GB2215584A

GB2215584A - Surgical vizors

Info

Publication number: GB2215584A
Application number: GB8807186A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Garth Jessamine; Martin Taube
Original assignee: GARTH JESSAMINE JOHN
Current assignee: GARTH JESSAMINE JOHN
Priority date: 1988-03-25
Filing date: 1988-03-25
Publication date: 1989-09-27
Also published as: GB8807186D0

Abstract

A surgical vizor comprises a substantially rigid frame (10) with a thin transparent flexible film (11) of plastics material, e.g. a polyester film of thickness from 0.01 mm to 0.15mm, stretched over the frame (10) and attached thereto, the film being sufficiently thin to avoid any substantially risk of misting up from the wearer's breath. The frame (10) may be a disposable item and is adapted to be detachably located in a headband (20) by means of tongues (30, 31) fitting into pockets (26, 27) on the headband (20). The lower part of the frame (10) may be formed as a solid chin protector and the frame (10) may be made in two parts, namely a disposable part-cylindrical frame carrying the transparent film and a more substantial part mounted on the headband and incorporating a chin protector. <IMAGE>

Description

SURGICAL VIZORS This invention relates to surgical vizors such as have been proposed for wear by surgeons or other medical or paramedical staff when engaged in operations, for protection against the patient's possibly infected body fluids.

Surgical vizors which have previously been proposed are relatively heavy and are subject to serious problems of misting-up from the wearer's breath as a result of condensation on the transparent member of the vizor, which has generally been of a relatively thick transparent plastics material.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the known surgical vizors.

According to the present invention, a surgical vizor comprises a substantially rigid frame with a thin transparent flexible film of plastics material stretched over the frame and attached thereto, the film being sufficiently thin to avoid any substantial risk of misting-up from the wearer's breath. The invention thus takes advantage of the very low heat capacity-of a thin flexible film of transparent plastics material, which is not liable to misting-up. At the same time, the use of such a thin flexible film enables the vizor to be made relatively light in weight.

The transparent film may be of a thickness in the range from O.Olmm to 0.15mm. The plastics material of the film should be one which will provide a film of high clarity and will be physically unaffected by acids or alkalis. Thus it may be a polyester, a polyimide or a polypropylene. For example, the film may be of polyethylene terephthalate of a thickness of 0.025mm. Preferably the film is given an anti-static treatment, in known manner, in order to reduce both its tendency to attract dust, and any risk of explosion of medical gases in the operating theatre.

Preferably the frame has substantially parallel horizontal upper and lower rims, which are curved or angled as seen in plan to extend from the front to the sides of the wearer's head, and which are joined at their ends by vertically extending side members. The lower ends of the side members of the frame may then be joined by a curved rim member lying in the same vertical plane as the side members and joined at its mid-point to the mid-point of the horizontal lower rim by a strut. Alternatively, the lower ends of the side members of the frame may be joined by a shell-shaped chin protector piece whose front, upper, edge forms the horizontal lower rim and whose rear, lower, edge lies in the same vertical plane as the rear of the side members.

The surgical vizor according to the present invention preferably further comprises a headband in which the frame is adapted to be detachably located. For example, the frame may be provided on each side with downwardly extending tongues adapted to fit into correspondingly shaped pockets on the sides of the headband. In one embodiment, the pockets are pivotally mounted on the headband so that the frame can be swung upwardly out of the field of vision of the wearer.

In a further. embodiment the frame is in two parts, namely a first part comprising the horizontal upper and lower rims and the vertically extending side members, with the transparent flexible film stretched over and attached to the rims and side members, and a second part to which the first part is detachably clipped and which is provided with means for locating it on the headband. The second part of the frame may comprise a curved or angled top rim and vertically extending side members which are thicker than the corresponding members of the first part of the frame, and a shell-shaped chin protector piece which joins the lower ends of the side members of the second part of the frame.The side members of the first part of the frame may then carry inward projections which can be engaged in corresponding recesses in the side members of the second part of the frame to clip the first part detachably to the second part.

Downwardly extending tongues for fitting into the pockets on the headband may be provided on the inside of the side members of the second part of the frame.

