Reusable umbilical cord clamp for veterinary use

Claim 1

In a reusable veterinary umbilical cord clamp, the clamp being integrally molded from resilient plastic material with first and second longitudinally extending jaw members, each of the jaw members having a cord clamping face and a manipulative face disposed along opposite longitudinal walls of the jaw member, the two jaw members being integrally joined at their proximal ends by resilient hinge means so that the clamping faces of the two jaw members are in opposed relation to each other, the hinge means being effective to provide for clamping movement of the jaw members against the resiliency of the hinge means from an open position to a closed position in which the jaw clamping faces are urged into engagement with an animal umbilical cord therebetween upon conjoint pressure on the two manipulative faces of the jaw members, the two jaw members being bowable between their proximal and distal ends to accommodate varied thicknesses of animal umbilical cords therebetween, the distal end of the first jaw member having an integral clamp retaining portion extending transversely therefrom toward the second jaw member, the clamp retaining portion having opposite first and second walls disposed transversely of the jaw clamping and manipulative faces, the first wall of the clamp retaining portion facing the hinge means and having an integral latch portion adjacent the distal end of the retaining portion extending transversely therefrom toward the hinge means in spaced relation to the clamping face of the first jaw member, the retaining and latch portions together being resiliently movable from a first position to a second position away from the hinge means relative to the first jaw member, the distal end of the second jaw member having a transverse end face inclined from the second jaw member manipulative face to its jaw clamping face in the direction of the hinge means effective to engage the latch portion and flex the retaining and latch portions together from their first to their second position upon clamping movement of the jaw members as aforesaid, the retaining and latch portions thereafter snapping back to their first position to engage the latch portion with a latch face on said end of the second jaw member so that the distal end of the second jaw member is disposed and retained between the latch portion and the clamping face of the first jaw member, whereby the jaw members and their jaw clamping faces are retained in clamping engagement with an animal umbilical cord therebetween, the improvement comprising: a recess in the clamp retaining portion second wall, the recess extending transversely across said wall and disposed between the latch portion and the clamping face of the first jaw member, whereby the retaining portion is weakened in the area of the recess permitting the latch portion to flex more readily between its first and second positions relative to the first jaw member and in conjunction with said inclined end face to assist the latch and retaining portions in maintaining the jaw members in clamping engagement with animal umbilical cords of varying thickness therebetween, and a clamp releasing portion integrally formed with the retaining portion, the clamp releasing portion extending outwardly from the distal end of the retaining portion adjacent the latch portion and beyond the confines of the remainder of the retaining portion and the jaw members when in clamping engagement, the clamp releasing portion being thereby effective to be readily manipulated to flex the retaining and latch portions toward their second position in order to disengage the latch portions from the latch face and thus permit the jaw members to move to their open position and release and animal umbilical cord between the jaw clamping faces.