US2635603A - Nasal injector - Google Patents

Description

April 21, 1953 J. 1'. SMITH NASAL INJECTOR Filed A ril 22, 1950 zzvmvrox. JEPTHA T. SM/ TH,

, duce its bore to a small diameter. rowed portion is then bent into a hook form as Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NASAL INJECTOR Jeptha T. Smith, St. Louis, Mo.

Application April 22, 1950, Serial No. 157,521

1 Claim.

This invention pertains to a device for applying liquid medicine such as nose drops, adapted to facilitate placing the medicine as near the seat of infection in a nostril as possible.

Medicine bottles for nose drops are usually furnished with a dropper tube for dispensing the medicine. However, these are so shaped that in order to apply the medicine to the nostril the head of the patient must be thrown back very far or some other posture assumed which will practically invert the nostril from its normal position. Even in such a position when the medicine is dropped from the dropper it often runs out without reaching the seat of the infection.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device whereby the medicine may be applied by injecting it in a strong jet upward into the nostril so that it will be forcibly projected into the upper nasal passages where the seat of infection usually lies.

In accordance with this invention, generally stated, a dropper tube is reduced in bore at its lower end and bent through substantially 180 to a position pointing upward in a direction substantially parallel to the main body of the tube. The usual flexible bulb is attached to the tube so that, with a few drops of medicine in the lower curve of the tube, the tip may be inserted upward into the nostril and then by quick pressure on the bulb the liquid will be ejected from the tube in a strong jet directed upward into the nostril so that it may penetrate the upper passages thereof.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing which represents a vertical section of a medicine bottle equipped with an injector tube embodying this invention.

Referring to the drawing, 8 designates a medicine bottle of the usual type provided with a screw cap 2 and a gasket 3 which may be of rubber and have formed integral therewith a flexible bulb 4 which, having thin walls and being unobstructed within, is completely collapsible by finger pressure thereon.

A medicine tube 5 is secured in the gasket 3 by means of a flange 6 in the usual manner. Thus the main body portion of the tube 5 extends vertically downward in the bottle I and provides a reservoir for a charge of medicine. At its lower end it is narrowed so as to re- This narshown, first to one side at I and then to the opposite side through substantially a semicircle, or a little more, at 8. At the end of the latter curve the dispensing tip 9, which may be straight point in a direction substantiallyparallel toillhfi body portion of the tube.

for a short length, is formed and positioned jtosim Thus the tip 9 points nearly vertically upward when said body portion is held in depending position, so that the tip may be inserted into a nostril without changing the normal position of the patients head. With the tip so inserted, a quick pressure on the bulb 4 will cause the liquid to be ejected from the tip 9 in a strong jet which is projected upward into the nostril with some force. This causes the medicine to penetrate deeply into the upper nasal passages and thereby to reach infections which would not be reached by the procedures used heretofore. Graduations I0 may be applied to the curve 8 of the tube so that a measured dose may be injected if desired.

It will be seen that by giving the tube a double bend as described, the center of the semicircular bend 8 is brought substantially into the axis of the body portion of the tube 5, sothat the bent portion extends to practically equal distances on opposite sides of said axis. This makes it possible to use a smaller bottle I than would be required if the whole bend were on one side of the axis of the tube 5, which is also the axis of the bottle. The bore of, the tip 9 should be small in order to form a strong jet. It has been found that, with a bulb 4 of the usual size, a bore of about 3% inch diameter forms a very satisfactory jet.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

In combination with a medicine bottle, a liquid-medicine dispenser comprising, an injection tube having a flexible bulb fixed to one end thereof and secured in a cap for said bottle, the other end of said tube being reduced in bore and bent to hook form with the center of the hook curve substantially in the axis of said tube so that the bent portion extends substantially equal distances on opposite sides of such axis, the tip of said bent portion being pointed in a direction along and substantially parallel to the unbent portion of said tube, said hook portion of said tube being small enough to pass freely through the neck of said medicine bottle, and said bulb being completely collapsible to apply a strong jet-producing pressure to a charge of liquid in said tube.

J EPTHA T. SMITH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 158,564 Barnes Jan. 12, 1875 694,530 Comer Mar. 4, 1902 FOREIGN PATENTS Number 7 Country Date GreatBritam Mar. 20, 1909

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