WO1993017644A1

WO1993017644A1 - An incontinence guard

Info

Publication number: WO1993017644A1
Application number: PCT/SE1992/000128
Authority: WO
Inventors: Axel G:Son Rappe
Original assignee: Rappe Axel G Son
Priority date: 1990-12-05
Filing date: 1992-03-02
Publication date: 1993-09-16
Also published as: EP0629127A1; SE9003871D0; SE467193B

Abstract

An incontinence guard for males who suffer light incontinence. The invention is characterized in that the guard is comprised of a hood (1) which is intended to be fitted onto the forward end of the wearer's penis and which is made of the same material and has generally the same cross-sectional dimensions as a condom; and in that the hood, when worn, has a length of about 3 to 5 centimeters.

Description

An Incontinence Guard The present invention relates to an incontinence guard, i.e. an auxiliary device for male incontinent who are unable to control their evacuative functions.

It is comparitively normal for males to suffer light incontinence, and various types of incontinence guards are available for males who suffer in this way. One such incontinence guard has the form of a funnel which contains a liquid-absorbing substance. The guard is intended to placed around the penis and held in position by the wearer's underclothes. This guard is also extremely effective for people who suffer heavy incontinence, since the guard is able to absorb a relatively large amount of liquid. There are also people, however, who suffer very slight incontinence, for example people who discharge involuntarily from 5 to 15 drops of urine every twelve hours or so. This affliction raiders it necessary to use same form of guard or protection. Many people consider this affliction so slight as to render the use of the aforesaid guard too troublesome and uncomfortable to be worthwhile.

The present invention relates to an incontinence guard which is discrete and which will not cause discomfort to the wearer.

The present invention thus relates to an incontinence guard for males who are slightly incontinent, and is characterized in that the guard has the form of a hood which is fitted onto the forward part of the penis and which is made from the same material and has generally the same cross-sectional dimensions as a condom; and in that when in use the hood has a length from about 3 to 5 centimeters.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplifying embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 shows an inventive incontience guard in its position of use. The inventive guard is comprised of a hood 1 which is intended, to be fitted over the front end of the wearer's penis. The hood 1 is made of the same material as a condom and has generally the same cross-sectional dimensions as a condom. The inventive guard can also be manufactured by the same techniques as those used to manufacture condoms. When in use, the hood, has a length of about 3 to 6

centimeters. The limited length of the hood, means that the guard will only be seated on the front part of the penis, and the skin on the remaining part of the penis will breath normally. This means that the hood, can be worn comfortably and that the guard will not give rise to the same feelings of discomfort as those caused by guards which surround the whole of the penis and absorb liquid discharged into the guard.

According to one preferred embodiment, the opening 2 of the hood 1 is provided with a reinforcing edge 3 which extends circumferentially around the opening. This reinforcement is similar to the reinforcement provided around the opening of a condom. The reinforcement is provided with a constriction which is located behind the glans penis, although without affecting the urethra, and therewith ensures that the hood will remain in place until changed. According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the hood 1 is provided at its forward part with an outwardly-extending part 4 in which the urine discharged can be contained. The part 4 may be configured so as to accommodate from 10-30 droplets of urine, for example. The outwardly-projecting part 4 may have a length of, e.g., 10-15 mm, whereas the remainder of the guard has a length of 20-40 mm.

The inventive guard is intended for one-time use any and is therefore replaced after each visit to the lavatory. It will be evident from the aforegoing that the inventive guard is comfortable to wear and is only intended for people whose incontinence problem is not greater than that which can be handled by the inventive guard. The inventive guard can also be used by bed wetters. As will be understood, the described and illustrated guard can be modified with regard to length and volume, among other things.

The invention is not therefore restricted to the aforedescribed exemplifying embodiment thereof, since modifications can be made within the scope of the following Claims.

Claims

1. An incontinence guard for males who suffer slight incontinence, characteri zed in that the guard is comprised of a hood (1) which is intended to be fitted onto the forward part of the wearer's penis and which is made of generally the same material and has generally the same cross-section dimensions as a condom; and in that the hood, when worn, has a length of about 3-6 centimeters.

2. An incontinence guard according to Claim 1, characterized in that the forward part of the hood (1) has a configuration such as to provide a volume (4) for accommodating discharged urine.

3. An incontinence guard according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized by a reinforcement edge (3) which extends circumferen- tially around the opening (2) of the hood (1), said reinforcement edge being of the same kind as that provided around the opening of a standard condom.