The present invention relates to a limb protecting pad, and more particularly to a vacuum-molded and reusable limb protecting pad, which can stably wrap around and abut against the surface of the limb (such as the head, the fractured part of the hand or foot, or the sprained neck or waist), by drawing air out of the limb protecting pad, the limb protecting pad will exert pressure to the granules filled therein, so that the granules are pressed against each other, and the limb protecting pad will be shaped into a pseudo solid state (its hardness or elasticity is determined by the amount of air drawn out) according to the contours of the limb, so as to protect the limb (such as absorption and mitigation of the impact of external force on the head, allowing the fractured hand or foot to be regenerated while being firmly positioned, or allowing the sprained neck and waist to get sufficient support).
According to the World Health and Medical Organization (WHO), at least 10% of the world's population gets plastered every year because of broken limbs or surgery. Although “getting plastered” is a common but not particularly surprising thing, patients must still be psychologically prepared and willing to take the time to adapt and understand it so that they can get through the days of cast (plaster) treatment.
Generally speaking, doctors will choose the most suitable material according to the actual condition of the patient, it can be plaster cast made of gypsum powder or synthetic or resin cast. The plaster cast is made of gypsum powder and gauze, and the synthetic or resin cast is made of glass fiber and PU resin. However, no matter what kind of material is used, the wounded limbs usually continue to swelling during the first week of cast treatment to cause tightening of the cast, leading to poor blood circulation and pain. In the second week, when the swelling begins to recede, the patient will feel that the cast is too loose to hold the bone. So, at the very start, it takes a few days for the patient to get used to the cast, and the patient will always feel it a few days after putting on the cast. Besides, since the patient may or will never be able to do what they can do before the injury, he/she must slow down the life pace so as to slowly adjust and adapt to his/her own physical limitations, so that no negative effects on the recovery of affected parts will be caused during activity.
In addition, the first visit back is required within two weeks. However, if the patient is in the following conditions, he or she should visit back immediately so that the doctor can handle it properly after diagnosis:
(1) when the affected limb is in constant pain;
(2) when the patient feels that the cast is too tight and feel uncomfortable;
(3) when the cast gets loose gradually, or has cracks or rupture;
(4) when the pain of compression or friction is felt inside the cast;
(5) when the skin adjacent to the cast feels constant cold or turns pale; or
(6) when the finger or toe with cast feels pain, numbness, or persistent tingling.
Some time later, when the doctor diagnoses that the callus at the fracture site had been mature and completely recovered, a specially designed saw will be used to remove the cast from the affected limb. This saw is specially designed to cut the cast without hurting the soft skin, the process of cutting the cast is rapid and the patient feels no pain, however, the potential danger still exists, so that the patient must be able to fully cooperate with the doctor to minimize the risk.
According to the above, in the days of cast treatment, in addition to the aforementioned problems and many discomforts caused by cast to the affected limbs, after the completion of treatment, a large number of discarded casts after treatment also become a major burden on medical waste and causes a great waste of resources.
Therefore, the important problem to be solved by the invention is to design a limb protecting pad that can steadily surround and attach to the surface of the affected limb (e.g., the surface of a fractured hand or foot), and simply drawing the air out from the limb protecting pad can make the limb protecting pad exert pressure on a plurality of granules filled therein, so that the granules are pressed against each other, and the limb protecting pad will be shaped into a pseudo solid state (its hardness or elasticity is determined by the amount of air drawn out) according to the contours of the affected limb, thus allowing the fractured hand or foot to be regenerated while being firmly positioned. After the cast treatment is finished, air can be introduced into the limb protecting pad, that is, the granules filled in the limb protecting pad can be loosened and restored to a soft state, thereby enabling the patient to remove the limb protecting pad and to check, clean, apply medicine to the affected limb. Besides, the patient can readjust the shape of the limb protecting pad according to the contours of the newly recovered limb, so that the affected limb can continue to receive comfort, good and adequate support during rehabilitation until it is fully recovered.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.
In view of the fact that the known plaster cannot be readjusted on the affected limb and cannot be reused, the inventor has, after many years of practical experience and many experiments and studies, has finally invented a vacuum-molded and reusable limb protecting pad, which can effectively solve many problems of the known plaster. It enables the user to reuse the limb protection pad during the treatment, the rehabilitation, or the protection of the affected limb. By adjusting the shape of the limb protecting pad, the limb can get the best treatment, rehabilitation and protection.
