openings 12 and 40 pass through both the ends of the arm 4 and of the openings made in the sleeves 10 and respectively 50, this arrangement not adversely affecting the pivotability of the arm 4 and of the column 5. For each dispensed medical fluids, a supply pipe similar to that just described is provided. Each socket 6 is thus associated with a backup socket 7.

In normal operation of the device, the valve 81 is open. In the absence of the connection of a respiratory device or inhaler on either of the sockets 2 or 6, these are automatically closed.

During normal use of the device, use is made of the sockets 6. Thus, when one wishes to receive the fluid - in this case nitrous oxide - supplied by the socket 6A, one plugs into this taken respiratory or inhalation device. The fluid then arrives, via the conduit 8A, the open valve 81 and the flexible conduit 9A at the outlet 6A.

The operator can vary the position of the assembly 3 as desired, this thanks to the double rotational ability, around the axes XX 'and YY' of this assembly, and thanks to the flexibility of the conduits 9.

If it happens that, as a result of deterioration of the flexible conduit 9A, the requested fluid no longer arrives, or arrives badly, at the outlet 6A, this incident can be quickly repaired. It suffices for the operator to actuate the cut-off valve 81, to disconnect his breathing apparatus from the outlet 6A to reconnect it to the associated outlet 7A. Due to the proximity of the two boxes 30 and 2, this operation is done instantly. There is practically no interruption in the supply of medical fluid.

By simply reading the above description, it is easy to understand that the invention considerably improves the performance of the distribution network in terms of its convenience and safety of use, this with a reduced cost price.

In the embodiment which has just been described, the plate 11 for mounting the column 1 is directly fixed to the ceiling 100 of the room.

It goes without saying that it would not go beyond the ambit of the invention to suspend column 1 from a mobile device provided in the ceiling, for example to a carriage guided in translation in slides fixed to the ceiling, this to allow bring the fluid dispenser system to different areas of the room. In this case, the conduits for supplying fluids to the column must naturally be flexible or include flexible portions, so as not to impede the movements of the system.

Claims (8)

Distribution network of medical fluids equipping a room and supplying a series of fluid intakes (6) which are mounted on a distributor box (30), called main, this latter being supported by a mobile ceiling arm (4) pivotally mounted on a column (1) of the room, characterized by the fact that it comprises a second fixed fluid distributor box (2), called auxiliary, supported by said column (1), and provided with a series of emergency fluid sockets (7). Distribution network according to claim 1, characterized in that said column (1) is tubular, and that the supply of fluids to the auxiliary housing (2) is carried out by means of rigid conduits (8) housed inside this column. Network according to claim 2, characterized in that said rigid conduits (8) have a bypass (80) connected, by means of a cut-off valve (81), to a flexible conduit (9) supplying the distributor housing main (30). Network according to Claim 3, characterized in that the said cut-off valve (81) is carried by the auxiliary housing (2). Network according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that said movable arm (4) is tubular, and that said flexible conduit (9) is housed inside thereof. Network according to Claim 5, characterized in that the said main distributor box (30) is suspended, with the possibility of rotation, at the end of the said movable arm (4). Distribution network according to claim 6, characterized in that the main housing (30) is carried by a tubular column (5) through which said flexible conduits (9) pass. Distribution network according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the main housing (30) is part of an assembly (3) comprising at least one shelf (32) for supporting hospital equipment.

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