EP0178086B1

EP0178086B1 - Female urine bottle

Info

Publication number: EP0178086B1
Application number: EP85306627A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Martin Waller; Geoffrey Farrell
Original assignee: Vernon and Co Pulp Products Ltd
Current assignee: Vernacare Ltd
Priority date: 1984-09-19
Filing date: 1985-09-18
Publication date: 1988-07-27
Also published as: GB8423639D0; EP0178086A1; GB8523012D0; ATE35902T1; GB2164553B; DE3563905D1; GB2164553A

Abstract

A urine bottle for females has a base (16), a pair of vertically-converging side walls (12, 14) and a front opening (20) which communicates directly with the interior of the bottle. The lower edge of the opening (20) is spaced above the level of the base (16), which allows a relatively large amount of urine to be collected in the bottle without the likelihood of spillage from the opening.

Description

The present invention relates to a female urine bottle.
Women who are confined to bed, for example, female orthopaedic patients or women suffering from road accident injuries, hip injuries or multiple sclerosis, may, in some circumstances, find it difficult or impossible to sit up in bed, or it may prove dangerous to their health to sit up in bed. Such patients will be unable to use a normal bedpan and must utilise either a urine bottle or a slipper bedpan, both of which can be used whilst the patients are in a lying or semi-recumbant position. The use of the female urine bottle is preferred to that of a slipper bedpan when only urine is required to be passed by the patient. It is more comfortable both physically and psychologically for the patient.
Although ceramic and plastic urine bottles for females are in existence for use in such circumstances, they suffer from two main t disadvantages. Firstly, as they are meant to be reused, it is necessary to thoroughly disinfect them after each use. If such disinfection is not complete, there is a danger of cross-infection and this danger must, if at all possible, be eliminated. Secondly, the known urine bottles for females have an "effective volume" (as hereinafter defined) which is somewhat limited and may often be too small to prevent spillages when using and/or removing the bottle from the patient. The spillage problem often associated with the known urine bottles for females is a serious disadvantage of such bottles.
As used herein, the term "effective volume" is intended to refer to the volume of urine that can be retained in the urine bottle, when in use and during removal from the person who used it, without resulting in spillage of the urine.
A female urine bottle is described in DE-U-8 229 743, and comprises a flat base wall, two vertically converging side walls and a front opening which opens directly into the internal space defined by the base and side walls, the lower edge of the opening being spaced above the level of the base.
By practice of the present invention there may be provided a urine bottle for females which has an effective volume such that the spillage problem associated with the known female urine bottles is minimised or avoided.
By practice of the present invention, there may also be provided a urine bottle for females which sits comfortably when in position, and which may be positioned and removed easily and without catching on sheets on the bed when the bottle is being positioned. These features are important for patients and for those whose task it is to look after them.
By practice of the present invention there may further be provided a urine bottle for females which is disposable and hence, eliminates the possiblity of cross-infection.
According to the present invention there is provided a urine bottle for females, comprising a flat or substantially flat base wall, a pair of vertically converging side walls, and a front opening which communicates directly with the internal space defined by said base and side walls, and whose lower edge is spaced above the level of the base characterised in that the height of the side walls is less than the length of the bottle, thereby forming an elongate bottle, the front opening is positioned, at least partly, directly above the base, and the perimeter of the opening is upwardly concave.
Preferably, the vertically converging side walls also converge laterally for at least part of their length.
Preferably, the side walls are themselves also of convex configuration, at least in the region of the side walls adjacent the opening; in the region of the end wall, the side walls can be convex or can be flat.
The side walls adjoining the front portion of the bottle may be convex, preferably rounded, when viewed in plan. The portion of the base wall adjoining the front portion of the bottle may also be convex, preferably rounded.
Advantageously, the opening has an inwardly directed lip, at least in the region of its lower edge, but preferably around its whole periphery.
The end wall may also be of triangular configuration with its three sides connected to the base and the two side walls, respectively.
Preferably, the end wall is flat or of concave configuration.
Preferably, the bottle is made of moulded paper pulp so as to be readily disposable.
The present invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partially broken away, perspective view from above of one embodiment of a urine bottle according to the present invention for use by females;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the bottle from below.
Fig. 3 is a sectional end view on the line A-A of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a plan view of the front portion of the bottle; and
Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the front portion of the bottle.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a female urine bottle 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, the bottle 10 comprising two vertically converging side walls 12 and 14, a base 16, a rear wall 18, a front wall 19 and opening 20.
Each of the side walls 12, 14 has an elongate, generally longitudinally extending, recess 22, the two recesses 22 co-operating together to provide a hand grip facilitating manual handling of the bottle.
As best seen in Fig. 2, the base 16 of the bottle is generally flat or of slightly concave configuration to adhere stability, its lateral edges 24, 26 being slightly convex when viewed in plan. The shape of the base is generally triangular or trapezoidal so that the bottle is much wider at its rear end than at its front end containing the opening 20. This configuration enables the "effective volume" of the bottle to be increased considerably compared with a conventional urine bottle which is not only rounded at its rear end remote from the opening but whose side and end walls converge together towards the base to further reduce the internal volume. As best seen in Fig. 4, the portions of the side walls, where they merge into the front wall 19 of the bottle, are rounded. This feature allows the bottles to sit comfortably when in position, and allows the bottle to be positioned and removed more easily. It will also be seen from Fig. 5 that the portion of the bottle where the base 16 merges into the front wall 19 is also rounded. This, too, allows the bottle to sit comfortably when in position, and also aids positioning of the bottle, since the rounded front portion will tend not to catch on sheets in place on the bed when the bottle is being positioned.
The rear wall 18 is of flat, generally triangular configuration and extends upwardly at right angles to the base 16.
The regions of the side walls 12,14 adjacent the rear wall 18 are substantially planar but become progressively more convex in a direction towards the front end of the bottle. This is illustrated by the sectional view of Fig. 3 taken at point A in Fig. 1 which shows the distinctly convex form of the side walls at this region. The reason for making the side walls convex at this region is firstly, to resist inward collapse of the side walls as a result of the squeezing action of the user's legs which is usually found to occur in practical use of urine bottles, secondly to increase the volume of the bottle, and thirdly for the comfort of the patient in that the bottle can be securely gripped along its sides by the patient's legs.
The opening 20 communicates directly with the interior of the bottle unlike a conventional urine bottle which usually has an elongate neck portion extending forwardly of the main container portion of the bottle and serving as a funnel leading to the latter portion. As best seen in Fig. 1, at least the lowermost edge of the opening 20 has an inwardly curved lip 20a to assist in resisting spillage from the bottle interior and for the comfort of the user. It will also be noted that the lip 20a is spaced above the base 16 by a relatively large distance. Coupled with the large "effective volume" of the bottle resulting from the shape of the base, side and end walls described above, this feature enables the bottle to hold considerably more liquid than a conventional urine bottle, particularly when the bottle is tipped up somewhat about its front end (typically of the order of 15° - 20°) during use and removal from the user.
Preferably, the bottle is constructed from moulded paper pulp. However, it could in other embodiments be made from any other suitable materials, such as plastics.

