Wound closure tape and applicator therefor

• US 4,447,482 A
• Filed: 12/29/1982
• Issued: 05/08/1984
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/1982
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Inman Liebelt Corporation
• Original Assignee: SHUR Medical Corporation
• Inventors: Heinzelman, Bert D., Spranger, Douglas M., Brookes, Malcolm J., Kuphal, John E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wityshyn, Michael G.
• Application Number:
  US06/452,749
• Time in Patent Office: 496 Days
• Field of Search: 156/523, 156/527, 156/540, 156/541, 156/574, 156/577, 156/579, 156/584, 225/2, 225/4, 225/106, 428/42, 428/352
• US Class Current: 428/42.3
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/085 with adhesive layer
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 15/002 dispensers for web or tape like bandages
• CPC Class Codes: B65H 37/007 Applicators for applying coatings, e.g. correction, colour or adhesive coatings
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 428/906 Roll or coil
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1705 Lamina transferred to base from adhered flexible web or sheet type carrier
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1795 Implement carried web supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/18 Surface bonding means and/or assembly means with handle or handgrip
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1994 Means for delaminating from release surface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 225/12 With preliminary weakening
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 225/393 Web restrainer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1495 Adhesive is on removable layer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/2839 with release or antistick coating

Abstract

A wound closure tape applicator has an elongated trapeziform casing partitioned into a front supply chamber for a roll of adhesive tape carried on a backing strip or liner and a trapeziform rear storage chamber for collecting waste backing strip. Front and bottom walls of the casing form a tape outlet slot in a lower front corner of the supply chamber. A cylindrical post extending horizontally between the casing sidewalls internally adjacent the slot guides the tape downwardly along the front wall. A front end portion of the bottom wall projects upwardly close to the underside of the post and guides the liner rearwardly to peel it away from the tape as the latter is pulled downwardly through the opening. A false bottom wall in the casing guides the liner rearwardly along the bottom wall beneath the partition into the rear chamber. The front wall includes a brake flap which is resiliently deflectable to press the tape against the post to separate an applied segment of the tape from the roll along the perforations and to control tension in the tape being applied. The tape but not the liner is perforated and notched at regular intervals along its length. The tape is preset or "aged" in roll form so that when the waste liner is fed into the storage chamber it will coil without regard to the shape of the chamber.

Claims

1. A sterile wound closure adhesive tape product for use with a tape applicator, said tape product comprising:

a single strip of surgical tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive coating on one surface and a releasable backing strip covering the adhesive-coated surface,

said strip of tape being transversely perforated at regular intervals along its length to subdivide the strip into joined tape segments separable along the perforations without the aid of a cutting device upon the application of a substantial tensile force at said perforations, the length of each segment being substantially greater than its width,

said releasable backing strip being continuous and imperforate throughout its length,

said tape and backing strip being wound together into a supply roll for installation in an applicator,

said strip of tape but not said backing strip including a pair of opposed notches one at each of the opposite marginal edges of said tape aligned with the perforations dividing said tape segments to provide a visual indicator of an end of each segment and an aid to separation of segments from the supply roll upon application of said tensile force,

said strip of tape being slightly narrower than said backing strip and being positioned on said backing strip such that both marginal edge portions of said backing strip extend slightly laterally outwardly beyond the corresponding marginal edge portions of said tape strip,

said supply roll being preset to cause said backing strip to self-coil when unconstrained after its release from said strip of tape,

said perforations being arranged to provide sufficient tensile strength at the interconnections between tape segments such that application of a segment to a skin surface under sufficient tension from the supply roll to close a laceration of such surface does not separate the applied segment from the roll .

2. A product according to claim 1 wherein each set of notches and perforations extend diagonally across said tape to form an acute angle with the marginal edges of said tape.

3. A product according to claim 1 wherein said tape strip is composed of a porous random fiber material and said adhesive and said backing strip is composed of a strip of paper release coated with a silicone release material on both surfaces, said backing strip having a thickness in the range of 3 to 7 mils,

each transversely perforated interval along said tape comprising at least one slit extending through the tape and across a portion of the width thereof in alignment with a pair of said notches but spaced from said notches to provide narrow interconnections between said tape segments,

said interconnections being about 0.02 inches wide.

4. A wound closure adhesive tape product for use with a tape applicator, said tape product comprising:

a strip of surgical tape having a pressure sensitive adhesive coating on one surface and a releasable backing strip covering the adhesive-coated surface,

said strip of tape being transversely perforated at regular intervals along its length to subdivide the strip into joined tape segments separable along the perforations upon the application of a tensile force at said perforations,

said releasable backing strip being continuous and imperforate throughout its length,

said tape and backing strip being wound together into a supply roll for installation in an applicator,

said strip of tape includes a pair of opposed notches one at each of the opposite marginal edges of said tape aligned with the perforations dividing said tape sections,

said opposed notches of a pair being slightly offset from one another along said tape.

