Special receptacle or package – For body treatment article or material
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-10
2003-04-01
Foster, Jim (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For body treatment article or material
C220S839000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06540078
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to containers for holding articles, especially medical dressings and utensils, which is adapted when opened to be used also as a sterile working surface for the articles.
When nurses are required to tend a patient, often they will require articles such as dressings and medicaments for the patient. In addition any implements used during treatment must be kept sterile and must not come into contact with sterile surfaces.it is convenient to provide the dressings, medicaments and any implements in a sterile wrapping for use by the nurse, and conventionally such sterile wrappings have been in the form of a paper wrapping around the articles. In use the paper can be unwrapped and laid out on a surface in order to provide a sterile covering for, or a “sterile field” on, the work surface. The articles can be laid out on the paper surface or sterile field for use. There are disadvantages in such a wrapping, such as that the articles are not very secure on the surface and the paper is an extra item that needs to be disposed of. In addition, the paper surface or other sterile field may not lie satisfactorily flat and the user is tempted to smooth the surface by hand. In doing so there is a risk that they do not use gloves and so contaminate the sterile field.
The invention provides a closable container adapted, when opened, to form a multi part tray comprising at least 3 tray elements connected together, characterised in that each such tray element has points of support for its base (in relation to the surface on which the tray is placed) which are substantially co-planar with the points of support of the other such tray elements. In this context points of support for the base may be generally the lower surface of the base or specific protrusions adapted for supporting the base, both as described below.
In a preferred aspect, the invention provides a container which is suitable for use as a clean, preferably sterile, surface on which to work and to use the contents of the container, in particular to provide a sterile field for use with medical dressings and the like.
In a further preferred aspect, the invention provides such a container which is disposable. In particular, following use of medical dressings or the like the user will wish to dispose of the dressings and other items used in the treatment. It is desirable to provide a container for these which can conveniently be disposed of, and which is sufficiently cheap that disposal is commercially sensible. Accordingly the invention further provides disposable such containers.
By disposable in this context is meant an article which is not intended for continued repeated use. In practice it may be adapted for only single use. Accordingly, as hereinafter described it is convenient to make such articles as integral plastic mouldings. In choosing a suitable moulding materials. weights and dimensions, it is an advantage that such articles may be relatively non-durable (whilst being sufficiently strong to maintain integrity of the container in limited use), as distinct from what would be required for repeated use. For example, a lighter article means that less material is used in the article and its disposal is less costly in material terms. For example, articles in accordance with the invention have been made with weights in the range up to 150 gm. preferably up to 100 gm, particularly in the range 50 to 80 gm.
Preferably the container is adapted so that the tray elements form the enclosure of the container. When closed the container can provide one or more enclosures within the container for holding the thing(s) to be contend.
When fully opened the tray can be placed on a flat supporting surface and each of the tray elements will have points of contact with the supporting surface so that that tray element is reasonably secure. When such tray element has supporting contact with the supporting surface it may be used for working on and the risk that the whole tray will be distorted by such working, and accordingly that the contents of the tray may be upset, is reduced.
Preferably the tray elements are connected together by hinges between adjacent tray elements.
The hinge means may be provided along the whole of the length of the adjacent edges of two adjacent tray elements, or along parts of it. For example the hinge means may comprise a section of flexible plastics material linking the two adjacent tray elements together. The section of plastics material may be moulded or scored in a manner to provide a preferential hinge line or more than one preferential hinge line. For example the area of the hinge line may be weakened by scoring; or the adjacent plastics material may be strengthened in some manner, for example by ribbing; or a rib may be provided along the hinge line to encourage bending in the region of that rib. Such hinges may be in the form of living hinges of known type
Conveniently the hinge means may also be adapted to ensure that two adjacent tray elements, when folded together, lie substantially over one another and, when opened, have their points of support for their respective bases substantially co-planar. The hinge means may comprise a spacer element to space the hinge line(s) from one or both adjacent tray elements, and/or may have more than one preferential hinge line about which the adjacent tray elements may be folded. For example, the hinge element may conveniently comprise a flexible plastics material section joining the adjacent tray elements and having two substantially parallel hinge lines spaced apart by a spacing element, such that the hinge element is articulated. The hinge element may conveniently have a dog-leg or step in it to assist in alignment of the parts when in the open and closed positions.
Preferably, the hinge element is adapted such that it adopts at least one stable open position such that the support points for the bases of adjacent tray elements are substantially co-planar. This may be achieved by the moulding process, for example, the hinge element may retain a “memory” of the desired open position, or by other means such as, for example, a butterfly type hinge of the type known from, for example, flip top bottle caps.
The tray elements are preferably in the form of a base surrounded by generally upstanding side walls. Usually, the base will be generally flat, but may have moulded components as described below. On the lower surface of the base (the underside of the tray element), there will be provided “base support points”. Usually the “base support points” will be the lower (under) surface of the tray element itself. In this case there is less risk that the tray element will itself distort when pressure is applied to the surface. However, they may be provided by, for example, protrusions from the surface which may form feet to support the base of the tray element. This may be desirable where the surface on which the container is likely to be opened is not itself a smooth surface.
Some or all of the tray elements may be provided with further flange sections extending from the surrounding side walls in order to facilitate the formation of a closed container, or adapted to locate adjacent tray elements so that their base support points lie substantially on this same plane. For example, such flanges may be provided on one tray element such that they engage the upstanding side walls on the adjacent tray element, when that element is folded over to cover the first tray element. In one embodiment the flanges are in the form of continuous extension of the existing side walls of the tray element, but are folded outwards and downwards so as to form a skirt encompassing the tops of the side walls of the tray element, the outer surface of the skirt being complementary in profile to the inner surface of the side walls of the adjacent tray element so that, when the adjacent tray element is folded over, it mates onto the skirt section.
The tray elements preferably each have a generally tray shaped form, and may be in the form of plain tray elements comprising only a base and surroundin
Farboud John
Homent Matthew
Cowan Liebowitz & Latman P.C.
Foster Jim
Montague Mark
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