Patent Application
20110220128
The present invention relates to protective covers adapted to be removably inserted into areas adjacent vacating orifice areas of a body, such as the anus and/or groin area.
During the course of fecal elimination, often times the peripheral recessed area or crevice adjacent the anus becomes soiled as the fecal material is eliminated. In such a case, cleansing of the peripheral area around the anus becomes difficult. Additionally, a large amount of toilet paper and other cleansing substances must be used. It often causes a distasteful messy situation to the individual. It is further complicated when the individual has handicaps and it is difficult for him to clean himself. Also, the cost of the cleansing material is considerable and such use of large amounts of toilet paper and the like, is harmful to the environment.
In the areas of sanitary napkins and absorbable pants/diapers, certain designs provide for pad-type surfaces that contain openings in the surface for retaining matter discharged from a human body. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 7,179,247, titled “Absorbable Article With Protruding Body Fluid Inflow Hole Having an Elastic Side Wall,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,485, titled “Absorbent Pants Product,” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,840, titled “Disposable Diapers,” each of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.
While the aforementioned designs are suitable for sanitary napkin and absorbable pants/diaper applications, there is a need for a protector that is simple to apply and use during evacuation, which directly is inserted into the crevice immediately surrounding the anus, or other such orifice, and protects the crevice and the surrounding areas.
The present disclosure relates to a suitable cover capable of being inserted into the crevice containing the anus, and protecting the portions of the derriere immediately surrounding the anus, which cover can be easily applied, easily removed and is disposable.
In one embodiment, the cover can be a solid sheet of material with an adhesive on one side which adhesive can be used to insert the cover directly into the crevice and adjacent the anus and protect the surrounding derriere portion. Specifically, it would adhere to the skin directly surrounding the anus to protect almost all parts from being soiled. The type of adhesive used can be any of the types similar to those applied to band aids, and other topical items that are applied to a person's skin. The sheet may also be perforated to minimize surface contact with the skin to avoid discomfort during removal.
In other embodiments, the cover has a unique shape to effect a more easy removal of the cover from the human body. In further embodiments, the cover is made from a “plastic wrap” type material that physically attaches to skin without the use of adhesives, where a hole in the cover has an adjustment pad attached over the top. In a preferred embodiment, the pad allows a user to adjust the cover over the anal area and peel away the pad just before use. The cover can already be perforated in this area of the anus to permit the cover to be appropriately shaped to enter into the crevice surrounding the anus. Alternately, the cover can be solid permitting the user to form the perforation for the anus and shape the material to fit snugly into the crevice adjacent the anus and then extend onto the derriere. For this purpose, the center of the cover may be thinner than the rest of the cover to permit easy perforation to form the hold in the center. Also, an adaptor may be provided to facilitate placement of the protector.
Other objects, features, and advantages according to the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of certain advantageous embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which the same components are identified by the same reference numerals.
Referring now to
In addition to large amounts of toilet paper, which must be used, there is often required other cleansing material to protect and remove the soiling. This costs large sums, contaminates the environment and provides a mess and disturbance to the user.
As shown, there is provided a cover shown generally at 100 which is placed over the anus area. The cover is such that using a finger, applicator, or the like, the center portion is actually inserted within the crevice so that it extends up to and adjacent to the anus without necessarily disturbing the anus or restricting the flow of excrement from the anus. At the same time, it will also serve to cover portions of the derriere adjacent to the crevice to protect those areas as well.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In a preferred embodiment, cover 10 includes a preformed hole 30A, which would be arranged over the anus, when cover 10 is inserted into the crevice and applied to the human body. The adhesive jacket 20 may have a corresponding hole as well 30B. It should be understood that the cover (and jacket) can also be provided without any opening and once the user inserts it into the crevice and applies it to the derriere, he himself can make an appropriate cut, slit, or simple hole corresponding to the position of the anus. This can be made either with an applied tool or a simple finger. Alternately, the covers can be provided with a pre-formed slit or hole (see
With the cover placed in the crevice and attached to the derriere, the cover can be shaped so that it adheres to the immediate walls adjacent the anus, as close as possible to the actual exit hole. Thus, when eliminating, there will be almost no soiling of the skin and little, if any, toilet paper needed.
The adhesive can be placed over the entire surface of the cover material or it can be placed only on selected parts of the material. By way of example, just enough so that it will adhere to the immediate peripheral area around the anus. Furthermore, the size of the cover itself can be made in various sizes, either to cover a larger extent area or simply a small peripheral area along the crevice adjacent the anus itself.
The insert and cover can be made of well known material such as paper, plastic, or any other type which can be usable as material applied onto the skin without causing any irritation. By way of example, the numerous types of material, cloth, plastic, paper or the like from which band aids are made can be suitable used for such derriere covers. Furthermore, if the user will make the hole penetration in the insert and cover, it can be of thinner material adjacent the anus to facilitate making a hole in the cover material. Also, perforation can be already existing in the cover for this purpose.
As the insert and cover is made of soft pliable material, and as the adhesive covers the area around the anus, when a hole is made, the portions of the cover adjacent to the hole will adhere closely to the crevice wall adjacent the anus. Thus, they will actually bend upwardly toward the anus covering directly the crevice wall adjacent the anus itself. As a result, much of the excrement which normally might contaminate the area around the anus will now only contaminate the cover and will not affect the actual skin area. This will cause less irritation and damage to the skin area itself from the fecal material. Additionally, once the cover is removed and it removes the excrement along with it, there will be very little required to maintain cleanliness of the anus itself. As a result, there will be less irritation due to rubbing in that area. Furthermore, there will be almost no toilet paper required to be used to cleanse the area itself.