In another embodiment, instead of a headband the visor further comprises a collar piece which is adapted to fit around the front and sides of the wearer's neck and on which the frame is adapted to be detachably located. For example the lower rim of the frame may be shaped to seat in a corresponding recess in the upper part of the collar piece and formations on the side members of the frame are arranged to engage detachably in cooperating formations on upward extensions of the collar piece.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a surgical vizor comprising a frame and headband, shown separated for clarity, Figure 2 is a similar perspective view of an alternative form of frame, Figure 3 is a side view of a third form of vizor in use, Figure 4 is a perspective view of a fourth form of vizor frame, made in two parts, Figure 5 is a detail sectional view on the line V-V of Figure 4, Figure 6 is a perspective view of a fifth form of vizor in use, and Figure 7 is a similar perspective view of the collar part of the vizor of Figure 6.

As shown in Figure 1, the vizor comprises a substantially rigid but lightweight frame 10 with a thin transparent flexible film 11 of plastics material stretched over the frame 10 and attached thereto. The film 11 is of a material which provides high clarity and is physically unaffected by acids and alkalis. It can thus be wiped or cleaned by a water jet if it becomes splattered with body fluids of any nature. The film may for example be a polyester, polyimide or polypropylene film, a particular example being polyethylene terephthalate. It is preferably given an anti-static treatment. Its thickness may be in the range from O.Olmm to 0.15mm, preferably 0.025mm. The film has such a low heat capacity as a result of its small thickness that it is not liable to misting-up from the breath of the wearer.

As shown in Figure 1, the frame 10 has substantially parallel horizontal upper and lower rims 12,13, which are curved as seen in plan and are joined at their ends by vertically extending side members 14,15. The lower ends of the side members 14,15 are joined by a curved rim member 16 lying in the same vertical plane as the side members 14,15 and joined at its mid-point 17 to the mid-point 18 of the horizontal lower rim 13 by # strut 19. The film 11, having been stretched over the frame 10, is attached to the rims 12,13, the side members 14,15 and the lower rim member 16, and is then shrunk by heating to ensure a tight, wrinkle free form which produces no optical distortion.Instead of being curved, the upper and lower rims 12,13 may be angled, i.e. formed of straight front and side sections connected at an angle, so as to extend from the front to the sides of the wearer's head.

The vizor also comprises a headband 20 in which the frame 10 is adapted to be detachably located. The headband 20 comprises a substantially rigid curved or angled band 21 with padding 22 on the inside, adapted to fit around the wearer's forehead, and flexible securing bands 23,24 joined at one end to the rear ends of the band 21 and provided at their other ends with hook-pile fastening material 25 by means of which they can be connected at an appropriate position. The rear part of the band 21 is also moulded with downwardly tapering pockets 26,27 whose rear walls 28,29 stand up above the level of the top of the band 21.

To engage in the pockets 26,27, the frame 10 is formed with downwardly projecting tongues 30,31 spaced inwardly from the ends of the upper rim 12 which are connected to the side members 14,15 by reinforcing fillets 32,33 of triangular shape.

To mount the frame 10 on the headband 20, it is only necessary to drop the tongues 30,31 into the pockets 26,27.

The upstanding rear walls 28,29 of the pockets help to make location of the tongues in the appropriate position easy.

Figure 2 illustrates an alternative form of frame 101 in which the lower rim member 16 and strut 19 of Figure 1 are replaced by a shell-shaped chin protector member 35 whose front, upper, edge forms the horizontal lower rim 13 of the frame 101 and whose rear, lower edge 36 lies in the same vertical plane as the rear of the side members 14,15. The side members 14,15 are thicker from front to back than those of Figure 1 for added rigidity. In all other respects, the frame 101 of Figure 2 is similar to the frame 10 of Figure 1 and fits into the headband 20 in the same way.

Figure 3 illustrates a modification in which the frame 101 of Figure 2 is used with a headband 201 which is similar to that of Figure 1 except that the pockets 26,27 are in this case pivotally mounted as at 38 on the band 21, so that the frame 101 can be swung up out of the field of vision of the wearer, when desired, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 4 shows an alternative form of the invention in which the frame is in two parts, namely a first part 102 comprising horizontal upper and lower rims 121,131 and vertically extending side members 141,151 with the transparent flexible film 111 stretched over and attached to them, and a second part 103 to which the first part 102 can be detachably clipped and which is provided with tongues 301,311 for attaching it to a headband 20 as in Figure 1.

