GB2532410A - A moulded fibre slipper pan liner - Google Patents

Abstract

A disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner 20 comprises a bowl 22 with a base 24 and a plurality of side walls 26 upstanding from the base. The upper end of the side walls defines a rim 28 extending around the upper edge of the bowl. A shelf section 34 extends from the front edge 36 of the rim of the bowl. The shelf 34 slopes downwardly from its rear end 38 which is arranged at the height of the rim to its front distal end 42 which is arranged at a height substantially level with the base of the bowl. Both the base of the bowl and the distal end of the shelf contact the surface on which the pan is supported, thereby removing any vertical lever arm distance between the tip of the shelf and the base preventing tipping of the bowl when weight is applied to the front end.

Description

Intellectual Property Office Application No. GII1417180.5 RTM Date:17 March 2016 The following terms are registered trade marks and should be read as such wherever they occur in this document: NHS (page 3) Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office www.gov.uk /ipo A Moulded Fibre Slipper Pan Liner The present invention relates to disposable liner for a slipper pan, and in particular to a slipper pan liner formed from a thermoformed or post pressed fibre material.

Slipper pans are used for toileting immobile, bed-ridden patients in bed, such as patients unable to be moved following orthopaedic surgery, or an accident involving heavy trauma. To use a slipper pan the patient is first rotated onto their side, and the front of the pan is then placed underneath their buttocks of the patient before they are then to returned to a flat position on the bed. The top half of the bed is then elevated to a 45 degree angle to lift the patient's torso.

A slipper pan requires a handle to enable the pan to be inserted and removed from beneath the patient. It is also preferred that the slipper pan includes a tapered leading edge that extends from the level of the bed to the front rim of the pan, to allow the patient's position to be easily adjusted to located them over the pan, with the tapered leading edge enabling them to slide up to the pan. Typically this tapered leading edge will comprises a curved surface. Slipper pans of this form are constructed from a rigid material such as plastic or metal.

Following use these reusable pans must be emptied, and washed before re-use. Therefore, disposable liners we developed that were formed from moulded pulp fibre. As a slipper pan must support the weight of a patient, it was not possible to provide an independent pan formed from pulp, or a pulp pan including a handle. Instead the pulp pans are provided as liners supported by rigid plastic support pans. The pulp liners have a thin tongue located at their leading end that covers the font shelf of the support pan. However, due to the limitations of pulp fibre moulding the liners must be formed having a leading shelf or tongue that its coplanar with the upper rim of the pan, rather than one that curves downwardly and tapers from the upper rim. The reason form this is that during conventional pulp moulding the wet pulp pan is discharged from the male moulding tool using a female transfer tool onto a conveyor belt that enters a tunnel dryer. The pan is an inverted, with the open end of bowl facing down position. The wet pulp comprises approximately 28% solids by weight. In such an inverted position, any thin unsupported panels such as the front tongue that is not connected to or supported by another part of structure is unable to retain a non-planar form during drying as it cannot support itself. Therefore the top profile of a conventional pulp liner has to be flat, which prevents it from having any form of ergonomic curvature extending away from the upper rim, which during drying is the lower edge.

Figure la shows a pulp liner and support pan of the prior art. The pulp liner 1 includes a bowl section 2 having a base 4 and an upper rim 6. A tongue section extends from the front end of the upper rim 6. AS shown in figure lb, the tongue 8 is coplanar with the upper rim 6 of the bowl 2. A rigid plastic support 10 supports the liner 1, with eth bowl section 2 being indicated by a dashed line in Figure lb. A secondary front support section 12 is provided on the pan support to support the planar tongue section 8. The upper surface of the pan liner, including the co-planar upper rim and tongue 8 is angles downwardly towards the front end 14 to create a wedge shape. However, the front edge 14 is still spaced a distance h from the base 16 of the pan support 10, and in us is therefore spaced a distance h from the surface of the bed on which it is placed. As the front edge 14 overhangs the forward edge 18 of the base of the support pan, when a force is applied to this front edge 14 by a patient the pan is caused to pivot about the front base edge 18 causing tipping of the pan 1. To counter this a nurse must attempt to apply a balancing force to the handle, but this is often unsuccessful. To continue the tongue 8 such that it was able to contact the bed surface in use would require a tongue 8 of excessive length that would extends rearwardly past the patient and which would bend and fail under the longitudinal force that would be applied to it.

Therefore, existing pulp pan and support combinations are unstable compared to their reusable counterparts. This is due to their design, where the front edge of the support and liner are being suspended above the bed, leading to the pan tilting forward which then causes discharge to flow to the front and in some cases flow over the front wall when a patient is sitting on such a pan. Nurses try to hold the pan down using the handle, but are typically overcome by the weight of the patient sometimes further exacerbated by a soft mattress. This has become a common problem in the NHS where slipper pan usage can invariable lead to a spill in bed that leads to a bed change and shower; which involves an additional nurse occupied for 45 minutes, placing a significant demand on s staff numbers and cost The above problem is further exacerbated by the design of commonly used plastic pan supports which include very narrow rims. This allow the bowls and tongue to flex at the point where they meet. In addition both designs use a wedge shape structure to support the front of the pan, this of course does not have the surface area to hold the pan liner level and depresses into the bed.

