JPH01181859A - Long cover apparatus of dental and medical instrument for preventing propagation of infectious bacteria - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily attach a sleeve around the hose of any shape instrument by providing the device with a long sleeve made of a thin flexible impermeable material and a ring-shaped element which is attached to one end of the sleeve and is capable of pulling out the sleeve. CONSTITUTION: A long sleeve 3 which is folded like a bellows is fitted within a slip ring 2 which is formed by two parts 2a and 2b of a package device 2. The sleeve 3 is made of a transparent plastic material of 1mil in thickness, a folded part 4 like bellows of the sleeve can be extended to a few feet according to a subject on which the folded part 4 is covered. The slip ring 2 has a sufficient hardness and can be held by an operator, and has a diameter long enough to cover a cord of an instrument or accessories.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to the transmission of infectious microorganisms, microorganisms, or bacteria that may occur during dental and surgical procedures when handling elongated accessories of dental and medical instruments. The present invention relates to a device for preventing or at least minimizing this.

Many types of dental and medical instruments are connected or are designed to be connected to air and water hoses, electrical cords, fiber optic bar cords, and the like. Examples of such instruments include air and water syringes, high and low speed manual drills, ultrasonic sheep, fiber optic wands, ultraviolet or visible therapy wands, and the like.

For all of these types of appliances, the packaged sanitary hanger requires a cloth that can be easily attached to the appliance and its accessories, and that the appliance, attachment or hanger is attached to the outer surface of the fabric. It is necessary that it does not contaminate the

The problem is especially from bacteria on the operator's hands or accessories.
A 3- to 4-foot long hanger will not contaminate the fabric with bacteria that can spread. This hanger is a hassle when handling the cloth when hanging it on an accessory. .

I am aware of U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,720 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,79
Only those listed in issue 1 are included. In both of these devices, a bag-like cover is provided to completely cover the microscope and its supporting structure. These two covers are primarily a means of covering the special requirements of the microscope, namely dealing with the heat generated by the illumination lamp of the microscope and covering the objective lens of the microscope. None of these prior art devices provide a convenient means of covering the microscope and its base; furthermore, none of these devices provide a convenient means for covering the microscope and its base; ,' does not offer the idea of quickly and easily covering its accessories such as cords, nor do these devices circulate sterile packaging, but none of these perform the covering function. The fabric does not provide a compact packaged hanger that can be kept sterile and easily and quickly handled.

The cover or hanger of the present invention is a flexible, very thin sleeve of plastic material with a slip ring attached to one end. The slip ring is of sufficient diameter to be able to slide or pass over the instrument and its accessories. The other end of the sleeve is provided with sealing means for sealingly attaching the sleeve to an instrument. This sealing means can take one of several forms depending on whether the device is disposable or not. In either configuration, the entire length of the sleeve, which is several feet long, can be folded into an accordion style.

If the device is not disposable, this sealing means consists of a short tubular member to which the other end of the sleeve is removably attached by a sealing ring, such tubular element having a sufficient internal diameter. In this embodiment, the instrument is inserted through the ring, the accordion-folded sleeve and the tubular element, after which the sealing ring at the end of the sleeve is removed from the tubular element. , and then sealed and attached to the device.

Plastic seal rings are molded to create thin, rigid plastic rings that have different diameters to fit different sizes of actual instruments. Instead of using a sealing ring, the open end of the sleeve may be taped to the instrument after installation, as is commonly done in surgical procedures for sterilization.

In embodiments of the invention in which the device is disposable, the tubular element is replaced by a device whose other end is sealingly attached to the sleeve by a sealing ring or adhesive tape, and the disposable device is thus packaged.

In either of these embodiments, the housing or pouch is preferably formed to completely surround the package except for the opening to the slip ring, the pouch being separated from the periphery of the slip ring by a continuous sleeve. The ends of such continuous sleeves are preferably sealed, the entire package being surrounded by a removable disc positioned over the opening of the slip ring and sealed to the slip ring.

This package, as described here, is compact and can be sterilized, and is used to hang relatively long instrument accessories such as attached hoses and cords on dental and medical instruments, and to cover this with a cloth. Convenient and easy to use.

