IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM

• US 3,751,835 A
• Filed: 12/20/1971
• Issued: 08/14/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: CIBA Vision Corporation (Novartis Ag)
• Original Assignee: Ward C. Smith
• Inventors: Smith, Ward C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Michell, Robert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Contreras, Wenceslao J.
• Application Number:
  US05/209,875
• Time in Patent Office: 603 Days
• Field of Search: 40/20,21C,10,129,1.5
• US Class Current: 40/633
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/005 Identification bracelets, e.g. secured to the arm of a person

Abstract

In an identification assembly of the type having an elongated flexible band with fastening means for locking to the limb of a patient wherein the improvement comprises the addition thereto of an identification label dispenser holding a plurality of patient identification labels, with the dispenser including means for holding the labels so that no label can be added without resultant indication thereof. All but one of the labels are removably held and removal thereof requires a pulling force which results in tearing of the label (in the vicinity of the holding means), with the securing of the pulling force insuring that no tampering has occurred. A method of correlating the identity between the patient and specimens taken therefrom sets forth the dispenser-attaching, specimen-drawing, label-removing and labelattaching steps required in carrying out this method.

Claims

1. In an identification assembly including an elongated flexible band with fastening means for irreversibly locking said band to a limb of a patient, the improvement comprising the addition thereto of an identification label dispenser, said identification label dispenser including a longitudinally arcuate container having a compartment formed therein;

a flexible, transparent cover, said cover including means for irreversibly securing said cover in the vicinity of one of the ends thereof to said container for providing a moisture-proof closure for said compartment;

a plurality of unconnected label assemblies within said identification label dispenser, each of said label assemblies including a label holding portion and an identification label positioned in said compartment in arcuate stacked relation;

said dispenser further including means for holding said labels so that no label can be added without resultant indication thereof, said label holding means projecting through said label holding portion of each of said stacked label assemblies for releasably retaining said labels within said compartment;

said label holding means being a part of said cover securing means; and

said label holding means releasably retaining each of said labels so as to resistively tear said label assembly in the vicinity of said label holding means upon the application of a pulling force to each of said label assemblies, with the sensing of said resistive pulling force insuring that no tampering has occurred.

2. The identification assembly of claim 1 wherein said label holding means and cover securing means are part of said band fastening means.

3. The identification assembly of claim 1 wherein said label holding portion has an aperture, said label holding means extends through said aperture, said label and label holding portion have a common transverse boundary, and said tearing of said label assembly occurs at the boundary between said label and label holding portion.

4. The identification assembly of claim 1 wherein said label holding portion has an aperture, said label assembly holding means extends through said aperture, and said tearing of said label assembly occurs in said label holding portion.

5. The identification assembly of claim 1 wherein all but one of said labels are dispensably held by said label holding means and said one label, which is the bottom-most of said stacked labels, is adhesively attached to said container to serve as a permanent identification means in the event that all of the dispensable labels are exhausted.

6. The identification assembly of claim 1 wherein said container and cover have integral complementarily-mating closure means for detachably interlocking the peripheral edges of said container and cover thus permitting progressive Opening of the other of the ends of said cover by manually flexing said cover other end, thereby allowing access to said container compartment and permitting label removal, with said flexible cover allowing ready moisture-proof reclosure of said compartment.

7. The identification assembly of claim 6 wherein said closure means comprises a peripheral, raised, profiled track portion on one of said container and cover and a mating peripheral groove portion on the other of said container and cover.