this document describes a cleaning device for a medical implement , particularly a male medical implement such as a male luer that includes a male protrusion protruding from an inner cavity of a sleeve and extending beyond an opening to the sleeve . in some implementations , the cleaning device is a cap with a sliding piston within the cap that maintains a cleaning solution within an inner cavity of the cap , until the sliding piston is pushed further toward the inner cavity by the male protrusion of the male luer to cause cleaning solution to flow around the sliding piston and bathe some or all of the male protrusion and some or all of the sleeve around the male protrusion . the cap can include a removable seal to maintain the cleaning solution and the piston in the inner cavity until the cap is placed over the male protrusion and / or into the sleeve . the removable seal can be a foil - based seal , in the shape of a pull - tab , and can be heat - welded or thermally bonded , glued or otherwise attached at an opening to the inner cavity . in some other implementations , the cap can include a plug or other sealing member for sealing the opening to the inner cavity . fig1 is a perspective view of a cap in accordance with an exemplary implementation . the cap includes a housing 1 that defines an inner cavity 10 that is closed on all sides except at an opening 30 . the housing 1 is preferably cylindrical , and the inner cavity 10 is likewise preferably cylindrical with a closed distal end that is opposite the opening 30 . an outer surface of the housing 1 can have one or more ribs 50 or ridges , flanges , tabs , etc ., for allowing gripping by a user &# 39 ; s fingers , for example . an inner periphery of the inner cavity 10 at the opening 30 can include one or more vents 20 . in some implementations , the vents 20 can be cut - outs , notches or insets at the opening 30 , or areas that have an increased diameter than the rest of the opening 30 . in other implementations , the vents 20 can be holes or apertures that are proximate to but separate from the opening 30 . the housing 1 further includes one or more threads , protrusions , flanges , or the like , extending out externally from an outer periphery of the housing 1 near the opening 30 , to engage with the threads of a male luer sleeve . in preferred implementations , the one or more threads 40 include two at least partial threads extending from opposite sides of the housing 1 at the opening 30 . fig2 is a side cross - sectional view of a cap in accordance with the exemplary implementation , and showing an inner cavity 38 defined by the housing 1 and an inner wall 37 of the housing 1 . the inner wall 37 is preferably cylindrical of a substantially uniform diameter , however toward the opening and proximal end 15 the diameter of the inner wall 37 widens by wider diameter regions 35 to one or more recesses 32 , i . e ., a maximum diameter of the inner cavity , before the diameter narrows again at the diameter of the opening 30 , exclusive of the one or more vents 20 . the one or more recesses 32 can also include a recessed inner wall ( i . e . large diameter ) around the circumference of the inner wall 37 at the recess 32 . alternatively , the one or more recesses 32 can occupy less than the full circumference of the inner wall 37 . fig3 is a perspective view of a slidable piston 100 ( or “ pill ”) that is configured to reside in the cap and retain a cleaning solution or cleaning fluid within the inner cavity of the housing until pushed by a male protrusion of a male luer . fig4 is a side cross - sectional view of one implementation of the piston 100 . the piston 100 is rounded or generally cylindrical in shape , with a rounded or smooth nose or forward end that is configured for being directed toward a distal end of the inner cavity of the housing . the piston 100 also includes a male protrusion interface surface 110 , or rearward end , which can also be rounded or smooth , or which preferably can include one or more grooves , channels , or raised portions . the piston 100 further includes a sealing skirt 120 of flexible material . the sealing skirt 120 is flexible and is sized to be slightly wider than the recess 32 and the inner wall 37 of the inner cavity of the housing 1 , to be biased against or provide force against the recess 32 and the inner wall 37 to inhibit movement of the piston 100 . additionally , the skirt 120 flares away from the piston 100 and downward and opposite from the nose of the piston 100 at an angle substantially to correspond with a tapering of the wider diameter or tapered diameter region 35 , and to circumscribe some or all of the male protrusion interface surface 110 . fig5 illustrates the piston 100 inside the housing 1 of the cap prior to insertion of a male protrusion of a medical implement such as a male luer . as can be seen , the ends 122 of the skirt 120 of the piston extend against the tapered region 35 of the inner wall of the housing toward the recess 32 of the inner wall . some or all of the portion of the inner cavity 38 opposite the piston 100 from the opening can be filled with a cleaning solution or liquid or cleaning fluid . fig6 illustrates the beginning of insertion of a male protrusion 200 of a medical implement , in which a distal end of the male protrusion 200 contacts the piston 100 via the male protrusion interface surface 110 , which may or may not seal the lumen 210 of the male protrusion 200 . in some implementations , any gap in between the distal end of the male protrusion and the male protrusion interface surface 110 of the piston is smaller or of less area than the vents in the housing , such that the cleaning solution or cleaning fluid will take the path to least resistance and prefer to exit , under pressure from the piston , through the vents as opposed to entering the lumen 210 . fig7 illustrates further insertion of the male protrusion 200 into the inner cavity 38 of the housing 1 , pushing the piston 100 further toward the distal end of the inner wall of