GB2126485A

GB2126485A - Stabilizer for cervical collar

Info

Publication number: GB2126485A
Application number: GB08324171A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Troy R Owens; Anthony Calabrese
Original assignee: Greiner Charles & Co; Charles Greiner and Co Inc
Current assignee: Greiner Charles & Co; Charles Greiner and Co Inc
Priority date: 1982-09-15
Filing date: 1983-09-09
Publication date: 1984-03-28
Also published as: GB2126485B; GB8324171D0; CA1204034A

Abstract

A front piece (86) adapted to overlie part of a person's chest is rigidly and removably connected to a front half (78) of a cervical collar (70). A rear piece (88) adapted to overlie part of a person's back is rigidly and removably connected to a rear half (80) of the cervical collar. The front and rear pieces (86, 88) are connected to their halves of the cervical collar by a plastics rivet (102) or equivalent fastening. Adjustable straps (108, 116) interconnect the front and rear pieces (86, 88). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Stabilizer for cervical collar Background of the invention Cervical collars are well-known, as for example in U.S. Patent No. 3,756,226 issued on September 4, 1 973 and entitled "Cervical Collar". The collar disclosed in said patent comprises body halves coupled together.

Some injuries require more collar stability than others. Those injuries which require greater collar stability frequently alleviate over a short period of time. The amount of stability provided by the collar described in said patent is insufficient for severe injuries.

The present invention is directed to a solution of the problem of how to provide temporary stabilization for a cervical collar with a structural interrelationship which minimizes access by the patient for separating the components.

Summary of the invention In accordance with the present invention there is provided a stabilizer for a cervical collar comprising a front piece adapted to overlie part of a person's chest, a rear piece adapted to overlie part of a person's back, adjustable strap means for encircling a portion of a person's body and for removably interconnecting said front piece and said rear piece, means on the upper end of said front piece for rigidly and removably connecting said front piece to the front half of a cervical collar, and means on the upper end of said rear piece for rigidly and removably connecting said rear piece to the rear half of a cervical collar.

The stabilizer is adapted to be interrelated with the collar for that period of time when greater stability is needed. Thereafter, the stability may be removed from the collar so that the collar may be worn in a normal manner. The pieces and the collar halves are removably interconnected in a manner which precludes or minimizes separation by the patient.

Also in accordance with the invention there is provided a cervical collar comprising discrete front and back halves adapted partially to overlap one another, said halves being made from a soft, flexible polymeric plastics material, strap means for securing the halves in overlapping relation, a stabilizer for said collar including a front piece adapted to overlie part of a person's chest and a rear piece adapted to overlie part of a person's back, adjustable strap means for encircling a portion of a person's body and removably interconnecting said front piece and said rear piece, and means on the upper end of said front and rear pieces for removably connecting the front and rear pieces to their associated collar half, said last-mentioned means including at least one plastics rivet having a non-circular head and being removable by a hand tool.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred; it should be understood however that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation view of a person wearing a cervical collar with a first embodiment of stabilizer in accordance with the present invention attached thereto.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a cervical collar with a stabilizer in accordance with the present invention attached thereto.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is an exploded view showing the connection between the cervical collar and the front piece of the stabilizer.

Figure 7 is an exploded view of the front piece of a stabilizer and a portion of the collar in accordance with a modified form of the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of cervical collar with a stabilizer in accordance with the present invention attached thereto.

Figure 9 is an exploded view of the extension and the front collar half of the embodiment shown in Fig. 8.

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken along the line 10-10 in Fig. 8.

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the split rivet of the embodiment shown in Figs. 8 to 10.

Figure 12 is a sectional view taken along the line 12-12 in Fig. 10.

Figure 13 is a sectional view taken along the line 13-13 in Fig. 10.

Figure 14 is a sectional view taken along the line 14-14 in Fig. 10.

Detailed description Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown in Figs. 1 to 7 a cervical collar designated generally at 10 and provided with a stabilizer designated generally at 12. The stabilizer 12 may be utilized with a wide variety of collars. For purposes of illustration, the collar 10 is of the type described in U.S.

Patent No. 3,756,226. Thus, the collar 10 includes a rigid reinforcing member 14 on a front half 18 and a rigid reinforcing member 16 on the rear half 20. The body halves 18 and 20 are coupled together by a strap means 22.

The stabilizer 12 includes a front piece 26 adapted to overlie part of a person's chest and a rear piece 28 adapted to overlie part of a person's back. The front piece 26 and the rear piece 28 are identical except as will be made clear hereinafter. Hence, only the front piece 26 will be described in detail.

The front piece 26 includes a substrate 30 of rigid material which is generally T-shaped.

The substrate 30 is preferably made from a polymer plastics material such as ABS. A liner 32 is adhesively or otherwise secured to the curved inner surface of substrate 30. The liner 32 is preferably made from closed-cell foam polyethylene so as to have the following attributes: uniform thickness, non-toxic, low specific gravity of about 0.04, non-corrosive, and will not burn but will melt. The shape of liner 32 corresponds to the shape of substrate 30.

