Biodegradable hospital curtain
A biodegradable hospital curtain is made of a sheet of biodegradable material such as polylactic acid (PLA). The PLA material may be a woven or non-woven material made of PLA fibers. The curtain may include a plurality of openings adjacent an upper portion of the curtain to provide ventilation. The sheet material may be perforated to form the ventilation openings, thereby eliminating the need to sew or otherwise secure a mesh material or the like along an upper edge of the curtain to provide for ventilation. The curtain may include solid PLA grommets to provide for support of the biodegradable hospital curtain on hangers or the like of a curtain support system in hospital environments and the like.
Hospital buildings often include one or more relatively large rooms providing space for a number of patients who may be confined to hospital beds. Such rooms may be used for emergency room areas or the like. Such rooms are typically equipped with ceiling-mounted tracks to support hangers for privacy curtains to divide the room into spaces for the individual patients. Such hangers typically include rollers or the like to movably support the curtains on the overhead tracks. Hospital curtains typically include an upper portion made of mesh material or the like to provide for ventilation and/or fire extinguisher sprinkler systems, and a main portion that is substantially opaque to provide privacy for the individual patients.
Due to the nature of the hospital environment, conventional hospital curtains must be laundered regularly to ensure that a sanitary hospital environment is maintained. Due to the large number of hospital curtains that are typically used in a hospital, and the frequency at which patients are moved into and out of a given bed/area, the need to launder the curtains is often a substantial burden in terms of both labor, logistics, and associated expense. Also, proper laundering required to sanitize the curtains requires use of temperatures of 160° F. or more. Because many fabrics cannot withstand this temperature, the range of suitable materials has been at least somewhat limited.
Accordingly, a hospital curtain alleviating the drawbacks of existing hospital curtains would be beneficial.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONOne aspect of the present invention is a biodegradable hospital curtain including a sheet of thin flexible material that includes biodegradable polylactic acid fibers non-woven format, fused together. The sheet of material defines generally horizontal upper and lower peripheral edges and opposite side edges extending between the upper and lower edges. The sheet of material further defines an upper ventilating portion extending adjacent the upper edge, and a lower portion below the upper ventilating portion. The ventilating sprinkler portion includes a plurality of openings through the sheet of material to provide air flow through the upper ventilating portion of the curtain. The openings through the sheet of material are positioned at a sufficient height to substantially block a view through the curtain by an adult standing adjacent the curtain when the curtain is in the upright use position wherein the lower peripheral edge is adjacent a floor surface. The lower portion of the sheet of material is substantially free of perforations, and the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion of the sheet of material comprise two portions of a single piece of material, such that there is no seam connecting the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion as in prior two-piece hospital curtains.
Another aspect of the present invention is a biodegradable hospital curtain including a sheet of biodegradable material, the sheet of material defining polylactic acid fibers. The sheet of material defines generally horizontal upper and lower peripheral edges and opposite side edges extending between the upper and lower edges. The sheet of material further defines an upper ventilating portion extending adjacent the upper edge, and a lower portion below the upper ventilating portion. The ventilating portion includes a plurality of openings through the sheet of material to provide air flow through the upper ventilating portion of the curtain. The openings through the sheet of material are positioned at a sufficient height to substantially block a view through the curtain by an adult standing adjacent the curtain when the curtain is in the upright use position wherein the lower peripheral edge is adjacent a floor surface. The lower portion of the sheet of material is substantially free of perforations, and the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion of the sheet of material comprise two portions of a single piece of material, such that there is no seam connecting the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion as in prior two-piece hospital curtains. The sheet of material further includes a plurality of grommet openings adjacent the upper edge of the sheet of material, and grommets are positioned in the openings to support the curtains on hangers of an overhead curtain support system. The grommets are also made of a biodegradable material, such that substantially the entire curtain is biodegradable.
