The increase in bacterial immunity to modern antibiotics is problematic and one of the chief vectors of infection is the human hand. Hence, when not in the proximity of a washroom to disinfect one's hands, it would be useful to have a means to accomplish such sanitation. Also, in the midst of daily activities, it can be inconvenient to uncap bottles of disinfecting gels or hand lotions to otherwise treat the hands.
Fortunately, it has been established that ethyl alcohol is a most effective antiseptic for gram-negative pathogens; it is of low viscosity, easily dispensed from a portable container, and does not require the use of a material wipe or cloth because of the speed of evaporation. Further, an adequate dose for sanitizing the hands comprises but a few drops of this antiseptic. To prevent chafing, glycerin can be added to the alcohol without levels of viscosity increase that would be deleterious to the dispensing process.
Various methods of portable disinfectant or lotion dispensers have been disclosed in the prior art. These include body-mounted dispensers, wrist bracelet dispensers, and others. U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,946 discloses a dispensing tube that drips liquid onto the hand. U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,898 discloses a tube-fed finger dispenser. A body-worn dispenser of form factor similar to a pager is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,548.
What has not been demonstrated is a dispenser that is wrist- or arm-worn that provides ease of actuation and, more specifically, single hand actuation. Neither has there been a device that can be surreptitiously actuated. This is an important consideration with respect to public relations. Individuals such as business and sales personnel may come in contact with and greet many people during the day. It would be desirable to have the option of sanitizing the hands after a handshake with a person without conveying a disdainful message to that person in so doing.
A wrist-mounted dispenser that achieves dispensing directly to the hand with a simple hand action is a major advantage of the present invention. This is especially useful to nurses and doctors in busy hospital settings, as well as for allied healthcare workers who cannot take time to repeatedly wash their hands with soap and water. With the advent of new forms of communicable disease such as SARS, an important consideration regards means to prevent disease spread. In this vein, the present invention provides a dispensing modality for viricidal and antibacterial prophylactic treatments of the hands and other exposed parts of the body.
The present invention discloses a wrist- or forearm-mounted device for dispensing a small amount of alcohol-based disinfectant hand rub, moisturizer, or other hand medicament. Even powder-based hand treatments can be dispensed using the present invention. A wristband or other attachment means affix the device to arm or wrist. Various locations are feasible including the top, side, or underside of the wrist or forearm. One embodiment provides for a finger-mounted geometry. In a preferred embodiment, the device is in the form of a low profile, wrist-mounted dispenser with a nozzle that produces a small amount of dispensed skin treatment when actuated. In an advanced embodiment, the dispenser is of a pressure multiplying design that shoots a single “dose” of liquid under pressure when mildly actuated by the fingers of the hand. Surreptitious actuation and dispensing of hand treatments is made possible with embodiments of the invention that are mounted on the underside of the wrist and can be easily actuated in a causal, not easily detected manner.
Because only a few drops of alcohol-based disinfectant comprise a dose adequate to achieve sanitation of the hands, the device of the present invention can dispense hundreds of doses of disinfectant before requiring refill or disposal. It can be used at any orientation of the arm and will avoid leakage when not actuated. Options exist for the fabrication of the device whether disposable or refillable. For example, hard or soft pliable plastics can be employed and even biodegradable materials can be used for disposable versions. Various embodiments of the invention include different mechanical designs for actuation and nozzles, dispensers detachable from wristbands, cartridge-based dispensers, dispensers with functioning watch faces, hybrid watch-dispensers, and methods of mounting to the top, side, or underside of the wrist or arm.
Several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
a is a pictorial diagram of the basic form of a dispenser mounted on the top side of the wrist.
b is a pictorial diagram of articulation of the hand to receive hand treatment dispensed from the device of
a is a pictorial diagram of a dispenser exhibiting a refill port and actuation area mounted on the under side of the wrist.
b is a pictorial diagram of the dispenser of
a is a pictorial diagram of dispenser detachable from a wristband.
b is an end view of a dispenser of
c is a pictorial view of snaps used to attach a dispenser of
a is a cross-sectional view of a basic squeeze dispenser.
b is a cross-sectional view of a pressure-multiplying squeeze dispenser.
c is a plan view of components of the nozzle assembly of the pressure-multiplying squeeze dispenser.
d is a pictorial view of the hidden components of the nozzle assembly of the pressure-multiplying squeeze dispenser.
a is a cross-sectional view of a pressure-multiplying plunger dispenser.
b is a pictorial view of components of the pressure-multiplying plunger dispenser.
a is a pictorial view of a detachable plunger-based dispenser with the plunger motion collinear with the fluid ejection axis.
b is a perspective view of the dispenser of
c is a pictorial view of the dispenser having a cap.
a is a pictorial view of refillable, second push button-actuated dispenser having a functioning watch face.
b is a cross-sectional view of the dispenser of
The following definitions serve to clarify the disclosed and claimed invention:
Bladder refers to an elastic, resilient container that can be deformed under compression.
