Blood pressure cuff and method for manufacturing blood pressure cuff

Abstract

To suppress a deterioration in flexibility of a joint part between an air bag and a ventilation tube in a cuff.SOLUTION: A sheet material 30 forms an air bag. A tube material 40 divides a ventilation path 41 communicating with the air bag. A first weld zone 31, in which the sheet material 30 and the tube material 40 are welded together, is extended along a longitudinal direction of the tube material 40 on the entire perimeter of the tube material 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cuff for use in non-invasive blood pressure measurement, and also to a method for manufacturing the cuff. [Background technology]

[0002] A cuff used in non-invasive blood pressure measurement includes an air bag and a ventilation tube. The ventilation tube defines an air passage that communicates with the inside of the air bag. In the cuff described in Patent Document 1, a member called a nozzle corresponds to the ventilation tube. The nozzle has a tubular portion that defines the air passage and a flange portion that extends radially outward from the tubular portion.

[0003] In manufacturing the cuff described in Patent Document 1, a tubular portion of a nozzle is inserted into a hole formed in a sheet material from a first surface side of the sheet material, thereby exposing the tubular portion on a second surface side of the sheet material. Next, a flange portion of the nozzle is welded to the first surface of the sheet material, thereby making the sheet material and the nozzle an inseparable unit. After that, predetermined portions of the sheet material are welded to each other to form an air bag. The first surface and the second surface of the sheet material become the inner surface and the outer surface of the air bag, respectively. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 04-067837 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In order to accurately measure blood pressure, it is required that the surface of the cuff flexibly deforms along the body surface of the subject and that the adhesion between the two is maintained. However, in the air bag of the cuff described in Patent Document 1, the part where the flange of the nozzle is welded to the sheet material is thicker and less flexible than other parts. This means that the joint between the air bag and the ventilation tube cannot flexibly deform along the shape of the body surface of the subject, and a gap may occur between the surface of the cuff and the body surface.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to suppress a decrease in flexibility at the joint between the air bag and the ventilation tube in the cuff. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is a blood pressure measurement cuff, comprising: A sheet material forming an air bag; A tube member defining an air passage communicating with the air bag; a welded portion at which the sheet material and the tube material are welded; It is equipped with The welded portion extends along the longitudinal direction of the tube material around the entire circumference of the tube material.

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is a blood pressure measurement cuff, comprising: A sheet material forming an air bag; A tube member defining an air passage communicating with the air bag; a first welded portion at which the sheet material and the tube material are welded; a second welded portion in which different portions of the sheet material are welded to each other; It is equipped with The first weld extends along a length of the tubing and is spaced apart from the second weld.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a blood pressure measurement cuff, comprising the steps of: Forming holes in the sheet material; a tube having an outer diameter larger than the hole is inserted into the hole to form a portion of the sheet material extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube; a portion of the sheet material extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube material is welded to an outer peripheral surface of the tube material to form a welded portion; By welding different portions of the sheet material together at positions spaced apart from the welded portion, an air bag is formed that communicates with an air passage defined by the tube material.

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a blood pressure measurement cuff, comprising the steps of: Forming holes in the sheet material; a tube member defining an air passage having an inner diameter larger than that of the hole is disposed on a first side of the sheet member; pushing a periphery of the hole in the sheet material from a second side of the sheet material into the air passage to form a portion extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube material; a portion of the sheet material extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube material is welded to an inner peripheral surface of the tube material to form a welded portion; An air bag communicating with the air passage is formed by welding different portions of the sheet material together at positions spaced apart from the welded portion.

[0011] When a weld is formed by a flange like the nozzle in the cuff described in Patent Document 1, the weld extends on the inner surface of the ventilation bag along the radial direction of the tubing that forms the ventilation tube. According to the configuration of this embodiment, since the formation of such a flange is not necessary, the weld (first weld) does not have a portion that extends along the radial direction of the tubing. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in flexibility at the joint between the air bag and the ventilation tube. This can improve the adhesion between the surface of the cuff and the body surface of the subject, which can contribute to improving the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.

