US3236588A

US3236588A - Thermometer dispenser and sterilizer

Info

Publication number: US3236588A
Application number: US177607A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edwin E Emerson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-03-05
Filing date: 1962-03-05
Publication date: 1966-02-22
Anticipated expiration: 1983-02-22

Description

United States Patent Ofifice 3,236,588 Patented Feb. 22, 1966 3,236,588 THERMOMETER DISPENSER AND STERILIZER Edwin E. Emerson, 106 E. Pike St., Osakis, Minn. Filed Mar. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 177,607 2 Claims. (Cl. 21-87) This invention relates to dispensing devices, and in particular to dispensers for storing, sterilizing, and dispening clinical thermometers, although the invention is not necessarily limited to this particular use.

Many of the clinical thermometer dispensers and sterilizers presently available have certain disadvantages associated therewith. Many simply consist of a bath of sterilizing fluid into which a number of the thermometers are haphazardly immersed with the physician or his assistant having no way of knowing which thermometers were last used and which have been in the sterilizing solution for the longest period of time. As a result, a thermometer is frequently immediately reused, without having been in the sterilizing bath a sufficient length of time to permit proper sterilization thereof. Many also require the user to insert his fingers into the sterilizing solution to remove a thermometer therefrom, thereby causing inconvenient wetting of the fingers and causing contamination of the sterilizing solution. Others have separate coventional covers for the receptacle holding thel thermometers. These covers are usually inconvenient since a place must be found to set them on when they are removed from the receptacle and they must then be lo-' cated, picked up and reinstalled on the receptacle after a thermometer is removed therefrom or returned thereto. Due to the inconvenience of having to repeatedly remove and replace these covers, they frequently are not replaced on the receptacle after each dispensing operation and when replaced are frequently not replaced properly so as to properly seal the receptacle resulting in excessive evap-' oration of the sterilizing fluid.

In addition, the covers are frequently lost or misplaced. Still others of the prior art devices are complicated and expensive in construction and difiicult or awkward to manipulate.

Therefore, an important object of my invention is to provide a novel thermometer dispenser and sterilizer which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages.

Another object is to provide a dispenser and sterilizer which is simple and inexpensive to make and easy to operate and which normally maintains the thermometers in a completely submerged condition in a bath of sterilizing fluid and which enables the thermometers to be raised out of the bath when dispensed so as to be conveniently available to the user.

Still another object is to provide a novel dispenser and sterilizer which is designed to hold a plurality of thermometers and which permits identification of the last used thermometer returned to the dispenser to insure that one of the other thermometers which has been in the sterilizing bath a longer period of time will be next used instead of said last used thermometer.

Still another object is to provide a novel sterilizer and dispenser of the type described in which the dispensing action causes substantial agitation of the sterilizing solution and increases the cleansing action thereof, thereby shortening the time necessary to effect proper sterilization.

A still further object is to provide a novel thermometer dispenser and sterilizer which includes a thermometer holding rack and a dispenser cap or cover hingedly connected thereto for raising and lowering said rack into and out of the sterilizing bath, said cap being designed to assume an out of the way position and to serve as a counter Weight for holding the rack in raised position for convenient dispensing of the thermometers.

Still another object is to provide a dispenser of the type above described in which the rack and its thermometers may be lowered into the bath and the cap returned to its normal properly seated position by simply flicking the cap to unbalance the dispensing relationship between the rack and the cap to permit the rack to fall freely under the influence of gravity into the bath and pull the cap with it as it moves downwardly into its properly seated position.

Still another object is to provide a dispenser of the type above described having guide means for automatically guiding the cap into properly seated position.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a dispenser of this invention in open dispensing position;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of the dispenser of FIG. 1 in closed position;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the cap;

FIG. 5 is a side view partly in section and partly in elevation of another form of my invention; and

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines 66 of FIG. 5.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings for a better description and understanding of this invention.

Considering first the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4 inclusive, the dispenser shown comprises a vertically disposed cylinder 10 which is open at the top and closed at the bottom and constitutes a receptacle or container for housing a bath of sterilizing fluid or liquid, said cylinder having a base 11 for maintaining it in stable upright position.

The container is provided with a cover unit C which includes a cap 12 having a circular depending lip or flange 12a which fits over and encloses the upper end of the cylinder to properly position the cap on the tube and seal the interior thereof.

The cap has mounted thereon a readily graspable operating knob 13 which is secured to the cap by means of a sleve 31 mounted in the bore 13a of the knob and having a flared lower end 3111 underlying and engaging the underside of the cap. The upper end of a shaft or bolt 14 is inserted in the sleeve 31 and extends downwardly beneath the cap, the bolt being held in place in in the sleeve 31 by means of a set screw 15 threadedly mounted in the knob and passing through the sleeve 31 and adapted to engage the shank of the bolt whereby the cap, knob and bolt function as an integral unit.