Pressure-multiplying refers to those devices relying on the technique of increasing, by mechanical advantage, the compression pressure of a working fluid. This is achieved by use of an ejection fluid-containing tube that penetrates an ejection fluid-containing piston under the influence of the working fluid.
Hand treatment material comprises any of a host of liquid, powder, gel, or aerosol medications, or sanitizing agents that are topically applied to the hands. Examples include alcohol, glycerin, moisturizing lotions, and desiccating powders.
Working fluid refers to the fluid which transfers manual pressure to the material to be dispensed. Such transfer of pressure can occur in one or multiple stages and typical working fluids include air contained in a squeeze bottle as well as liquid versions of the hand treatment material itself.
The present invention is useful for dispensing either hand treatments such as moisturizers or disinfectants; even powders can be dispensed in powder-aerosol form. Typically, the active ingredient in hand antiseptics such as Purel™ is ethyl alcohol. This is fortuitous because it is a relatively non-toxic liquid that exhibits low viscosity over the temperature range of interest for this application. This makes delivery of a directed stream of fluid relatively easy. In contrast to liquid, alcohol gels are useful in that they do not run and although they will require more force to dispense than liquid, such higher viscosity disinfectant or moisturizing formulations can be accommodated in differing embodiments of the present invention. Various means of dispensing the aforementioned hand treatments are feasible and can be tailored to the type of material to be dispensed. The target locations for deposition of the hand treatment include the regions on the top of the hand, and the underside of the hand, either fingers or palm. The preferred embodiment for a means of dispensing hand treatment dosages is a device that attaches to either the top or underside of the wrist. Such a device can be worn unobtrusively underneath a long-sleeved shirt.
Various approaches can be used to create the fluid dispenser. In a simple squeeze compartment design, a bladder reservoir expels fluid upon application of pressure to the bladder. In a plunger-based design, a syringe-type plunger causes the fluid in a reservoir to be expelled upon application of force to the plunger. Spray or squirting mechanisms analogous to squirt guns use a more specialized plunger mechanism and include a nozzle. A drip system would rely on gravity feeding of the liquid through some orifice for delivery to the hand. More elaborate schemes include use of a prime mover such as a miniature electrical actuator or pump.
Following is a taxonomy of dispenser types identified:
Basic Configuration
There are two fundamental approaches to dispensing hand treatment. In one approach, the hand treatment is dispensed to the hand of the arm upon which the dispenser is mounted. Actuation of this dispenser can be by either hand. In the second approach, the hand treatment is dispensed to the hand of the arm or other body part which does not have a dispenser attached. In this case, it is also true that actuation of the dispenser can be by either hand. The various embodiments discussed below will use one of these two approaches. Typically, hand treatment material will be ejected either parallel or perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the forearm. In a preferred embodiment that uses the second aforementioned approach, the hand treatment material is ejected perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the arm upon which the dispenser is mounted.
The simplest reduction to practice would be a low profile bladder, with associated orifice or nozzle for ejection of hand treatment, mounted on the wrist.
The dispenser can be removably attached to the wristband so the user can mount it to the top, side, or bottom of the wrist to suit the user's desire. Various attachment schemes including Velcro, snaps, and other methods, as well as various nozzle configurations that are compatible with these various mounting schemes are discussed in detail below.
A refinement of the device of
a is a cross-sectional view of a simple embodiment comprising a squeeze bottle 37. Internal to the squeeze bottle 37 are shown an air volume 38 and a hand treatment material-filled pliable bladder 39. Upon squeezing bottle 37, the pressure of air volume 38 is conveyed to material-filled bladder 39 so that the material is ejected from check valve-controlled channel 40. The check valve in this channel prevents leakage, but allows ejection of hand treatment material under pressure. Upon release of pressure to bottle 37, air is allowed to enter check valve-controlled channel 41 so as to replace the volume of hand treatment material ejected. The segregation of air and hand treatment material volumes permits the use of the device at any orientation with respect to gravity.
Pressure-Multiplying Squeeze Dispenser
A more sophisticated embodiment of the invention makes use of a pressure-multiplying squeeze dispenser. Such a dispenser provides relatively high pressure ejection of fluid upon application of relatively little manual pressure. This allows good fluid stream formation and control over the stream trajectory to the target hand. For this reason, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,4603,794 and 5,289,948 are hereby incorporated by reference thereto. In the first of these patents, the fundamental concept of a pressure-multiplying piston is disclosed. A pressure amplification is achieved that is equal to the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the pressure-multiplying piston to the cross-sectional area of a tube penetrating the pressure-multiplying piston.
