US3542021A - Bandage applicator and cut-off device - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent Norman R. Preston 38-l7th St., Toronto 14 Ontario, Canada 726,776

May 6, 1968 Nov. 24, 1970 [72] Inventor 21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [54] BANDAGE APPLICATOR AND CUT-OFF DEVICE 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. [52] U.S. Cl. 128/157, 128/272, 128/305 [51] Int. Cl. A611 [50] Field of Search 128/ 1 age.

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,715,903 8/1955 Scholl 128/157 2,739,587 3/1956 Sch011 128/157 Primary Examiner-Adele M. Eager Attorney-George H. Riches ABSTRACT: A bandage cutoff device for use with a cylindrical applicator of tubular bandages, the cutoff device comprising a pair of half-ring jaws which are hinged at one end and operable to clamp around the applicator, cutting blades being mounted to and protruding from the inside surface of the jaws. Upon rotation of the jaws about the axis of the applicator, a cutoff operation is performed on an interposed tubular band- Patented Nova 24, 1970 Sheet 2 of 2 NORMAN Rmesroi'q ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Sheet Z of2 INVENTOK NORMAN R. PRESTON ATTORNEY 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a bandage cutoff devicefor use in conjunction with a substantially cylindrical applicator for tubular bandages.

2, Description of the Prior Art At present, various types of tubular bandage applicators, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,715,903 (issued to' William H. Scholl on Aug. 23, 1955) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,921 (issued to Ivor Stoller on Oct 21, 1958). are widely available. With one exception, the prior art devices, which permit the application of the bandage to aspecific part of the body, do not include any device for cutting the bandage once it has been applied. Accordingly, the tubular bandage must be cut off either by means of a sharp knife such as a scalpel or by scissors used in conjunction with such an applicator. When using a knife or scissors there exists the danger of causing injury to the patient. Moreover, the doctor or nurse experiences considerable difficulty since he must manipulate the bandage and the applicator with one hand, and the knife with the other hand. It will be seen that such prior art does not teach how a tubular bandage may be cutoffin one swift operation.

One widely employed prior art applicator is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,715,903 (Scholl). The Scholl applicator comprises two annular steel discs mounted to a 'set of circumferentially spaced rods. The annular steel disc at the cutoff end of the applicator has a groove along its outer diameter to serve as a guide for the knife or scalpel to be used in cutting off the tubular bandage. It will be apparent that there is a risk of injuring the patients inserted finger if the scalpel should slip from the groove. Moreover, the contact of scalpel blade on the steel groove servesto dull the blade thereby necessitating frequent and expensive interchange of scalpel blades. The single prior art exception is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.

3,358,682 (issued to Norman R. Preston, the applicant in thesubject application, on Dec. 19, 1967). This reference discloses a substantially cylindrical applicator together with a plastic ring attachment which, when applied to the applicator with a rotary motion, serves to cutoff the tubular. bandage which is between the applicator and the plastic ring attachment. Unfortunately, the plastic ring attachment of U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,682 (Preston) is difficult to fit onto the applicator; in moving the ring toward the cutoff end of the applicator, the exposed cutting edges of the ring often tear and cut the bandage which still remains on the applicator. The plastic ring attachment previously disclosed by Preston therefore presents some inconvenience to the user since the plastic ring is closed and cannot therefore be opened to permit its ap-' plication to the bandage applicator from the side thereof.

A further disadvantage of prior artapplicators is'the difficulty in loading" same with a large quantity of tubular bandage due to the tendency of the loaded bandage to slip from an end of the applicator. As a result, it has heretofore been possible to load only small quantities of bandage at one time thereby promotingneedless waste of loading time and of bandage ends.

One advantage of the present invention is that is provides a cutoff device which permits the tubular bandage to be cut from the applicator in-one swift rotary operation.

A further advantage of the present invention is the provision of a cutoff device which can open to permit more convenient lateral application to an applicator for tubular bandages.

Another advantage of the present invention is the provision of an applicator for tubular bandages which is capable of being loaded with a larger quantity of tubular bandage than heretofore, and which will serve to increase the useful life of cutting means which are applied thereagainst. Moreover, the novel applicator may be advantageously employed in conjunction with the novel cutoff device of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to attain the above advantages and in order to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages, the present invention provides a bandage cutoff device for use in conjunction with a substantially cylindrical applicator for tubular bandages, said device comprising: a pair ofjaws operable to close around said applicator when applied thereto to perform a cutting operation; substantially coplanar cutting means mounted to the interior of the jaws and projecting inwardly therefrom for engagement with the surface of said applicator, the cutting means being operable to perform a cutting operation upon rotation of said jaws about the axis of said applicator. I

In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the jaws may be hinged together for move ment between open and closed positions. It shall be understood however, that the jaws may be arranged in any other conventional manner to close around the applicator (e.g. the jaws may be arranged for toggle locking). It will be apparent that the pair of jaws may comprise two separate jaws or jaw members connected together by a hinge. However, the pair of jaws may comprise a one-piece member; for example the pair ofjaws may comprise a polymeric material (e.g. hard rubber or polyethylene) ring which is split and whose inner surface is axially scored for hingelike flexibility at a position diametrically opposite the split.

