Claims
- 1. An occlusive dressing for wound care, comprising a skin-contacting barrier layer of soft, pliant, fluid-absorbing, adhesive material, said barrier layer having a perimeter around a skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; a release sheet of thin, flexible and tearable sheet material removably covering the skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; and a thin elastomeric backing layer extending along the surface of said barrier layer opposite from said release sheet, wherein the improvement comprises
- said release sheet having a line of separation dividing said sheet into two immediately adjacent separable sections;
- said separable sections each having an extended tab which is adjacent to said line of separation and projects outward beyond the perimeter of said skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer for facilitating removal of said separable sections therefrom.
- 2. The dressing of claim 1 in which said line of separation comprises a series of alternating slits and connecting segments and said separable sections have opposite edges along said slits normally held in contiguous relation by said connecting segments.
- 3. The dressing of claim 1 in which said release sheet has a pair of opposite edges and said line of separation extends between said opposite edges.
- 4. The dressing of claim 3 in which said tabs both extend from one of said edges of said release sheet and have inner edges which are spaced apart, said dressing further comprising a predetermined gap formed by said spaced apart inner edges, said line of separation intersecting said gap.
- 5. The dressing of claim 4 in which said predetermined gap between said extended tabs is approximately 2 to 5 mm.
- 6. The dressing of claim 4 in which said extended tabs each include an arcuate portion which projects away from said predetermined gap in directions generally parallel to said one of said opposite edges.
- 7. The dressing of claim 3 in which one of said tabs extends from one of said pair of opposite edges of said release sheet and the other of said tabs extends from the other of said pair of opposite edges.
- 8. The dressing of claim 7 in which said tabs each has an inner edge spaced from said line of separation by an edge portion.
- 9. The dressing of claim 8 in which said edge portions have a combined length of approximately 2 to 5 mm.
- 10. The dressing of claim 7 in which said extended tabs each include an arcuate portion projecting towards said line of separation in directions generally parallel with said pair of opposite edges of said release sheet.
- 11. The dressing according to claim 3 wherein said extended tabs both extend from one of said edges of said release sheet, said tabs have opposing inner edges immediately adjacent said line of separation.
- 12. The dressing of claim 1 in which one of said separable sections of said release sheet is substantially larger than the other of said separable sections.
- 13. The dressing of claim 12 in which one of said separable sections has an area at least 70% of the total area of said release sheet.
- 14. The dressing of claim 1 in which at least one of said adjacent separable sections has a visible locator stripe extending along said line of separation for indicating the location of said line of separation as a user prepares to tear said adjacent separable sections from each other and peel them away from said barrier layer.
- 15. The dressing of claim 14 in which said indicator stripe is in the form of a colored line imprinted on one section of said release sheet immediately adjacent said line of separation.
- 16. An occlusive dressing for wound care, comprising a skin-contacting barrier layer of soft, pliant, fluid-absorbing, adhesive material, said barrier layer having a perimeter around a skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; a release sheet of thin, flexible and tearable sheet material removably covering the skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; and a thin elastomeric backing layer extending along the surface of said barrier layer opposite from said release sheet, wherein the improvement comprises
- said release sheet comprising a line of separation dividing said sheet into two immediately adjacent separable sections, the line of separation comprising a series of alternating slits and connecting segments;
- said separable sections each comprising opposite edges along said slits normally held in contiguous relation by said connecting segments and an extended tab which is adjacent to said line of separation and projects outward beyond the perimeter of said skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer for facilitating removal of said separable sections therefrom.
- 17. The dressing according to claim 16 wherein said extended tabs both extend from one of said edges of said release sheet, said tabs have opposing inner edges immediately adjacent said line of separation.
- 18. An occlusive dressing for wound care, comprising a skin-contacting barrier layer of soft, pliant, fluid-absorbing, adhesive material, said barrier layer having a perimeter around a skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; a release sheet of thin, flexible and tearable sheet material removably covering the skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; and a thin elastomeric backing layer extending along the surface of said barrier layer opposite from said release sheet, wherein the improvement comprises
- said release sheet comprising a line of separation dividing said sheet into immediately adjacent first and second separable sections, said first separable section substantially larger than said second separable section;
- said first and second separable sections each comprising an extended tab which is adjacent to said line of separation and projects outward beyond the perimeter of said skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer for facilitating removal of said first and second separable sections therefrom.