Another aspect of the present invention is a biodegradable hospital curtain including a sheet of polylactic acid material. The sheet of material defines upper and lower peripheral edges and opposite side edges extending between the upper and lower edges. The sheet of material has a plurality of openings adjacent the upper peripheral edge. The hospital curtain also includes grommets secured to the sheet of material and defining peripheral edges of the openings. The grommets are made of a biodegradable material and provide for supporting the curtain in a hanging configuration on hangers of an overhead curtain support system.
These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
A biodegradable hospital curtain 1 (
Curtain 1 is made of a biodegradable sheet of material 18 comprising non-woven polylactic acid (“PLA”) fibers that are fused together. Various suppliers provide PLA plastic for solid articles and PLA fiber for fabrics. One example of a commercially available non-woven sheet material is a TERRAMAC material available from Unitika Ltd. of Osaka, Japan. PLA plastic and fibers are available from NatureWorks LLC of Minneapolis, Minn. This company supplies polylactide polymer under the brand name NatureWorks™, and Ingeo™ fibers that are made from polylactide. In general, the PLA material of sheet 18 is naturally fire-resistant, such that additional fire retardant chemicals do not need to be added to the material to meet current building code flammability requirements. It will be understood that sheet 18 may be made of PLA film or fabric woven from PLA fibers. However, a non-woven material is generally more aesthetically appealing than a film, and is also more cost-effective than a woven material. Although woven materials are better able to withstand laundering, PLA material cannot withstand the high temperatures required to launder hospital curtains, and this property of woven materials is therefore not critical to the curtain 1.
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The hospital curtain 1 of the present invention provides a cost-effective solution to numerous problems associated with prior hospital curtains. The curtain 1 of the present invention can be disposed of after use, thereby eliminating the need to launder a large number of curtains to ensure sanitary conditions are maintained in a hospital setting. Furthermore, the polylactic acid material does not require the addition of flame retardant chemicals, such that the curtain meets the requirements for hospitals without introducing additional chemicals into the hospital environment. Because the grommets are also made a polylactic acid material, the entire curtain is biodegradable to thereby minimize the environmental impact.
In the foregoing description, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the concepts disclosed herein. Such modifications are to be considered as included in the following claims, unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
Claims
1. A biodegradable hospital curtain, comprising:
- a sheet of thin flexible material comprising biodegradable polylactic acid fibers, the sheet of material defining generally horizontal upper and lower peripheral edges and opposite side edges extending between the upper and lower edges, the sheet of material further defining an upper ventilating portion extending adjacent the upper edge, and a lower portion below the upper ventilating portion, wherein the ventilating portion includes a plurality of openings through the sheet of material to provide air flow through the upper ventilating portion of the curtain, wherein the openings through the sheet of material are positioned at a sufficient height to substantially prevent viewing through the perforations of the curtain by an adult standing adjacent the curtain when the curtain is in an upright use position wherein the lower peripheral edge is adjacent a floor surface; wherein:
- the lower portion of the sheet of material is substantially free of perforations; and wherein:
- the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion of the sheet of material comprise two portions of a single piece of material without a seam connecting the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion.
2. The hospital curtain of claim 1, wherein:
- the sheet of material comprises non-woven fibers.
3. The hospital curtain of claim 1, wherein:
- the openings through the sheet of material are defined by edges of the material formed by a plurality of free ends of polylactic acid fibers resulting from cutting the material to form the openings.
4. The hospital curtain of claim 1., wherein:
- the openings of the upper ventilating portion form a non-random pattern.
5. The hospital curtain of claim 4, wherein:
- the openings form horizontal rows of openings.
6. The hospital curtain of claim 1, wherein:
- the openings are circular.
7. The hospital curtain of claim 1, wherein:
- the sheet of material includes a plurality of grommet openings adjacent the upper edge of the sheet of material, and including:
- a grommet positioned in each opening to support the curtain on hangers, wherein the grommets are made of a biodegradable material.
8. The hospital curtain of claim 7, wherein:
- the grommets are substantially ring-shaped.
9. The hospital curtain of claim 7, wherein:
- the grommets are made of a polylactic acid material.
