AU2008101111A4

AU2008101111A4 - A syringe cover

Info

Publication number: AU2008101111A4
Application number: AU2008101111A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Desmond John Harp
Original assignee: COOK Y; Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Y-Cook! Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-11-14
Filing date: 2008-11-14
Publication date: 2008-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 2016-11-14

Description

P/00/012 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: "A SYRINGE COVER" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 00 TITLE

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A Syringe Cover O FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a syringe cover. In particular the invention relates to a syringe cover used when administering medication to, but not limited to, children.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0 Any parent will tell you that administering medication to children Sis extremely challenging. A recent survey in the USA found that more than percent of parents have experienced difficulty getting their children to take medication, and 62 percent of parents noted that the child's reluctance is in part due to the unpleasant taste of medicines. Improvements in the taste of medicines have helped but not all medication is or can be flavoured.

Some parents and medical practitioners have found that children are more likely to take medicine if the medicine is chilled. However some medicines cannot be chilled. It has also been found that children are more likely to take medicine when it is mixed with food. The disadvantage of this method being that the child may receive a reduced dose if not properly mixed.

Another "trick" used is to directly squirt the medicine onto the inside of a child's cheek, where there are no taste buds, using a syringe. However children often get stressed at the sight of a syringe, associating the syringe with something unpleasant.

For a lot of children the most effective method is to provide a distraction. Often a toy to play with will provide enough of a distraction to calm the child and administer the medicine. Some parents give rewards such 00 as stickers. However this may lead the child to expect something in return for Sdoing anything.

o OBJECT OF THE INVENTION z It is an object of the invention to overcome or alleviate one or more of the above disadvantages and/or to provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0 In one form although not necessarily the only or broadest form, Cthe invention relates to a cover including: a body, the body including a first channel; and a pair of legs extending from the body each pair of legs defining a second channel; wherein the first channel is adapted to releasably attach the body to a first syringe having a first barrel diameter and the second channel is adapted to releasably attach the body to a second syringe having a second barrel diameter.

Preferably, the first channel and the second channel are configured to allow a scale on the syringe to be examined.

Preferably, the body is in the form of a novelty shape.

In another form although not necessarily the only or broadest form, the invention relates to an assembly including: a syringe; and a cover, the cover including: a body, the body including a first channel; and 00 at least one pair of legs extending from the body, each pair of c legs defining a second channel; O wherein the first channel or the second channel is adapted to z releasably attach the body to a barrel of the syringe.

In yet another form although not necessarily the only or broadest form, the invention relates to a method of attaching a cover to a syringe including the step of releasably attaching the cover to the syringe.

00 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS c An embodiment, by way of example only, will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG 1 shows a perspective view of a cover for a syringe; FIG 2 shows a front view of the cover in FIG 1; FIG 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the cover of FIG 1; FIG 4 is a perspective view of the cover of FIG 1 attached to a 5ml syringe; and FIG 5 is a perspective view of the cover of FIG 1 attached to a 1Oml syringe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG 1 shows a perspective view of a cover 10 for a syringe. The cover 10 includes a body 20, a first channel 30 and a second channel 40. The first channel 30 allows the cover 10 to attach to a first syringe having a first barrel diameter. The second channel 40 allows the cover 10 to attach to a second syringe having a second barrel diameter.

The cover 10 may be made from plastic such as ABS, polyamide and polythene by injection moulding. However it should be appreciated o however that the cover 10 may be made from any suitable material such as

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Smetal or wood and bent or carved into shape.

O In one embodiment, a body 20 of the cover 10 is moulded to form the shape of an aeroplane. It should be appreciated that the body may form a car, a doll or any other applicable shape that children may enjoy.

FIG 2 shows a front view of the cover 10 in FIG 1. Referring to FIGS 1 and 2, the first channel 30 is formed in the body 20 and allows a 0 syringe having a first barrel diameter to releasably attach to the cover 10. The Sfirst channel 30 has a substantially circular cross section with a slot 31. The diameter of the first channel 30 is slightly smaller than the diameter of a barrel of the syringe so that the first channel 30 resiliently engages the syringe. The syringe is snapped into position through the slot 31. The slot allows a scale on the syringe to be read when in use. Although the first channel 30 may be designed to accept a 5ml syringe it should be appreciated that the first channel 30 may be designed to accept a syringe of any suitable size.

The second channel 40 is defined by legs 41. The legs 41 are integrally moulded to an underside 32 of the body 20 that extends along the body 20. Each leg 41 forms an arc. The distance between opposite inside edges of each leg 41 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel of a syringe so that the legs 41 resiliently engage the syringe. The second channel is adapted to accept a 10ml syringe having a second barrel diameter however the second channel 40 may be designed to accept any suitably sized syringe. It should be noted that second channel 40 accepts a syringe of a larger diameter than the first channel 30. An alternative arrangement of the second channel 40 is to extend the legs 41 along the length of the body 00 forming a continuous second channel 40. Although two pairs of legs 41 are c shown in the figures it should be appreciated that the second channel 40 may O include more than two pairs of legs 41. Furthermore the second channel may be a single pair of legs 41.

FIG 3 is a zoomed in perspective view of the leg 41 and the first channel 30. A tab 42 is integrally moulded and provides further pressure on 0the barrel of the syringe to further prevent the syringe from sliding along the 0 barrel of the syringe when the syringe in engages in the first channel 30 or the C second channel Although two channels are shown it should be appreciated that more channels may be added. Furthermore, the cover 10 may include a single channel.

FIGS 4 and 5 show a cover 10 of the present invention mounted upon a syringe 50. FIG 4 shows a smaller diameter syringe 50 resiliently engaged in the first channel 30. FIG 5 shows a larger diameter syringe resiliently engaged in the second channel 40. In each case the scale 51 may be examined from a bottom of the cover In use the cover 10 of the present invention is clipped to a barrel of a syringe 50. Either a 10ml syringe 50 is snapped into the second channel 40 or a 5ml syringe 50 into the first channel 30. The barrel of the syringe can then be oriented so that the scale 51 may be viewed from the bottom of the cover 10. The syringe 50 is then loaded with the appropriate dose of medicine and administered to a patient.

The advantages of the present invention are that a child is more likely to take medicine if it is dispensed in something that looks like a toy.

6 00 Furthermore, the cover 10 can be easily removed for cleaning and then reused. Additionally, the cover of the present invention does not obscure a scale o on the side of the syringe.

z It will also be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

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Claims

1. A cover including: o a body, the body including a first channel; and at least one pair of legs extending from the body each pair of legs defining a second channel; wherein the first channel is adapted to releasably attach the body to a first syringe having a first barrel diameter and the second channel is 0 adapted to releasably attach the body to a second syringe having a second C barrel diameter.

2. A method of attaching a cover to a syringe including the step of releasably attaching the cover to the syringe.

3. An assembly including: a syringe; and a cover, the cover including: a body, the body including a first channel; and at least one pair of legs extending from the body, each pair of legs defining a second channel; wherein the first channel or the second channel is adapted to releasably attach the body to a barrel of the syringe.

4. The cover of claims 1 or claim 3 wherein the first channel and the second channel are configured to allow a scale on the syringe to be examined. 8 oo

5. The cover of claims 1 or claim 3 wherein the body is in the form of a novelty 0 c shape. 0 O-O