Beneath the cap the shank of the bolt has mounted thereon and radially extending therefrom four equi-spaced gusset shaped fins or guide members 16, the downwardly and inwardly inclined edges 16a thereof being adapted to engage and ride upon the upper edge of the cylinder 10 so as to guide the cap as it returns to its normal seated closed position on the cylinder and center it properly with respect to the cylinder so that the cap will automatically assume the proper closed seated position of FIG. 2.

The lower end of the shank of the bolt is tapered as at 14a and has secured thereto and depending therefrom an eye member comprising an elongate rod 17, the lower end of which is looped back upon itself to form an eye 17a for hingedly suspending the thermometer carrying frame or rack R therefrom.

The thermometer carrying rack R shown is designed to carry six thermometers T, it being understood that the rack may be designed to carry any number of thermometers desired. The rack shown includes a top plate 18 having an upstanding eye 19 secured thereto which is hingedly engaged with the eye 17a to hingedly connect the rack with the cover unit and suspend it therefrom. This provides a universal joint between the cover unit and the rack whereby the cover unit can be swung laterally in any direction relative to the rack to locate it on one side of the rack and uncover the thermometers to facilitate their removal from the rack. The rack also includes a base plate 20 for supporting the lower ends of the thermometers, which base plate is secured to the top plate by means of the vertical frame members 21.

The rack also includes a plurality of vertically disposed sleeves 22 which are generally circumferentially arranged about the periphery of the rack for freely receiving the thermometers and holding them in generally vertical upright position.

In use and operation, the rack is loaded with thermometers and lowered into the cylinder which is preferably filled with sufiicient sterilizing fluid so that the thermometers will be completely immersed and submerged in the fluid, the rack and cover unit assuming the position shown in FIG. 2 when the dispenser is closed and not in use. To dispense a thermometer, the knob 13 is simply grasped between the fingers and the cover unit and rack are simultaneously raised whereby the rack and thermometers are lifted to an elevated dispensing position such as shown in FIG. 1, in which position the upper ends of the thermometers extend above the cylinder It! so that they can be readily grasped and removed from the rack, without requiring the user to insert his fingers into the sterilizing solution, the cover unit being swung or tilted laterally to uncover the thermometers and facilitate their removal. A thermometer may then be removed from the rack while the cover unit is still being held and the cover unit and rack immediately lowered to the closed position of FIG. 2, or the cover unit may be swung approximately 90 to one side as shown in FIG. 1 so that the rod 17 assumes a substantially horizontal position and rests upon the upper edge of the cylinder and thereby serves as a balance arm or lever with the weight of the cover unit being sufiicient to counterbalance the weight of the rack and the thermometers so as to hold and maintain the rack and the thermometers in the raised exposed position of FIG. 1. With the cover unit in this out of the way position, the thermometers can be readily removed from and returned to the rack.

When the rack and its thermometers are ready to be returned to the sterilizing bath from their retained dispensing position of FIG. 1, the cover unit is simply flicked or raised upwardly to unbalance the relationship between the rack and the cover un-it whereby the weight of the rack and the thermometers causes the rack to fall downwardly by gravity into the bath, pulling the cover unit with it into the closed position of FIG. 2. The tapered end 14a of the bolt and the inclined edges 16a of the guide members insure uninterrupted continuous guided movement of the cover unit into properly seated position and eliminates unnecessary manipulation of the cover unit to insure that the cap is properly installed on the cylinder. Because of the symmetrical arrangement of the guide members, the cap will be guided automatically into proper position from any position about the circumference of the cylinder. The pivot or hinge joint between the rack and the cover unit enables the cover unit to be located in any position outwardly of the cylinder for holding the rack in exposed position. The movement of the rack and its thermometers upwardly and downwardly through the bath causes substantial agitation of the bath and improves the cleansing action thereof. Thus, the cover unit during use remains associated with the rest of the dispenser and does not have to be specially placed nor is there any danger of losing or misplacing same and automatically returns to its proper place. The fluid bath cushions the fall of the rack and prevents undue jarring of the thermometers and possible damage which might result therefrom.

