Disposable thermal neck wrap

• US 6,123,717 A
• Filed: 05/20/1998
• Issued: 09/26/2000
• 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, Martini, Amy Michelle, Ouellette, William Robert, Davis, Leane Kristine, Clear, Sandra Hintz, Kimble, Dawn Michele
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor, Cary
• Assistant Examiner(s): CARTER, RYAN CHRISTOPHER
• Application Number:
  US09/082,347
• Time in Patent Office: 860 Days
• Field of Search: 607/104, 607/108-112, 607/114, 165/46, 126/204, 602/2
• US Class Current: 607/109
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0011 Neck only
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/003 Shoulder
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2007/0098 ways of manufacturing heating or cooling devices for therapy
• 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 7/03 thermophore, i.e. self-heating, e.g. using a chemical reaction

Abstract

The present invention relates to disposable thermal neck wraps having one or more thermal packs comprising a unified structure having at least one continuous layer of semirigid material, which has different stiffness characteristics over a range of temperatures, and a plurality of heat cells, wherein the heat energy is applied to specific areas of the upper back, neck and shoulders. More particularly, the present invention relates to disposable thermal neck wraps having good conformity to user'"'"'s upper back, neck, and shoulders which provides consistent, convenient, and comfortable heat application.

Claims

1. A disposable thermal neck wrap comprising:

a) at least one substantially U-shaped piece of flexible material, said piece of flexible material having a first arm portion, a second arm portion, and a central body portion therebetween, such that when said neck wrap is placed on a user, said central body portion is centered at said user'"'"'s upper back and lower neck and said first and second arm portions lay across said user'"'"'s shoulders toward said user'"'"'s chest; and

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.

2. A disposable thermal neck 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 neck wrap according to claim 2 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 neck 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 neck 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, and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer.

6. A disposable thermal neck 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 neck 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 neck 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 neck wrap according to claim 8 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 the material.

10. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 1 further comprising a positioning means attached to distal ends of at least one of said first and second arm portions.

11. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 10 wherein said positioning means is selected from the group consisting of one or more adhesive patches and hook and loop fastening system.

12. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 1 wherein one or more of said heat cells of said thermal packs are located within each of said arms.

13. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 1 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, and wherein said heat cells, when filled with an exothermic composition, have a fill volume to cell volume ratio of from about 0.7 to about 1.0.

14. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 13 wherein said exothermic composition comprises:

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.

15. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 14 wherein said exothermic composition comprises from about 0.1% to about 30% by weight, of additional water-holding material.

16. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 13 wherein said exothermic composition comprises:

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

b.) from about 3% to about 20% by weight, of 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 corn syrup, maltitol syrup, crystallizing sorbitol syrup, amorphous sorbitol syrup, 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 subsequently in an aqueous solution as brine, and further 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 tablets 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.

17. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 16 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.

18. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 16 wherein said dry binder comprises from about 4% to about 30% by weight, of microcrystalline cellulose.

19. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 16 wherein said tablets comprise a geometric shape selected from the group consisting of a disk shape having a hole passing perpendicular to and through the middle of the top and bottom surfaces and a disk shape wherein the top and bottom surfaces are concaved forming a reservoir conducive to holding a liquid.

20. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 16 wherein said direct compaction articles comprise a density of greater than about 1 g/cm³.

21. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 1 further comprising additional components selected from the group consisting of active aromatic compounds, non-active aromatic compounds, pharmaceutical actives, and mixtures thereof.

43. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain, selected from the group consisting of acute muscular, acute skeletal, acute referred, recurrent muscular, recurrent skeletal, recurrent referred, chronic muscular, chronic skeletal, and chronic referred upper back, neck, and shoulder pain, by applying a disposable thermal neck wrap of claim 1 to the upper back, neck, and shoulders of a person needing such treatment, to maintain a skin temperature to the back of from about 32°

C. to about 50°

C. for a time period of from about twenty seconds to about twenty-four hours, wherein said skin temperature and said period of time of maintaining said skin temperature is appropriately selected by said person needing such treatment, to substantially relieve said pain without adverse events.

44. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain according to claim 43 wherein said skin temperature is maintained from about 32°

C. to about 39°

C.

45. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain according to claim 43 wherein said skin temperature is maintained at a temperature of from about 32°

C. to about 43°

C. for a time period of greater than about 1 hour, wherein said relief of said pain is substantially prolonged for at least about 2 hours after removal of said heat from the upper back, neck, and shoulders of said person needing such treatment.

46. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain according to claim 45 wherein said skin temperature is maintained at a temperature of from about 32°

C. to about 41°

C. for a time period of greater than about 4 hours, wherein said relief of said pain is substantially prolonged for at least about 1 day after removal of said heat from the upper back, neck, and shoulders of said person needing such treatment.

22. A disposable thermal neck wrap comprising at least one thermal pack having a unified structure comprising at least one continuous layer of material and a plurality of individual heat cells, said heat cells are 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.

23. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 22 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.

24. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 23 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.

25. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 22 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.

26. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 25 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.

27. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 22 wherein said at least one continuous layer comprises 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.

28. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 27 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.

29. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 28 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.

30. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 29 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.

31. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 22 further comprising a positioning means attached to distal ends of at least one of said first and second arm portions.

32. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 31 wherein said positioning means is selected from the group consisting of one or more adhesive patches and hook and loop fastening system.

33. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 22 wherein one or more of said heat cells of said thermal packs are located within each of said arms.

34. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 22 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, and wherein said heat cells, when filled with an exothermic composition, have a fill volume to cell volume ratio of from about 0.7 to about 1.0.

35. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 34 wherein said exothermic composition comprises:

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.

36. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 35 wherein said exothermic composition farther comprises from about 0.1% to about 30% by weight, of additional water-holding material.

37. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 34 wherein said exothermic composition comprises:

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

b.) from about 3% to about 20% by weight, of 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 corn syrup, maltitol syrup, crystallizing sorbitol syrup, amorphous sorbitol syrup, 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 subsequently in an aqueous solution as brine, and wherein further 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 tablets 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.

38. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 37 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.

39. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 37 wherein said dry binder comprises from about 4% to about 30% by weight, of microcrystalline cellulose.

40. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 37 wherein said tablets comprise a geometric shape selected from the group consisting of a disk shape having a hole passing perpendicular to and through the middle of the top and bottom surfaces and a disk shape wherein said top and bottom surfaces are concaved forming a reservoir conducive to holding a liquid.

41. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 37 wherein said direct compaction articles comprise a density of greater than about 1 g/cm³.

42. A disposable thermal neck wrap according to claim 22 further comprising additional components selected from the group consisting of active aromatic compounds, non-active aromatic compounds, pharmaceutical actives, and mixtures thereof.

47. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain, selected from the group consisting of acute muscular, acute skeletal, acute referred, recurrent muscular, recurrent skeletal, recurrent referred, chronic muscular, chronic skeletal, and chronic referred upper back, neck, and shoulder pain, by applying a disposable thermal neck wrap of claim 22 to the upper back, neck, and shoulders of a person needing such treatment, to maintain a skin temperature to the back of from about 32°

C. to about 50°

C. for a time period of from about twenty seconds to about twenty-four hours, wherein said skin temperature and said period of time of maintaining said skin temperature is appropriately selected by said person needing such treatment, to substantially relieve said pain without adverse events.

48. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain according to claim 47 wherein said skin temperature is maintained from about 32°

C. to about 39°

C.

49. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain according to claim 47 wherein said skin temperature is maintained at a temperature of from about 32°

C. to about 43°

C. for a time period of greater than about 1 hour, wherein said relief of said pain is substantially prolonged for at least about 2 hours after removal of said heat from the upper back, neck, and shoulders of said person needing such treatment.

50. A method of treating upper back, neck, and shoulder pain according to claim 49 wherein said skin temperature is maintained at a temperature of from about 32°

C. to about 41°

C. for a time period of greater than about 4 hours, wherein said relief of said pain is substantially prolonged for at least about 1 day after removal of said heat from the upper back, neck, and shoulders of said person needing such treatment.