[0012] The second weld is formed by welding different portions of the sheet material together in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tube material. In other words, the second weld has a large thickness dimension and low flexibility in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tube material. Since such a second weld is separated from the first weld forming the joint between the sheet material and the tube material, the effect of the rigidity of the second weld on the flexibility of the joint can be suppressed. In other words, the flexibility of the joint between the air bag and the ventilation tube does not have a directional dependency in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the ventilation tube. This improves the degree of freedom of deformation at the joint between the air bag and the ventilation tube. Therefore, the adhesion between the surface of the cuff and the body surface of the subject can be improved, which can contribute to improving the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.

[0013] Injection molding is required to manufacture parts having a flange, such as the nozzle in the cuff described in Patent Document 1. On the other hand, the tube material according to the present embodiment does not have a flange, and can be manufactured by extrusion molding. Extrusion molding is a method that is less expensive than injection molding, and therefore it is possible to suppress an increase in the manufacturing cost of the cuff. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of a blood pressure cuff according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] A method for manufacturing the blood pressure measurement cuff is illustrated. [Diagram 3] A method for manufacturing the blood pressure measurement cuff is illustrated. [Figure 4] A method for manufacturing the blood pressure measurement cuff is illustrated. [Diagram 5] A method for manufacturing the blood pressure measurement cuff is illustrated. [Figure 6] 11 shows a method for manufacturing a blood pressure measurement cuff according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, the scale is appropriately changed so that each element to be described can be clearly seen.

[0016] Fig. 1 (A) illustrates an example of the external appearance of a portion of a cuff 1 according to one embodiment. Cuff 1 is used for non-invasive blood pressure measurement. Cuff 1 includes an arm band 2, an air bag 3, and a ventilation tube 4. Fig. 1 (B) illustrates the external appearance of a portion of the air bag 3 and the ventilation tube 4.

[0017] Arm band 2 is wrapped around the upper arm of the subject. Air bag 3 is built into arm band 2. Air bag 3 is made of a stretchable sheet material. Thermoplastic elastomer can be used as the material of the sheet material.

[0018] Ventilation tube 4 defines ventilation path 41 that communicates with the inside of air bag 3. When air is sent from a pump (not shown) through ventilation path 41 to air bag 3, air bag 3 expands and pressurizes the upper arm of the subject via arm band 2. When air is released from air bag 3 through ventilation path 41, air bag 3 contracts and the pressurized state is released.

[0019] The air bag 3 has a first welded portion 31 and a second welded portion 32. The first welded portion 31 is a portion formed as an inseparable unit by welding a part of the air bag 3 and a part of the ventilation tube 4. The second welded portion 32 is a portion formed as an inseparable unit by welding different parts of the sheet material to each other. The first welded portion 31 and the second welded portion 32 define the air bag 3, which has airtightness. The first welded portion 31 and the second welded portion 32 are spaced apart.

[0020] The first welded portion 31 extends in the longitudinal direction of the ventilation tube 4 around the entire circumference of the ventilation tube 4. As described later, the first welded portion 31 is an inseparable part formed by welding a part of the sheet material for forming the air bag 3 and a part of the tube material for forming the ventilation tube 4. Therefore, when viewed microscopically, the first welded portion 31 has a three-dimensional extent. The expression "the welded portion extends in the longitudinal direction of the tube material" used in this specification means that the dimension of the welded portion along the longitudinal direction of the tube material is larger than the dimension of the welded portion along the radial direction of the tube material. Alternatively, it means that the dimension of the welded portion along the radial direction of the tube material is negligibly smaller than the dimension of the welded portion along the longitudinal direction of the tube material.

[0021] An example of a method for manufacturing the cuff 1 having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0022] First, as shown in Fig. 2, a sheet material 30 for forming the air bag 3 and a tube material 40 for forming the ventilation tube 4 are prepared. The sheet material 30 has an upper surface 30a and a lower surface 30b. A through hole 30c is formed in the sheet material 30. The through hole 30c communicates between the upper surface 30a and the lower surface 30b. A diameter D1 of the through hole 30c is smaller than an outer diameter D2 of the tube material 40.

[0023] The tube material 40 is disposed so as to face either the upper surface 30a or the lower surface 30b of the sheet material 30. In the illustrated example, the tube material 40 is disposed so as to face the lower surface 30b.