The maintenance of the thermometers in separate compartments also facilitates the successive use of each of them to prevent immediate re-use of the same thermometer. Thus, for example, the rack may be provided with special markings, or one less thermometer may be installed in the rack than the number of retaining sleeves, thereby always leaving one vacant. If the thermometers are consistently successively removed in the same direction, either clockwise or counterclockwise about the rack, starting with a thermometer immediately adjacent the vacant sleeve, and returned to the previously vacant sleeve, a thermometer will not be re-used until all of the other thermometers in the rack have been used,

Attention is next directed to the form of invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The dispenser shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has the same container and cover unit as the dispenser of FIG. 1 hereinbefore described. The dispenser of FIG. 5 also has a rack R which is basically similar to the rack R of FIG. 1 except that it is additionally provided with novel means for identifying the last used thermometers, that is, those last returned to the dispenser after use, in order that the user may select a thermometer which has been in the sterilizing fluid for a longer period of time than the last used thermometer in order to have the most sterilized thermometer available for use. The rack R includes a main vertical supporting frame member 23 having an eye 24 attached to the upper end thereof for hinged attachment thereof to the eye 17a of the cover unit. -In the form shown, the frame member 23 has four vertical cylindrical sleeves 25 mounted thereon for freely receiving the thermometers and maintaining them in upright position, the sleeves being disposed in adjacent pairs on opposite sides of the central frame member 23. The rack also includes a base plate 26 secured to the lower end of the frame member 23. This base plate has mounted thereon a pair of upstanding spindle supporting elements 27 which are disposed on opposite sides of the center member 23. A pivot pin or spindle 28 extends between and is supported by said elements 27 and is located between the adjacent pairs of sleeves on each side. A pair of thermometer supporting plate members 29 and 29" are pivotally or tiltably mounted on the spindle 28 on opposite sides of the center frame 23, a tiltable member being provided for each pair of thermometers on the same side of center frame 23 in the form of the invention shown, the tiltable members being pivotally mounted on the spindle 28 and retained thereon by means of a sleeve 30 secured to the underside of the tiltable members and enclosing the spindle 28. Because of the tiltable nature of the members 29 and 29', the pair of thermometers which each of them supports are always maintained at different elevations due to the members 29 and 29' being tilted in one direction or the other. During normal usage, the highest or most elevated of the thermometers is to be removed and used. After use, the thermometer is returned to its particular sleeve and permitted to fall upon its respective member 29 or 29. The force of the falling thermometer causes the raised side of the members 29 or 29' to be forced down so as to tilt the members in the opposite direction, thereby raising the other thermometer and lowering the just used thermometer. Thus, when the rack is raised again, the physician will know that the lowest thermometer is the one last used and will then select the highest thermometer as the most sterile of the two.

Thus, for example, in FIG. 5 apair of thermometers T and T are shown supported by the tiltable member 29. In the solid line pisitions shown, the member 29 is tilted downwardly to the left with the thermometer T being the most elevated of the two thermometers and ready to be selected next. After thewthermometer T has been used and returned to the rack, the force of the falling thermometer T causes the member 29 to tilt in the opposite direction so as to tilt downwardly to the right with the thermometers and the member 29 then assuming the broken line positions of FIG. 5 with the thermometer T being the most elevated of the two thermometers and ready to be selected the next time.

The rack and cover unit of the dispenser of FIG. 5 cooperate and operate in the same fashion as the rack and cover unit of FIG. 1, with the cover unit operating to hold the rack in raised exposed condition and being automatically guided back to its proper seated position on the cylinder.

From the foregoing, the advantages of this invention are readily apparent. The dispenser is relatively simple and inexpensive to make and is very easy to operate. The thermometers are raised to dispensing position and exposed by lifting and tilting the cover unit and can be maintained in that position by the counter-balancing weight of the cover unit. The cover unit when disposed to one side of the cylinder does not interfere in any way with access to the rack and the thermometers and permits the thermometers to be easily withdrawn therefrom or reinstalled therein. In addition, the cover unit remains in a handy position so that it will not be lost or misplaced and when the physician is finished using the dispenser the entire unit can be closed and the thermometers resubmerged by simply flicking the cover unit upwardly, with the cap being automatically returned to its proper seat on the cylinder. The tiltable thermometer supporting members enable the physician to easily select the cleanest of the thermometers and avoid immediately re-using the thermometer last used. The raising and lowering of the rack and all of the thermometers through the bath during each dispensing operation results in repeated dunking of the thermometers and repeated movement thereof through the solution together with a repeated agitation of the bath which results in superior cleansing and sterilizing of the thermometers. The cover unit and rod connecting same with the rack provide a rack lifting and holding handle which is convenient to hold and manipulate, and which has flexibility of movement relative to the rack.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for storing a pair of thermometers in an antiseptic solution and alternately presenting the thermometers for use,

comprising a receptacle adapted to carry a quantity of such solution,

a rack in the receptacle and having a pair of upright mounting sleeves in fixed position and to receive having opposite thermometer supporting ends respectively underlying said sleeves to support thermometers confined in said sleeves, said plate having an upper surface permitting limited sliding of the thermometers therealong within the limits of lateral movement of the thermometers in the sleeves,

pivot means on the rack and supporting said plate midway between the ends thereof whereby the plate will be retained in tilted position when supporting only one of such thermometers on one end thereof, the weight and impact of a second thermometer dropped in a sleeve and onto the other end of the plate producing tilting of the plate and causing said first thermometer to be raised and presented for use as the plate is tilted, said thermometers sliding downwardly along the inclined plate and moving laterally in the sleeves sufficiently when the plate is tilted to respectively decrease and increase the distances between said first and second thermometers and said pivot means whereby said first thermometer will remain in raised position,

means on the rack limiting tilting movement of said plate in both directions and within acute angles from horizontal,

and operating means on the rack and extending upwardly therefrom to be manually gripped and manipulated to raise the rack in the solution for causing the thermometers to emerge from the solution.

