Surgery – Truss – Pad
Patent
1982-05-20
1985-02-12
Rosenbaum, C. Fred
Surgery
Truss
Pad
128151, A61F 1100, A61F 1102
Patent
active
044984693
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to sound-damping ear plugs of the kind including an elongate body of elastic material surrounded by a sheath of flexible material, which is intended to be inserted in the auditory meatus or canal of an ear, and to the production of such ear plugs.
PRIOR ART
Ear plugs of the kind mentioned above, where the sheath or casing comprises a moulded rubber material or the like, have been known for a very long time. In such cases, the sheath is comparatively thick and made so that it is yielding but simultaneously has a tendency to return to its predetermined shape in an unloaded condition. The ear plugs can have a tapering or rounded tip or forward portion, and at their rear portion they can include or be provided with a specially formed gripping or retaining portion, intended for accommodation in the external ear. Examples of ear plugs of this kind are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,675 and DE OS No. 1,929,431.
Ear plugs of the kind mentioned in the introduction, where the sheath comprises a thin plastic film are also already known.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,521 discloses an ear plug comprising a cylindrical body made from a tacky polymeric material (silicone putty) entirely enclosed in a plastics film sheet swept round the body, and fused to a knob at the rear end of the body.
In our Swedish Pat. No. 7603411-5 there is described an ear plug comprising a body of mineral fibre material surrounded by a sheath of thin plastics film. The body comprises a substantially cylindrical portion, intended for insertion in the auditory meatus of an ear, and an expanded end portion intended for at least partially filling up the concha outside the auditory meatus after the plug has been inserted. The plastics film sheath is swept round the body so that longitudinal creases are formed in it, the plug being fixed by a circumferential heat weld being arranged in the film substantially at the juncture between the cylindrical portion and the expanded end portion.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a new ear plug of the kind mentioned in the introduction, in which the sheath comprises a thin flexible plastics material and which affords improved sound attenuation or damping properties as well as simplified handling.
An other object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus enabling the production of an ear plug in accordance with the above in an advantageous mode.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above-mentioned objects are achieved by the ear plug, as well as the method and apparatus for producing it being given the characterising features defined in the appended claims.
The inventive ear plug is thus distinguished in that the sheath is provided by deep-drawing a thermoplastic film or foil. Preferred plastics materials for the sheath are polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PUR) and particularly polyethylene (PE).
With regard to the plastics material it should have high values for tensile strength and elongation at break, and a relatively low value for the tensile yield. As far as possible, said values should be the same in different directions. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the plastics material should furthermore have small recovery after drawing, i.e. small shrinkage after drawing. The use of a plastics material with similar properties lengthwise and crosswise is especially advantageous, since the material can be extensively deep-drawn (i.e. the general thickness of the sheath in the drawn portions can be very small) with retained capacity of the sheath to maintain the enclosed elastic material in the desired shape. The radially or transversely acting pressure from the elastic material kept in the sheath will namely not have the opportunity of giving rise to a break in the casing in any direction with notable low strength.
The utilization of plastics material with the properties mentioned above enables the initial use of thin films or foils, and to allow the thickness of the deep-drawn sheath, seen in
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Gullfiber AB
Rosenbaum C. Fred
Shedd C. W.
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