Patent Application
20200360171
The present invention relates generally to medical devices, and more particularly, to methods to apply a cast or bandage to an injured limb or extremity.
Hot and cold packs are used to relieve pain and encourage healing. Conventional packs may slip off of a targeted area of a patient, or may interfere with compression therapy.
According to a particular embodiment, an apparatus includes an elastic cover configured to be positioned around a body part. The apparatus further includes a pump positioned within the cover and configured to evacuate or introduce air into the cover.
An embodiment of a system may include a cover that accommodates dozens of conventional sizes for various sized users. The universal cover may solve the problem of manufacturing, supply chain and retailers having to deal with dozens of items to manage. The system may also make the purchasing process easier for end-users only having to select one size versus having to measure and choose from many sizes.
The sizes of embodiments of the cover may be determined based on empirical data regarding cast, bandage, and limb sizes. This data may be used to determine a universal arm size and a universal leg size using a computing algorithm. The universal arm opening part of an embodiment of the cover may range from 6 to 8.5 inches for the arm size with a total length of 24 inches. The universal leg opening part of the cover may range from 9.25 to 11 inches for the leg size with a total length of 28 inches. In order to fit the variety range of people, the cover may be made of a thinner (e.g., ranging 0.2 mm to 0.55 mm in thickness) and more elastic material to enable a stretch up to 300%.
The cover system may include a pump and valve welded into a cover as one unit. The pump of an embodiment may be a cigar shaped and attached to the inside of the cover. This configuration contrasts with an embodiment where the pump is only temporarily attached, and may avoid occurrences where the pump could fall off and be lost. The leg cover system may have a special additional layer of ground up rubber-like material attached on the bottom to provide a rugged surface to prevent slipping and puncturing while in use.
Now turning to the Drawings,
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
In the preceding, reference is made to embodiments presented in this disclosure. However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to specific described embodiments. Instead, any combination of the features and elements, whether related to different embodiments or not, is contemplated to implement and practice contemplated embodiments. Furthermore, although embodiments disclosed herein may achieve advantages over other possible solutions or over the prior art, whether or not a particular advantage is achieved by a given embodiment is not limiting of the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the aspects, features, embodiments and advantages described above are merely illustrative and are not considered elements or limitations of the appended claims except where explicitly recited in a claim(s). Likewise, reference to “the invention” shall not be construed as a generalization of any inventive subject matter disclosed herein and shall not be considered to be an element or limitation of the appended claims except where explicitly recited in a claim(s).
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
