Disposable elastic thermal knee wrap

• US 6,048,326 A
• Filed: 12/03/1997
• Issued: 04/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Wyeth (Pfizer Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Inventors: Cramer, Ronald Dean, Ouellette, William Robert, Davis, Leane Kristine, Kimble, Dawn Michele
• Primary Examiner(s): Apley, Richard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): POTHIER, DENISE M
• Application Number:
  US08/984,366
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• Field of Search: 602/2, 602/60-63, 602/75, 602/26, 607/108-114
• US Class Current: 602/26
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0042 Knee
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0098 ways of manufacturing heating or cooling devices for therapy
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0228 with belt or strap, e.g. with buckle
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0268 having a plurality of compartments being filled with a heat carrier heat packs stored in pockets A61F2007/023, A61F2007/0238
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/0106 for the knees
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 7/03 thermophore, i.e. self-heating, e.g. using a chemical reaction

Abstract

The present invention relates to disposable elastic thermal knee wraps having one or more thermal packs comprising a plurality of heat cells, wherein heat is applied to the user'"'"'s knee. More particularly, the present invention relates to disposable elastic thermal knee wraps having good conformity to user'"'"'s knee which provide consistent, convenient and comfortable heat application.

Claims

1. A disposable elastic thermal knee wrap comprising:

a) at least one piece of flexible material having a body portion, a first end, a second end, and one or more elastic portions therebetween said first end and said second end, wherein said elastic portion is stretchable along a longitudinal axis of said piece of flexible material, said piece of flexible material having a length adapted to encircle a user'"'"'s knee such that said first and second ends overlap;

b) one or more thermal packs fixedly attached to said piece of flexible material, said thermal pack having a unified structure comprising at least one continuous layer of a semirigid material having a tensile strength of about 0.7 g/mm², or greater, and at least two-dimensional drape at a temperature of about 25°

C., and wherein said material has a tensile strength, at a temperature of about 35°

C. or greater, substantially less than said tensile strength of said material at about 25°

C., and having a plurality of individual heat cells spaced apart and fixed within or to said unified structure of said thermal pack; and

c) a fastening means fixedly attached near or to at least one of said first and second ends of said piece of flexible material in order to hold said thermal knee wrap around said user'"'"'s knee;

wherein said body portion further comprises an aperture intended to be aligned with the user'"'"'s patella to establish a convenient locating portion for wrapping said knee wrap around the user'"'"'s knee and wherein said body portion still further comprises at least one slit extending substantially along said longitudinal axis from said aperture for enabling said piece of flexible material to stretch transverse to said longitudinal axis at said aperture in order to accommodate bending of the user'"'"'s knee.

2. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 1 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises a tensile strength of about 0.85 g/mm², or greater, and at least two-dimensional drape at a temperature of about 25°

C.

3. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 1 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises a tensile strength of about 1 g/mm², or greater, and at least two-dimensional drape at a temperature of about 25°

C.

4. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 1 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyurethane, polystyrene, saponified ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, natural rubber, reclaimed rubber, synthetic rubber, and mixtures thereof.

5. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 4 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises an extruded material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyurethane, polystyrene, saponified ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer.

6. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 5 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises a coextruded material having a first side selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyurethane, and polystyrene, and a second side selected from the group consisting of saponified ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer.

7. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 6 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises a coextruded material having a first side of polypropylene and a second side of ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer.

8. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 7 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises a coextruded material having a first side of polypropylene and a second side of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, wherein said polypropylene comprises from about 10% to about 90% of the total thickness of said material.

9. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 7 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises a coextruded material having a first side of polypropylene and a second side of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, wherein said polypropylene comprises from about 40% to about 60% of the total thickness of said material.

10. A disposable elastic thermal knee wrap according to claim 4 wherein said flexible material further comprises one or more strap portions.

11. A disposable elastic thermal knee wrap according to claim 10 wherein said strap portions are elastic.

12. A disposable elastic thermal knee wrap according to claim 4 wherein said flexible material further comprises one or more stays to resiliently stiffen said flexible material and thereby minimize bunching of said flexible material when said user'"'"'s knee is repeatedly bent.

13. A disposable elastic thermal knee wrap according to claim 1 wherein said fastening system is reclosable.

14. A disposable elastic thermal knee wrap according to claim 13 wherein said reclosable fastening system comprises a hook and loop fastening system.

15. A disposable elastic thermal knee wrap according to claim 14 wherein said reclosable fastening system comprises a two-part hook and loop fastening system.

16. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 1 wherein said heat cells comprise an exothermic composition comprising:

a.) from about 30% to about 80% by weight, iron powder;

b.) from about 3% to about 25% by weight, carbonaceous material selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, non-activated carbon, and mixtures thereof;

c.) from about 0.5% to about 10% by weight, metal salt; and

d.) from about 1% to about 40% by weight, water.

17. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 16 wherein said heat cells comprise a shape selected from the group consisting of a disk, triangle, pyramid, cone, sphere, square, cube, rectangle, rectangular parallelepiped, cylinder, and ellipsoid, said disk having a diameter of from about 1 cm to about 5 cm and a height of from greater than about 0.2 cm to about 1 cm, and said triangle, pyramid, cone, sphere, square, cube, rectangle, rectangular parallelepiped, cylinder, and ellipsoid having a width at its widest point of from about 0.5 cm to about 5 cm and a height at its highest point of from greater than about 0.2 cm to about 1 cm and a length at its longest point of from about 1.5 cm to about 10 cm.

18. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 16 further comprising additional components selected from the group consisting of active aromatic compounds, non-active aromatic compounds, pharmaceutical actives, and mixtures thereof.

19. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 17 wherein said heat cells, when filled with said exothermic composition, have a fill volume to cell volume ratio of from about 0.7 to about 1.0.

20. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 19 wherein said exothermic composition further comprises from about 0.1% to about 30% by weight, of additional water-holding material.

21. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 1 wherein said heat cells comprise an exothermic composition comprising:

a.) from about 30% to about 80% by weight, of iron powder;

b.) from about 3% to about 20% by weight, carbonaceous material selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, non-activated carbon, and mixtures thereof;

c.) from about 0% to about 9% by weight, of an agglomeration aid selected from the group consisting of gelatin, natural gums, cellulose derivatives, cellulose ethers and their derivatives, starch, modified starches, polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinylpyrrolidone, sodium alginates, polyols, glycols, sucrose syrup, corn syrup, maltitol syrup, sorbitol syrup other polysaccharides and their derivatives, polyacrylamides, polyvinyloxoazolidone, and mixtures thereof; and

d.) from about 0% to about 35% by weight, of a dry binder selected from the group consisting of microcrystalline cellulose, maltodextrin, sprayed lactose, co-crystallized sucrose and dextrin, modified dextrose, mannitol, microfine cellulose, pre-gelatinized starch, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and mixtures thereof;

wherein from about 0.5% to about 10% by weight, of a metal salt selected from the group consisting of alkali metal salts, alkaline earth metal salts, transitional metal salts, and mixtures thereof is added to said composition, as part of the dry mix or after compaction, in an aqueous solution as brine, and wherein said exothermic composition comprises a physical form selected from the group consisting of dry agglomerated granules, direct compaction articles, and mixtures thereof, wherein said direct compaction articles are selected from the group consisting of granules, pellets, tablets, slugs, and mixtures thereof, and wherein said tables and slugs comprise a geometric shape selected from the group consisting of disk, triangle, square, cube, rectangle, cylinder, and ellipsoid, said disk having a diameter of from about 1 cm to about 5 cm and a height of from about 0.08 cm to about 1 cm and said triangle, square, cube, rectangle, cylinder, and ellipsoid having a width at its widest point of from about 0.5 cm to about 5 cm and a height at its highest point of from about 0.08 cm to about 1 cm and a length at its longest point of from about 1 cm to about 10 cm.

22. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 21 wherein said exothermic composition further comprises from about 0.5% to about 10% by weight, of additional water-holding materials selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid salt starch co-polymer, isobutylene maleic anhydride co-polymer, vermiculite, carboxymethylcellulose, and mixtures thereof.

23. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 21 wherein said exothermic composition comprises from about 4% to about 30% by weight, of said dry binder of microcrystalline cellulose.

24. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 23 wherein said exothermic composition comprises from about 0.5% to about 8% by weight, of said agglomeration aid selected from the group consisting of corn syrup, maltitol syrup, crystallizing sorbitol syrup, amorphous sorbitol syrup, and mixtures thereof.

25. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 23 wherein said direct compaction articles comprise a density of greater than about 1 g/cm³.

26. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 1 wherein said one or more thermal packs comprise a unified structure having at least one continuous layer of material and a plurality of individual heat cells placed into positions fixed within or to said unified structure of said thermal pack which are sufficiently close and relative to each other, so as to block some or all possible axes across said at least one continuous layer, which otherwise would have passed uninterrupted between said heat cells, through said thermal pack, or select regions thereof, to minimize or eliminate uninterrupted fold lines across said continuous layer.

27. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 26 wherein at least one of said heat cells of four adjacent said heat cells, whose centers form a quadrilateral pattern, blocks one or more of said axes that could otherwise form at least one fold line tangential to the edges of one or more pairings of the remaining said heat cells in the quadrilateral pattern.

28. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 27 wherein the spacing between said at least one of said heat cells and each of said heat cells of said one or more pairings of said remaining heat cells in said quadrilateral pattern is the same or less than the spacing obtained by dividing the measurement of the smallest diameter of the smallest diameter heat cell of said heat cells within said quadrilateral pattern by 2 and multiplying the result by 0.75.

29. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 26 wherein at least one of said heat cells of three adjacent said heat cells, whose centers form a triangular pattern, blocks one or more of said axes that could otherwise form at least one fold line tangential to the edges of the remaining pair of said heat cells in the triangular pattern formed by said three heat cells.

30. A disposable thermal knee wrap according to claim 29 wherein the spacing between said at least one of said heat cells and each of said heat cells of said remaining pair of said heat cells in said triangular pattern is the same or less than the spacing obtained by dividing the measurement of the smallest diameter of the smallest diameter heat cell of said heat cells within said triangular pattern by 2 and multiplying the result by 0.3.