Abstract: A detachable blade cartridge for a scalpel is provided. The cartridge includes a body configured for attachment to a scalpel handle, a scalpel blade and a blade cover engaged to the body for travel along the body between a closed position covering the blade and a retracted position to expose said blade for use. The cartridge includes a releasable catch for selectively retaining the cover in the open position or the closed position. The cartridge also includes a one-way catch comprising a detent in one of the cover or the body and a recess in the other of the cover or body to restrict movement of the cover relative to the body in a distal direction past a limit position while permitting movement in an opposed proximal direction.

Abstract: A safety scalpel blade assembly adapted for attachment to a handle (12), the assembly comprising a scalpel blade (10) and guard (11) which extends at least about the cutting edge of the blade (10), the guard (11) having attachment means to lock the blade to the guard as the assembly is being attached to the handle and which releases the blade from the guard when the blade is attached to the blade carrier on the handle. Improvements include a removable safety tab (60) on the guard (11), means (68,71) to prevent the blade guard (11) lifting relative to the handle (12), a safely catch (75) to prevent excessive retraction of the guard (11) and location means (80,82) to locate the guard (11) in the extended and retracted positions.

Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for converting vaporizers such as the Drager.TM. model 19 from pour-fill to safer indexed key-fill, and for providing overfill protection. A hollow screw is screwed up into an existing screw hole underneath the vaporizer that opens into the fluid storage compartment. A banjo encircling the screw provides two channels, one to dispense filling fluid up around the screw and into the vaporizer, and one to carry decompressing air back from the hollow through the screw. Each channel is connected to a separate pipe that communicates with a channel in an adaptor base screwed onto the vaporizer, and thereby to an indexed ISO key block connected to the fill bottle. Fluid thus flows from the bottle to the vaporizer and decompressing air flows back. For overfill protection, a special plug is fashioned to screw up into the existing sight glass access hole, and overfilling fluid flows from the vaporizer to the sight glass and then through the plug into the base where it exhausts.