The second part 103 of the frame comprises a curved or angled top rim 122 and vertically extending side members 142,152 which are thicker than the corresponding members 121,141,151 of the first part 102 of the frame. The second part 103 also includes a shell-shaped chin protector piece 351 similar to the chin protector 35 of Figure 2, which joins the lower ends of the side members 142,152. As can be seen in Figure 4, the side members 141,151 of the first part 102 of the frame carry inward projections 40,41 which can be engaged in corresponding recesses (not shown) in the side members 142,152 of the second part 103 of the frame#to clip the first part detachably thereon.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate yet another embodiment of the invention, in which the frame 104 is not mounted on a headband but on a collar piece 42 which is adapted to fit around the front and sides of the wearer's neck and on which the frame 104 is adapted to be detachably located by the lower rim 134 of the frame fitting into a corresponding recess 43 (Figure 7) in the upper part of the collar piece 42 and by formations (not shown) on the side members 144 (of which only one can be seen in Figure 6) engaging detachably in cooperating formations 45 on upward extensions 46 of the collar piece 42.

All of the embodiments of the invention described above take advantage of the light weight and low heat capacity of the thin flexible transparent film to avoid misting-up and to enable the vizor to be made relatively light in weight. The frame part 10,101,102 or 104 may be made as a disposable item at relatively low cost while the headband 20,201 may be reusable.

Claims

1. A surgical vizor comprising a substantially rigid frame with a thin transparent flexible film of plastics material stretched over the frame and attached thereto, the film being sufficiently thin to avoid any substantial risk of misting-up from the wearer's breath.

2. A surgical vizor according to claim 1 wherein the transparent film is of a thickness in the range of 0.Olmm to 0.15mm.

3. A surgical vizor according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the plastics material of the film is a polyester, a polyimide or a polypropylene.

4. A surgical vizor according to claim 2 or 3 wherein the film is of polyethylene terephthalate of a thickness of 0.025mm.

5. A surgical vizor according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the film has been given an anti-static coating.

6. A surgical vizor according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the frame has substantially parallel horizontal upper and lower rims, which are curved or angled as seen in plan to extend from the front to the sides of the wearer's head, and which are joined at their ends by vertically extending side members.

7. A surgical vizor according to claim 6 wherein the lower ends of the side members of the frame are joined by a curved rim member lying in the same vertical plane as the side members and joined at its mid-point to the mid-point of the horizontal lower rim by a strut.

8. A surgical vizor according to claim 6 wherein the lower ends of the side members of the frame are joined by a shellshaped chin protector piece whose front, upper, edge forms the horizontal lower rim and whose rear, lower, edge lies in the same vertical plane as the rear of the side members.

9. A surgical vizor according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising a headband in which the frame is adapted to be detachably located.

10. A surgical vizor according to claim 9 wherein the frame is provided on each side with downwardly extending tongues adapted to fit into correspondingly shaped pockets on the sides of the headband.

11. A surgical vizor according to claim 10 wherein the pockets are pivotally mounted on the headband so that the frame can be swung upwardly out of the field of vision of the wearer.

12. A surgical vizor according to any one of claims 9 to 11 as appendant to claim 5 wherein the frame is in two parts, namely a first part comprising the horizontal upper and lower rims and the vertically extending side members, with the transparent flexible film stretched over and attached to the rims and side members, and a second part to which the first part is detachably clipped and which is provided with means for locating it on the headband.

13. A surgical vizor according to claim 12 wherein the second part of the frame comprises a curved or angled top rim and vertically extending side members which are thicker than the corresponding members of the first part of the frame, and a shell-shaped chin protector piece which joins the lower ends of the side members of the second part of the frame.

14. A surgical vizor according to claim 13 wherein the side members of the first part of the frame carry inward projections which can be engaged in corresponding recesses in the side members of the second part of the frame to clip the first part detachably to the second part.

15. A surgical vizor according to claim 12, 13 or 14 as appendant to claim 10 wherein downwardly extending tongues are provided on the inside of the side members of the second part of the frame.

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16. A surgical vizor according to any one of claims 1 to 6 further comprising a collar piece which is adapted to fit around the front and sides of the wearer's neck and on which the frame is adapted to be detachably located.

17. A surgical vizor according to claim 16 as appendant to claim 6 wherein the lower rim of the frame is shaped to seat in a corresponding recess in the upper part of the collar piece and formations on the side members of the frame are arranged to engage detachably in cooperating formation on upward extensions of the collar piece.

18. A surgical vizor substantially as hereinbefore described and as illustrated in Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figures 4 and 5 or Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.