1.2 and 3, reference number 1 is a packaging device according to the invention, which has a slip ring 2 formed by two parts 2a, 2b, between which an accordion A long sleeve 3 is attached, which is constituted by a folded portion 4 and a pouch portion 8. The accordion-folded portion 4 of the sleeve and the pouch portion 8 extend in the same direction, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the pouch surrounds and completely encloses the accordion portion. ing. The slip ring 2 is placed on the opening of the slip ring 2.
A cover 14 fixed to the ring 2b is attached. A support tube 7 is attached to the inside of the pouch 8, and the tip of the folded portion 4 of the sleeve 3 is detachably attached to the support tube 7 by an elastic band. The open end of the accordion section is sealed. A ripcord extends from the support tube 7 to which the end 12 of the pouch portion 8 of the sleeve is sealed and attached for purposes to be described below.

Sleeve 3 is typically a thin, preferably transparent length of cloth formed from a plastic material about 1 mil (0,001 inch) thick. This material can be a low density, flexible, low temperature thermoplastic material such as polyethylene, or a high density, low temperature thermoplastic material such as nylon.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the accordion-folded portion 4 of the sleeve can be several feet long when stretched, depending on the length of the object to be covered by the sleeve. Become. The pouch portion 8 of the sleeve only needs a few inches in length to accommodate to some extent the length of the instruments used in this device; Part 1
A perforated perforation 10 is provided for separating 1 from the rear 9 of the pouch. This separation or separation of the two parts of pouches 9 and 11 is necessary in order for the sleeve to extend relative to the attachment of the device, as will be explained below.

Sleeve 3 consists of two parts 2a and 2b of slip ring 2
Since the slip ring 2 is installed between
It is firmly fixed to the sleeve 3 at the junction between the pouch 8 and the accordion-folded part 4 of the sleeve.

This is accomplished by forming two parts, one over the other, or by using adhesive. Third
As shown in the figure, the slip ring 2 is formed by two parts 2a and 2b. Part 2a has a recess 2C on its upper surface, while part 2b has a catch 2d on each of its legs. and 2c. Therefore, part 2
When b is clamped onto the section 2a, the clasp 2d extends into the recess 2c and the clasp 2e stops around the front edge of the section 2a. This is just one typical method of fastening two parts together on the material of the sleeve 3 to secure the snap ring to the sleeve, making the slip ring in one part and attaching it to the sleeve by adhesive only. 9 In the broadest aspect of the invention,
The pouch part 8 of the sleeve and the accordion-folded part 4 of the sleeve can be separated and each can be fitted with a separate slip ring 2G to otherwise keep the pouch loosely attached to the slip ring. It is.

As will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention, it is important that the slip ring be sufficiently stiff so that it can be gripped by the operator. For this purpose, the slip ring may be formed of molded paper, plastic or metal such as metal foil; furthermore, in the narrow aspect of the barrel of the present invention, the slip ring may be formed from 2a of FIG. - may be long enough to extend over the accordion-folded portion of the sleeve as shown in 0. In this embodiment, the slip ring covers the accordion-folded sleeve during storage and installation. and protect.

It is important that the slip ring be of sufficient diameter to easily pass over the cord or accessory to which the instrument is attached, all of which will be discussed below.

In the embodiment of Figure 20, the seal ring and seal ring support have been replaced with a hard plastic seal ring 6a, which eliminates the need for a seal ring tube support. In this embodiment, there is one slip ring 2a'', which is long enough to cover the accordion-folded sleeves that are adhesively fixed to the 23 slip rings 2a''.

Returning to FIGS. 1-12 and 19, the seal ring support 7 is a long tube with one end 7a open and the other end 3b closed from which the ripcord 13 extends.

The tip of the folded portion 4 of the sleeve 3 is fixed to a seal ring support by an elastic seal ring 6. This elastic sealing ring must have sufficient elasticity to move from the support 7 and clamp or seal to an instrument inserted into the hollow sealing ring support 7.9 The elastic sealing ring must be made of elastic latex. This allows the sealing ring to pass easily through large, irregularly shaped parts of the instrument, ultimately sealing parts of the instrument and keeping bacteria away from the inside of the instrument and sleeve. You can prevent it from passing between.

