Disposable cast or bandage protector

• US 5,882,320 A
• Filed: 07/11/1997
• Issued: 03/16/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lloyd E. Peterson
• Original Assignee: Lloyd E. Peterson
• Inventors: Peterson, Lloyd E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Apley, Richard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): POTHIER, DENISE M
• Application Number:
  US08/890,704
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: 602/3, 602/4, 602/57, 602/60, 602/65, 602/19, 128/876, 604/345, 604/353, 396/25, 396/27, 383/70, 383/71, 24/30.5 P, 24/306
• US Class Current: 602/3
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/041 Accessories for stiffening bandages, e.g. cast liners, heel-pieces
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 15/004 Bandage protectors

Abstract

A cast or bandage protector comprises a lightweight, plastic bag having a rectangular shape that is open at one end. The user can insert an arm or leg through the open end of the bag to protect a cast or bandage from getting wet. A strap encircles the bag adjacent the open end thereof. The strap is also made of plastic and has a buckle at one end that is free relative to the bag to allow access to be had to the underside of the buckle. The other free end of the strap can be threaded through the buckle and cinched back on itself to tighten the strap, and hence the open end of the bag, around the arm or leg of the user. The free end of the strap is secured in place by an adhesive patch that is pressed against the strap or bag. The protector is disposed of after a single use by stripping the protector off the arm or leg and throwing it away.

Claims

1. A cast or bandage protector for covering an arm or leg of a user, which comprises:

(a) an elongated, flexible, plastic bag forming and enclosure and having an open end into which the arm or leg of the user can be inserted until the arm or leg is contained at least partly within the bag;

(b) a flexible plastic strap permanently carried on the bag as part of the bag and being located adjacent the open end of the bag for cinching the open end of the bag shut against the arm or leg of the user, wherein the strap is elongated and extends between a first end having a buckle and a second free end, wherein the first end of the strap carrying the buckle is unattached to the bag to allow access to be had to the buckle such that the second free end of the strap can be threaded through the buckles wherein the buckle is an integral portion of the strap with the buckle and the strap being formed as a single, integrally molded piece;

(c) an adhesive patch carried on the second free end of the strap on a surface of the strap that faces the bag after the free end of the strap is inserted through the buckle and pulled back on itself in a cinching type action, the adhesive patch being made of a pressure sensitive and inherently sticky adhesive material that adheres the strap in place simply by pressing the adhesive patch into contact with the strap or the bag to hold the bag closed after the strap has been cinched;

(d) wherein the adhesive patch is covered by a protective peel-off film that is carried on the free end of the strap with the film overlying the adhesive patch to prevent inadvertent adhesion of the adhesive patch at undesired locations or to unwanted surfaces, and wherein the free end of the strap, the adhesive patch and the protective peel-off film are collectively sufficiently thin and so located as to allow the free end of the strap including the adhesive patch and the protective peel-off film to be inserted through the buckle before the protective peel-off film is removed from the adhesive patch; and

(e) wherein the second free end of the strap has a portion which is shaped to allow the user to grip and pull on the second free end of the strap after the protective peel-off film is removed from the adhesive patch without contacting the adhesive patch.

2. The protector of claim 1, wherein the buckle is formed as a slot in the first end of the strap with the portions of the strap immediately adjacent the slot being unattached to the bag to allow access to the slot.

3. The protector of claim 2, wherein the first end of the strap is wider than the free end of the strap, and wherein the slot that forms the buckle is wider than the free end of the strap to allow the free end of the strap to be inserted through the slot.

4. The protector of claim 1, wherein the portion of the strap on the second free end of the strap which the user can grip and pull comprises a loop formed as part of an outermost tip of the free end of the strap.

5. The protector of claim 4, wherein the loop is formed by bending back a portion of the free end of the strap onto itself and securing the bent back portion of the strap to the strap.

6. The protector of claim 5, wherein the loop is sized to receive one of the user'"'"'s fingers.

7. The protector of claim 1, wherein the adhesive patch and protective peel-off film cover only a small portion of the length of the strap at the second free end of the strap.