Special receptacle or package – For roll or reel – Concatenated articles
Utility Patent
1997-10-17
2001-01-02
Fidei, David T. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For roll or reel
Concatenated articles
C206S278000
Utility Patent
active
06168019
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a device for absorption and containment of waste material for subsequent disposal, and more specifically, to a plurality of said devices arranged in a spiral roll dispensing structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of hand-held disposable devices for waste material clean-up and containment have been developed. A number of waste handling articles have been proposed in which a glove or mitt-like article is first placed upon a user's hand and used to pick up and/or absorb the waste, and then is “everted” (turned inside-out) to form a “container” or “receptacle” for enclosing the waste within for disposal. Some of these waste handling articles may be tied or otherwise sealed to provide a closed container for disposal of the waste. Such waste handling articles may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,186,445; 4,768,818; 3,596,798; 4,034,853; 4,788,733; 4,677,697; 4,964,188; and 5,301,806.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,188 to Olson discloses a hand-held clean up-device which includes a flexible plastic bag. A glove or hand recess for receiving a user's hand is disposed within the flexible bag prior to use. An absorbent pad is provided to absorb liquid or semi-liquid waste. The flexible bag is evertible after use to form a container to facilitate subsequent disposal of the waste material and absorbent pad. The clean-up device includes drawstrings or similar closures to seal the bag prior to disposal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,806, also to Olson, discloses a firer development of the Olson '188 patent. These disposal devices are particularly adapted for the clean-up and subsequent disposal of hazardous, infectious, and toxic wastes.
Typical of many such clean-up devices in the manner of deployment for use, devices according to the Olson '188 and '806 patents are typically dispensed to a user in individual form; commonly a plurality of such clean-up devices are individually folded and provided to the user in a box or stack package. Deployment of these and similar clean-up devices requires the user first open the box or carton, obtain a single device from the box or stack, after indexing and separating the single device from the underlying or adjoining device, and then don the device by inserting his or her hand into the hand recess. As a result of the user touching the adjoining devices or their packaging during such an index and separation procedure, a potential exists for contamination of the entire group of devices. Furthermore, such an index, separation, and donning procedure is often cumbersome, especially when the user is wearing another protective inner glove, as recommended when handling certain wastes. This index, separation and donning procedure is also often time inefficient, a limitation that may be detrimental if the user desires to quickly contain and dispose certain spills.
The above described technique for accessing these prior clean-up and containment devices leaves much to be desired in terms of ease and time rate with which the clean-up device are properly deployed from their packaged state prior to use. Equally important, the prior art packaging approaches for such clean-up devices provide limited protection against cross-contamination. A small amount of waste chemical or material transferred or otherwise discharged upon the box or stack of clean-up devices may easily contaminate an entire group.
The technique of dispensing disposable gloves from a roll or arrayed dispenser is also known, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,677,697 and 4,773,532. However, this method has proven suitable only for two-layered articles such as gloves which may be fabricated in sheet form from two parallel plies of material which may be bonded together to form the enclosed articles. In addition, the art in this area teaches orienting the hand-receiving openings along the perforated joining edges, which unduly restricts donning the glove. Such methods are not suitable for the manufacture and use of a multi-layer clean-up device having a combined bag, mitt, and absorbent-material layer.
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for access for a plurality of material-containment devices to be individually provided to and donned by a user in a more efficient manner.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a spiral roll package of material-containment devices from which individual devices are readily dispensed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a package of material-containment devices resistant to contamination during storage and handling, and amenable to low cost manufacture.
These objects and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In fulfillment of the above and other objectives, the present invention relates to material-containment devices, and more particularly to an arranged plurality of hand-held material containment and disposal devices. The device of the present invention includes a flexible bag having an interior surface and an exterior surface. A hand-receiving structure is preferably included within the flexible bag (or may be defined by the bag itself) and is adapted to receive at least a portion of the user's hand to facilitate use of the device. Preferably, the hand-receiving structure is leak-proof and generally conforms to the width of the user's hand. Alternatively, the hand-receiving structure may generally conform to the shape of the user's hand, having an outline which is glove or mitt shaped and may be ambidextrous. An outer absorbent pad or layer is provided over at least part of the exterior surface of the bag for material absorption or capture. Subsequent to the absorption or capture of waste material(s), the flexible bag may be everted to create a receptacle for containing the waste material. The device of the present invention further includes a closure structure for sealing the contents within the receptacle prior to disposal.
The present invention further relates to a plurality of the above described material containment and disposal devices which are arranged and interconnected into an array form. The present invention still further relates to a spiral roll form of an arrayed plurality of material-containment devices which promotes ease of use and efficient access to an individual device.
The packaging approach of the present invention allows the user to quickly and efficiently separate adjoining material-containment devices with minimized potential for cross-contamination.
In illustrated embodiments, the material-containment devices are provided in a spiral roll form, with a user-separable connection structure between adjoining devices. Preferably, the roll of material-containment devices may be maintained within a wall-mounted roll holding apparatus, placed upon a vertical roll holder, or simply reside within a box or carton. The user-separable connection structure between adjoining material-containment devices may, for example, include a perforated structure, or a strip of releasable adhesive material. In illustrated embodiments, the individual material-containment devices are separably connected to adjacent devices by perforated-connection structures which are adequate to hold the devices together, yet not so strong as to damage the devices upon detachment. Preferably, the perforated connection structures are transverse tear lines which are uniformly spaced along the length of the array. In the illustrated embodiment, the hand-receiving structures of adjoining material-containment devices are oriented generally parallel to the tear lines. In another embodiment of the invention, the material-containment devices may be arranged so that the accesses to the hand-receiving structures alternate between a left side and a right side of the roll. Applicant has found that the benefits of providing a plurality of devices in array form and orienting the hand-receiving structure and opening in the described manner
Eggink Anthony G.
Fidei David T.
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