Surgery – Body protecting or restraining devices for patients or infants – Drapes
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-29
2001-06-12
Brown, Michael A. (Department: 3764)
Surgery
Body protecting or restraining devices for patients or infants
Drapes
C128S856000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244268
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates broadly to surgical drapes. More particularly, however, the invention relates to a surgical drape configuration and package permitting compact surgical drape storage for convenient dispensing and handling, and methods of dispensing and making same.
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Surgical drapes are known to have a variety of uses during all aspects of surgical operations. It is not uncommon to consume a great number of drapes even for the most elementary of procedures. Efficient and reliable storage, dispensing and deployment of bulk quantities of surgical drapes is most desirous. Heretofore, surgical drapes have been provided as sterile, individually folded and packaged products or as individually folded, non-sterile bulk packaged products.
As surgical drapes have both sterile and non-sterile uses, use of the more convenient but package intensive individually folded and wrapped sterile drapes in non-sterile applications has proven cost prohibitive. The unit costs of individually folded and wrapped drapes are high because of additional and sometimes elaborate packaging that is provided and oftentimes required. This, in combination with the fact that operating room storage space is typically at a premium and room for surgical drapes a low priority, makes bulk packaging of surgical drapes an attractive alternative.
Non-sterile bulk packed surgical drapes have had limited success as their packaging is generally not permitted in the operating room because they do not pass a minimum cleanliness threshold. When the bulk drapes are removed from their packaging or cartons, which can be a chore in and of itself, they are difficult to maintain in an orderly manner, usually becoming an unusable jumble of material. Furthermore, bulk storage exposes the entire supply to grasping hands in the operating room which may inadvertently cross contaminate remaining drapes of the bulk supply and thereby render them unusable.
It is thus desirous and advantageous to provide a convenient way to store a greater density of surgical drapes and deliver individual drapes from a supply of surgical drapes in a neat, quick, efficient and reliable manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is configuration of surgical drapes for convenient dispensing and handling from a container. The configuration comprises a continuous rolled length of surgical drapes having opposing major and minor longitudinal edges. Each drape of the continuous roll is separable from adjacent drapes by longitudinally spaced apart lines of weakness throughout the continuous length of surgical drapes. The continuous rolled length of surgical drapes includes an adhesive strip adjacent the major longitudinal edge of the continuous rolled length of surgical drape. The adhesive strip in turn is equipped with a removable release liner thereover which preferably partially overhangs the adhesive strip. The continuous rolled length of surgical drapes has a fold to thereby reduce the stored and dispensed width of each drape of said continuous length of surgical drapes.
The fold generally takes the form of an accordion pleat, more particularly the fold forms overlying adjacent longitudinal drape panels. These panels are delimited by spaced apart longitudinal creases and have a collapsed zig-zag cross section. The minor longitudinal edge is positioned to be retained under the overhang of the removable release liner for especially easy handling and deployment (i.e., unfolding) of a dispensed drape.
In a preferred embodiment, the configuration of surgical drapes is provided in combination with a container such that configuration of surgical drapes is removably housed therein for easy dispensing of at least one drape from the configuration of surgical drapes. The container generally includes a base joined to a cover at a common hinge to permit closure of the cover about the configuration of surgical drapes placed on the base. A drape dispensing mouth is formed opposite the common hinge and is configured to hold the outer most drape of the configuration of drapes in a position for easy grabbing and removal from the continuous rolled length of surgical drapes.
More specifically, a package of surgical drapes is provided and includes a container having a base connected to a cover by a common hinge and a continuous rolled length of surgical drapes removably housed therein. The continuous rolled length of surgical drapes has opposing major and minor longitudinal edges. Each drape of said continuous roll being separable from adjacent drapes by longitudinally spaced apart lines of weakness throughout said continuous length of surgical drapes for easy dispensing of at least one drape from said continuous rolled length of surgical drapes. The continuous rolled length of surgical drapes further has a fold to thereby reduce the stored and dispensed width of each drape of the continuous length of surgical drapes.
A method of storing and dispensing surgical drapes from a container is provided including the steps of: supplying a continuous length of surgical drapes having a uniform width where the drapes are separable by longitudinally spaced apart lines of weakness; folding the continuous length of surgical drapes in a manner to reduce the uniform width; rolling the reduced width continuous length of surgical drapes; providing a container having a base and a cover where the cover is joined to the base at a common hinge for closure of the cover; and housing the rolled reduced width continuous length of surgical drapes within the container for dispensing at least one drape from the configuration of surgical drapes.
Finally, in a method of manufacturing a continuous rolled length of surgical drapes for convenient dispensing and handling, the steps of accordion folding the longitudinal edges of a supply of drape material towards the centerline of the supply; and cutting the supply along said centerline to thereby form two lengths of fan folded surgical drape material.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5730994 (1998-03-01), Askill
patent: 5957877 (1999-09-01), Askill
patent: WO 98/16167 (1998-04-01), None
Annett Leland W.
Padget David B.
Brown Michael A.
Medical Concepts Development, Inc.
Nawrocki, Rooney & Sivertson P.A.
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