BANDAGE WITH REMOVABLE CAP

Abstract

A bandage has a substantially planar, flexible substrate with an upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface of the substrate has a raised portion having a quad lobe outline and being formed of circles or ovals. A layer of adhesive is attached to the lower surface of the substrate. An aperture is formed through the substrate, and a substantially planar cap is provided having boundaries and dimensions sufficient to cover the aperture. A hinge is optionally attached to one boundary of the cap and to the substrate, so the cap may be removed or replaced or slid aside to view a wound normally covered thereby.

Claims

1. A bandage comprising: a) a substantially planar, flexible substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface, the upper surface of the substrate having a raised portion; b) a layer of adhesive attached to the lower surface of the substrate; c) an aperture formed through the substrate; and d) a substantially planar cap having boundaries and dimensions sufficient to cover the aperture.

2. The bandage in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: e) a hinge attached to one boundary of the cap and to the substrate.

3. The bandage in accordance with claim 2, wherein the hinge is a living hinge.

4. The bandage in accordance with claim 1, wherein the aperture has rectilinear borders.

5. The bandage in accordance with claim 1, wherein the raised portion of the substrate comprises a quad lobe outline.

6. The bandage in accordance with claim 5, wherein the quad lobe outline is formed from shapes selected from a group of shapes consisting of circles and ovals.

7. The bandage in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cap is removable.

8. The bandage in accordance with claim 6, wherein the cap is replaceable.

9. The bandage in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cap is permanently mounted on the raised portion of the substrate.

10. The bandage in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cap is adapted to slide from an original position on the raised portion of the substrate.

11. A bandage comprising: a) a substantially planar, flexible substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface; b) a layer of adhesive attached to the lower surface of the substrate; c) an aperture formed through the substrate; and d) a substantially planar cap having boundaries and dimensions sufficient to cover the aperture.

12. The bandage in accordance with claim 11, further comprising: e) a hinge attached to one boundary of the cap and to the substrate.

13. The bandage in accordance with claim 12, wherein the hinge is a living hinge.

14. The bandage in accordance with claim 11, wherein the cap is removable.

15. The bandage in accordance with claim 12, wherein the cap is replaceable.

16. The bandage in accordance with claim 11, wherein the cap is permanently mounted on the substrate.

17. The bandage in accordance with claim 11, wherein the cap is adapted to slide from an original position on the substrate.

18. The bandage in accordance with claim 11, wherein the substrate has a shape chosen from a set of shapes consisting of: irregular, square, circular, regular polygonal, and irregular polygonal.

19. A bandage comprising: a) a substantially planar, flexible substrate having an upper surface and a lower surface, the upper surface of the substrate having a raised portion, and wherein the raised portion of the substrate comprises a quad lobe outline formed from shapes selected from a group of shapes consisting of circles and ovals; and b) a layer of adhesive attached to the lower surface of the substrate; and wherein the substrate has a shape chosen from a set of shapes consisting of: irregular, square, circular, regular polygonal, and irregular polygonal.

20. The bandage in accordance with claim 19, wherein the circles and ovals of the quad lobe are at least partially overlapping.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunction with the subsequent detailed description, in which:

[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic, plan, exploded view of a portion of an adhesive bandage with an associated cap in accordance with the invention;

[0020] FIG. 2 is a schematic, plan, exploded view of a portion of an adhesive bandage in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

[0021] FIG. 3 is a schematic, plan, exploded view of a portion of an adhesive bandage in accordance with yet another embodiment the invention; and

[0022] FIG. 4 is a schematic, plan, exploded view of a portion of an adhesive bandage in accordance with still another embodiment the invention.

[0023] Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] Although the following detailed description contains specific details for the purposes of illustration, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that variations and alterations to the following details are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention described below are set forth without any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the claimed invention.

[0025] A bandage is provided with a substantially planar, flexible substrate with an upper surface and a lower surface. A layer of adhesive is attached to the lower surface of the substrate. An aperture is formed through the substrate, and a substantially planar cap is provided having boundaries and dimensions sufficient to cover the aperture. A hinge is optionally attached to one boundary of the cap and to the substrate, so the cap may be removed or replaced or slid aside to view a wound normally covered thereby.

