Abstract
A diaper assist ring has a generic 3-dimensional geometric shape of a circle with a contoured outer perimeter with unique designated/specialized/and customized top front, front and rear markings. The device aligns and holds a diaper to itself by means of elasticity and friction (or clips), to empower users of limited flexibility the possibility of changing their own diapers in a timely and safe manner, warding off the negative ramifications of soiled diapers. The portion of the device that is not deeply inserted into the diaper, is clearly marked and is utilized as a handle. It is made out of hygienically lightweight rigid material(s). The combination of the device with diaper, expands the diaper; to conveniently and safely allow the user's first leg and then the second leg, to be inserted into the diaper's leg openings; in either a sitting or standing position(s); overcoming inherent dangers of loss of balance.
Claims
1. A device for assisting the donning of a diaper, said device consisting of: a rigid, non-porous ring having an unbroken contoured outer perimeter in the shape of a circle; said outer perimeter having: an upper surface, a lower surface, a front section, and a rear section; a front marking on the front section of the outer perimeter that is configured to be aligned with a front end of the diaper; a rear marking on the rear section of the outer perimeter that is configured to be aligned with a rear end of the diaper; a front gripping mechanism on the front section of the outer perimeter that is configured to be affixed to the front end of the diaper; and a rear gripping mechanism on the rear section of the outer perimeter that is configured to be affixed to the rear end of the diaper; wherein the rigid, non-porous ring is configured to be placed into the diaper perpendicular to a diaper's waist opening such that the front and rear gripping mechanisms are affixed to the front and rear end of the diaper respectively and that the lower surface is inserted into the diaper while the upper surface remains located above the waist opening.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) These and other features, aspects and advantages of the diaper assist ring will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
(2) FIG. 1: a man, an end user;
(3) FIG. 2: a woman, also an end user;
(4) FIG. 3: a set of diapers out of their packaging;
(5) FIG. 4: a diaper with elastic top and elastic leg openings;
(6) FIG. 5: a front view of a diaper with elastic top and elastic leg openings;
(7) FIG. 6: a side view of a diaper with elastic top and left leg opening;
(8) FIG. 7: a basic version of the diaper assist ring;
(9) FIG. 8: a deluxe version of the diaper assist ring with “clips”;
(10) FIG. 9: another version of the diaper assist ring, with ribbed surface texture;
(11) FIG. 9A: a side view of the version of the diaper assist ring shown in FIG. 9, wherein the curved perimeter is ribbed;
(12) FIG. 10A: another version of the diaper assist ring, with flat perimeter;
(13) FIG. 10B: a side view of the version of the diaper assist ring shown in FIG. 10A with flat edge;
(14) FIG. 11: another version of the diaper assist ring with smaller open end adjusting size into larger open end;
(15) FIG. 12: another version of the diaper assist ring where smaller components join together to make one unit of diaper assist ring;
(16) FIG. 13: the diaper assist ring inserted in a (expanded) diaper;
(17) FIG. 14: the diaper assist ring inserted in a (expanded) diaper with a user's right leg inserted into the diaper, through the right-side leg opening of the diaper;
(18) FIG. 15: a top view of the diaper assist ring with user's right leg (only) inserted into the diaper's right leg opening;
(19) FIG. 16: a top view of the diaper assist ring with the user's both legs inserted in the diaper through the right leg diaper opening and the left diaper opening of the diaper, respectively; the diaper is stretched by the user's stance and the diaper assist ring become free of tension and then the end user simply and conveniently removes the free-floating loose diaper assist ring;
(20) FIG. 17: a top view of the diaper with the user's right leg and the left leg inserted into the diaper, through the right diaper opening and the left diaper opening of the diaper, respectively, with the diaper assist ring removed with the diaper already pulled up upon the end user's waist; and
(21) FIG. 18: the user wearing a diaper, pulled up to their waistband.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
(22) A diaper assist ring 10 (as shown in FIG. 7) is described in detail as shown on the Figs.
(23) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a man and a woman, end users 15, respectively. As men and women age become less flexible or become disabled in some capacity, personal hygiene may become a challenging problem. The diaper assist ring 10 (also described as the “diaper assist device”) described herein is to assist users putting on their diapers 20.