One objective of the present invention is to provide a vacuum-molded and reusable limb protecting pad comprising an airtight bag body, a nozzle, a plurality of granules, a filter screen and at least one tightening component. The airtight bag body is made of plasticized air impermeable material, a peripheral edge of the airtight bag body is sealed in an airtight manner to form a first containing space, an outer surface of the airtight bag body is provided with an opening at a position corresponding to the first containing space, the opening is in communication with the first containing space, a plurality of locating components are provided on two separated inner surfaces of the airtight bag body in a spaced manner to divide the first containing space into a plurality of locating spaces which are spaced from but in communication with one another, so that a cross section of the first containing space is always maintained in a predetermined flat narrow shape; the nozzle is airtight sealed to the airtight bag body in a position corresponding to the opening and provided with an air channel through which an air extractor is able to pump air out of the first containing space, so as to switch the air channel between an open state and a closed state. The plurality of granules is filled into and is movable between the plurality of locating spaces. The filter screen is arranged at a position corresponding to the air channel, wherein the sieve size of the filter screen is less than particle size of the granules. The at least one tightening component (such as a strapping band or a Velcro strap) is capable of enabling the limb protecting pad to be wrapped around and abutted against a surface of a limb (such as the head, fractured hand or foot, or the sprained neck or waist), so as to adjust tightness of the limb protecting pad around the limb.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a vacuum-molded and reusable limb protecting pad comprising: an inner bag, a plurality of granules, an outer bag, an air nozzle and at least one tightening component. The inner bag is made of breathable material, a peripheral edge of the inner bag is sealed to form a first containing space; a plurality of locating components are provided on two separated inner surfaces of the inner bag in a spaced manner to divide the first containing space into a plurality of locating spaces which are spaced from but in communication with one another, so that a cross section of the first containing space is always maintained in a predetermined flat narrow shape; the plurality of granules is filled into and is movable between the locating spaces of the inner bag and each have a diameter larger than a diameter of vent apertures of the inner bag; the outer bag is made of air impermeable material, wherein a peripheral edge of the outer bag is airtight sealed to form a second containing space to accommodate the inner bag, an outer surface of the outer bag is provided with an opening aligned and in communication with the second containing space; the nozzle is airtight sealed to the outer bag in a position corresponding to the opening and provided with an air channel through which an air extractor (such as a vacuum cleaner) is able to pump air out of the first and second containing spaces; and the at least one tightening component (such as a strapping band or a Velcro strap) is capable of enabling the limb protecting pad to be wrapped around and abutted against a surface of a limb (such as the user's head, fractured hand or foot, or sprained neck or waist), so as to adjust tightness of the limb protecting pad around the limb.
By such arrangements, when the limb protecting pad is stably wrapped around and abutted against the limb, the user can evacuate the outer bag (or the airtight bag body) through the air channel by using an air extractor. At this moment, the inner bag (or the filter screen) can completely prevent the granules from being sucked out, only the air in the limb protecting pad will be drawn out by the air extractor, causing the outer bag (or the airtight bag body) to deform inward to consequently squeeze the granules filled therein, as a result, the granules are pressed against each other, and the limb protecting pad will be shaped into a pseudo solid state (its elasticity or hardness depends on the degree of vacuum) according to the contours of the limb to be protected, such as: absorption and mitigation of the impact of external force on the head, allowing the fractured hand or foot to be regenerated while being firmly positioned, or the sprained neck and waist can get sufficient support. When the user does not need to use the limb protecting pad, he/she just needs to introduce air into the outer bag (or the airtight bag body) to loosen the granules, so that the limb protecting pad can be restored to a soft state to facilitate storage and get ready for reuse for the next time.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its technical features, operating advantages and the specific objects, should refer to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred specific embodiments of the invention.
The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
The invention relates to a vacuum-molded and reusable limb protecting pad A, as shown in
Referring to
In addition, in a second embodiment of the invention, the single bag body is designed to include an outer bag and an inner bag to improve the convenience of assembly. As shown in
Accordingly, if a skilled person in the art, after referring to the technical content of the present invention, replaces the locating components 35 with wires, belts, tubular members, other soft and hard connecting members, or positioning points (two inner surfaces of the inner bag are connected directly) with zero length, in order to make the locating spaces 331 spaced from but in communication with one another, and maintain the cross section of the first containing space 33 in a predetermined flat narrow shape; all these variations should not depart from the scope of the locating components 35 of the invention.
Referring to
As shown in
In another embodiment of the invention, as shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
It is also worth mentioning that, as shown in
What needs to be specially stated here is, as shown in
Please refer to
As shown in the following table, which is a comparison table of the inner bag 30 produced by “no locating component”, “positioning point” and “positioning line”, and the positioning interval is 10*10 mm, wherein the symbol “X” represents the result “Poor”, “Δ” represents the result “ordinary”, and “⊚” represents the result “excellent”:
Therefore, the inventor actively studied, made use of the special loom, modified it and greatly changed the workmanship and the way that the upper layer cloth, the lower layer cloth and the positioning line were woven simultaneously, and finally successfully made the inner bag 30 with the positioning line.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made, all should not depart from the protecting scope of the claims of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201510901014.5 | Dec 2015 | CN | national |
201510903059.6 | Dec 2015 | CN | national |
This is a divisional application of and claims priority to the U.S. application Ser. No 15/779,790, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15779790 | May 2018 | US |
Child | 16948447 | US |