Laryngoscope Blade And Method For Producing A Laryngoscope Blade

Abstract

A method for producing a laryngoscope blade and a laryngoscope blade including a base blade and a tube which is arranged at least in part on an outer face of the base blade, extends approximately in a longitudinal direction of the base blade and is firmly connected to the base blade, wherein the tube, at its side facing toward the base blade, has at least in part a longitudinally extending corrugation which, with the outer face of the base blade, forms a longitudinally extending cavity, wherein the tube is connected to the base blade by a respective soldering seam in the lateral edge regions of the corrugation.

Claims

1-7. (canceled)

8. A method for producing a laryngoscope blade, comprising providing a base blade, providing a tube which at least in part has a longitudinally extending corrugation, heating a solder material to a soldering temperature to connect the tube to the base blade in lateral edge regions of the corrugation, firmly connecting the tube to the base blade in such a way that the corrugation is directed toward an outer face of the base blade and with the latter forms a longitudinally extending cavity.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the tube is inserted with a distal portion into an aperture present in a distal end region of the base blade, is placed with a middle portion for forming the cavity on the base blade, and is fixed with at least one laser weld spot.

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein, after the cavity has been formed, the solder material is introduced into the cavity.

11. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the solder material is applied using a dosing device.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein a blade head is attached in a proximal end region of the base blade, and a proximal portion of the tube is inserted into the blade head.

13. (canceled)

14. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

16. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein, after the cavity has been formed, the solder material is introduced into the cavity.

17. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the solder material is applied using a dosing device.

18. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein a blade head is attached in a proximal end region of the base blade, and a proximal portion of the tube is inserted into the blade head.

19. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the tube is arranged at least in part on an outer face of the base blade, and extends approximately in a longitudinal direction of the base blade, the longitudinally extending corrugation, with the outer face of the base blade, forms the longitudinally extending cavity.

20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the cavity is formed between the two edge regions.

21. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein a volume of the cavity is dimensioned to receive a quantity of solder material that is sufficient for forming soldering seams.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the soldering seams are formed by iron-based solder.

23. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the base blade is configured as a longitudinally extending, approximately partially cylindrical hollow profile, wherein a blade head, into which the tube leads, is arranged at a proximal end region of the base blade.

24. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the base blade comprises a longitudinally extending corrugation on its outside and an inner radius of the corrugation of the base blade is at least approximately equal to an outer radius of the tube.

25. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the cavity holds solder during manufacturing and the solder fills soldering gaps on the sides of the cavity to solder the tube to the base blade.

26. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the tube is closed all the way around its circumference.

27. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the tube is produced from a cylindrical tube.

28. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the tube includes a circumferential cross-section that is concave in the region of the corrugation and otherwise is convex.

29. A laryngoscope blade produced by the method as claimed in claim 8.

30. The laryngoscope blade as claimed in claim 29, wherein the cavity is formed at least partially by the tube.

31. The laryngoscope blade as claimed in claim 29, wherein a blade head, into which the tube leads, is arranged at a proximal end region of the base blade.

32. The laryngoscope blade as claimed in claim 29, wherein the cavity holds solder during manufacturing and the solder fills soldering gaps on sides of the cavity to solder the tube to the base blade.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Further aspects of the invention will become clear from the following description of a preferred illustrative embodiment and from the attached drawing, in which:

[0035] FIGS. 1a and 1b show two different views of an illustrative embodiment of a laryngoscope blade according to the invention;

[0036] FIGS. 2a to 2c show three different views of a variant of the illustrative embodiment according to FIGS. 1a and 1b;

[0037] FIG. 3 shows a cross section through the light channel tube of the laryngoscope blade according to FIGS. 1a and 1b and of the variant according to FIGS. 2a to 2c;

[0038] FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the laryngoscope blade according to FIGS. 1a and 1b and according to FIGS. 2a to 2c;

[0039] FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section of the laryngoscope blade according to FIGS. 2a to 2c.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In FIGS. 1a and 1b, an illustrative embodiment of a laryngoscope blade according to the invention is shown in two oblique views. The laryngoscope blade 1 is configured as a Miller laryngoscope blade and has a base blade 2 of approximately semicylindrical shape. Connected firmly to the base blade 2 is a light channel tube 3 which, in a middle portion 4, is arranged on an outer face 5 of the base blade 2 and extends parallel to the longitudinal direction of the base blade 2. A distal portion 6 of the light channel tube 3 is angled in relation to the middle portion 4 and passes through an aperture 7 to the inside 8 of the base blade 2. Optical fibers for carrying illumination light extend inside the light channel tube 3 and open out in a light exit surface 9 at the distal end of the light channel tube 3. The distal end of the base blade 2 is configured as a spoon-shaped continuation 10. The edges of the continuation 10, and also the other edges of the base blade 2, are rounded to prevent trauma.