[0026] Referring now to FIG. 1, a bandage 10 is shown having an irregular shape. Bandage 10 has a flexible substrate 12, generally planar and fabricated from plastic, fabric, or other suitable material well known in the art. The lower surface of substrate 12 is covered with adhesive 14, also well known in the art. During storage and shipping, adhesive 14 is covered with a removable sheet of material, not shown, to preserve adhesive 14 prior to use on a wound of a patient, not shown.

[0027] A raised surface 16, in the preferred embodiment, is formed on the upper surface of substrate 12. Raised surface 16 consists of a quad lobe of material formed as overlapping circles or ovals or portions thereof, creating negative pressure of bandage 10 on a wound of a patient. The overlapping circles or ovals or portions thereof in the quad lobe configuration are not necessarily of the same size. Other shapes of materials can form the quad lobe and are also within the scope of the invention.

[0028] Disposed approximately in the middle of substrate 12 is an aperture 18 having rectilinear borders, as shown, although other shapes are also within the scope of the invention. Aperture 18 extends through both substrate 12 and raised surface 16, and provides means to inspect, monitor, re-medicate, clean, provide diagnostic or delivery of substances to the wound.

[0029] A cap 20 is provided having dimensions sufficiently large to cover aperture 18. Cap 20 is also fabricated from plastic, fabric, or other suitable material well known in the art. Optionally, cap 20 may have a hinge 21 at one of the borders thereof so cap 20 may be peeled back to accomplish an inspecting, monitoring, re-medicating, cleaning, providing diagnostic or delivery of substances task, as desired. Hinge 21 may be a living hinge. Alternatively, cap 20 can be fixed to raised surface 16 permanently by means of adhesive, not shown. In other embodiments, cap 20 can be slid away from aperture 18 to facilitate the aforementioned tasks. The aperture 18 and cap 20 structure can also form the basis of sensors, not shown, for vital monitoring, GPS, lab analysis (vitamin/mineral), Negative Pressure Wound Therapy, etc.

[0030] Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, bandages 10 having substrates 22, 24, and 26, respectively, are shown with triangular, circular, and square shapes, respectively. These and all other shapes of substrates (e.g., regular and irregular polygons, etc.) are considered within the scope of the invention, as long as such substrates can support raised surfaces, apertures, and caps, as described hereinabove.

[0031] All references throughout this application, for example patent documents including issued or granted patents or equivalents; patent application publications; and non-patent literature documents or other source material; are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, as though individually incorporated by reference, to the extent each reference is at least partially not inconsistent with the disclosure in this application (for example, a reference that is partially inconsistent is incorporated by reference except for the partially inconsistent portion of the reference).

[0032] The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. Thus, it should be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments, exemplary embodiments and optional features, modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims. The specific embodiments provided herein are examples of useful embodiments of the present invention and it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be carried out using a great number of variations of the devices, device components, and method steps set forth in the present description. As will be obvious to one of skill in the art, methods, and devices useful for the present methods can include a great number of optional composition and processing elements and steps.

[0033] Whenever a range is given in the specification, for example, a temperature range, a time range, or a composition or concentration range, all intermediate ranges and subranges, as well as all individual values included in the ranges given are intended to be included in the disclosure. It will be understood that any subranges or individual values in a range or subrange that are included in the description herein can be excluded from the claims herein.

[0034] All patents and publications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the levels of skill of those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains. References cited herein are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety to indicate the state of the art as of their publication or filing date and it is intended that this information can be employed herein, if needed, to exclude specific embodiments that are in the prior art.

[0035] As used herein, “comprising” is synonymous with “including,” “containing,” or “characterized by,” and is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps. As used herein, “consisting of” excludes any element, step, or ingredient not specified in the claim element. As used herein, “consisting essentially of” does not exclude materials or steps that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the claim. In each instance herein any of the terms “comprising”, “consisting essentially of,” and “consisting of” may be replaced with either of the other two terms. The invention illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element or elements, limitation or limitations which is not specifically disclosed herein.

[0036] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that starting materials, biological materials, reagents, synthetic methods, purification methods, analytical methods, assay methods, and biological methods other than those specifically exemplified can be employed in the practice of the invention without resort to undue experimentation. All art-known functional equivalents, of any such materials and methods are intended to be included in this invention. The terms and expressions which have been employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention that in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed. Thus, it should be understood that although the present invention has been specifically disclosed by preferred embodiments and optional features, modification and variation of the concepts herein disclosed may be resorted to by those skilled in the art, and that such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

[0037] Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention.

[0038] Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.