(24) FIGS. 3 and 4 show a set of diapers out of their packaging and a diaper 20 with elastic top 25, respectively. Because of the diapers often require tight or snug fit on the waist 26, the top portion 30 of the diaper often has an elastic portion 25 (or a crumpled portion), allowing the elastic portion 25 to stretch and fit the waist 26 of the user 15. Such an elastic top 25 and soft diapers 20 are all neatly crumpled and packaged for packing, but crumpled, packaged diapers 20 often cause a problem for seniors, handicapped, or disabled persons. In order to put on a diaper 20, such a person would have to hold on to the diaper 20, holding and stretching the diaper 20, while trying to put the legs 35, 40 through the diaper leg openings 55, 50 (a left diaper leg opening 55 and a right diaper leg opening 50, shown on FIG. 5), risking the loss of balance causing dangerous situations. Putting on diapers 20 is a problem for certain seniors and disabled which is a difficult and maybe even be a dangerous task, that it might require assistance.
(25) FIG. 5 shows a front view of an expanded diaper 20 with its right side 56 and its left side 57, and FIG. 6 show the left side view of an expanded diaper 20. FIG. 5 shows an expanded diaper 20 with an elastic top 25 with an upper opening 45, a left diaper leg opening 50 for inserting the user's right leg and a left diaper leg opening 55 for inserting the user's left leg 40. The elastic top 25 forms an upper opening 45, exposing an inner-front section 60, an inner-rear section 65, a right-inside 70, and a left-inside 75 of the diaper.
(26) FIG. 6 shows the right side 56 of the diaper and the right diaper leg opening 55 for inserting the user's left leg 40.
(27) FIG. 7 shows a version of the diaper assist ring 10. The diaper assist ring 10 has an outer perimeter 80 having a front section 85 and a rear section 90. The outer perimeter 80 defines the shape of the diaper assist ring 10. The diaper assist ring 10 is a ring shape. The diaper assist ring 10 is marked with a front-end marking 100 to indicate the front section marking 85 of the diaper assist ring 10 and a rear-end marking 105 to indicate the rear section 90 of the diaper assist ring 10. The diaper assist ring 10 is also marked with has top front band indicator marking 110 to indicate the top front upper side 115 of the diaper assist ring 10 so the user is ensured of holding the diaper assist ring 10 with the proper orientation; the front-end marking 100 toward the front of the user and the rear-end marking 105 toward the back of the user. It is imperative to have the upper marking 110 placed in between the portion of the outer perimeter 80 used as a handle 120 and the front-end marking 100, at the upper-front side 121 of the outer perimeter 80, so the user can see the diaper assist ring 10 is properly oriented while the user is holding the diaper assist ring 10 during the changing of the diaper. The outer perimeter 80 is held as a handle 120 so the diaper assist ring 10 is placed in a diaper 20 with the front section 85 placed at the inner-front section 60 of the diaper 20 and the rear section 90 is placed at the inner-rear section 65 of the diaper 20, allowing a right leg 35 to be inserted in between the diaper assist ring 10 and a right-inside 70 of the diaper 20, through the right diaper opening 50, and allowing a left leg to be inserted in between the diaper assist ring 10 and a left-inside 55 of the diaper 20, through the left diaper leg opening 50.
(28) FIG. 8 shows deluxe version of the diaper assist ring 10. This version of the diaper assist ring 10 has a front-attaching article 125, shown as a clip 130, located on the front section 85, and a rear-attaching article 135, also shown as a clip 130, located on the rear section 90. FIG. 8 shows the front-attaching article 125 located on or near the front-end marking 100, and the rear-attaching article 135 located on or near the rear-end marking 105. The inventor believes this version, of using clips, could benefit some end users when the diaper 20 and the diaper assist ring 10 are completely compatible.
(29) FIG. 9 and FIG. 9A shows another version of the diaper assist ring 10 the makings 110 top front indicator band, 100 right front alignment mark and 105 rear alignment mark, with an upper side 115 and a lower side 140. In this version, the surface of the diaper assist ring has a ribbed surface FIG. 9A 141 to offer greater friction surface to the tension produced by the elastic of the diaper 25. FIG. 9A is the sideview of FIG. 9, showing the ribbed texture of the surface 141, available in both molded and tubular forms.
