Hydrocephalus shunt with spring biased one-way valves

Claim 1

A HYDROCEPHALUS SHUNT DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING THE DRAINAGE OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID IN A CONDUIT CONNECTING BETWEEN A SOURCE OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID AND THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CHECK VALVES IN WHICH EACH SAID VALVE COMPRISES, A RIGID BODY HAVING AN INLET AND AN OUTLET END, AN INTERNAL PASSAGE IN SAID BODY CONNECTING SAID INLET SAID OUTLET ENDS AND INCLUDING A SECTION WHICH IS DIVERGENT ALONG ITS LENGTH IN THE DIRCTION OF SAID BODY OUTLET, A SPHERICAL BALL OF A DIAMETER TO SEALINGLY FIT WITHIN SAID DIVERGENT SECTION AT A VALVE SEAT AND BLOCK SAID PASSAGE, AND SPRING MEAND RESILIENTLY PRESSING SAID BALL INTO SEALING CONTACT WITH SAID SEAT AT A POSITIVE PREESTABLISHED PRESSURE; CONDUIT MEANS CONNECTING SAID VALVES IN SERIES WITH THE OUTLET END OF THE ONE VALVE BODY CONNECTED TO THE SAID INLET END OF THE NEXT ONE IN SAID SERIES; MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE INLET END OF THE FIRST VALVE IN SAID SERIES TO THE CONDUIT LEADING TO THE SOURCE OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID; AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE OUTLET END OF THE LAST VALVE IN SAID SERIES TO THE CONDUIT LEADING TO THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM, SAID BODY, SAID BALL AND SAID SPRING MEANS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY INERT, NON-TOXIC MATERIAL OF WHICH THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ARE ESSENTIALLY UNAFFECTED BY SURGICAL STERILIZATION TEMPERATURES.