[0024] 3, the tube material 40 is inserted into the through hole 30c of the sheet material 30. In the illustrated example, the tube material 40 passes through the through hole 30c from the lower surface 30b side to the upper surface 30a side.

[0025] Since the outer diameter D2 of the tube material 40 is larger than the diameter D1 of the through hole 30c, as shown in Fig. 4(A), the peripheral portion of the sheet material 30 around the through hole 30c is pulled upward by the outer peripheral surface 40a of the tube material 40, forming a portion 30d extending along the longitudinal direction of the tube material 40. The portion 30d is formed around the entire circumference of the tube material 40.

[0026] 4B, the portion 30d of the sheet material 30 is welded to the outer peripheral surface 40a of the tube material 40. The welding is performed by a well-known method such as high-frequency welding, laser welding, or heat welding. As a result, a first welded portion 31 is formed in which a part of the sheet material 30 and a part of the tube material 40 are inseparably integrated. Therefore, the first welded portion 31 extends along the longitudinal direction of the tube material 40 around the entire circumference of the tube material 40.

[0027] Next, as shown in FIG. 5(A), the sheet material 30 to which the tube material 40 has been joined is deformed into an appropriate shape for forming the air bag 3.

[0028] 5B, different portions of the sheet material 30 are welded together. The welding is performed by a well-known method such as high-frequency welding, laser welding, or heat welding. As a result, a second welded portion 32 is formed in which the different portions of the sheet material 30 are inseparably integrated. The different portions of the sheet material 30 to be welded are selected so that the second welded portion 32 is formed at a position spaced apart from the first welded portion 31.

[0029] Airtight air bag 3 is defined by first welded part 31 and second welded part 32. Tube material 40 is appropriately processed to form ventilation tube 4. Air bag 3 thus formed is incorporated into arm band 2 to obtain cuff 1 as shown in Fig. 1(A).

[0030] The above-described manufacturing method and the cuff 1 obtained by the manufacturing method have the advantages listed below.

[0031] When a welded portion is formed by a flange like the nozzle in the cuff described in Patent Document 1, the welded portion extends on the inner surface of the ventilation bag along the radial direction of the ventilation tube. According to the configuration of this embodiment, since the formation of such a flange is unnecessary, the first welded portion 31 does not have a portion extending along the radial direction of the ventilation tube 4 (meaning that the size of the first welded portion 31 is negligible compared to the portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the ventilation tube 4). Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in flexibility at the joint between the air bag 3 and the ventilation tube 4. This can improve the adhesion between the surface of the cuff 1 and the body surface of the subject, which can contribute to improving the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.

[0032] The second welded portion 32 is formed by welding different portions of the sheet material 30 together in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tube material 40. In other words, the second welded portion 32 has a large thickness dimension and low flexibility in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tube material 40. Since such second welded portion 32 is separated from the first welded portion 31 that forms the joint between the sheet material 30 and the tube material 40, the effect of the rigidity of the second welded portion 32 on the flexibility of the joint can be suppressed. In other words, the flexibility of the joint between the air bag 3 and the ventilation tube 4 does not have a directional dependency in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the ventilation tube 4. This improves the degree of freedom of deformation at the joint between the air bag 3 and the ventilation tube 4. Therefore, the adhesion between the surface of the cuff 1 and the body surface of the subject can be improved, which can contribute to improving the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.

[0033] Injection molding is required to manufacture parts having a flange, such as the nozzle in the cuff described in Patent Document 1. On the other hand, the tube material 40 according to the present embodiment does not have a flange, and can be manufactured by extrusion molding. Since extrusion molding is a method that is less expensive than injection molding, it is possible to suppress an increase in the manufacturing cost of the cuff 1.

[0034] The material of the tube material 40 is preferably selected to contain the same material as the sheet material 30. In this case, the weld strength can be significantly increased.

[0035] In the above embodiment, the first welded portion 31 is formed by welding the sheet material 30 to the outer peripheral surface 40a of the tube material 40. However, the first welded portion 31 can also be formed by welding the sheet material 30 to the inner peripheral surface 40b of the tube material 40.

[0036] In this case, as shown in Fig. 6A, the tube material 40 is disposed on the side facing the upper surface 30a of the sheet material 30. The side facing the upper surface 30a is an example of the first side of the sheet material. The tube material 40 defines an air passage 41 having an inner diameter D3 larger than the diameter D1 of the through hole 30c.