(30) FIG. 10A shows another version of the diaper assist ring 10, with the makings 110 top front indicator band, 100 right front alignment mark and 105 rear alignment mark, and FIG. 10B is a side view of the version of the diaper assist ring 10 shown in FIG. 10A. The diaper assist ring 10 shown here is in a shape of a ring. It has a smooth surface or a textured surface. It may also have a round cylindrical cross section or a various shaped cylindrical cross section, including having straight edges. FIG. 10B shows that the diaper assist ring 10 shown has straight edges, such that a cross section of the diaper assist ring 10 along the radius has a substantially square shape.
(31) FIG. 11 shows another version of the diaper assist ring 10 with the makings 110 top front indicator band, 100 right front alignment mark and 105 rear alignment mark. In this version, the outer perimeter 80 has a first end 150 and a second end 155, the first end has a blunt shape 160 and the second end has a conical shape 165. 165 is inserted into 160 to close the loop to the required size needed for the diaper assist ring 10 to match the size of the diaper 20. The inventor prefers the outer perimeter 80 forming a closed loop 170. It should be noted that the blunt end 175 may be designed to accept the conical shaped end 180, by having male-female threads, hook-and-pile attachments, click-and-lock attachments, or other commercially acceptable methods. Such a design would require a portion of the outer perimeter to be substantially flexible so that the outer perimeter 80 may form a closed loop.
(32) FIG. 12 shows another version of the diaper assist ring 10 with the makings 110 top front indicator band, 100 right front alignment mark and 105 rear alignment mark. In this version, the outer perimeter 80 is formed by a plurality of inter-connecting arc-shaped pieces 185. Each of the inter-connecting arc-shaped pieces 185 has one end designed to accept a joining end of the other inter-connecting arc-shaped piece.
(33) FIG. 13 show the diaper assist ring 10 inserted in a diaper 20. The diaper 20 is stretched so that the elastic top accepts the diaper assist ring fittingly (or snuggly or tightly). The inner-front section 25 of the diaper 20 aligns with the front-end marking 100 of the diaper assist ring 10 and the inner-rear section 25 of the diaper 20 aligns with the rear-end marking 105 of the diaper assist ring 10. As shown in FIG. 13, the diaper assist ring 10 is inserted vertically, with the upper side 120 towards the head of the user, visible to the user. The top front marking 110 is visible to the user indicating that the diaper assist ring 10 is properly positioned on the front of the diaper 20.
(34) FIG. 14 shows the diaper assist ring 10 with the makings 110 top front indicator band, 100 right front alignment mark and 105 rear alignment mark, shows the diaper 20 with an end user's right leg 35 inserted into the diaper 20, through the right diaper opening 55 of the diaper 20.
(35) FIG. 15 is a top view of the diaper assist ring 10 with the makings 110 top front indicator band, 100 right front alignment mark and 105 rear alignment mark. inserted in the diaper 20 with the user's right leg 35 (only) through the right diaper leg opening 55 of the diaper 20, respectively. The diaper assist ring 10 holds the elastic top 25 along with the top portion 30 expanded across the diaper 20 wide enough that the user's right leg 35 can be inserted into the diaper 20, in between the diaper assist ring 10 and directly into the right leg opening 55 of the diaper 20.
(36) FIG. 16 is a top view of the diaper assist ring 10 with the makings 110 top front indicator band, 100 right front alignment mark and 105 rear alignment mark, after the left leg 40 has been inserted into diaper leg opening 50. The diaper 20 is now expanded by the width of the end user's stance and the diaper assist ring 10 is release by the lack of contact with diaper's elastic forces. FIG. 16 shows the diaper assist ring 10 is free of tension and is released and floating freely, with the appearance that it has rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise as the tension is released. As the diaper assist ring 10 is released, the user can easily remove the diaper assist ring 10 from the diaper 20 and store it away.
(37) FIG. 17 show a top view of the diaper 20 with the user's right leg 35 and the left leg 40 inserted into the diaper 20, through the right diaper leg opening 55 and the left diaper leg opening 50 of the diaper 20, respectively, with the diaper assist ring removed.
(38) FIG. 18 shows the user 15 with the diaper 20 properly placed at the user's waist 26.
(39) While the description, drawings, and references have presented, shown, and described with reference to different embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations in form, detail, compositions, and operation may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