Rip cord 1 extending from seal ring support 7
3 is a long member with a small diameter. This can be an extension of the support 7 or it can be a separate part attached to the support 7, which allows the seal ring support 7 to be pulled out from under the seal ring 6 and the instruments placed on the support 7 without being contaminated. must be long enough to place the sealing ring precisely on top.

The cover 14 of the slip ring 7 can be constructed of many different materials, such as adhesive-backed foil or paper disks. As mentioned above, the cover 14 is fixed to the slip ring 2. It has a tab 15 extending around the slip ring 2;
This allows the operator to grasp it and flip the cover from the opening.

4 to 10 show the case where the present invention is applied to an actual instrument. In particular, Figures 4-11 and the following description:
It is applied to the sleeve of a large volume evacuation or suction chip 716 utilized by dentists.

However, in the present invention, long accessories such as cords are fixed,
It should be understood that it can be applied to many different types of both dental and medical instruments in which it is desirable to cover at least a portion of the instrument and accessories.

Examples of such devices include drills, ejector tips,
There are injection g, etc.

The first step in using the device is to remove cover 14. This is tab 1 as shown in Figure 4.
This is done by grasping 5 and pulling the cover or disc 14 away from the slip ring 2. As a result, the open end 7a of the seal ring support tube 7 is exposed, and the fifth
It is then possible to insert the instrument 16 therein as shown. Extending from the device 16 is an elongated accessory, in this case an air hose 17.

In the case of the instrument 16 inserted into the support tube 7, the sixth
As shown, the operator grasps the front and back 9.11 of the pouch 8 on each side of the perforated perforation 10. The two parts of the pouch are pulled in opposite directions and the pouch is torn along perforation 10, separating pouch parts 9 and 11 as shown in FIG. When grasping a portion of the pouch 11, the operator who is grasping the front part 11 of the pouch 8 with one hand must also grasp the rip cord 13 and the front end 7b of the seal ring support tube 7, and also Instruments inserted through the pouch and sealing ring support (the closed end of which must be flexible) must be firmly gripped.

The slip ring 2 is then lowered around the attachment 17, in this case an air hose, whereby the accordion-shaped part 4 of the sleeve 3 is opened and pulled down around the hose 17, as shown in FIG. The sleeve attaches to the attachment 17 until the clip 18 is permanently attached to the hose 17 by tape 19 or other suitable means.
is pulled along the entire length of the

The device can be prepared to this point without having to clean the hands and can be left in place until ready for use by hanging it in place on a holder such as holder 23 (FIG. 10). . The position of sealing ring 6 can be adjusted in relation to instrument 16 if necessary, all as shown in FIG.

When using the device, the sleeve and the part of the device enclosed by the sleeve are grasped in one hand and the front of the pouch, rip cord 13 and seal ring support 7 are held in the other hand, as shown in FIG. is held by the hand of

The sealing ring support 7 is pulled away from the sealing ring 6 and the sealing ring 6 falls towards the instrument and grips it, creating a seal between the instrument and the front end of the sleeve 3 by its elasticity.

The front end of the pouch, the rip cord 13 and the seal ring support 7 are now discarded. The instrument is now ready for use by the dentist or physician and the fittings within the area of the instrument to be used are completely covered and sealed to inhibit the spread of bacteria from the cord or fittings 17. Bacteria from the patient is also prevented from accumulating on the cord or attachment 17.

After the device has been used, the sleeve is removed by grasping the slip ring 2 and pulling it from the ring clip and under the hose, as shown in FIG. The ring is pulled out of the sleeve 3 and the sleeve is thereby turned inside and out as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. Thus, the contaminated outer surface of the sleeve is covered, keeping all bacteria inside the sleeve, making disposal of the sleeve safer and less hazardous for personnel.

Dentists and doctors often use disposable instruments that are discarded or disposed of once used on a patient. Figures 16.17 and 18 show a modification of the invention for use with disposable devices such as those designated by reference numeral 21 in Figures 16.17 and 18.

In this modification, the structure of the device is as described above, except that the seal ring support 7 is unnecessary, since a disposable device 21, such as a plastic suction tip or a salvia syringe, replaces the seal ring support 7. and the hearing. In this example, the seal ring 6
The sleeve can also be secured to the disposable device by adhesive tape.

