CONTAINER HOLDER WITH A TEMPERATURE CONTROL DEVICE FOR AN INJECTOR

Abstract

A container holder for an injector for injecting a fluid into the human or animal body includes at least one container clamping member for clamping onto a container that is filled with the fluid and a temperature control device for bringing the temperature of the container to a predefined temperature. To be able to clamp containers of different shapes and sizes onto the container holder and to bring the temperature of the containers to a desired temperature without any thermal loss, by means of the temperature control device, and to ensure easy and unimpeded clamping and removal of the container, the temperature control device is connected to a transporting device, by means of which the temperature control device can be brought into and out of thermal contact with the container that is clamped onto the container clamping member.

Claims

1. A container holder for an injector for injecting a fluid into the human or animal body, the container holder comprising a container clamping member for clamping onto a container filled with the fluid and a temperature control device for heating or cooling the container to a predefined temperature, wherein the temperature control device is connected to a transporting device such that the temperature control device is moveable into and out of contact with the container which is clamped into the container clamping member.

2. The container holder of claim 1, wherein the temperature control device comprises an adjustable heating element or cooling element.

3. The container holder of claim 1, wherein the temperature control device comprises a heat-conducting element which sits close to an outside surface of the container when the temperature control device is in thermal contact with the container that is clamped into the container clamping member.

4. The container holder of claim 1, wherein the temperature control device is moveable by the transporting device between a rearward position and at least one forward position, with the temperature control device being located at a distance from the container that is clamped into the container clamping member, when in the rearward position, and in thermal contact with the container when in the at least one forward position.

5. The container holder of claim 4, wherein a locking mechanism secures the transporting device in at least one of the rearward position and in the at least one forward position.

6. The container holder of claim 5, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a manually operable push button which, when activated, disengages the locked transporting device in at least one of the rearward position and the at least one forward position.

7. The container holder of claim 1, wherein the transporting device comprises a housing, which is securable to the injector, and a carriage which is moveable relative to the housing.

8. The container holder of claim 7, wherein the carriage is spring-mounted in or on the housing.

9. The container holder of claim 7, wherein the carriage is movably mounted on a guide member.

10. The container holder of claim 1, wherein the temperature control device comprises a base member which is pivotably articulated on a front face of the transporting device.

11. The container holder of claim 10, wherein the transporting device comprises a damping element which dampens the movement of the carriage.

12. The container holder of claim 10, wherein on the base element of the temperature control device, a cooling or heating element is disposed and wherein a thermal insulator is disposed between the base element and the cooling or heating element.

13. The container holder of claim 11, wherein the carriage comprises a gear rack which is connected to the damping element which is configured as a rotational damper.

14. The container holder of claim 7, wherein a handle part is molded onto the carriage, by means of which handle part the movable carriage is manually moveable from a forward position, in which the temperature control device is in thermal contact with the container, into a rearward position, in which the temperature control device is located at a distance from the container.

15. The container holder of claim 2, further comprising a sensor for detecting at least one of a position of the temperature control device and the transporting device.

16. The container holder of claim 15, wherein the sensor and the temperature control device are connected to a control unit which supplies the temperature control device with electrical current for operating the cooling or heating element as soon as the temperature control device reaches or leaves a predefined position.

17. The container holder of claim 1, wherein the transporting device comprises a spring and wherein the temperature control device is moved by an elastic force of the spring in a direction of a container that is clamped into the container clamping member so as to bring the temperature control device into thermal contact with the container.

18. A method of controlling the temperature of a container which is filled with an injection fluid and which is clamped onto the container clamping member of an injector, the method comprising: clamping the container onto a container clamping member of an injector, producing a thermal contact between a temperature control device and the container that is clamped onto the container clamping member by moving the temperature control device to the container with a transporting device that is disposed on the container clamping member, and activating the temperature control device so as to bring the temperature of the container to a predefined target temperature.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the moving of the temperature control device to the container is implemented by an elastic force of a spring.

20. The container holder of claim 12, wherein the thermal insulator is made of an elastically deformable material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] These and other advantages and features of the disclosure follow from the practical example described in greater detail below, with reference to the appended drawings. The drawings show:

[0025] FIG. 1: a rear view of an injector for injecting a fluid into the human or animal body;

[0026] FIG. 2: a lateral view of the injector shown in FIG. 1;

[0027] FIG. 3: a top view of the injector shown in FIG. 1;

[0028] FIG. 4: a sectional view of a temperature control device and a connected transporting device of the injector shown in FIGS. 1-3 in a rearward position; and

[0029] FIG. 5: a sectional view of the temperature control device and the connected transporting device shown in FIG. 4 in the rearward position, wherein the temperature control device is shown in a position that is pivoted with respect to the position shown in FIG. 4;