10. A biodegradable hospital in, comprising:
- a sheet of thin flexible biodegradable material, the sheet defining generally horizontal upper and lower peripheral edges and opposite side edges extending between the upper and lower edges, the sheet of material further defining an upper ventilating portion extending adjacent the upper edge, and a lower portion below the upper ventilating portion, wherein the ventilating portion includes a plurality of openings through the sheet of material to provide air flow through the upper ventilating portion of the curtain, wherein the openings through the sheet of material are positioned at a sufficient height to substantially prevent viewing through the perforations of the curtain by an adult standing adjacent the curtain when the curtain is in an upright use position wherein the lower peripheral edge is adjacent a floor surface; wherein:
- the lower portion of the sheet of material is substantially free of perforations; and wherein:
- the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion of the sheet of material comprise two portions of a single piece of material without a seam connecting the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion;
- the sheet of material includes a plurality of grommet openings adjacent the upper edge of the sheet of material, and including:
- a grommet positioned in each opening to support the curtain on hangers, wherein the grommets are made of a biodegradable material.
11. The hospital curtain of claim 10, wherein:
- the sheet is made of a polylactic acid material.
12. The hospital curtain of claim 11, wherein:
- the sheet comprises polylactic acid fibers.
13. The hospital curtain of claim 12, wherein:
- the sheet comprises a non-woven material.
14. The hospital curtain of claim 10, wherein:
- the grommets are made of a polylactic acid material.
15. A biodegradable hospital curtain, comprising:
- a sheet of polylactic acid material, the sheet of material defining upper and lower peripheral edges and opposite side edges extending between the upper and lower edges, the sheet of material having a plurality of openings adjacent the upper peripheral edge; and:
- grommets secured to the sheet of material and defining peripheral edges of the openings, wherein the grommets are made of a biodegradable material and provide for supporting the curtain in a hanging configuration on hangers of an overhead curtain support system.
16. The hospital curtain of claim 15, wherein:
- the sheet of material comprises polylactic acid fibers.
17. The hospital curtain of claim 16, wherein:
- the sheet of material comprises a nonwoven material.
18. The hospital curtain of claim 15, wherein:
- the grommets are made of a polylactic acid material.
19. (canceled)
20. A biodegradable hospital curtain, comprising:
- a sheet of biodegradable polylactic acid material, the sheet of material defining generally horizontal upper and lower peripheral edges and opposite side edges extending between the upper and lower edges, the sheet of material further defining an upper ventilating portion extending adjacent the upper edge, and a lower portion below the upper ventilating portion, wherein the ventilating portion includes a plurality of openings through the sheet of material to provide air flow through the upper ventilating portion of the curtain, wherein the openings through the sheet of material are positioned at a sufficient height to prevent looking through the perforations by an adult standing adjacent the curtain when the curtain is in an upright use position wherein the lower peripheral edge is adjacent a floor surface; wherein:
- the lower portion of the sheet of material is substantially free of perforations.
21. The biodegradable hospital curtain of claim 20, wherein:
- the upper ventilating portion and the lower portion are two portions of a single sheet of material, without a seam connecting the upper and lower portions.
22. The biodegradable hospital curtain of claim 1, wherein:
- the sheet of material includes a plurality of grommet openings adjacent the upper peripheral edge; and including:
- a plurality of grommets in the grommet openings.
23. (canceled)
24. The biodegradable hospital curtain of claim 23, wherein:
- the grommets are made of a substantially solid polylactic acid material.
25. The biodegradable hospital curtain of claim 22, wherein:
- the grommet openings are circular, and the grommets are ring-shaped.
26. (canceled)
27. The biodegradable hospital curtain of claim 26, wherein:
- the sheet of material comprises non-woven polylactic acid fibers.
28. The biodegradable hospital curtain of claim 20, wherein:
- the sheet of material is substantially free of fire retardant chemicals.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 11, 2006
Publication Date: Apr 17, 2008
Inventor: Carol Derby Govan (New York, NY)
Application Number: 11/546,134
International Classification: A47H 1/00 (20060101);