When using the embodiment shown in Figures 16.17 and 18, the steps shown in Figures 11.12 and 13 are not necessary as the sealing ring is already in place on the device.

Briefly explaining the adaptation of the variant shown in Figures 16.17 and 18, the cover 14 is removed by pulling on the tab 15 in the same way as described above. This exposes the rear end 21a of the disposable suction tip 121,
Access is then provided for connecting an accessory such as a tube 22 to the device 21, in this case an inhalation tip. This connects the suction connector 20 to the end 21a of the suction tip 21.
This is done by inserting the . The front end of the pouch 11 and the inhalation tip covered by it are grasped in one hand of the operator, and the other hand of the operator grasps the slip ring 2 which is pulled away from this hand, as shown in FIG. Next, the pouch is separated at the perforations, so that the slip ring 2 passes downwardly around the suction hose 22 and the accordion part 4 of the sleeve 3 is pulled out together with it. The slip ring is pulled along the length of the tube 22 until it reaches the ring clip, as shown in factor 9. The slip ring is attached to the clip,
The front part of the pouch 11 is discarded and the device is now ready for use with the tube 22 completely covered near where the device will be used.

After use, the sleeve is removed as described above with respect to FIGS. 14 and 15.

It is very clear that this unique device allows sleeves to be easily placed around the hoses of irregularly shaped dental and medical instruments.

This is done by two people - one person handling the hose and one person using sterilized hands to hang the cloth material.
It is also clear that the sleeve can be easily removed after use according to the invention, which can be done by a human operator. This greatly reduces the danger to personnel during disposal, since the sleeve can be removed ``inside out'' with the contaminated outside facing towards the inside.

According to the present invention, the package is compact and can be stored in a sterilization work tray at a predetermined location. It is easy to pick up, handle, and install the sleeve and fitting without contaminating the hands of personnel, and is easy to fabricate and assemble.

As all mentioned above, the features of the resilient seal ring 6 and seal ring support 7 provide a unique sealing method for the accordion-folded sleeve of a disposable or non-disposable device. By providing a pouch with a separable portion indicated by perforations 10,
The pouch can be opened quickly and efficiently with clean hands without contaminating the contents, as the slip ring is pulled over the hose and the back of the pouch is positioned to cover the accordion fold. This is because the front part of the pouch remains in a position covering the distal end of the device. Furthermore, it should be understood that if a sterilization device is required, perforations can be substituted by means of connecting the front of the pouch with the back without leaving any holes for bacteria to pass through. be. It is also possible to provide sterile storage by providing a second impermeable storage bag that contains the entire package.

Having thus described my invention, it will be clear that many different embodiments and modifications of the components illustrated herein may be made, all without departing from the spirit of the invention. My invention, therefore, is to be limited only by the words of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a package forming one embodiment of my invention. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the package shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the coupling of the slip ring to the sleeve. FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of the package of FIG. 1 showing the first step in using the package. Figures 5-13 are side perspective views of the package of Figure 1 sequentially illustrating the steps of applying and attaching the sleeve to a non-disposable device and its accessories; 1st
Figures 4 and 15 are partial side perspective views of the sleeve, illustrating its removal from the instrument and its accessories. Figures 16, 17 and 18 are side perspective views of a second embodiment of the invention, illustrating the sequential steps in the application of the invention to a package containing a disposable device. FIG. 19 is a side sectional view of an embodiment that is a modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3. FIG. 20 is a partial side cross-sectional view of another modified embodiment of the invention. 1...Packaging device 2...Slip ring 3...Long sleeve 4...Accordion-shaped folded part 7...Support tube 8...Pouch part" FIG, II