the housing , and to further pressure cleaning solution or cleaning fluid around the piston to bathe at least a portion of the male protrusion 200 with the cleaning solution or fluid to disinfect or clean that portion , which cleaning can also address the tip and / or distal end of the lumen . as described above , the male protrusion 200 is tapered ( approximately 6 degrees , by industry standard ), and will eventually wedge into the inner diameter of the opening 30 , to form a friction - based fitting of the cap onto the male protrusion 200 . a reverse direction between the male protrusion 200 and the cap ( i . e . pulling the cap off the male medical implement , or pulling the male medical implement from the cap , or a combination of the two ), after overcoming the friction - based fitting , will disengage the cap from the male protrusion 200 . fig8 is a perspective view of a section of the cap and the piston , prior to insertion by a male protrusion , and shows a vent at an opening to the cap . fig9 is a transparent view of a cap and piston with an inserted male medical implement , while fig1 is a perspective or isometric view of the cap with an inserted male protrusion . fig1 is an end view of the cap toward the opening , with the inserted male protrusion and a view of the male protrusion interface surface of the piston seen through the lumen of the male protrusion . fig1 a - 12c illustrate again a sequence of stages of cleaning a male medical implement . fig1 a - 13b are alternative perspective view and a cross - sectional view of the cap and the piston . fig1 a - 14b are cross sectional views of a male medical implement cap receiving a male protrusion and a threaded sleeve of a male medical implement . the male protrusion typically extends beyond the sleeve , and therefore is inserted or is received first into the cap . in a preferred implementation , the piston is placed in the cap at a depth or distance from the opening to the cap , so as to be contacted for moving by the male protrusion before the threads at the opening of the cap come into contact with the threaded sleeve . fig1 shows the cap fully engaged on a male protrusion of a medical implement . when the tapered male protrusion wedges into the diameter of the opening of the cap , the recesses will have filled with the cleaning solution or fluid , and the friction - based fitting will maintain the cleanliness of the male protrusion . some of the cleaning solution or fluid will also exit the cap from the vents , to fill at least a portion of the sleeve surrounding the male protrusion , and clean all or some of the threads of the sleeve . fig1 a - 16c show various implementations of a male protrusion interface surface of the piston . the rear surface or male protrusion interface may include any number of raised ridges , or conversely , cut - in ridges , to inhibit a seal of the lumen of the male protrusion , and to allow a flow of the cleaning solution or fluid through the ridges as desired . these grooves or ridges may inhibit sealing , which can contribute to an undesired pressure buildup in the lumen , or even an out - gas from the lumen to further move the piston or the cleaning solution or fluid in unwanted ways . accordingly , the ridges on the piston are configured for specific connection with the male protrusion while inhibiting the sealing of the lumen . fig1 illustrates a cleaning system 300 , in which a number of caps 304 , as substantially described above , are connected with a strip 302 or other shape of planar material . in some implementations , the opening of the caps 304 are formed with a flattened ridge or periphery , and each cap 304 is attached to the strip 302 . the strip 302 can be a foil strip , or can be a harder , more rigid piece of material . in use , a practitioner simply pulls or peels away each cap 304 from the strip 302 individually , to expose the opening to the inner cavity , and allow the cap 304 to be placed over a male protrusion of the male luer . in still other implementations , the strip 302 can be formed with holes , and each cap 304 , individually or by group , can be placed through the holes until a seal or tab 308 , already provided over the opening of the cap 304 , is connected with the strip 302 . the strip 306 can include an aperture or hole 306 to allow the cleaning system 300 to be attached to another object , such as an intravenous ( iv ) pole or the like . the cap and the piston can be made from polyethylene or another material that is stable when in the presence of alcohol or other cleaning agent . the cleaning agent can be any chemical , substance or material that cleans the site of bacterial or even viral microorganisms , or any carrier that contains such chemical , substance or material . examples of a cleaning agent include isopropyl alcohol , chlorhexidine , povidone - iodine , hydrogen peroxide , soap , and hydrochloric acid . although a few embodiments have been described in detail above , other modifications are possible . other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims .
a cleaning cap for a medical implement having a male protrusion . the cleaning cap includes a housing defining an inner cavity defined by an inner wall and distal end that encloses the inner cavity , and an opening opposite the distal end . the inner wall has a recess near the opening to the housing . the recess has a diameter that is greater than a diameter of the inner wall near the recess . the cap further includes a movable piston having a forward nose and rearward end surrounded by a flexible flange that extends outward and toward the opening to abut the inner wall near the recess of the housing to maintain a cleaning solution in the inner cavity prior to receipt of the male protrusion into the inner cavity . the rearward end of the movable piston configured to couple with a distal end of the male protrusion to move the piston toward a distal end of the housing opposite the opening of the housing to provide a portion of the cleaning solution to the male protrusion .