It is also preferred that means he provided which have a snap action, such as a spring, to retain said jaws in either of said two positions. It shall, of course, be understood that the application of force to the jaws by the person using the cutoff device will serve to overcome the position-retentive urging of such spring-retaining means.

In accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cutting means may comprise at least one cuttingblade (e.g. a part of the edge of a razor blade) which is disposed with its plane perpendicular to the axis of the cutoff device when it is in its closed position. It is further preferred that said cutting means comprise four coplanar cutting blades, said four cutting blades being substantially uniformly spaced relative to each other.

According to a further preferred embodiment, it is desirable that the jaws form a substantially closed ring when in a closed position. However, it shall be understood that the jaws may be constructed in any manner which will permit them to close or clamp about a lateral section of the bandage applicator; for example, each jaw may be in the form of a U-shaped laminar member to thereby form a substantially closed square in cross section when the jaws are in a closed position.

It is further preferred that the plane of said coplanar cutting means be disposed centrally between the sides of said jaws. Such central disposition of the cutting means will permit the applicationof the cutoff device to the bandage applicator in either of the two lateral orientations of the cutoff device.

The present invention further provides a novel applicator for tubular bandages comprising a hollow cylindrical member having a channel formed onthe outer surface thereof and integrally therewith, said channel being disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said hollow cylindrical member and in spaced adjacency to one end thereof; said hollow cylindrical member having a ridge formed on the outer surface thereof and integrally therewith, said ridge being disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said hollow cylindrical member and adjacent the other end thereof.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, said hollow cylindrical member may consist ofa material which is softer than the material from which the cutting means are made, (e.g. steel). For example the hollow cylindrical applicator may consist of plastic, hard rubber, wood, or the like, to prevent rapid dulling of the cutting means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a better understanding of the present invention and its many advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bandage cutoff device in accordance with the present invention of an applicator for tubular bandages;

fig. 2 is a plan view partly in cross section showing the cutoff device in conjunction with the bandage applicator;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the cutoff device and bandage applicator of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bandage cutoff device in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bandage cutoff device in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the novel applicator shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a cutoff device, generally indicated at 1, constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and a substantially cylindrical applicator 2- which is used to apply a tubular bandage to the body ofa per son, e.g. to a finger. It will be seen that the cutoff device 1 comprises two jaws or half-rings la, lb, which are hinged together at 4 to permit opening and closing of the jaws la, lb. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the jaws are shown in open position. The wire spring 5 serves as a spring-retaining means and urges the jaws la, lb to maintain their open position; when the jaws la, lb are closed, this spring 5 serves to retain the jaws in a closed position.

The cutting means'3 are mounted to the interior of the jaws la, lb and project inwardly therefrom. The cutting means 3 may consist of, for example, at least one knife edge or razor blade edge projection. It is preferred that the cutting means 3 lie substantially in a single plane which is perpendicular to the axis A-A (see FIGS. 2 and 3) of the cutoff device 1 and of applicator 2. Such an orientation of the plane of the cutting means 3 will permit of a clean cut of the tubular bandage as will be hereinafter described. Additionally, it is preferred that the plane of the cutting means be disposed substantially centrally between the sides 9 and 10 of the jaws la, lb. Such central disposition of the cutting plane will permit the cutoff device 1 to be applied to the applicator 2 in either of the lateral orientations of the cutoff device 1, thereby making it easy to apply the cut off device for cutting the bandage. The

cutting means 3 may also be in the form of two semicircular edges mounted along the interior of jaws la, lb. Further,"it should be noted that even in the illustrated ring shape for the cutoff device 1, the two jaws of the device need not be identical. For example, onejaw may form about a third of the ring and the other jaw may form about two-thirds of the ring. The only requirement in'this regard is that the jaws be capable of closing about a lateral section of the applicator 2 and that they open wide enough to permit thecutoff device to be applied to the applicator. Moreover, the jaws need not close to form a complete ring, and while a substantial gap between the ends of the jaws is not entirely desirable, such a gap should not affect the utility of the novel cutoff device.