Necessary to the present invention is means to allow the dispenser to operate independent of its orientation with respect to the gravity field and the need to insure leak-proof operation. The pressure multiplying concept is adapted to the present invention to achieve these goals as shall be described with reference to
As cylinder 49 travels upward against the preload provided by spring 57 which is in turn captivated by spring seat 59, the air in volume 43 opens spring-loaded gate valve assembly 73 so as to allow fluid to be ejected from channel 81. Retaining protrusions 55 on the inside wall of cylinder 47 limit the upward travel of fluid-filled cylinder 49 in dispensing of a single dose of hand treatment. After the maximum amount of fluid in volume 53 of cylinder 49 is ejected at the limit of travel for cylinder 49 and upon removal of actuation pressure to bladder 42, cylinder 49 under spring tension travel back downward into bladder 45. Retaining flange 52 limits the downward travel of cylinder 47. As cylinder 49 descends, its interior is under a partial vacuum and upon exposure of port 51 to the fluid in volume 87 by way of port 57 in the wall of cylinder 47, the interior of cylinder 49 is refilled with liquid. At this same time, air intake port 58 in the wall of cylinder 47 is opened to allow air to enter volume 43 by way of volume 89 and channel 61.
c and 6d serve to illustrate the function of gate valve assembly 73. In
Plunger-Type Dispenser
An alternative to squeeze dispensing makes use of a plunger. The way in which a plunger would be exploited in the present invention is shown in
The type of plunger device 101 used on dish soap dispensers is shown in
Pressure-Multiplying Plunger-Type Dispenser
Analogous to the pressure-multiplying squeeze dispenser is a pressure-multiplying version of the plunger device. A cross-sectional view of this device is shown in
Nozzle Configurations
In the simplest embodiment, the nozzle of the present invention is of a fixed geometry. Other embodiments include retractable or extendible versions, as well as nozzles that can be adjusted in direction and those which allow selection of the output flow type from streaming to spraying. Adjustable nozzles can be implemented for pressure-multiplying dispensers with some increase in complexity over counterparts for non pressure-multiplying dispensers.
In various embodiments of the present invention, the nozzle will be oriented to provide unobstructed dispensing of hand treatment to the target hand. For the case in which hand treatment is to be dispensed to the hand of the arm upon which the dispenser is mounted, this can be accomplished even when the user is wearing a long-sleeved shirt or blouse, or a jacket. In situations where a garment might obstruct dispensing, it could be efficacious to have an extendible nozzle. An example of such a nozzle is shown in
As dictated by the preference of the user of the invention, the type of flow of dispensed material can be selected in an embodiment with flow control means. Numerous prior art examples of variable flow nozzles are extant in the patent literature; examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,843,030, 3,967,765, and 4,234,128. These nozzle designs exhibit variable flow geometry. An attending alteration in the flow from a streaming to spraying nature occurs upon rotation of one of the component members of the nozzle relative to the other. In
Cartridge- and Pump-Based Embodiments of the Invention
A dispenser detachable from a wristband is shown in
For children, the dispenser can be in the shape of or be embossed with the logos of sports teams, super heroes, or cartoon icons. Further, dose-delivering dispensers in the shape of cartoon characters or refillable cartridge-based dispensers are feasible. With a cartridge or refillable dispenser other functions can be added to the dispenser such as having LEDs on them that light up with use. High brightness, low current LEDs as used on cell phones are quite striking. Consideration can be given to a time delay for sequential dispensing so that children would be less inclined to waste the hand treatment material. By this, is meant that it would take a minute or two before a second dose could be dispensed. This could be achieved by establishing the time constant for repressurization of the bladder using a suitably small sized air hole.
A number of more refined embodiments of the wrist mounted dispenser of hand treatments are shown in
Preferred Embodiments
a is a pictorial diagram of dispenser similar to that of
It is to be understood that a plethora of cartridge or packet designs and form factors are within the scope of the present invention, including color-coded packets that can distinguish the type or strength of hand treatment contained therein. Also within the scope of this invention are various means to dispense hand treatment material from such packets including the mechanisms for extracting the hand treatment material from said packets. Extraction mechanisms can invoke pressure (internal or external to packet) or suction.
Another category of embodiments of the present invention comprise those dispensers that are either attachable to wristwatches or are part of wristwatches or wristwatch bands.
Pluralities of alternate attachment schemes are possible for dispensers of varying form factor. Examples of other attachment schemes include magnetic means, mechanical clips, loops, slide inserts, etc. Various types of dispensers can be made attachable including disposable, and refillable as in the case of packet dispensers described above.