[0041] Arranged at the proximal end of the base blade 2 is a blade head 11, which is firmly connected to the base blade 2. A handle (not shown) can be attached to the blade head 11 by way of a transverse groove 12 and spring-mounted catches 13, which handle then protrudes downward approximately perpendicularly from the base blade 2. In accordance with the views shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, the word “downward”, here and in the text below, designates the direction in which the blade head 11 and the handle, when attached, protrude from the base blade 2, and “upward” designates the opposite direction: “downward” and “upward” refer here only to the position of the structural parts relative to each other, not to the orientation of the laryngoscope blade 1 during the use thereof. Accordingly, in the illustrative embodiment shown, when viewed from the proximal direction, the base blade 2 is open on the left, while the light channel tube 3 is arranged on the right.

[0042] The base blade 2 has a longitudinally extending corrugation which is impressed into the outer face 5 and into which the light channel tube 3 is placed, and which corrugation can be seen on the inner face 8 as a longitudinally extending bead 14 (see FIG. 1b). The corrugation or the bead 14 divides the base blade 2 into an upper wing 16 and a lower wing 17. A proximal portion of the light channel tube 3 is fitted into the blade head 11. The optical fibers guided in the light channel tube 3 extend in a curved configuration inside the blade head 11 and lead into a light connector face 15. A corresponding light coupling face of the handle can be attached to the light connector face 15 in order to couple illumination light into the optical fibers of the light channel tube 3, which optical fibers carry the illumination light to the light exit face 9.

[0043] The base blade 2 and the light channel tube 3 are each made of stainless steel and are connected to each other by soldering with iron-based solder. The blade head 11 is also made of stainless steel and connected to the base blade 2 and to the light channel tube 3 by soldering with iron-based solder.

[0044] FIGS. 2a to 2c show three different views of a variant of the illustrative embodiment described above. This variant differs from the variant shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b only in terms of the length of the base blade 2 and the corresponding length of the middle portion 4 of the light channel tube 3. In other respects, the two variants are of identical configuration. The variant of FIGS. 1a and 1b can be, for example, a laryngoscope blade for children (size 0 or 1), while the variant shown in FIGS. 2a to 2c is a laryngoscope blade for adults (size 3 or 4).

[0045] FIG. 2a shows a side view of the laryngoscope blade 1 seen from the left, FIG. 2b shows a side view seen from above, and FIG. 2c shows a view from the proximal direction. FIG. 2a shows that the spoon-shaped continuation 10 is angled slightly downward. As can be seen from FIG. 2b, the distal portion 6 of the light channel tube 3 with the light exit face 9 is angled slightly to the left. In this way, a region can be illuminated that is arranged distally of the laryngoscope blade 1 and offset slightly to the left. FIG. 2c shows that the upper wing 16 is slightly narrower than the lower wing 17; both of them together form what is approximately a half cylinder and, measured from a longitudinal axis of the half cylinder, occupy an arc of slightly more than 180°. In the upper region, the upper wing 16 has a slightly more pronounced inward curvature.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows a cross section through the light channel tube 3, in the middle portion 4 thereof. The light channel tube 3 has a substantially cylindrical configuration, with a circular outer contour along most of the circumference, wherein a corrugation 18 is impressed at one side. The interior 24, which is limited only slightly by the corrugation 18, serves to receive the optical fibers. The angled distal portion 6 of the light channel tube 3 has no corrugation (see FIGS. 1a to 2b).

