Illuminating stomatoscope

Claim 2

A diagnostic instrument comprising a body portion having a viewing passage, and illuminating means for illuminating an object at the object end of the passage; said body portion including a hollow casing that surrounds the passage, and a hollow shell that surrounds the passage and is housed in the casing; said casing having an inside wall portion and an opening for the passage at the object end of the casing, said inside wall portion having a tapered wall portion that converges along the passage toward said opening, said shell having an outside wall portion which faces said tapered wall portion and which is spaced apart therefrom at the object end of the passage, said shell having a radially projecting flange which is located at the viewing end of the tapered wall portion and which thereat snugly fits against said inside wall portion, said casing having an Aperture which is located between said flange and said opening and which communicates with the space between said tapered wall portion and said outside wall portion, said illuminating means including a light source located at the exterior of the casing, and a light-transmitting fiber bundle which extends through the aperture and has a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of said bundle having a light receptive surface and being arranged to receive light from said source, the distal end of said bundle being located in said space and having an annular light-emitting surface that surrounds the object end of the passage, and said instrument further comprising hardened plastic means which is located in said space and which bonds the fibers together and secures the shell to the casing.

Claim 3

A diagnostic instrument in accord with claim 1 where said tapered wall portion is generally conical in shape, where said inside wall portion has a cylindrical wall portion at the viewing end of said tapered wall portion, where said flange has a diameter that is less than that of said cylindrical wall portion, and where said flange is offset from said cylindrical portion and in contact with said tapered wall portion.

Claim 4

A diagnostic instrument in accord with claim 1 where said outside wall portion convergingly tapers along the passage toward said opening, and where said flange snugly fits against said tapered wall portion of said inside wall portion.

Claim 5

A diagnostic instrument in accord with claim 1 where said outside wall portion convergingly tapers along the passage toward said opening, where said tapered wall portion is generally conical in shape, where said inside wall portion has a cylindrical wall portion at the viewing end of said tapered wall portion, where said flange has a diameter that is less than that of said cylindrical wall portion, where said flange is offset from said cylindrical portion and in contact with said tapered wall portion, and where the instrument further comprises lens means housed in said casing and surrounded by said cylindrical wall portion.

Claim 6

A diagnostic instrument in accord with claim 1 where said casing has a cylindrical tip portion at the object end of the passage, where the instrument further comprises a mirror which is arranged at an angle to the viewing axis of the passage and which is located in front of the annular light-emitting surface, and means carrying the mirror which is detachably mounted on said tip portion and adjustably rotatable about the viewing axis, and where said annular light-emitting surface is a convex surface.

Claim 7

A diagnostic instrument in accord with claim 1 where said outside wall portion convergingly tapers along the passage toward said opening, where said tapered wall portion is generally conical in shape, where said inside wall portion has a cylindrical wall portion at the viewing end of said tapered wall portion, where said flange has a diameter that is less than that of said cylindrical wall portion, where said flange is offset from said cylindrical wall portion and in contact with said tapered wall portion, where said casing has a cylindrical tip portion that defines said opening, where the instrument further comprises a mirror which is arranged at an angle to the viewing axis of the passage and which is located in front of the annular light-emitting surface; means carrying the mirror which is detachably mounted on said tip portion and adjustably rotatable about the viewing axis of the passage, and lens means housed in said casing and surrounded by said cylindrical wall portion, and where said annular light-emitting surface is a convex surface.