While the novel bandage applicator 2, as shown, is

' preferred, any conventional, substantially cylindrical applicais provided with a ridge or shoulder 12 to permit a large quantity of tubular bandage to be loaded thereon by preventing it from slipping from the end of the applicator at which the ridge I2 is located (see FIG. 6). In this connection, it is preferred that the novel applicator be longer than equivalent conventional applicators to permit one-time loading of more tubular bandage. As shown, theapplicator 2 has a shallow channel 6 which may usefully serve to prevent the bandage 7 from slipping from the cutoff end of the applicator too easily, as will be explained hereinafter. However, the major purpose of channel 6 is to provide a recessed portion which may be scored by the cutting means during cutting operations so that the scored projections of the polyethylene do not hinder the movement of the tubular bandage during loading and unloading thereof.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, and with particular reference to FIG. 2, the required length of tubular bandage 7 is first applied to the outer periphery of the applicator 2. The applicator 2 is then placed over a specific part of a patient's body, say over a patients finger 8, the end of the bandage is held momentarily and the applicator is withdrawn away from the patients finger. thus leaving a layer of bandage 7 on the finger, for example over a medicinal ointment or dressing. When the extremity of the finger is reached, one complete turn is applied to the applicator to close the end of the bandage 7 on the finger 8, and a further covering or layer of bandage 7 may be applied by advancing the applicator 2 over the finger again. In this manner, the bandage is applied in layers until a sufficient length of the bandage is applied to the finger. It is at this point that the novel cutoff device 1 of the present invention may be employed.

In operation, the jaws of la, lb of the cutoff device 1 are open to the position shown in FIG. I. In this position, the gap between the ends lla, llb of the jaws la, lb is substantially larger than the outer diameter of the substantially cylindrical applicator 2, thereby permitting lateral application of the cutoff device 1 to the applicator 2. The jaws ofthe cutoff device may then be forced into their closed position, as shown in FIG. 2. Both of the aforedescribed operations can be performed using only one hand. In the closed position of the jaws la, lb as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, it will be seen that the cutting means 3 are in contact with the bandage 7and in fact, stretch the tubular bandage within the channel 6. To cutoff the bandage, a firm twist of the cutoff device relative to the applicator 2 about axis AA is applied. This results in the circumference of the tubular bandage being cut by a guillotine action. In order to ensure a clean cut of the tubular bandage 7, it will now be apparent that the aforementioned coplanarity of the cutting means 3 is desired. It will also be seen that if the cutting means 3 consists of four evenly spaced razor edges, the entire cutting operation can be effected by only one-quarter of a full rotation of the cutoff device 1 relative to the applicator 2. Likewise, if the cutting means consists of two continuous semicircular razor edges, the cutting operation can be performed by only a slight twist of the cutoff device 1.

FIG. 4 shows a further embodiment ofcutoff device I. From this drawing it will be seen that the jaws la, lb are two interhinged U-shaped members which can close to form a square in cross section.

As shown, FIG. 5 shows a cutoff device wherein the pair of jaws l are formed from a single member of a polymeric material such as hard rubber or plastic to permit the jaws la, lb to open and close, the one-piece hard rubber member is made flexible along one axial portion thereof by scoring the inner surface of the jaws 1 with axial score lines 13 which are parallel to the axis of the cutoff device (when in closed position). Once again, the provision of a wire spring 5 is illustrated as a spring retaining means.

Since changes and variations in details can be made in practicing the invention without departing from the spirit thereof, it is intended to include in the scope of the appended claims all such modifications as will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the description given herein.

Iclaim:

1. A tubular bandage applicator comprising the combination of a hollow cylindrical member which holds a supply of tubular bandage material and cutoff member mountable thereon for rotation therearound to perform a cutting operation on said bandage material, said hollow cylindrical member having'a channel formed on the outer surface thereof and integrally therewith; said channel being disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said hollow cylindrical member and in spa'ced adjacency to one end thereof; said hollow cylindrical member having at one end an annular flange'formed on the outer surface thereof and integrally therewith and an annular groove adjacent the other end; said cutoff member consisting of a pair ofjaws hinged together for movement between open and closed positions around the cylindrical member when applied thereto to perform a cutting operation on thetubular bandage; said cutoff member having at least one pair of' diametrically disposed coplanar cutting knives mounted on. the interioro'f the jaws and projectinginwardly therefrom for open and closed positions respectively, said spring permitting the jaws to be manually closed tightly to perform the cutting operation.

3. A bandage cutoff device according to claim 1, in which said cutting means comprises four coplanar cutting blades,

7 said four cutting blades being substantially uniformly spaced relative to each other.

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