5. A disposable applicator for applying a liner-backed sterile surgical adhesive tape from a supply roll of such tape comprising:

a casing sized to fit within the hand of a user, including wall means defining a tape roll supply chamber, a separate waste liner storage chamber, and passage means interconnecting said chambers,

said casing including external front and bottom walls defining a tape outlet slot therebetween,

a guide post at the inside corner between said front and bottom walls and spaced inwardly therefrom and above said slot,

an external surface of said guide post and spaced inner surface of said front wall defining a guide path for the lined tape from the supply chamber toward said outlet slot,

an external surface of said guide post and spaced inner surface of said bottom wall defining a guide path for waste liner toward said passage means,

and said post, front wall and bottom wall surfaces being interrelated so as to define divergent paths for said tape and liner to cause their separation at the divergence of their paths,

said front wall including a resilient depressible front wall portion engagable with a surface of said post to press a section of tape passing therebetween against said post,

said casing being generally quadrangular in shape as defined by generally flat and straight external walls, said supply and storage chambers being of quadrangular shape and defined in part by said external walls.

6. An applicator according to claim 5 wherein said front wall is straight and said bottom wall is angular and includes a short upturned but flat forward bottom wall portion which approaches a lower front wall portion at substantially a right angle in the region of said outlet opening, the lower terminus of said front wall and the bottom surface of said forward bottom wall portion lying in a common plane for use in applying pressure against the skin during application of the tape to the skin.

7. A blade-less, disposable surgical tape applicator system comprising in combination:

a casing sized to fit within the palm of the hand of a user and partitioned internally to define a tape supply chamber and a waste liner storage chamber,

a tape outlet slot at a lower forward corner of said casing leading from said supply chamber and formed by converging wall portions of said casing,

a rigid internal guide surface spaced inwardly of said slot within said casing at said corner and defining with said converging wall portions divergent guide paths including a tape path leading from the supply chamber to said outlet slot and a waste liner path leading from the supply chamber toward said storage chamber,

internal partition means extending along and spaced from a bottom wall of said casing rearwardly of said guide surface to define with said bottom wall a waste liner passage as a continuation of said liner path, said passage communicating at opposite ends with said supply chamber and said storage chamber,

a supply roll of liner-backed sterile surgical adhesive tape loosely positioned within said supply chamber for centerless rotation therein, said tape, but not said liner, being divided at regular intervals along its length into connected segments by transverse perforations terminating at opposed marginal edge notches providing visual indications of the divisions between segments and a focus for tensile separating force applied across said perforations to facilitate separation of each segment from said roll,

an unlined leader portion of said tape extending from said roll across said internal guide surface and along said tape path through said outlet slot,

a leader portion of said liner extending with said tape across said guide surface and thence diverging from said tape along said liner path and into said liner passage,

said outlet slot, guide surface and divergent paths being operable such that as said tape leader is withdrawn through said slot said liner is separated therefrom and propelled along said passage into said storage chamber,

said roll being preset in roll form to an extent such that as said liner enters said storage chamber it self-coils independently of the shape of said chamber,

the tensile strength of said perforated tape portions being such that sufficient tension can be applied to the tape across a perforated tape portion during application of a tape segment to a skin surface to close a wound without separating the applied segment from the roll, and being such that application of a higher tension to the tape across a perforated tape portion separates the applied segment from the roll without the aid of any cutting means,

said casing including a resilient depressible wall portion depressible by selectively applied hand pressure and cooperative with said guide surface to apply a controlled variable tension to the tape including a low tension for closing a wound and thereafter a higher tension for separating an applied segment from the roll without the aid of any cutting means.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said outlet slot is provided at a lower front corner of said casing at an intersection of front and bottom walls of the casing, said wall means defining said divergent paths includes a lower inside surface of said front wall, a concavely curved inside surface of said bottom wall, and said internal guide surface comprising a post having a convexly curved surface spaced inwardly from said lower inside front wall surface and said concavely curved inside bottom wall surface at the inside corner between said front and bottom walls,

said depressible wall portion including tape braking means comprising a resilient depressible flap portion of said front wall operable upon application of finger pressure thereto to selectively press a section of tape passing along said front wall against a surface portion of said post to enable separation of an applied segment of said tape from said roll.

9. A surgical tape applicator system according to claim 7 wherein said casing is of generally thin, flat, quadrangular shape, as defined by generally flat, parallel opposed external side walls interconnected by generally straight, flat external front, rear, top and bottom walls,

a first straight interior partition extending from said top wall toward and generally perpendicular to the bottom wall to subdivide the interior of said casing into a forward tape supply chamber of generally quadrangular shape and a larger rear waste liner storage chamber of generally quadrangular shape,

said internal partition means extending along the bottom wall of said casing comprising a second interior partition extending perpendicular to and intersecting said first interior partition, said second partition including a forward portion extending forwardly from said first partition into said supply chamber and having a forward end terminating adjacent to said internal guide surface and a rear portion extending rearwardly from said first partition to a rear end terminating within said storage chamber,

said guide surface comprising a stationary post having a convexly curved external surface,

said divergent tape and liner paths being defined by a lower inside surface of a front wall of said casing, a concavely curved inside surface of a bottom wall portion of said casing, and the convexly curved surface of said post,

said resilient depressible wall portion comprising a depressible flap portion of said front wall operable to selectively press a section of tape and liner passing along said front wall against said post,

the marginal edge portions of said liner extending laterally slightly beyond the marginal edge portions of said tape to prevent the adhesive backing of said tape from fouling said casing.