[0030] FIG. 6: a sectional view of the temperature control device and the connected transporting device shown in FIG. 4 in a forward position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] FIGS. 1-3 show an injector for injecting contrast media into the human or animal body. The injector I comprises a frame structure with a foot part 23 mounted on rollers, a head part 22 and a shaft part 21 which connects the foot part 23 and the head part 22 to one another. In the head part 22, the injector I comprises a container holder according to the disclosure, which in the practical example illustrated comprises three container clamping members 10, 10, 10 for clamping on containers B, B, B. Each of the containers B, B, B is filled with a contrast medium or with a rinsing solution (for example, a NaCl solution). The containers B, B, B are exchangeably clamped onto the container clamping members 10, 10, 10. The containers (which hereinafter will be uniformly referred to as B) are, for example, bottles of different shapes and sizes, which have a bottleneck and which are clamped upside down (i.e., with the bottleneck oriented downwardly) onto the associated container clamping member 10, 10, 10 where they are held.

[0032] Disposed on the shaft part 21 is a pumping unit 24 with a peristaltic pump. In addition, a monitor 25 and a connecting device 26 are attached to the shaft part 21. The pumping unit 24 serves to deliver the fluids contained in the containers B into a patient's tube. To this end, a patient's tube (not shown) in the drawings is connected to a pump tube (also not shown in the drawings) to the connecting device 26. The pump tube is connected to the containers B by means of a tubular system or by means of a cartridge comprising fluid channels disposed therein via a branching section and connecting tubes disposed thereon. It is also possible to design the patient's tube and the pump tube as a single tube section and to connect this tube section directly to a cartridge. To deliver the fluids from the containers B into the patient's tube, the pump tube is placed into the peristaltic pump of the pumping unit 24. The containers B, which can each have a different shape and size, are filled with different contrast media or with a rinsing solution, and via the tubular system or the cartridge, it is possible to determine by opening or closing valves, from which container B the fluid contained therein is removed and pumped by means of the pumping unit 24 into the patient's tube.

[0033] As FIG. 3 indicates, a temperature control device 20, 20, 20 is dedicated to and disposed on each container clamping member 10, 10, 10. The temperature control devices 20, 20, 20 serve to control the temperature of the containers B, B, B that are clamped onto the container clamping members 10, 10, 10. Each temperature control device 20, 20, 20 is connected to an associated transporting device 30, 30, 30. The transporting devices 30, 30, 30 serve to transport the temperature control devices 20, 20, 20 to the containers B, B, B which are clamped onto the container clamping members 10, 10, 10.

[0034] By way of an example, FIGS. 4-6 show longitudinal sections through a temperature control device 20 with a transporting device 30 connected thereto.

[0035] As FIG. 3 shows, the cross section of the temperature control device 20 has a curved or, more specifically, a concavely curved shape, in particular a part-cylindrical shape, for example, the shape of half of a cylinder, the shape of a third of a cylinder or the shape of a quarter of a cylinder. The temperature control device 20 comprises a heat-conducting element 12, a cooling or heating element 13 disposed thereon, a thermal insulator 14 thereon, which is made of an elastically deformable and non-heat conducting material, and a base member 15 disposed on the thermal insulator 14. The heat-conducting element 12 is configured, for example, as a multi-component plastic injection molded part, and comprises a main body made of a rigid plastic and an elastic layer made of an elastomer, with the elastomer layer facing the cooling or heating element 13 and being thermally conductively connected to said cooling or heating element.

[0036] Connected to the temperature control device 20 is a transporting device 30. The transporting device 30 comprises a housing 1, which is attached to the injector I, and a lid-shaped carriage 2 which, relative to the housing 1, moves linearly along a direction of movement T. The carriage 2 is mounted on a guide member 7, which is connected to the housing, so as to be able to move against the elastic force of a spring 8. To this end, a connector part 3 is attached to the carriage 2, and the connector part 3 is spring-mounted on the guide member 7 and is able to move along the guide member 7. Disposed on the lower surface of the connector part 3 is a projecting pin 18 which projects downwardly beyond the guide member 7.

[0037] Disposed on the inside surface of the lid-shaped carriage 2 is a gear rack 11 which meshes with a gear wheel of a damping element 6 designed in the form of a rotational damper. The damping element 6 is mounted on the housing 1. This allows the damping element 6 to dampen a translatory movement of the carriage 2 relative to the housing 1.

[0038] The carriage 2 moves relative to the housing 1 between a rearward position a, which is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and a forward position b, which is shown in FIG. 6. In the rearward position a, the temperature control device 20, which is connected to the transporting device 30, is positioned at a distance from a container B that is clamped onto a bottle clamping member 10 (not shown in FIGS. 4 to 6). In the forward position b, the temperature control device 20 is in thermal contact with the container B that is clamped onto the bottle clamping member 10.