It is therefore desirable to provide an improved slipper pan liner which addresses the above described problems and/or which offers improvements generally.

According to the present invention there is provided a disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner as described in the accompanying claims.

In an embodiment of the invention there is provided a disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner comprising a bowl having a base and a plurality of side walls upstanding from the base. The upper end of said walls define a rim extending around the upper edge of the bowl. A shelf section extends from the front edge of the rim of the bowl. The shelf slopes downwardly from its rear end which is arranged at the height of the rim to its front distal end which is arranged at a height substantially level with the base of the bowl. As such, both the base of the bowl and the distal end of the shelf contact the surface on which the pan is supported, thereby removing any vertical lever arm distance between the tip of the shelf and the base preventing tipping of the bowl when weight is applied to the front end. In addition, location of the front and at the same height as the base of the bowl enables the pan and liner to be more easily slid under the patient when the patient's position is adjusted.

Preferably the liner is formed from a thermoformed or post pressed fibre material. The thermoforming or post pressing moulding process enables the shelf to be formed such that it is angled downwardly relative to the rim of the bowl, in contrast to the prior art where the shelf and rim of the bowl are arranged in a level plane. Conventional Pulp fibre material is moulded and then discharged onto a conveyor dryer and dried as it travels through the conveyor. It has a textured surface on one side and a rough surface on the other. Because most of the mould surfaces are unsupported during drying it distorts as it dries, and the rough nature of the material provides very low tolerances. In contrast, thermoformed fibre material is produced by moulding pulp fibres that are then transferred and dried in a set of drying tools using heat and pressure. This provides a smooth dense substrate with which high tolerances are achievable. Fibres commonly used are bamboo, bagasse, and less commonly paper. A post pressed fibre material is formed by pressing conventional pulp after drying using heated tools. The heat is not for drying but to help the fibres become malleable by heating latent moisture in the pulp during pressing.

The rear section of the shelf section preferably curves downwardly away from the rim of the bowl having a convex profile lengthwise. Preferably the front section of the shelf section has a convex profile curving towards the distal end. Providing a convex front end ensure that the angle of the shelf at its leading edge is substantially horizontal enabling the shelf to be easily wedged beneath a patient and providing an initially shallow slope up which to slide the patient.

In another embodiment the shelf section may have a convex profile along its entire length extending from the rim to it tip. In a yet further embodiment the shelf section may have an entirely concave profile extending from the rim to its tip. In yet another embodiment the shelf may have a concave profile laterally across its width in addition to or without any of the above described lengthwise profiles. Where the shelf has a lengthwise concave profile the lateral concave profile may combine to form a dished surface profile.

The rear wall of bowl is preferably higher than the front wall such that the bowl tapers in height from the rear to the front such the side sections of the rim of the bowl slope downwardly from the rear to the front, and wherein the shelf slopes downwardly at a steeper angle than the side sections of the rim of the bowl along at least part of its length.

As the shelf slopes at a steeper angle than the bowl, it reaches the bed surface for a far shorted length than would be required if the shelf were maintained at the same angle as the bowl.

Preferably the rim of the bowl includes a return edge along the rear and side walls extending downwardly to form a side support wall. This arrangement provides additional support for the liner and helps it maintain its form as well as providing better purchase over the rigid pan. The return edge forms an outer support wall that is outwardly spaced from the wall of the bowl defining a channel for seating over and receiving a corresponding wall of the slipper pan. Preferably the wall extends at least 20mm downwards from the rim. The rim is preferably curved providing a comfortable support surface.

The support wall preferably extends forwardly of the front edge of the bowl along the outer edges of the shelf. This reinforces the shelf and is particularly important and the connection between the shield and the bowl to prevent bending of the shelf relative to the bowl under loading.

In another aspect of the invention there is provided a slipper pan formed from a rigid plastic or metal material having an upper surface corresponding in shape top the lower surface of a pan liner according to any preceding claim, such that the pan is configured to receive a moulded fibre slipper pan liner as described in any preceding claim. The slipper pan comprises a bowl having a base and a plurality of side walls upstanding from the base corresponding in shape to the liner bowl. The upper end of said walls define a rim extending around the upper edge of the bowl, with the liner being configured to seat over the rim of the pan. A shelf section extends from the front edge of the rim of the bowl, the shelf sloping downwardly from its rear end arranged at the height of the rim to its front distal end arranged at a height substantially level with the base of the bowl and corresponding in shape to the shelf section of the liner as described in any preceding claim.