2. The thermometer storing apparatus of claim 1 wherein said operating means includes a cover normally supported upon the upper edge of the receptacle sidewall and also including a rod afiixed to the cover in depending relation at the center of the receptacle and connected to said rack,

and rigid rod and cover guiding means affixed to and depending from the cover within the receptacle and having downwardly facing guiding surface portions converging in a downward direction toward said rod and extending radially outwardly in multiple directions toward the periphery of the cover to guide along the upper edge of the receptacle sidewall when the rack and rod are dropped into the receptacle, whereby to guide the cover into seated and concentric engagement with the receptacle sidewall.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,361,842 12/1920 Evslin 3 l2--73 1,676,090 7/1928 Johnson 21-87 1,850,524 3/1932 Whittaker 21-105 X 2,417,626 3/ 1947 Blocher 2l87 2,805,454 9/ 1957 Ihrig 2l-89 X FOREIGN PATENTS 662,207 3/ 1929 France. 561,205 10/ 1932 Germany.

MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

FRANK CACCIAPAGLIA, JR., DONALL H. SYL- VESTER, Examiners.

Claims

1. APPARATUS FOR STORING A PAIR OF THERMOMETERS IN AN ANTISEPTIC SOLUTION AND ALTERNATELY PRESENTING THE THERMOMETERS FOR USE, COMPRISING A RECEPTACLE ADAPTED TO CARRY A QUANTITY OF SUCH SOLUTION, A RACK IN THE RECEPTACLE AND HAVING A PAIR OF UPRIGHT MOUNTING SLEEVES IN FIXED POSITION AND TO RECEIVE SUCH THERMOMETERS WITH LOOSENESS OF FIT AS TO FREELY RECEIVE THE THERMOMETERS AND PERMIT FREE SLIDING OF THE THERMOMETERS IN THE SLEEVES AND WHEREBY TO ALSO ALLOW LIMITED LATERAL MOVEMENT OF THE THERMOMETERS IN THE SLEEVES, AN ELONGATE AND TILTABLE THERMOMETER SUPPORTING PLATE HAVING OPPOSITE THERMOMETER SUPPORTING ENDS RESPECTIVELY UNDERLYING SAID SLEEVES TO SUPPORT THERMOMETERS CONFINED IN SAID SLEEVES, SAID PLATE HAVING AN UPPER SURFACE PERMITTING LIMITED SLIDING OF THE THERMOMETERS THEREALONG WITHIN THE LIMITS OF LATERAL MOVEMENT OF THE THERMOMETERS IN THE SLEEVES, PIVOT MEANS ON THE RACK AND SUPPORTING SAID PLATE MIDWAY BETWEEN THE ENDS THEREOF WHEREBY THE PLATE WILL BE RETAINED IN TILTED POSITION WHEN SUPPORTING ONLY ONE OF SUCH THERMOMETERS ON ONE END THEREOF, THE WEIGHT AND IMPACT OF A SECOND THERMOMETER DROPPED IN A SLEEVE AND ONTO THE OTHER END OF THE PLATE PRODUCING TILTING OF THE PLATE AND CAUSING SAID FIRST THERMOMETER TO BE RAISED AND PRESENTED FOR USE AS THE PLATE IS TILTED, SAID THERMOMETERS SLIDING DOWNWARDLY ALONG THE INCLINED PLATE AND MOVING LATERALLY IN THE SLEEVES SUFFICIENTLY WHEN THE PLATE IS TILTED TO RESPECTIVELY DECREASE AND INCREASE THE DISTANCES BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND THERMOMETERS AND SAID PIVOT MEANS WHEREBY SAID FIRST THERMOMETER WILL REMAIN IN RAISED POSITION, MEANS ON THE RACK LIMITING TILTING MOVEMENT OF SAID PLATE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS AND WITHIN ACUTE ANGLES FROM HORIZONTAL, AND OPERATING MEANS ON THE RACK AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM TO BE MANUALLY GRIPPED AND MANIPULATED TO RAISE THE RACK IN THE SOLUTION FOR CAUSING THE THERMOMETERS TO EMERGE FROM THE SOLUTION.