The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 02, 1996
Filed:
Apr. 19, 1994
Paul F Meyers, San Juan Capistrano, CA (US);
Capistrano Labs, Inc., San Clement, CA (US);
Abstract
An ultrasound probe housing has at least one air bubble trap disposed therein and configured to facilitate movement of air bubbles away from a window thereof and also configured to resist movement of the air bubbles back toward the window. Preferably, two air bubble traps are utilized, one proximate the ultrasound transducer and the other proximate the motor thereof, so as to facilitate isolation of the ultrasound transducer and motor from air bubbles. The air bubble traps are preferably configured as funnels having a narrow end thereof oriented away from the window and having a wide end thereof oriented toward the window such that air bubbles easily enter the wide end thereof but do not easily enter the narrow end thereof. The air bubbles preferably move to a fluid expansion compensation chamber wherein they become captured and provide compensation for thermal expansion of the ultrasound transmissive fluid contained within the ultrasound probe.