The front of the pan liner and support make contact with the bed, preventing the support from tilting towards the patient and causing a spill. Furthermore, the support is designed with a wide rim that prevents flexion. The combination of both features makes the support very stable on a bed with a heavier person.

The wedge-shape design of the slipper pan and liber enables them to slip underneath patient without lifting or rolling.

The present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following illustrative figures in which: Figure 1 shows a slipper pan liner and slipper pan according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows a side view diagrammatic representation of a slipper pan and liner according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 shows a top view slipper pan liner according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 shows a view from below of a slipper pan liner according to an embodiment of the invention; and Figure 5 shows a slipper pan according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Figure 2 a slipper pan liner (20) includes a bowl (22) including a base (24) and side walls (26) upstanding from the base (22). The side walls (26) terminate at an upper rim (28) which curves outwards through substantially 180 degrees to define a curved channel beneath the rim (28). The rim (28) extends around the edge (30) and sides (32) of the bowl (22). A tongue or shelf (34) curves downwardly from the front edge (36) of the rim (28) of the bowl (22). The rearward end (38) of the tongue (34) extending from the front edge (36) of the rim (28) curves convexly such that the tongue curves downwardly towards the plane of the base (24) of the bowl (22). As the tongue transitions towards the front end (40) the curve changes to a convex profile such that the surface of the tongue (40) is substantially horizontal at the leading edge (42). The curved form of the tongue (40) is such that the leading edge (42) is level with and at the same plane as the base (24) of the bowl (22). As such, when the liner (20) is placed on a planar level surface both the base (22) and leading edge (42) contact the planer surface.

As can be seen from Figure 3, the curved rim (28) defines a lip extending around the periphery of the liner (20). Figure 4 shows a plastic support pan for the liner (20). The pan support (46) includes a curved upper edge (48) that corresponds to the curved lip (44) of the liner (20). The pan (48) has an upper surface (50) that conforms in shape to the lower surface of the pan liner (20). The pan support (48) include a bowl section (52) having a base (54) and side walls (56) extending to an upper rim (58) that receives and supports the lip (44) of the pan liner (20). The rear wall (56a) has a height that is greater than the front wall (56b) such that the bowl tapers towards its front end, and such that when the base (52) is supported on a flat surface the upper rim (58) slopes towards the front end. A tongue or shelf section (60) extends from the front upper edge (62) of the bowl (52). The tongue (60) tappers to the plane of the base having the same curved profile as the tongue (38) of the liner (20).

The outer edge of the rim (58) curves downwardly to define a side wall (64) that extends the length of the pan support (48) including along the length of the tongue (60). The side wall (64) therefore provides vertical support at the intersection between the tongue and the bowl preventing relative bending between the tongue of the bowl at this point of intersection. A handle (56) extends from the rear wall (56a) of the bowl (52) to enable the transport to be pan support to be direct in use.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims (8)

1. CLAIMS1. A disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner comprising: a bowl having a base and a plurality of side walls upstanding from the base, the upper end of said walls defining a rim extending around the upper edge of the bowl; and a shelf section extending from the front edge of the rim of the bowl, the shelf sloping downwardly from its rear end arranged at the height of the rim to its front distal end arranged at a height substantially level with the base of the bowl.
2. 2. A disposable moulded fibre liner for a slipper pan according to claim 1 wherein the liner is formed from a thermoformed or post pressed fibre material.
3. 3. A disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the rear section of the shelf section curving downwardly away from the rim of the bowl has a convex profile lengthwise.
4. 4. A disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner according to claim 3 wherein the front section of the shelf section has a convex profile curving towards the distal end.
5. 5. A disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner according to any preceding claim wherein the rear wall of bowl is higher than the front wall such that the bowl tapers in height from the rear to the front such the side sections of the rim of the bowl slope downwardly from the rear to the front, and wherein the shelf slopes downwardly at a steeper angle than the side sections of the rim of the bowl along at least part of its length.
6. 6. A disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner according to any preceding claim wherein the rim of the bowl includes a return edge along the rear and side walls extending downwardly to form a side support wall.
7. 7. A disposable moulded fibre slipper pan liner according to claim 6 wherein the support wall extends forwardly of the front edge of the bowl along the outer edges of the shelf.
8. 8. A slipper pan formed from a rigid plastic or metal material configured to receive a moulded fibre slipper pan liner as described in any preceding claim, the slipper pan comprising a bowl having a base and a plurality of side walls upstanding from the base, the upper end of said walls defining a rim extending around the upper edge of the bowl; and a shelf section extending from the front edge of the rim of the bowl, the shelf sloping downwardly from its rear end arranged at the height of the rim to its front distal end arranged at a height substantially level with the base of the bowl and corresponding in shape to the shelf section of the liner as described in any preceding claim.