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (1) A device for covering an elongated accessory extending from a dental or medical instrument to prevent contamination of the accessory, the device being formed of a thin, flexible, impermeable material. an elongated sleeve having an opening at one end; and an elongated sleeve having an opening at one end and having sufficient hardness to form an outer edge of the opening; Device characterized in that it is constituted by a ring-shaped element, which makes it possible to grasp the outer edge and pull the sleeve attached to said ring over said ring and said accessories. (2) the other end of said sleeve has an opening for receiving an instrument attached to said accessory and said other end of said sleeve at said opening; Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it includes sealing means for attaching and sealing to said extending instrument. (3) The main part of said sleeve is folded into an accordion shape, and said ring is fitted with enclosing means to prevent said folded part from being exposed to contaminating microorganisms. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it surrounds. (4) The enclosing means includes a pouch attached to said ring-shaped element, which covers said accordion-shaped folded portion of said sleeve, and the cover is removably attached to said ring-shaped element. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that it is fixed and covers an opening formed in it. (5) providing means for separating at least one portion of said pouch from said ring-shaped element, whereby said ring-shaped element having the separated portion of said pouch is separated from said ring-shaped element; Device according to claim 3, characterized in that it can be pulled onto the accessory independently of the parts. (6) providing means for separating at least one portion of said pouch from said ring-shaped element, whereby the ring-shaped element having the separated portion of said pouch is separated from said ring-shaped element; Device according to claim 4, characterized in that it can be pulled onto the accessory independently of the parts. (7) a tube is provided at the other end of the sleeve;
said tube extends into said opening at said other end of said sleeve for receiving an elongated dental or medical instrument, said sealing means first attaching said other end of said sleeve to said tube; , wherein said device is then inserted into said tube and said other end of said sleeve is attached in a sealed manner to said elongated device. Device. (8) The ring-shaped element is of sufficient length to cover the main portion of the accordion-folded portion of the sleeve. equipment. (9) Surrounding means are attached to the ring-shaped element and surround the sleeve and tube to prevent them from being exposed to contaminating microorganisms. Apparatus described in section. (10) The main part of the sleeve is accordion-folded, and surrounding means extend from the ring-shaped element and surround the accordion-folded part of the sleeve. Apparatus according to scope item (7). (11) The enclosing means has a cover removably fixed to the ring-shaped element to cover the opening formed thereby, and the pouch is fixed to the outer edge of the ring-shaped element to cover the opening formed thereby. Device according to claim 10, characterized in that it accommodates the above-mentioned accordion-folded portion of the sleeve. 12. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the tube is closed at one end, said closed end being connected to the remaining part of said receiving means. (13) The pouch is a sleeve of flexible impermeable material fixed to said ring-shaped element and extending from thence onto said compressed sleeve and sealed at its ends. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that it accommodates the accordion-folded portion of the sleeve. (14) A clip is attached to the accessory, and the clip removably holds the ring-shaped element on a cover extending over the accessory. The device described in (1). (15) A disposable device is provided in the opening at the other end of the sleeve, and the sealing means in the opening at the other end attaches and seals the other end of the sleeve to the device. 3. A device according to claim 3, characterized in that said instrument is housed in said enclosure, located inside an accordion-folded part of said sleeve. . (16) providing means for separating at least one portion of said pouch from said ring-shaped element, thereby making the ring-shaped element having the separated portion of said pouch separate from the remaining portion of said pouch; 11. Device according to claim 10, characterized in that the can be pulled independently onto the accessory. (17) providing means for separating at least one portion of said pouch from said ring-shaped element, thereby making the ring-shaped element having the separated portion of said pouch separate from the remaining portion of said pouch; 16. Device according to claim 15, characterized in that the can be pulled independently onto the accessory. (18) A device for covering a long accessory extending from a dental or medical instrument to prevent contamination of the accessory, the device having an opening at each end and a short compressed portion folded into an accordion shape. an elongated sleeve of thin, flexible, impermeable material with an opening for receiving the instrument and its accessories, a ring attached to one end of said sleeve mounted in sealed relation to the instrument; a ring-shaped element, a sealing means at the other end of the sleeve, an enclosing part for the sleeve, and means for separating the enclosing part, whereby the accordion-folded sleeve can be folded into a ring-shaped element. A device characterized in that by pulling the element away from the sealing means, the sleeve is stretched over the above-mentioned accessory. (19) The other end of the sleeve is provided with a tube extending into the opening in the other end of the sleeve to receive an elongated dental or medical instrument; The sealing means first attaches the other end of the sleeve to the tube, and then the device is inserted into the tube to seal the other end of the sleeve to the elongated device. The scope of the patent, characterized in that it is attached with
The device described in item 18).