Arm protector for medical use

Abstract

The invention is a water impervious sleeve adapted to be placed on an arm of a patient that has a catheter installed therein. There is an arm band at each end of the sleeve. Each of the arm bands includes an elastic section. Each of the arm bands further includes an adjustable section which is used to adjust the effective force that is exerted on the catheter as it exits from one of the arm bands. An additional foam rubber wedge is installed in each of arm bands in a location to surround the catheter to effectively seal the catheter and the sleeve from any water entering into the sleeve.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a sleeve for protecting an arm of a wearer from contact with fluids, dirt or other matter that may have an adverse effect on a medical condition. This medical condition may be a catheter that is installed in a vein of the user. It is of an extreme importance that such a medical condition be protected from any bacteria or other matter that may come in contact with a location on the arm of a wearer where a catheter including a needle is introduced into the skin of the wearer whereby serious consequences may be experienced leading to infection and other maladies. The presence of a catheter creates certain difficulties to keep the area affected clean because the catheter has to be guided outside of the protective sleeve leaving possible openings at the ends of the sleeve where the catheter exits the sleeve.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

[0002] Numerous attempts have been made to protect the arm of a user for various reasons.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 924,545 discloses an elastic cuff and sleeve protector that relates to a sanitary protector that can easily be placed over a cuff and sleeve to protect the same while the hands are being washed. At both ends of the sleeve there gripping portions 4 and 5. The gripping portions may not be suitable because of the presence of the catheter in applicant's device that pinch the catheter tube as it exits either end of the protective sleeve.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,741 illustrates a surgical sleeve made of a fluid impervious material and is adapted to cover the forearm portion of a surgeon's gown to prevent fluids from penetrating to the surgeon's gown and arm. There is an elastic portion at each end thereof to hold the sleeve tightly against the wrist and the upper arm. Any catheter passing through either end of the sleeve will be pinched to a point where the catheter is ineffective.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,997 illustrates a protective garment comprising a seamless, transparent, plastic body of tubular design having gathered elastic loops at the opposite ends thereof. The garment is designed to prevent soiling of a garment over which this garment is being worn.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,653 shows a wrist protector having welts therein for the purpose of keeping the hand of a user dry and for blotting perspiration from the face and the forehead while in a play. This disclosure is far removed from applicant's subject matter.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,112 shows a device in the form a protective sleeve to prevent snow from penetrating between the glove and the coat of an individual. This then is a protective over sleeve worn over a garment of a skier. The sleeve has elastic portions 18 and 19 which around a garment which is worn underneath the protective sleeve. The longitudinal zipper 20 aids in putting the sleeve.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,062 represents an arm sleeve worn on a person while driving and having one arm exposed to the sun while driving. The material represents a sun block sleeve for UV protection.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,793 exhibits a protective sleeve that is made of a laminated material with a thin layer of moisture impermeable plastic film on the inside and a layer of absorbent paper toweling on the outside. The sleeves include separate elastic and expandable bands 22 that may be slipped over the sleeve at the wrist and an upper arm portion.

[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,130 discloses a protective sleeve that is designed to avoid certain liquids from reaching the skin of the wearer. Such liquids are caustic or acidic solutions. Such sleeves may include elastics 9 which may be included in various layers 1 and 2 of the sleeve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] FIG. 1 shows the overall combination of a sleeve placed over a catheter installed in the arm;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a more detailed view of the sleeve;

[0013] FIG. 3 shows a sealing arrangement for the catheter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] FIG. 1 shows the inventive sleeve 1 placed over the upper arm of a patient with the catheter placed under the sleeve while it is installed in a vein of the arm, The protective sleeve may be made of many different material as long as it is light weight and water impervious. The sleeve 1 of FIG. 1 has an upper band 2 and a lower band 3. Associated with the band 2 are pleats 2a and the same pleats 3a appear at the lower band 3. The reason for the these pleats is so that the fabric or material of the sleeve may expand or contract when the sleeve is placed over the arm and to accommodate different sizes of an arm, as will be explained below. As can be seen in FIG. 1 the catheter 4 exits the sleeve 1 at its upper band 2, which is used in most instances, however the catheter 4 could also exit at the lower band 3 of the sleeve 1, as may be dictated by certain conditions.

[0015] Turning now to FIG. 2 wherein the same reference characters have been applied as were in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1 the upper band 2 or the lower band 3 or both have been modified over what is known in the prior art.

[0016] To this end, experiments have shown that when a conventional protective water impervious sleeve had been placed over an arm that had a catheter installed therein, the catheter would be pinched because of too much pressure of the total elastic arm bands either at the upper band or the lower band. to alleviate this problem, an elastic section 5 has been installed in either the upper or the lower bands 2 and 3, respectively. In addition an adjustable section has been added to the arm bands 2 and 3. In this way, when the protective sleeve 1 is placed over an ram having a catheter implanted therein, the pressure on the catheter can be regulated or adjusted simply by adjusting the adjustable section to a degree whereby the elastic section enough pressure to render the bands of the sleeve water proof but does not exert enough pressure on the catheter to render it useless or ineffective for its intended purpose. As can be seen in FIG. 1, an elastic section 5 has been included in the arm bands 2 and 3 and the adjustable sections are shown as the female loop fasteners 7b of the well known VELCRO™ fastening system while the adjustable strip 6b has the hook elements of the hook and loop fastening system thereon In this manner, when the sleeve 1 is placed over the arm of a patient, the pressure on the catheter is adjustable simply be moving the adjustable 6a or 6b onto different positions on the loop sections 7a or 7b of the respective arm bands 2 and 3.

[0017] FIG. 3 shows and additional feature of the protective arm sleeve in that a further safeguard against leakage in the area of the catheter 4 has been installed or included. To this end, a wedge shaped foam rubber piece 8 has been added which has a slit provided therein which ends in a through hole through the wedge. The through hole snugly receives the catheter and will prevent any leakage altogether.

Claims

1. A water impervious sleeve adapted to be placed on an arm of a patient having a catheter installed thereon, said sleeve having at least one arm band at one end thereof to surround said arm, said sleeve having pleats surrounded by said arm band, said water impervious sleeve having an elastic section included in said at least one arm band, including an adjustable section in said at least one arm band adapted to adjust the effective force of said elastic section and thereby the pressure of said catheter exiting from said at least one arm band.

2. The water impervious sleeve of claim 1, wherein said adjustable section consists of a hook and loop type fastening system.

3. The water impervious sleeve of claim 1, wherein a wedge of a foam rubber type material has been placed within said at least one arm band at a location to surround said catheter exiting from said at least one arm band.

4. The water impervious sleeve of claim of claim 1, wherein said at least one adjustable arm band is placed at both ends of said sleeve.