[0039] To secure the carriage 2 in its rearward position a, a locking mechanism is provided. The locking mechanism comprises a swivel lever 16 which swivels about axis C, which is located in a direction vertical to the direction of movement T, and a detent 19 which is molded onto the housing 1. The swivel lever 16 comprises a rearward wing 16 and a forward wing 16, with the forward wing 16 having a groove, into which a pin 30 that is molded onto the carriage 2 engages, which pin has a pressure spring 9 disposed on the lower end of the pin 30. The swivel lever 16 can be swiveled about axis C by exerting pressure on the rear wing 16 of the swivel lever 16. To allow actuation of the swivel lever 16, a rearward wing 16 of the swivel lever is connected to a push button 4 made of an elastic material, for example, an elastomer or a rubber material. The push button 4 is located in an opening in the upper wall of the carriage 2 and is in mechanical contact with the rear wing 16 of the swivel lever 16. When (manual) pressure is exerted on the push button 4, the push button 4 is pushed downwardly into the inside of the carriage 2 and thereby exerts pressure on the rear wing 16 of the swivel lever 16, which causes the swivel lever to swivel about axis C against the elastic force of the pressure spring 9. As the swivel lever 16 is being swiveled, the forward edge of the front wing 16 of the swivel lever 16 is disengaged from the detent 19. This releases the locking mechanism which secures the carriage 2 in its rearward position a, and the carriage 2 is linearly moved by the elastic force of the spring 8 in the direction of movement T forwardly into a forward position b. When a container B is clamped onto the container clamping member 10 dedicated to the temperature control device 20, the carriage 2 is pushed forward by the spring 8 until the heat-conducting element 12, which forms a heat transfer zone, comes into contact with the outside surface of the container B that is clamped onto the container clamping member 10. This forward position b is shown in FIG. 6. Moving the carriage 2 into its forward position b causes the temperature control device 20 to be brought into thermal contact with the container B.

[0040] A handle part 17 is molded onto the upper surface of the carriage 2. The handle part 17 serves to manually move the carriage 2 back into its rearward position a. To move the carriage 2 back into its rearward position a, grasping the handle part 17 and exerting a pushing or pulling force oriented in a direction opposite to the direction of movement T and against the elastic force of the spring 8 allows the carriage 2 to be manually moved back until the carriage 2 reaches its rearward position a. After reaching the rearward position a, the locking mechanism catches since the forward locking edge of the forward wing 16 of the swivel lever 16 engages the detent 19 of the housing 1 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0041] It is also possible to provide a motor drive for moving the carriage 2 back into its rearward position a. In that case, the handle part 17 can be omitted.

[0042] A sensor (not shown in the drawings) for detecting the position of the transporting device 30 is preferably provided. The sensor for detecting the position of the transporting device 30 can be configured, for example, as an optical sensor which detects the position of the pin 18 disposed on the lower surface of the connector part 3. However, the sensor for detecting the position of the transporting device 30 can also be a position switch, for example, a touch-sensitive limit switch or an inductive or capacitive position sensor. The sensor for detecting the position of the transporting device 30 is connected to a control unit which supplies the temperature control device 20 with the electrical current required for operating the cooling or heating element 13. The control unit is designed so that the current supply to the cooling or heating element 13 is cut off as soon as the carriage 2 is located in its rearward position a. As soon as the carriage 2 leaves its rearward position a and arrives in a forward position b, the control unit switches on the current supply to the cooling or heating element 13 in order to activate the temperature control device 20 for heating or cooling a container B that is clamped onto the container clamping member 10.

[0043] The container clamping member 10 preferably comprises a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of a container B that is clamped onto the container clamping member 10. The temperature sensor is connected to the control unit as well and transmits the detected temperature of the container B to the control unit which controls the current supply to the cooling or heating element 13 as a function of the temperature detected by the temperature sensor, in such a way that the temperature of the container B is brought to a predefined target temperature and is maintained at this target temperature during an injection procedure.

[0044] As a comparison of FIGS. 4 and 5 shows, the temperature control device 20 can be swiveled relative to a vertical plane. To this end, the temperature control device 20 is pivotably mounted to the carriage 2 by means of a hinge 5 so as to pivot about an axis that is vertical relative to the direction of movement T. The hinge 5 allows the temperature control device 20 to swivel about the vertical baseline position of the temperature control device 20 as shown in FIG. 5, preferably within a limited angular range, for example, from 5 to 20.

[0045] According to a useful embodiment of the disclosure, the housing 1 of the transporting device 30 is made of a transparent or translucent plastic material, and inside the housing 1, a light source, for example, an LED, is disposed. The light source is controlled by the control unit and indicates the operating statuses of the injector I and/or the temperature control device. Thus, based on different emitting colors of the light source, it is possible to determine, for example, whether a container B is clamped onto a container clamping member 10 that is dedicated to the temperature control device 20 and the associated transporting device 30 and/or whether the temperature control device 20 is activated. An additional light source, in particular in the form of an LED, can also be disposed on the temperature control device 20, for example, on the base member 15 or on the cooling or heating element 13, so as to indicate operating statuses of the temperature control device 20.