Dispenser Types Using Other Mechanisms
Among other dispenser types are drip, pressurized, and pump-driven versions. Drip type dispensers are of limited practicality given that they are orientation sensitive. One way in which such a dispenser could be used involves actuating a shutoff valve. Various approaches well known in the prior art can be used to actuate the opening of such a valve by hand pressure. Subsequent to opening the valve, it is required to orient the dispenser to allow hand treatment to drip into the hand.
Borrowing from the technology used in the fabrication of pressurized shaving cream dispensers, there are well known methods of producing gas-pressurized streams of liquids and gels. The dispenser exploiting gas pressurization could be a low profile metal, disposable cartridge that removably attaches to a wristband.
Applicable miniature electromechanical schemes that could be used for ejecting hand treatment material are well known in the prior art. Foremost among electromechanical actuation methods is that of a solenoid. The miniature solenoids used in ink jet printing can be applied to discharging small jets of fluid. Sufficient electrical energy for hundreds of actuations can be contained in small form factor batteries such as those of the disc lithium variety. Alternatively, miniature diaphragm pumps and piezoelectric pumps used for insulin delivery can be used for discharge of small jets of fluid. Finally, in the category of thermoelectric devices, Peltier effect devices can be used with working fluids or phase change materials to effect large pressure changes with modest electrically-induced temperature changes and thereby eject fluids upon initiation of current flow into the Peltier device. In all electrical methods, a consistent fixed dosage of ejected hand treatment material can be established by electronically fixing the duration of the governing voltage or current pulse. Remote control actuation is imminently feasible with commercially-available low power consumption micro-transmitters and receivers. There are numerous ways in which such remote control can be executed, typically using the free hand or other part of the body.
A final concept is that of a dispenser similar to that of Listerine oral patches that dissolve in the mouth. Such a dispenser would dispense a sanitizing compound in the same form as the Listerine thin film, but which would disperse on the hands. Because the dispersal cannot rely on water, a particular formulation containing alcohol, perhaps using long chain hydrocarbons in concert with ethanol, would need to be used. Such an alcohol-based formulation could be a thin film formable solid until liquefied by the friction/pressure (rather than heat) of rubbing hands together.
While there have been shown and described the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that the invention can be embodied otherwise than is herein specifically illustrated and described and that, within such embodiments certain changes in the detail and configuration of this invention, and in the form and arrangements of the components of this invention, can be made without departing from the underlying idea or principles of this invention within the scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/314,825, filed Dec. 9, 2002, now abandoned. The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/515,718, 60/515,775, 60/515,793, and 60/515,794, all filed Oct. 30, 2003 as well as Disclosure Document No. 524,065 filed Jan. 4, 2003, Disclosure Document No. 525,532 filed Feb. 5, 2003, Disclosure Document No. 534,422 filed Jul. 7, 2003, and Disclosure Document No. 536,414 filed Aug. 8, 2003.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4058237 | Luke | Nov 1977 | A |
4087675 | Sansonetti | May 1978 | A |
4603794 | DeFord et al. | Aug 1986 | A |
4689935 | Harding | Sep 1987 | A |
4736876 | Kriss | Apr 1988 | A |
4768688 | Harrigan | Sep 1988 | A |
5088624 | Hackett et al. | Feb 1992 | A |
5148949 | Luca | Sep 1992 | A |
5289948 | Moss et al. | Mar 1994 | A |
RE35187 | Gortz | Mar 1996 | E |
5538164 | Rivas | Jul 1996 | A |
5669529 | Levit | Sep 1997 | A |
5678730 | Fabek et al. | Oct 1997 | A |
5683012 | Villaveces | Nov 1997 | A |
5815467 | Deering | Sep 1998 | A |
5867829 | Hegoas et al. | Feb 1999 | A |
D408988 | Barber et al. | May 1999 | S |
5924601 | Chen | Jul 1999 | A |
5927548 | Villaveces | Jul 1999 | A |
5961003 | Coryell | Oct 1999 | A |
6126041 | DiTomasso | Oct 2000 | A |
6135321 | Hippensteel | Oct 2000 | A |
6251096 | Ostrow | Jun 2001 | B1 |
6283334 | Mahaffey et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6371946 | Ostrow | Apr 2002 | B1 |
6540107 | Admony | Apr 2003 | B1 |
20020170927 | Gerstner | Nov 2002 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20040162534 A1 | Aug 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60515718 | Oct 2003 | US | |
60515775 | Oct 2003 | US | |
60515793 | Oct 2003 | US | |
60515794 | Oct 2003 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 10314825 | Dec 2002 | US |
Child | 10729757 | US |