Catheter with self-aligning inflation passage

Claim 1

A self-aligning catheter comprising: a drainage tube including, a drainage eye adjacent the distal end of the tube, a drainage lumen extending from the proximal end of the tube to the drainage eye, a retention balloon adjacent the distal end of the tube, and an inflation lumen in the wall of the tube extending from the proximal end of the tube to the retention balloon; and a connector including, an annular sleeve at one end of the connector and defining a bore having a diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of the tube, said sleeve receiving and frictionally engaging the proximal end of the tube in the bore, an annular shoulder extending from the sleeve and having a drainage lumen generally aligned with the tube lumen when the tube is received in the sleeve, an annular slot extending circumferentially around the shoulder lumen and extending longitudinally in the shoulder from the sleeve bore, said slot being spaced from the inner surface of the sleeve a distance approximately equal to the distance between the inflation lumen and the outside surface of the tube, whereby the shoulder slot communicates with the inflation lumen when the tube is received in the sleeve irrespective of the rotational position of the inflation lumen relative to the connector, and an inflation arm extending from the connector and having a passageway communicating with the shoulder slot, whereby the arm passageway communicates with the retention balloon through the slot and inflation lumen when the tube is received in the connector sleeve.