Claim 8

A stomatoscope comprising a body portion which has a viewing passage and exterior openings respectively located at the viewing and object ends of the passage, illuminating means for illuminating an object at the object end of the passage, a lens assembly for magnifying an object viewed through the passage, a rigid arm fixed to the body portion, a mirror, anD means supporting the mirror and mounted on the body portion at the object end of the passage; said body portion comprising a hollow casing that surrounds the passage and includes a cylindrical section which surrounds and houses the lens assembly at the viewing end of said passage, and a conical section which is integral with the cylindrical section and arranged to converge along the viewing axis of the passage toward the opening at the object end of the passage, said conical section having an inside wall portion and an aperture which is offset toward the viewing end of the passage from the opening at the object end of the passage, said arm having a hollow that communicates with the interior of the casing through said aperture, said illuminating means comprising a light source exteriorly of the body portion, and a light transmitting fiber bundle which extends through the aperture and has a proximal end and a distal end, said proximal end having a light-receptive surface and being arranged in the hollow of the arm to receive light from said source, said distal end being located in the interior of said casing and having an annular light-emitting surface that surrounds the object end of the passage, the fibers of said bundle being arranged so that the fiber portions in the interior of the casing flare out from the aperture toward the opening at the object end of the passage and therebetween follow the contour of said inside wall portion, said lens assembly being removable from the cylindrical section through the opening at the viewing end of the passage, said stomatoscope further comprising hardened plastic means encasing the fibers in the hollow of said arm and fixing said fibers to said inside wall portion, and a cap retaining the lens assembly in the cylindrical section and being releasably secured to the cylindrical section, said mirror being located in front of the light-emitting surface and angularly arranged with respect to the viewing axis of the passage, and the supporting means for the mirror being detachably mounted on the casing and rotatably adjustable about the viewing axis of the passage.

Claim 9

A stomatoscope comprising a body portion which has a viewing passage and exterior openings respectively located at the viewing and object ends of the passage, illuminating means for illuminating an object at the object end of the passage, a lens assembly for magnifying an object viewed through the passage, a rigid arm fixed to the body portion, a mirror, anD means supporting the mirror and mounted on the body portion at the object end of the passage; said body portion comprising a hollow casing that surrounds the passage and includes a cylindrical section which surrounds and houses the lens assembly at the viewing end of said passage, and a conical section which is integral with the cylindrical section and arranged to converge along the viewing axis of the passage toward the opening at the object end of the passage, said conical section having an inside wall portion and an aperture which is offset toward the viewing end of the passage from the opening at the object end of the passage, said arm having a hollow that communicates with the interior of the casing through said aperture, said illuminating means comprising a light source exteriorly of the body portion, and a light transmitting fiber bundle which extends through the aperture and has a proximal end and a distal end, said proximal end having a light-receptive surface and being arranged in the hollow of the arm to receive light from said source, said distal end being located in the interior of said casing and having an annular light-emitting surface that surrounds the object end of the passage, the fibers of said bundle being arranged so that the fiber portions in the interior of the casing flare out from the aperture toward the opening at the object end of the passage and therebetween follow the contour of said inside wall portion, said lens assembly being removable from the cylindrical section through the opening at the viewing end of the passage, said stomatoscope further comprising hardened plastic means encasing the fibers in the hollow of said arm and fixing said fibers to said inside wall portion, and a cap retaining the lens assembly in the cylindrical section and being releasably secured to the cylindrical section, said mirror being located in front of the light-emitting surface and angularly arranged with respect to the viewing axis of the passage, and the supporting means for the mirror being detachably mounted on the casing and rotatably adjustable about the viewing axis of the passage.

Claim 10

A stomatoscope in accord with claim 7 where said body portion further comprises hollow tapered means housed in the casing and therewith defining an annular conical space which surrounds the passage, where the fiber portions in the interior of the casing are housed in the annular conical space and where said space is filled with said hardened plastic means.

Claim 11

A stomatoscope in accord with claim 7 where said rigid arm has shoulder means in the hollow thereof and an adjacent opening to the exterior of the body portion, where said stomatoscope further comprises annular clamping means which surrounds the fibers at the proximal end of the bundle and which is arranged in contact with said shoulder means, and means releasably connected to the arm at the arm opening and supporting the light source adjacent to the light receptive surface of the bundle.

Claim 12

A stomatoscope in accord with claim 7 wherein the annular light-emitting surface is characterized at any point thereon by an imaginary line normal to the surface which intersects the viewing axis in back of the light-emitting surface.

Claim 13

A stomatoscope in accord with claim 7 wherein said casing has a cylindrical tip section which surrounds the opening at the object end of the passage and which is integral with the conical section of said casing, and where the mirror-supporting means comprises annular means encircling the cylindrical tip section and carrying said mirror, said annular means being rotatably movable on said tip section to rotatably adjust the mirror about the viewing axis of the passage, and said annular means having means engaging said casing to retain said annular means on said tip section and being disengageable therefrom to permit removal of said annular means from said tip section.