| 摘要 |
<p>An ergonometric chestpiece (12) for a stethoscope (10) adapted to receive auscultatory sounds from a body and adapted to be coupled to an earpiece (14) for a user. The chestpiece is adapted to be grasped by a thumb and at least one finger of the user. The chestpiece has a bottom surface (41) which is generally planar and is adapted to be placed near the body for receiving the auscultatory sounds. The chestpiece (12) has an upper portion opposite the bottom surface. The upper portion has a raised center portion (26) defining left and right indented gripping surfaces (28, 30) which form recesses defined by the left and right indented gripping surfaces and by a surface generally parallel to but opposite the bottom surface. The left and right indented gripping surfaces are adapted to receive the thumb and at least one finger of the user, respectively. The indented gripping surfaces have indented impressions adapted to be easily, securely and comfortably grasped by the thumb and fingers of the user. The indented gripping surfaces are each further defined by a protruding edge (31, 33) on the top surface of the raised center portion (26) which prevent the fingers of the user from slipping upward and thus prevent the chestpiece from slipping out of the user's hand. The raised center portion (26) forms a physical stop to prevent the thumb and fingers of the user from slipping forward and contacting the body when the thumb and the at least one finger grasp the raised center of the upper portion. The left and right walls may be concave. The ergonometric chestpiece (12) may be generally circular and the left and right walls are cylindrically concave around axes generally orthogonal to the bottom surface. The top surface of the raised center portion may be sloped with respect to the bottom surface, the top surface being closer to the bottom surface at the front of the chestpiece than at the rear of the chestpiece.</p> |
