US2893507A - friedman - Google Patents

Description

y 1.959 N. H. FRIEDMAN STETHOSCOPE HEAD Filed Oct. 16; 1956 FIIGJ FIG. 5

FIG. 3

INVENTOR.

NATHAN H. FRIEDMAN ATTORNEY.

United States Patent STETHOSCOPE HEAD Nathan H. Friedman, Stratford, Conn. Application October 16, 1956, Serial No. 616,168

2 Claims. (Cl. 181-24) The present invention relates to stethoscopes and particularly to a new and improved stethoscope head.

Prior-known heads for stethoscopes include circular portions of substantial area that contact the part of the body in the region where the physician desires to listen. In an effort to pick up the internal sounds of the body, these prior-known stethoscope heads were constructed without regard to the bone structure of the body. The circular area of the head often covered a portion of the body surface beneath which the bone structure of the body varied considerably. Particularly does this occur where a stethoscope head having a circular body-contacting portion is employed to listen to internal body sounds beneath the ribs. In such cases, the stethoscope head covers portions of more than one rib, thus providing an irregular structure through which the internal body sounds must pass before entering the stethoscope head.

Additionally, where a stethoscope head is applied to the bodies of small children, difficulty is often encountered in the proper detection of the internal body sounds due to the closeness of the rib bones.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a stethoscope head having a construction that will enable the more accurate detection of internal body sounds.

Other objects include the provision of a stethoscope head that will enable a physician to locate it on the body of a patient in a manner to have a minimum of interference with the passage of internal body sounds to the stethoscope head; the provision of such a stethoscope head having a body-contacting portion of rectangular form having its major dimension several times greater than its minor dimension; the provision of such a stethoscope head and a diaphragm therefor in which a rim integral with the diaphragm is adapted to snap into a groove surrounding the periphery of the stethoscope head; the provision of such a stethoscope head in which the entire head is made from one of the well-known thermo-setting plastic materials; and the provision of such a stethoscope head in which convenient means is provided on its surface for facilitating the proper handling of the head during use.

The above, as well as other objects and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a stethoscope to which the principles of the invention have been applied;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational view of a modified form of the stethoscope head shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the principles of the invention are shown as applied to a stethoscope head comprising a body 10, preferably 2,393,507 Patented July 7, 1959 made from one of the well-known thermosetting plastic materials by well-known injection molding processes, or otherwise. The body 10 has a dimension B several times that of its thickness or dimension A, thereby forming a transverse planar section of non-circular form having its major dimension several times that of its minor dimension. It is provided with the usual tube 11 that is adapted to be connected to the ear pieces of a stethoscope through a flexible rubber tube, as is well known.

The body 10 is further provided with hollowed-out depressions 12' on opposed surfaces 13 of the stethoscope head, and a groove 14 is formed about the periphery of the body 10 a slight distance back of the bodycontacting end 15 of the body 10.

The interior of the body 10 is hollowed out to form a sound-collecting chamber 16 that leads to the tube 11. This chamber has a dimension transverse to the non-circular planar section that corresponds more nearly to the major dimension rather than the minor dimension thereof. Accordingly, the chamber 16 has a substantially greater volume than prior-known stethoscope heads and, consequently, produces a better sound-transmitting device.

A diaphragm 17, comprising a thin sheet of thermosetting plastic material or the like, is provided with a peripheral edge portion 18 that is shown as being provided with an inwardly directed portion 19 adapted to be received within the groove 14 in the body 10. By virtue of the resilience of the diaphragm 17, it is evident that the inwardly directed portion 19 can be snapped into the groove 14 providing a convenient connecting means between the diaphragm and the body 10.

Referring to Fig. 4, the principles of the invention are shown as applied to a modified form of the structure of Fig. 1. A body portion 20, preferably made from the same material as that from which body 10 is made, is of generally triangular form in one plane and possesses a varying cross-sectional construction including a series of non-circular sections, which in the embodiment shown are rectangular, in successive transverse planes. The noncircular sections in succeeding transverse planes have decreasing major dimensions with a substantially constant minor dimension as the succession of transverse planes extend toward the usual tube 21 that is adapted to be connected to the ear pieces of the stethoscope. The interior of the body 20 follows the general configuration of the outer surface thereof and provides a sound chamber having transverse planar sections gradually decreasing in area from the body-contacting end of the stethoscope head to the tube 21.

Although the species shown in Figs. 4 and 5 shows no diaphragm at the body-contacting end thereof, should such be desired, the same form of diaphragm as shown in Figs. l3 can with equal facility be applied to the species of Figs. 4 and 5.

Although the various features of the new and improved stethoscope head have been shown and described in detail to fully disclose two embodiments of the invention, it will be evident that numerous changes may be made in such details, and certain features may be used without others without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A stethoscope head comprising a base having a body-contacting portion leading to a sound-receiving chamber, the area of said body-contacting portion as well as a transverse section of the chamber within a plane parallel to said body-contacting portion being of noncircular form wherein one of the dimensions of each is several times that of the other dimension of each, and the dimension of the sound-receiving chamber transversely of the plane including the body-contacting portion is more nearly equal to said one of said dimensions of said non-circular transverse section than said other dimension thereof; and a sound-conveying means integral with said base for attachment to the ear pieces of a stethoscope.

2. A stethoscopehead comprising a base having a bodycontacting portion leading to a sound-receiving chamber, the area of said body-contacting portion, as well as a transverse section .of the chamber within a plane parallel and adjacent to said body-contacting portion being of non-circular form wherein one of the dimensions of each is several times that of the other dimension of each, and wherein successive planar sections parallel to, and spaced from said first-mentioned transverse section have a decreasing one dimension and a substantially constant otherdimension, and wherein the dimension of the sound receiving chamber transversely of the plane including the body-contacting portion is more nearly equal to the maximum one dimension than said other substantially constant dimension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gordon Nov. 17, Christensen Sept. 15, Sheppard Oct. 19, Bulley Aug. 6, Laube May 8, Mallory July 27, Medlin Nov. 1, Ratzan July 18, Hilt et a1. Jan. 8, Jesnig Feb. 26, Bradenburg Sept. 8, Fleischer Apr. 13, Florman Mar. 15,

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