Laryngoscope blade

Claim 1

In a laryngoscope blade having a self-contained light source, a tongue depressor portion having a first and second end, a blade side wall mounted upwardly along a first edge of the tongue depressor, a light conducting fiber enclosing sheath ending on a top surface of the tongue depressor and the blade being readily connectable and detachable form a handle power source, the improvement comprising, a base housing integral with a bottom surface of the tongue depressor at the first end of the tongue depressor, the housing having four side walls, a bottom wall, and a top wall, the base housing having a bulb receiving channel directed upwardly form the bottom wall, the channel narrowing adjacent the top wall to receive a bundle of light conducting fibers enclosed within a tubular sheath, a portion of the sheath in the channel held in place by a set screw, the channel having threaded inner side walls to receive complimentary threads from a bulb enclosure, a front side wall of the base housing having a cut out portion to accept an axially mounted pin from a laryngoscope handle, and the bulb enclosure having the complimentary threads on an upper portion and a ribbed ring at a bottom portion projecting at least partially below the housing bottom wall, the ribbed ring being used for grasping by a user's finger to insert or remove the bulb from the channel by a turning motion and a contact surface on the bulb below the ribbed ring projecting below the base housing bottom wall to directly complete electrical contact with the handle power source.