- 19. The dressing of claim 18 wherein said first separable section has an area at least 70% of the total area of said release sheet.
- 20. An occlusive dressing for wound care, comprising a skin-contacting barrier layer of soft, pliant, fluid-absorbing, adhesive material, said barrier layer having a perimeter around a skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; a release sheet of thin, flexible and tearable sheet material removably covering the skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; and a thin elastomeric backing layer extending along the surface of said barrier layer opposite from said release sheet, wherein the improvement comprises
- said release sheet comprising a pair of opposite edges and a line of separation dividing said sheet into immediately adjacent separable sections, said line of separation extending between said opposite edges;
- said separable sections each comprising an extended tab, said extended tabs extending from one of said opposite edges of said release sheet, said extended tabs comprising inner edges to form a predetermined gap between the inner edges, said extended tabs adjacent to said line of separation such that said line of separation intersects said gap, and said extended tabs projecting outward beyond the perimeter of said skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer for facilitating removal of said first and second separable sections therefrom.
- 21. The dressing of claim 20 wherein said predetermined gap between said extended tabs is approximately 2 to 5 mm.
- 22. The dressing of claim 20 wherein said extended tabs each include an arcuate portion which projects away from said predetermined gap in directions generally parallel to said one of said opposite edges.
- 23. An occlusive dressing for wound care, comprising a skin-contacting barrier layer of soft, pliant, fluid-absorbing, adhesive material, said barrier layer having a perimeter around a skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; a release sheet of thin, flexible and tearable sheet material removably covering the skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; and a thin elastomeric backing layer extending along the surface of said barrier layer opposite from said release sheet, wherein the improvement comprises
- said release sheet said release sheet comprising a pair of opposite edges and a line of separation dividing said release sheet into immediately adjacent separable sections, said line of separation extending between said pair of opposite edges;
- said separable sections each comprising first and second extended tabs, said first extended tab extending from one of said pair of opposite edges of said release sheet, said second extended tab extending from the other of said pair of opposite edges, said first and second extended tabs comprising inner edges spaced from said line of separation by an edge portion, and said extended tabs projecting outward beyond the perimeter of said skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer for facilitating removal of said first and second separable sections therefrom.
- 24. The dressing of claim 23 wherein said edge portions have a combined length of approximately 2 to 5 mm.
- 25. The dressing of claim 23 wherein said extended tabs each include an arcuate portion projecting towards said line of separation in directions generally parallel with said pair of opposite edges of said release sheet.
- 26. An occlusive dressing for wound care, comprising a skin-contacting barrier layer of soft, pliant, fluid-absorbing, adhesive material, said barrier layer having a perimeter around a skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; a release sheet of thin, flexible and tearable sheet material removably covering the skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer; and a thin elastomeric backing layer extending along the surface of said barrier layer opposite from said release sheet, wherein the improvement comprises
- said release sheet comprising a line of separation dividing said sheet into two immediately adjacent separable sections wherein at least one of said separable sections comprises a visible locator stripe extending along said line of separation;
- said separable sections each comprising an extended tab which is adjacent to said line of separation and projects outward beyond the perimeter of said skin-contacting surface of said barrier layer for facilitating removal of said separable sections therefrom.
- 27. The dressing of claim 26 wherein said indicator stripe is in the form of a colored line imprinted on one of said separable sections of said release sheet immediately adjacent said line of separation.
- 28. The dressing according to claim 26 wherein said extended tabs both extend from one of said edges of said release sheet, said tabs have opposing inner edges immediately adjacent said line of separation.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 204,753, filed Mar. 2, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,592.
US Referenced Citations (36)
Foreign Referenced Citations (7)
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0 621 042 A1 |
Oct 1994 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
204753 |
Mar 1994 |
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