[0037] Next, the peripheral portion 30e of the through hole 30c in the sheet material 30 shown in Fig. 6(A) is pushed into the air passage 41 from the side facing the lower surface 30b of the sheet material 30. The side facing the lower surface 30b is an example of the second side of the sheet material. As a result, as shown in Fig. 6(B), a portion 30f extending along the longitudinal direction of the tube material 40 is formed. The portion 30f is formed around the entire circumference of the tube material 40.

[0038] 6(C), the portion 30f of the sheet material 30 is welded to the inner peripheral surface 40b of the tube material 40. The welding is performed by a well-known method such as high-frequency welding, laser welding, or heat welding. As a result, a first welded portion 31 is formed in which a part of the sheet material 30 and a part of the tube material 40 are inseparably integrated. Therefore, the first welded portion 31 extends along the longitudinal direction of the tube material 40 around the entire circumference of the tube material 40.

[0039] The subsequent steps are the same as those in the above embodiment described with reference to Fig. 5. Therefore, also in this example, the first welded portion 31 and the second welded portion 32 are spaced apart from each other.

[0040] The above-described embodiment is merely an example for facilitating understanding of the present invention. The configurations according to the above-described embodiment may be appropriately modified or improved without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0041] In the above embodiment, second welded portion 32 is formed by welding different portions of a single sheet material 30. However, second welded portion 32 may be formed by welding different portions of a plurality of sheet materials. In other words, air bag 3 can be formed from at least one sheet material. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1: cuff, 3: air bag, 30: sheet material, 30a: upper surface, 30b: lower surface, 30c: through hole, 30d: portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the tube material, 30e: peripheral portion of the through hole, 30f: portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the tube material, 31: first welded portion, 32: second welded portion, 40: tube material, 40a: outer circumferential surface, 41: ventilation passage, D1: diameter of the through hole, D2: outer diameter of the tube material, D3: inner diameter of the ventilation passage

Claims

1. A sheet material forming an air bag; A tube member defining an air passage communicating with the air bag; a first welded portion where the sheet material is welded to an outer peripheral surface of the tube material; It is equipped with the first welded portion extends along a longitudinal direction of the tube material around an entire circumference of the tube material, a dimension of the first weld along a longitudinal direction of the tube material is greater than a dimension of the first weld along a radial direction of the tube material; an inner surface of the sheet material is curved outwardly of the air bag and toward an end portion of the outer peripheral surface that is closer to the air bag in the longitudinal direction; Blood pressure cuff.

2. A sheet material forming an air bag; A tube member defining an air passage communicating with the air bag; a first welded portion where the sheet material is welded to an inner circumferential surface of the tube material; It is equipped with the first welded portion extends along a longitudinal direction of the tube material around an entire circumference of the tube material, a dimension of the first weld along a longitudinal direction of the tube material is greater than a dimension of the first weld along a radial direction of the tube material; An end portion of the outer circumferential surface of the tube material that is closer to the air bag in the longitudinal direction is located outside the air bag. Blood pressure cuff.

3. The sheet material and the tube material contain the same material.

3. A blood pressure measurement cuff according to claim 1 or 2.

4. Forming holes in the sheet material; a tube having an outer diameter larger than the hole is inserted into the hole to form a portion of the sheet material extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube; a portion of the sheet material extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube material is welded to an outer peripheral surface of the tube material to form a welded portion; by welding different portions of the sheet material to each other at positions spaced apart from the welding portion, an air bag is formed which communicates with an air passage defined by the tube material. A method for manufacturing a blood pressure cuff.

5. Forming holes in the sheet material; a tube member defining an air passage having an inner diameter larger than that of the hole is disposed on a first side of the sheet member; pushing a periphery of the hole in the sheet material from a second side of the sheet material into the air passage to form a portion extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube material; a portion of the sheet material extending along a longitudinal direction of the tube material is welded to an inner peripheral surface of the tube material to form a welded portion; forming an air bag communicating with the air passage by welding different portions of the sheet material to each other at positions spaced apart from the welding portion; A method for manufacturing a blood pressure cuff.

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