Method and apparatus for organizing and identifying intravenous administration lines

Claim 1

A device for retaining a plurality of flexible intravenous tubes capable of carrying fluids, to reduce tangling of the intravenous tubes and facilitate ready identification of each intravenous tube, the device comprising: means for retaining the intravenous tubing, said retaining means adapted to retain the intravenous tubing without deforming or restricting the flow of fluids within the tubing and allow for ready removal of the tubing, said retaining means having a surface suitable for being directly writingly marked upon to identify each of the intravenous tubes, said surface also adapted for removal or alteration of said markings, said surface being readily accessible for both marking and reading said markings while the intravenous tubes are retained; and means for attaching the device to a structure.

Claim 2

A device for retaining a plurality of flexible intravenous tubes capable of carrying fluids, to reduce tangling of the intravenous tubes and facilitate ready identification of each intravenous tube, the device comprising: means for retaining the intravenous tubing, said retaining means adapted to retain the intravenous tubing without deforming or restricting the flow of fluids within the tubing and allow for ready removal of the tubing, said retaining means having a surface suitable for being directly writingly marked upon to identify each of the intravenous tubes, said surface also adapted for removal or alteration of said markings, said surface being readily accessible for both marking and reading said markings while the intravenous tubes are retained; and means for attaching the device to a structure.

Claim 10

A device for organizing and identifying individual elements of a plurality of intravenous medication administration systems, comprising: a bed portion, configured as a substantially planar area having a bottom planar element having a length and a width, an opposed pair of upwardly extending end wall elements spanning the width of said bottom planar element and disposed orthogonally to the plane of said bottom planar element, and an opposed pair of side elements spanning the length of said bottom planar element, said side elements and said end wall elements serving to bound said planar area so as to form an open topped rectangular parallelepiped; a plurality of notches formed in a side element of said bed portion, said plurality being of a number equivalent to the multiplicity of flexible tubing lines that may be passed through said device, said plurality being distributed along the length of said side element in a substantially equidistantly spaced apart manner, each said notch being formed, in a direction of a thickness of said side element, to have a V-shaped opening, extending from an upper edge of said side element partially through the distance to said bottom planar element, and terminating in a substantially circularly arcuate opening through said side element, said V-shaped opening having a narrowest separation between bounding edges at its intersection with said arcuate opening; said circular arcuate opening being appropriately dimensioned to accept an outer diameter surface of a flexible tubing line therethrough without deforming constriction of said tubing, said narrowest separation between bounding edges of said V-shaped opening being marginally less than said tubing diameter; a like plurality of identical notches formed in the other side element so as to be transversely, with respect to said bottom planar element, in registration with said plurality of notches formed in the first side element, each registering pair of notches in the opposed side elements forming a pathway through said device for a length of flexible tubing line; a substantially planar rectangular cover portion element, having a rectangular area substantially equivalent to the area of said bottom planar element, said rectangular area having a corresponding length and width, said cover portion element further including an inner surface and an outer surface, both defined with respect to said bed portion; means, formed on a first end wall element of said bed portion, for cooperating with said cover portion element to enable said cover portion element to be pivoted away from said bed portion to provide access to said notched pathways; means, formed on a second end wall element of said bed portion, for cooperating with said cover portion element to enable said cover portion element to be releasably held proximate to said bed portion; means, formed on a first longitudinal end of said cover portion element, for cooperatively engaging with said means formed on said first end wall element of said bed portion to enable said cover portion element to pivot upwardly from said bed portion about said first end wall element; means, formed on a second longitudinal end of said cover portion element, for cooperatively releasably engaging with said means formed on said second end wall element of said bed portion to enable said cover portion to be releasably retained as a closing surface for said rectangular parallelepiped; and a plurality, in like number as the number of flexible tubing pathways through said device, of substantially rectangular areas formed on said outer surface of said cover portion element, each rectangular area being surface textured to accept writings from common writing implements thereon, said texturing being further adapted to enable such writings to be readily removed by intentional obliteration thereof; each said rectangular area extending substantially across the width of said cover portion element; said rectangular areas being spaced apart along the length of said cover portion element so that each such rectangular area visibly overlays a corresponding pathway for a flexible tubing line through said device, said rectangular areas being separated by regions running across the width of said outer surface of said cover portion element that are not so surface textured, which regions are resistant to accepting writings thereon; and means for removably attaching said device to an appropriate supporting structure disposed proximate to the patient.

Claim 11

A device for organizing and identifying individual elements of a plurality of intravenous medication administration systems, comprising: a bed portion, configured as a substantially planar area having a bottom planar element having a length and a width, an opposed pair of upwardly extending end wall elements spanning the width of said bottom planar element and disposed orthogonally to the plane of said bottom planar element, and an opposed pair of side elements spanning the length of said bottom planar element, said side elements and said end wall elements serving to bound said planar area so as to form an open topped rectangular parallelepiped; a plurality of notches formed in a side element of said bed portion, said plurality being of a number equivalent to the multiplicity of flexible tubing lines that may be passed through said device, said plurality being distributed along the length of said side element in a substantially equidistantly spaced apart manner, each said notch being formed, in a direction of a thickness of said side element, to have a V-shaped opening, extending from an upper edge of said side element partially through the distance to said bottom planar element, and terminating in a substantially circularly arcuate opening through said side element, said V-shaped opening having a narrowest separation between bounding edges at its intersection with said arcuate opening; said circular arcuate opening being appropriately dimensioned to accept an outer diameter surface of a flexible tubing line therethrough without deforming constriction of said tubing, said narrowest separation between bounding edges of said V-shaped opening being marginally less than said tubing diameter; a like plurality of identical notches formed in the other side element so as to be transversely, with respect to said bottom planar element, in registration with said plurality of notches formed in the first side element, each registering pair of notches in the opposed side elements forming a pathway through said device for a length of flexible tubing line; a substantially planar rectangular cover portion element, having a rectangular area substantially equivalent to the area of said bottom planar element, said rectangular area having a corresponding length and width, said cover portion element further including an inner surface and an outer surface, both defined with respect to said bed portion; means, formed on a first end wall element of said bed portion, for cooperating with said cover portion element to enable said cover portion element to be pivoted away from said bed portion to provide access to said notched pathways; means, formed on a second end wall element of said bed portion, for cooperating with said cover portion element to enable said cover portion element to be releasably held proximate to said bed portion; means, formed on a first longitudinal end of said cover portion element, for cooperatively engaging with said means formed on said first end wall element of said bed portion to enable said cover portion element to pivot upwardly from said bed portion about said first end wall element; means, formed on a second longitudinal end of said cover portion element, for cooperatively releasably engaging with said means formed on said second end wall element of said bed portion to enable said cover portion to be releasably retained as a closing surface for said rectangular parallelepiped; and a plurality, in like number as the number of flexible tubing pathways through said device, of substantially rectangular areas formed on said outer surface of said cover portion element, each rectangular area being surface textured to accept writings from common writing implements thereon, said texturing being further adapted to enable such writings to be readily removed by intentional obliteration thereof; each said rectangular area extending substantially across the width of said cover portion element; said rectangular areas being spaced apart along the length of said cover portion element so that each such rectangular area visibly overlays a corresponding pathway for a flexible tubing line through said device, said rectangular areas being separated by regions running across the width of said outer surface of said cover portion element that are not so surface textured, which regions are resistant to accepting writings thereon; and means for removably attaching said device to an appropriate supporting structure disposed proximate to the patient.