Interior layer 101 covers exterior layer 100, and is configured to be closest to human skin during application. Since the interior layer 101 would be in contact with the skin layer 101, the layer should have minimal to no adhesive qualities. Interior layer 101 is preferably made from a water-impermeable material that is flexible, such as a film made of polyolefin resin. Alternately, the water-impermeable material may be cellulose derivative such as methyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, and carboxymethyl cellulose, water soluble polymer such as polyvinyl alcohol, sodium alginate, sodium poly acrylate, polyacrylic ether, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, and a copolymer of isobutylene and maleic anhydride, or biodegradable polymer such as poly lactic acid, polybutylene succinate, starch, and dextrin. Both interior and exterior layers should be made as thin as possible to allow for ease of application, preferably in the range of 0.5-20 mils thick each.
Under one exemplary embodiment, the insert cover can be provided without any opening and once the user inserts it into the crevice and applies it to the derriere, the user can make an appropriate cut, slit, or simple hole corresponding to the position of the anus. This can be made either with an applied tool or a simple finger. Alternately, the covers can be provided with a pre-formed slit 102A as shown in
Due to the sensitivity of the anal area, and presence of hair, it is possible to limit the amount of surface area the exterior surface 200 comes in contact with. Accordingly, perforations comprising a plurality of circular holes 203 may be provided. It should be understood that other hole shapes (e.g., squares, diamonds, hexagonal, etc.) would accomplish the same effect.
The size of the insert and cover itself can be made in various sizes, either to cover a larger extent area or simply a small peripheral area around the anus itself. In the exemplary embodiment of
The thickness of insert and cover 500 should be very thin (e.g., 0.5-2.0 mils) to allow ease of insertion and adhesion. Because the device is so thin, a hole support 505, preferably made from plastic or rubber, can encircle hole 502 to support and/or maintain the hole opening during use. Similar to the embodiment of
In contrast to the embodiments of
Turning to
To facilitate movement of wiping pad 602, the edge of hole 601 is sealed with a mild adhesive (610) that would break apart when the tension from the string 603 during pulling (
The anus insert and cover described above can be stored in a container and be placed directly in the bathrooms or individual stalls, in which case they can be extracted and used by each user similar to the toilet seat covers. Alternately, they can be folded and prepackaged to that the user can carry one or multiples of these. To the extent that the user carries them, they can be individually folded and packaged for single use or packaged in a bundle and the user extracts them individually from a container that he carries one as he uses it. After use, the entire insert and cover will be flushed or otherwise disposed of in a wastebasket.
To that end, the material used in the insert and cover may also be adapted to conform to various “green” technologies and provide a lessened impact upon the environment. For example, covers may be made from biodegradable polymers such as aliphatic diols, aliphatic-aromatic copolyester, or any organic plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch, pea starch or microbiota. In this case, materials should generally conform to biodegradability certifications EN 13432, ASTM D6400 and biobased certification ASTM D6866.
While use has been described in connection with fecal elimination, it should be appreciated that such coverings can also be utilized by females during urination to protect the surrounding area from being splashed or otherwise soiled during urination.
In addition to providing the benefit of avoiding soiling by the elimination process, either fecal or urination, it should also be appreciated that these protective insert and cover can also provide medical protection by avoiding contamination with toilet seats, and other material on which the user typically sits. Thus, in many cases, this can serve a similar purpose of a toilet seat cover. While on the one hand it protects the anus from elimination soiling and almost eliminates the use of toilet paper, it also protects the anus and surrounding area from contamination from dirty toilet seats and the like.
To that extent, if the anus covers are large enough, they can replace the toilet seat covers and thereby provide both the benefit of the toilet seat cover, as well as the benefit of the derriere cover.
It should be appreciated that instead of a single unitary insert and cover such as a circular section or the like, as we are dealing with the two sides of the anal slit, elongated strips could likewise be used. In that case, a strip would be placed on either side of the anal section and each section inserted in the crevice adjacent each side of the anus. The two individuals sections can then serve a similar purpose as a single unitary round or oval section.
By the use of the single strip, the individual need not make an opening but simply applies each of the two strips separately to cover each of the separate sides of the crevice adjacent to the anus. Furthermore, by the use of the strip material, it can be placed on a continuous roll of elongated strip section similar to toilet paper. The user can pull off one or more sections and apply it individually on either side of the crevice, respectively, adjacent the anus as needed. This could facilitate making it available for users without having numerous different sizes and shapes.
Various types of medicaments or creams, salves, etc., can also be applied adjacent the opening, if need.
Referring now to
Alternately, the device of the prevent invention can be loaded onto the base 702 of the applicator with the stem 704 extending into an existing or a created hole on the device. With the device of the present invention placed on the base of the applicator, the applicator is then used to guide the device of the present invention properly and placed on the sides of the crevice adjacent to the anus. Thereafter, the rest of the cover can be adhered to the sides of the derriere and the applicator removed.
As shown in
Although the invention has been described with reference to particular arrangements and embodiments, these are not intended to exhaust all possible arrangements or embodiments, and indeed many other modifications and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill in the art. Also, while specific materials are mentioned in this document, one skilled in the art would appreciate that other materials may be used or substituted. This application covers any adaptations or variations of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is limited only by the claims and all available equivalents.