A connecting member 34 is fixedly connected to the centre leg of substrate 30 in any convenient manner, such as by rivets 36. The connecting member 34 is preferably made from a softer or more flexible plastics material than the substrate 30. Member 34 may be made from polyethylene.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 5 and 6, member 34 is channel-shaped at its upper end and has a pair of oppositely disposed projections 38 which extend towards one another. Each projection 38 is adapted to be received within a notch 40 on the reinforcing member 14. Member 34 is telescoped over member 14 until the projections 38 extend into the notches 40. Member 34 has a slot 42 to facilitate separation of members 14 and 34.

The stabilizer 12 is rigidly and removably attached to the collar 10 without the use of fasteners such as screws, rivets, snaps, etc.

and at the same time facilitates separation in a manner which does not require any special tools. Thus, in order to separate member 34 from member 14, a screwdriver, a key or the like is inerted into the slot 42 and twisted so as to move the projections 38 away from one another to the phantom position shown in Fig.

5. Thereafter, force is applied in a downward direction to slide the member 34 off the end of member 14.

A strap 44 has one end fixedly secured to the substrate 30' on the rear piece 28. The strap 44 extends through a loop 46 on the front piece 26 and then overlies itself. Juxtaposed surfaces of the strap 44 are provided with adjustable fasteners which are preferably of the "Velcro" (R.T.M.) type. The loop 46 is preferably supported by a bracket 48 which in turn is secured to the substrate 30 in any convenient manner such as by a rivet 50.

A strap 52 is similarly provided to interconnect the front and rear pieces 26, 28 respectively on the opposite side from the strap 44.

One end of strap 52 is fixedly secured to the substrate 30'. An intermediate portion of strap 52 extends through a loop 54 and then overlies itself with adjustable fasteners as described above. Loop 54 is supported by a bracket 56 which in turn is secured to the substrate 30 by a rivet 58.

In Fig. 7 there is illustrated another embodiment of the present invention wherein front piece 60 is removably and rigidly connected to member 14. Front piece 60 differs from front piece 26 in the following manner. The substrate 62 is integral in one piece with the connecting member 64. A foam liner 66, like liner 32, is applied to the inner surface of substrate 62. The front piece 60 is otherwise identical with front piece 26. A rear piece (not shown) and adapted to be used with front piece 60 is likewise provided with a connecting member integral in one piece with the substrate.

The collar 10 may be worn in a conventional manner. In connection with a particular injury, the collar 10 may need added stabilization. The front and rear pieces are attached to the collar 10 as described above. Thereafter, the front and rear pieces are coupled together by the straps 44, 52. If desired, one single strap may be utilized by interconnecting the ends of the straps attached to the substrate 30'. When no longer needed, the front and rear pieces are disconnected while the collar 10 remains on the person for so long as required in accordance with medical advice.

Referring now to Figs. 8 to 14, there is shown a cervical collar designated generally at 70 and provided with a stabilizer designated generally at 72. The stabilizer 72 is particu larly designed for use with a cervical collar as described in U.S. Patent No. 3,756,226 and may be of different sizes such as small, medium and large. The collar 70 includes a rigid reinforcing member 74 on a front half 78 and a rigid reinforcing member 76 on a rear half 80. The body halves 78 and 80 of the cervical collar are coupled together by a strap means 82 when in use. As described in said patent, each body half 78, 80 is preformed from a soft, flexible closed cell polymeric material. The body halves 78, 80 are preferably provided with air holes 79.

The stabilizer 72 includes a front piece 86 adapted to overlie part of a person's chest and a rear piece 88 adapted to overlie a person's back. The front piece and rear piece are identical except as will be made clear hereinafter. Hence, only the front piece 86 will be described in detail. Corresponding primed numerals are provided on the rear piece.

The front piece 86 includes a substrate 90 of rigid material which is generally T-shaped.

The substrate 90 is preferably made from a polymeric material such as ABS. A liner is adhesively or otherwise secured to the curved inner surface of substrate 90. The liner 92 is preferably made from a closedcell foam polyethylene so as to have the following attributes: uniform thickness, non-toxic, low specific gravity of about 0.04, noncorrosive, and will not burn but will melt. The shape of liner 92 corresponds to the shape of substrate 90.

A connecting member 94 is fixedly connected to the centre leg of substrate 90 in any convenient manner such as by plastics rivets 96. The connecting member 94 is preferably made from a softer or more flexible plastics material than the substrate 90 and may be made from material such as polyethylene.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 13 and 14, member 94 is arcuate at its lower end and channel-shaped at its upper end. Member 94 is telescoped over member 74 until a tongue on member 98 snaps into a slot 100 on member 74. Member 98 acts like a hinge and is integral at one end only with the member 94.