[0047] In the assembled state, the light channel tube 3 is inserted into the aforementioned corrugation of the base blade 2, specifically in such a way that the corrugation 18 of the light channel tube 3 is directed toward the base blade 2 or the corrugation of the base blade 2. This is depicted in the cross-sectional view in FIG. 4 which, seen obliquely from the distal direction, shows a section through the base blade 2 and the light channel tube 3. As is shown in FIG. 4, the corrugation 18 of the light channel tube 3 has a smaller width than the corrugation 19 of the base blade. The radius of curvature of the surface of the base blade 2 in the interior of the corrugation 19 corresponds approximately to the radius of the circular outer contour of the light channel tube 3, such that the light channel tube 3 inserted into the corrugation 19 of the base blade 2 bears two-dimensionally on the base blade 2 to both sides of the corrugation 18 or forms soldering gaps 20, 20′ of approximately uniform width to both sides of the corrugation 18. The regions of the surface of the light channel tube 3 located to both sides of the corrugation 18 and the regions opposite them inside the corrugation 19 of the base blade 2 serve as joining regions. The corrugation 18 of the light channel tube 3 forms, with the other part of the corrugation 19 of the base blade 2, a cavity 21.

[0048] The cavity 21 serves to receive the solder material prior to the soldering process. The two soldering gaps 20, 20′ are of such a width that, during the soldering process, the iron-based solder used as solder material penetrates into the soldering gaps 20, 20′, spreads over the entire length of the soldering gaps 20, 20′ and fills them, said width being, for example, ca. 0.03 to 0.05 mm. This not only results in a firm connection of the light channel tube 3 to the base blade 2, it provides on the outer face of the soldering gaps 20, 20′ a soldering seam with a smooth surface free of gaps. In particular, sufficient solder material is introduced into the cavity 21 such that the distal portion 6 of the light channel tube 3 is also surrounded by a soldering seam in the aperture 7 (see FIGS. 1a and 1b). In this way, the cavity 21 is at the same time closed off at the distal end. Moreover, the blade head 11 is connected by soldering to the base blade 2 and to the light channel tube 3, as a result of which the cavity 21 can also be closed at the proximal end.

[0049] The longitudinal section of the laryngoscope blade 1 in FIG. 5 shows that the cavity extends from the proximal end of the light channel tube 3 as far as the transition between the middle portion 4 and the angled distal portion 6 of the light channel tube 3. The solder material 22 introduced prior to the soldering process is indicated symbolically. According to FIG. 5, the solder material can be arranged in a distal region and in a proximal region of the cavity 21, although it generally suffices to introduce the solder material into the proximal region of the cavity 21. It will also be seen from FIG. 5 that the light channel tube 3 protrudes with its proximal portion 23 into the blade head 11, and that the corrugation 19 of the base blade 2 or the bead 14 extends in the proximal direction slightly beyond the proximal end of the light channel tube 3.

[0050] According to an illustrative embodiment of the method according to the invention, the laryngoscope blade 1 is produced by first of all making available the base blade 2, the light channel tube 3 and the blade head 11. The light channel tube 3 is pushed with its angled distal portion into the aperture 7 of the base blade 2 and then fitted into the corrugation 19 of the base blade 2 and in this position, in which soldering gaps 20, 20′ are present to both sides of the corrugation 18 of the light channel tube, is bonded at or near its proximal portion 23 to the base blade 2 by way of two laser weld spots. With an applicator which comprises a dosing device and a syringe needle, iron-based solder in the form of a solder paste is then introduced from the proximal direction into the cavity formed between the corrugation 18 of the light channel tube 3 and the base blade 2, until said cavity is filled with the solder material in a proximal region; optionally, a distal region can also be filled with solder material (see FIG. 5). Moreover, the blade head 11 is attached to the proximal end region of the base blade 2, such that the proximal portion 23 extends into the blade head 11, and is likewise secured to the base blade 2 with laser weld spots; solder material can likewise be arranged at the corresponding soldering gaps of the blade head 11.

[0051] This solder bond is introduced into a furnace and heated to a soldering temperature of approximately 1120° C. The iron-based solder thus liquefies and flows, on account of the capillary action, into the soldering gaps 20, 20′ and into corresponding soldering gaps of the blade head 11. Similarly, the gap between the aperture 7 and the distal portion 6 of the light channel tube is filled with solder. During the subsequent cooling, which can take place over the course of an hour or a few hours for example, the iron-based solder hardens in the soldering gaps and forms soldering seams, whereby a firm, durable and gap-free connection is created between the components to be connected to one another. The resulting soldering seams have a smooth surface, such that only minor after treatment is generally needed, if indeed any.

[0052] Once cooling is complete, optical waveguides are pushed from the distal direction into the light channel tube 3 and farther into the blade head 11. Finally, the light exit face 9 and the light connector face 15 are created by filling with adhesive and by subsequent working.

[0053] For the sake of clarity, not all the reference signs are shown in all of the figures. Reference signs not explained in connection with one figure have the same meaning as in the other figures.