The structure and the closure arrangement can be provided on the inlet side or the outlet side or on both the inlet and outlet side of the housing, The structure can be a tubular component configured to threadediy engage with the inlet and/or outlet for connection to a flexible fluid conduit for connection to a surgical site, and the closure is arranged within the housing. The closure can be configured on a supporting element to enable fluid flow therearound in the first position.
The structure can be arranged within the housing and have a seat arranged around the aperture for engagement with the closure, which is configured as a plug and threadediy engages with the inlet. The closure can have an aperture configured to enable fluid flow between the inlet and the outlet in the first position.
A linear relationship can exists between the movement of the housing in relation to the closure or the structure and the size of the aperture. Alternatively, a non-linear relationship can be configured. The aperture can be substantially circular and the closure is preferably of a conical or curved conical cross section. The structure and closure can be configured to provide a flow limitation between the inlet and/or outlet and the filter.
According to another aspect, the invention can reside in an apparatus being a filter housing containing one or more filtration elements. Said filter housing is generally formed from two mating components which can be bonded or otherwise fitted together after positioning of filter elements in one of the said mating components. Said filter housing is provided with a tubular inlet and an integral outlet port, said ports configured to allow fluid communication between the inlet and outlet of the filter housing through the said filtration elements. The said tubular inlet port is inserted into the filter housing by means of a threaded section on said tubular inlet port which engages with a matching threaded section on the inlet side of the filter housing so that said tubular inlet port may be moved towards or away from the centre of said filter housing by rotation of said apparatus relative to said tubuiar input port. There is additionally provided within the inlet side of the filter housing a supporting structure which carries at its centre a solid form or "plug" capable of progressively closing the aperture of the tubular input port as the said input port is advanced by rotation of the apparatus relative to the said input port along the screwed section of the filter housing towards the centre of the filter housing. Conversely, rotation of the said apparatus in the opposite direction (away from the centre of the filter housing) will progressively open the said aperture of the said tubuiar input port. The aperture of the tubuiar input port is circular and the shape of the plug which progressively enters the aperture of the tubular input port is substantially conica I .
According to the another aspect, the arrangement with associated threaded tubular port and integral port may be reversed so that the threaded tubuiar port engages with a threaded section on the outlet side of the filter housing and the integral port is on the input side of the filter housing which connects to a fluid conduit and thereby to the trocar which allows the exhaust gas to exit the operating site, in this case the supporting structure which carries at its centre the solid form or "plug" is located within the output side of the filter housing between the filter elements and the tubuiar output port and the movement of the tubuiar output port towards or away from the centre of the apparatus is achieved by rotation of the tubular output port which relative to the apparatus.
By arrangement of the pitch of the threads on the outside of the tubular port and the inside of the filter housing, the apparatus can be configured to provide a rapid closing of the aperture of the tubular input (or output) port with a minimal rotation of the tubuiar port relative to the apparatus or the closure may be more gradual requiring one or more full turns of the filter housing (or tubular port) to move from a fully open to a fully closed aperture.
Although the tubular port and housing have been described above having a threaded interface, the tubular port can additionally or alternatively be provided with a mechanism configured to enable sliding movement of the tubular port with respect to the housing. A linear movement can enable a rapid change in the flow rate. The linear movement can be substantially in the direction of the axis passing through the centre of the housing.
A mechanism configured to enable sliding movement of the tubular port with respect to the housing can be configured with stops or reference points such that a user has, for example, haptic feedback to indicate the extent of the linear movement. Two stops can be provided to indicate, for example, that the f!ow rate has been stopped (first position) and the flow rate is maximised (second position). A mechanism configured to enable sliding movement of the tubular port with respect to the housing can have lower production costs because the complexity of the tool manufacture is reduced. The mechanism can have a slide-rod and securing means, such as a cam, for releasably securing the position of tubular port with respect to the housing.
The tubular port and the filter housing may advantageously bear reference marks indicating the fully open, half open and fully closed positions of the aperture of the tubular port. Said tubular port and said filter housing may additionally be provided with limiting stops at the fully open and fully closed positions of the aperture of the tubular port facilitating rapid adjustment of the filter housing between fully closed and fully open conditions of the said aperture.