Claims
- 1. A cohesive bandage comprising a series of spaced elastic yarns between coextensive thin non-woven fibrous cover webs, the bandage being uniformly impregnated throughout and bonded together in a unified structure with a polymeric binder having a basis weight at least equal to the basis weight of the cover webs, said yarns being maintained under tension in said unified structure,and wherein said elastic yarns are from about 550 to about 1700 denier and are uniformly spaced at about 15 to 25 yarns per inch of width with the proviso that the product of the denier times the number of yarns per inch of width is from about 10,000 to about 25,000; said cohesive bandage being further characterized by the ratio of the elastic modulus F.sub.125 value to the elastic modulus F.sub.50 value being less than about 10.
- 2. The bandage of claim 1 wherein said elastic yarn is about 600 to 1,000 denier.
- 3. The bandage of claim 1 wherein said elastic yarn is uniformly spaced at about 17 to 22 yarns per inch of width.
- 4. The bandage of claim 1 wherein the product of the denier times the number of yarns per inch of width is about 10,000 to 15,000.
- 5. The bandage of claim 1 wherein said elastic yarn is about 700 denier and is uniformly spaced at 18 yarns per inch of width.
- 6. The bandage of claim 1 wherein said elastic yarn is about 1680 denier and is uniformly spaced at 18 yarns per inch of width.
- 7. The bandage of claim 1 wherein said polymeric binder comprises natural rubber latex.
- 8. The bandage of claim 1 wherein the ratio of the elastic modulus F.sub.125 value to the elastic modulus F.sub.50 value is less than about 5.
- 9. A method of supporting the suspensory ligaments and flexor tendons in the leg of a horse comprising applying a bandage of claim 1 to the leg.
- 10. A method of providing support and/or compressive force to a mammalian limb comprising applying a bandage of claim 1 to the limb in a manner to provide said support and/or compressive force.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation of application U.S. Ser. No. 206,565, filed June 14, 1988, and now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 186,675 filed on Apr. 21, 1988, and now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 003,779 filed Jan. 16, 1987, now abandoned.
This invention relates to elastic shirred materials and the use thereof as a support bandage.
It is well recognized in the art that shirred fabrics can be made by stretching a sheet of rubber, holding it in a stretched condition, adhering a fabric to each side, and removing the restraining force to pucker or shirr. U.S. Pat. No. 22,038 describes material consisting of threads of India rubber stretched and bonded between two laminae of cloth and then permitted to retract, thereby causing puckering of the fabric to provide the desired shirred effect. U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,782 describes an elastic shirred web product consisting of partially extended spaced aligned elastic yarns sealed between two thin porous gathered non-woven fibrous webs, or between a web and a non-porous film, by means of a soft flexible polymeric coherent binder.
Elastic shirred web materials have been used in commercially available products such as Coban.TM. and Vetrap.TM., both available from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. Coban.TM. is sold for use as a support dressing on humans. Vetrap.TM. is sold for use on horses and other animals. Vetrap.TM. is used primarily for decorative purposes and as a rundown bandage. It is also used as a holding wrap for applying compresses, medicated pads and the like; and for providing support for injuries.
The present invention describes a cohesive elastic bandage comprising a series of spaced elastic yarns between coextensive thin non-woven fibrous cover webs, the bandage being uniformly impregnated throughout and bonded together in a unified structure with a polymeric binder having a basis weight at least equal to the basis weight of the cover webs. The yarns are maintained under tension in the resulting uniform structure. The yarns are from about 550 to about 1700 denier and are uniformly spaced at about 15 to 25 yarns (and preferably about 17 to 22 yarns) per inch of width with the proviso that the product of the denier times the number of yarns per inch of width is from about 10,000 to 25,000, preferably from about 10,000 to 15,000. The bandage is further characterized by having a ratio of F.sub.125 /F.sub.50 of less than 10, and preferably less than 5, where F.sub.n, an elastic modulus value, is the force required to elongate a test sample a certain percentage (n) beyond its relaxed length.
A method of supporting the suspensory ligaments and flexor tendons in the leg of a horse is also described.
The present invention also involves elastic shirred sheet material but has several advantages over that taught in the art. The material of the invention has a higher elastic modulus, is more cohesive and is more durable.
In one preferred form, the product of the invention has utility as an equine bandage. The bandage is durable enough to be used as a rundown bandage without the addition of rundown patches which are generally necessary when currently available bandages are used. Surprisingly, the higher elastic modulus of the bandage allows it to provide a high level of joint support without unduly constricting circulation.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 0120117 |
Oct 1984 |
EPX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
| Entry |
| Idea Submission Agreement (Bryan J. Hilbert). |
| 3M Equine Bandaging Systems Product Brochure. |
Continuations (3)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
443012 |
Nov 1989 |
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| Parent |
206565 |
Jun 1988 |
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| Parent |
3779 |
Jan 1987 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
186675 |
Apr 1988 |
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Patent Grant
4984584