Claims

1. A urine bottle for females, comprising a flat or substantially flat base wall (16), a pair of vertically converging side walls (12, 14), a front opening (20) which communicates directly with the internal space defined by said base and side walls, and whose lower edge is spaced above the level of the base, characterised in that the height of the side walls (12, 14) is less than the length of the bottle, thereby forming an elongate bottle, the front opening (20) is positioned, at least partly, directly above the base (16), and the perimeter of the opening (20) is upwardly concave.

2. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vertically converging side walls (12, 14) also converge laterally for at least part of their length.

3. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the lower edges (24, 26) of the side walls adjoining the base wall are of convex configuration when viewed in plan.

4. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the side walls (12, 14) are at least partially of convex configuration.

5. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the side walls (12, 14) are of convex configuration in the region of the side watts adjacent the opening (20).

6. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the side walls (12, 14) adjoining the front portion of the bottle are of convex configuration when viewed in plan.

7. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the side walls (12, 14) adjoining the front portion of the bottle are rounded.

8. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the portion of the base wall (16) adjoining the front portion of the bottle is of convex configuration.

9. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 8, wherein the portion of the base wall (16) adjoining the front portion of the bottle is rounded.

10. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the opening has an inwardly directed lip (20a) around at least part of its periphery.

11. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the lip (20a) extends around the whole of the periphery of the opening.

12. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the flat base wall (16) is of generally triangular configuration.

13. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising a rear wall (18) of generally triangular configuration with its three sides connected to the base and the side walls respectively.

14. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 13, wherein the rear end wall (18) is flat or of concave configuration.

15. A urine bottle as claimed in claim 13 or claim 14, wherein in the region of the end wall, the side walls (12, 14) are convex or flat.

16. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising a recess (22) in each of the two side walls to afford a grip on the bottle.

17. A urine bottle as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the bottle is made of moulded paper pulp.