Disposable catheter

Claim 1

A catheter comprising: an elongated hollow tube having a forward end and a rearward end, the forward end being provided with a plurality of apertures to facilitate fluid delivery to a body cavity, a first opening in the tube wall proximate the forward end thereof, a sealing cuff mounted upon the tube over the area including the first opening, the sealing cuff comprising a thin walled, air impervious, resilient rubber-like material, the tube extending through the cuff and the cuff end portion being sealed to the tube such that the cuff may be inflated to an enlarged ring-shape co-axial with the tube for sealing a body cavity within which the tube is inserted; a second opening in the tube wall near the rearward end thereof; means disposed within the tube for interconnecting the first and second openings, a rearwardly and outwardly curved shield mounted below the cuff for sealing the body cavity, the shield including a central opening and having a rearwardly directed hub portion through which the tube is fitted, a plurality of fingers integrally formed with the hub and extending rearwardly therefrom, the fingers permitting forward sliding of the shield while resisting rearward movement of the shield, means for mounting the shield on the tube, the mounting means including an elongated slot provided through the shield and a coupling means for closing the slot, positive stop positioning means formed on the exterior of the tube, the means comprising at least one forwardly directed bead tapering outwardly from the tube, and wherein the openings and the means for interconnecting the openings cooperate to define an air inlet for flowing pressurized air into and for discharging air from the cuff to inflate and deflate, respectively, the cuff after the tube is inserted into the body cavity.