Surgical suction tip with filter

Claim 1

A surgical suction tip comprising a tubular body portion having an inner wall surface, a hollow, reduced-diameter tip portion at one end of said body portion and defining therein a bore which communicates into the interior of the body portion, a releasable cap portion closing the other end of the body portion and having an aperture formed therethrough, a tubular connecting portion provided externally of said cap portion into the interior of the body portion and defining therein a bore which communicates through the aperture in the cap into the interior of the body portion, a hollow filter member located within the body portion to define a chamber of generally annular transverse section between the filter member and the inner wall surface of the body portion, the filter member being provided with a plurality of apertures therein interconnecting the interior of the filter member with said annular chamber, and location means integrally formed within the body portion adjacent the tip portion thereof to receive thereon and to locate one end of the filter member within the body portion such that material entering the body portion through the tip portion flows into the hollow interior of the filter member, the other end of the filter member being closed, the annular chamber within the body portion being in communication with the tubular connecting portion by way of said aperture in the cap portion, in which said filter member further comprises a removable end cap located in, to close, the other end of the filter member, said end cap including a tapering annular skirt portion having a free end which is gripped between the other end of the body portion and the cap portion to locate said end cap in an operative position within the body portion, the skirt portion of the end cap defining therein a plurality of apertures which interconnect the annular chamber within the body portion with the tubular connecting portion by way of the aperture in the cap portion.