It is desirable to removably interconnect the front and rear pieces to the collar 10 in a manner so that it is not readily removable by the patient. In this regard, at least one, and preferably two, plastics rivets 102 are carried by member 94 by way of a flexible string 101. The rivets are easily pushed and snapped into a hole 104 on member 74. As shown more clearly in Fig. 11, each rivet has a head provided with flats on opposite sides together with a hole therethrough to facilitate connection to the string 101. The shanks of the rivets 102 are split. The rivets are easily force-fitted into the holes 102 by application of finger-pressure. However, a tool such as a pair of pliers is needed to pull out the rivets 102. When the rivets 102 are removed, members 74 and 94 are easily separated by pulling on the tab 106 so as to cause member 98 to withdraw from the slot 100.The channel-shape at the upper end of member 94 ensures that the tongue on member 98 will be aligned with slot 100 when member 94 is telescoped on to member 74.

The rear piece 88 is identical with the front piece 86 except as follows. Corresponding elements are provided with corresponding primed numerals. Member 94' is thinner and therefore more flexible than member 94.

Greater rigidity is needed on the front piece 86 as compared with the rear piece 88.

A strap 108 has one end fixedly secured to the substrate 90' on rear piece 88. The strap 108 extends through a loop 110 on the front piece 86 and then overlies itself. The loop 110 is preferably supported by a bracket 112 which in turn is secured to the substrate 90 in any convenient manner such as by a plastics rivet 11 4. Juxtasposed surfaces of the strap 108 are provided with adjustable fasteners which preferably are of the "Velcro" (R.T.M.) type.

A strap 116 is similarly provided to interconnect the front and rear pieces 86 and 88 on the opposite side from the strap 108. One end of strap 116 is fixedly secured to the substrate 90'. An intermediate portion of strap 116 extends through a loop 118 and then overlies itself with adjustable fasteners as described above. Loop 118 is supported by a bracket 120 which in turn is secured to the substrate 90 by a plastics rivet 122.

The collar 70 may be worn in a conventional manner. In connection with a particular injury, the collar 70 may need added stabilization. The front and rear pieces are attached to the collar 70 as described above. Thereafter, the front and rear pieces are coupled together by straps 108 and 116. If desired, one single strap may be utilized by interconnecting the ends of the straps attached to the substrate 90'. When no longer needed, the front and rear pieces 86, 88 are disconnected while the collar 10 remains on the person for so long as required in accordance with medical advice.

The rivets 102 can only be removed by hand tools such as a pair of pliers. A person wearing the collar cannot see or manipulate the rivets 102 without great difficulty. The strings 101 prevent the rivet 102 from becoming lost when removed. The heads of the rivets 102 may have a plurality of flats such as flats produced when the head is hexagonal or octagonal.

All of the rivets such as rivets 96 and the loops such as loop 110 are preferably made from a plastics material. Hence, the patient may be X-rayed with the present invention mounted on the patient. There are no metal parts which will show up on X-rays and interfere with evaluation of the X-rays.

Claims

1. A stabilizer for a cervical collar comprising a front piece adapted to overlie part of a person's chest, a rear piece adapted to overlie part of a person's back, adjustable strap means for encircling a portion of a person's body and for removably interconnecting said front piece and said rear piece, means on the upper end of said front piece for rigidly and removably connecting said front piece to the front half of a cervical collar, and means on the upper end of said rear piece for rigidly and removably connecting said rear piece to the rear half of a cervical collar.

2. A stabilizer in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one of said means is a fastener removable by a hand tool.

3. A stabilizer in accordance with claim 1 or 2, wherein each means includes a projection on the upper end of said front piece and rear piece, each projection having a portion adapted to enter into a slot on a cervical collar and a lip to facilitate withdrawal of the projection portion from its associated slot by finger manipulation, each projection being integral with one piece at one end with the upper end of its associated front and rear piece.

4. A stabilizer in accordance with any previous claim, wherein each of the front piece and rear piece has a connecting member adapted to telescope with respect to a mating member on a collar half, the connecting member on said front piece being more rigid than the connecting member of said rear piece, and the components of the front and rear pieces being coupled together by plastics rivets.

5. A cervical collar comprising discrete front and back halves adapted partially to overlap one another, said halves being made from a soft, flexible polymeric plastics material, strap means for securing the halves in overlapping relation, a stabilizer for said collar including a front piece adapted to overlie part of a person's chest and a rear piece adapted to overlie part of a person's back, adjustable strap means for encircling a portion of a person's body and removably interconnecting said front piece and said rear piece, and means on the upper end of said front and rear pieces for removably connecting the front and rear pieces to their associated collar half, said last-mentioned means including at least one plastics rivet having a non-circular head and being removable by a hand tool.

6. A collar in accordance with claim 5, wherein each plastics rivet is connected to its associated front and rear piece by a string.

7. A collar in accordance with claim 5 or 6, wherein each collar half has a horizontal slot, said last-mentioned means including a hinged projection on each of said front and rear pieces, and each projection having a portion adapted to enter one of said slots.

8. A stabilizer for a cervical collar substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6, Figs. 1 to 6 as modified in Fig. 7, or Figs. 8 to 14 of the accompanying drawings.

9. A cervical collar substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 6, Figs. 1 to 6 as modified in Fig. 7, or Figs.

8 to 14 of the accompanying drawings.