Protective Sleeve

Abstract

A protective sleeve designed to prevent the passage of bodily fluids therethrough. The protective sleeve includes an elongated member having an interior and an exterior. The interior of the elongated member has a perimeter, wherein the perimeter defines a top side, a bottom side, and at least one side edge. The top side and the bottom side each have an elastic band disposed therein. The elongated member is designed to seal around an arm of a user and thereby prevent fluid penetration therethrough. In this way, a user is able to protect their arm from exposure to bodily fluids, such as blood.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/663,413 filed on Apr. 27, 2018. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to protective sleeves. More specifically, the invention provides a protective sleeve including an elongated member having an interior and an exterior wherein a top side and a bottom side of the elongated member include an elastic material.

Many tattoo artists run the risk of exposure to unwanted liquids, such as bodily fluids, from individuals receiving the tattoo. Although tattoo artists wear gloves when administering tattoos, it is common for bodily fluids, typically blood, to come into contact with the wrists and forearms of the tattoo artist. The exposure to blood puts the tattoo artist at risk for potential illnesses, more so if the tattoo artist has a cut on their wrist or forearm. Unfortunately, the gloves often utilized by the tattoo artists do not provide protection against the exposure of blood onto the wrist or forearm. Thus, an improved protective sleeve that can prevent bodily fluids from passing therethrough is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of protective sleeves now present in the known art, the present invention provides a protective sleeve wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when desiring to protect their forearm from exposure to bodily fluids such as blood.

The present system includes a protective sleeve comprising an elongated member having an interior and an exterior. The interior of the elongated member has a perimeter, wherein the perimeter defines a top side, a bottom side, and at least one side edge. The top side and the bottom side each have an elastic band disposed therein. The elongated member is configured to seal around an arm of a user and thereby prevent fluid penetration therethrough. In this way, a user is able to protect their arm from exposure to bodily fluids.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of an embodiment of the protective sleeve in an unwrapped configuration.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of an embodiment of the protective sleeve in use wrapped around an arm.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the protective sleeve. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a front view of an embodiment of the protective sleeve in an unwrapped configuration. A protective sleeve comprises an elongated member 11, having an interior 15. The elongated member 11 is configured to wrap around an arm of a user, such that the interior 15 is flush against the user's arm. In the illustrated embodiment, the elongated member 11 is composed of an air-permeable and liquid-impermeable material, thereby providing breathability to the user when wearing the protective sleeve so as not to be prohibitively discomforting for the user.

The elongated member 11 is configured to secure around the forearm of the user. In one embodiment, the elongated member 11 comprises a torus, such that it can be slidably disposed over the arm of the user. However, in the illustrated embodiment, the elongated member 11 can be opened and lain flat, wherein the elongated member 11 is planar to allow for easier maneuverability when wrapped around the forearm. Thus, when the elongated member 11 is wrapped around the forearm of the user, the user can secure the elongated member 11 to a preferred level of tightness. In this way, the elongated member can be utilized to protect a plurality of individuals with varying sizes of forearms, or to varying levels of comfort.

The elongated member 11 further comprises a top side 12 and a bottom side 13. The top side 12 is configured to secure around a wrist of a user, wherein the bottom side 13 is configured to secure around a forearm of the user. In one embodiment, the bottom side 13 is configured to secure around an elbow of the user. In the illustrated embodiment, the top side 12 and bottom side 13 each contain an elastic material disposed therein. In this way, when the elongated member 11 is wrapped around the forearm of the user, the top side 12 and bottom side 13 can stretch to expand and better accommodate a plurality of wrist and forearm sizes, while continuing to provide a seal around the arm of the user.

The protective sleeve further comprises a top fastener 16 disposed along a perimeter of the top side 12 on the interior 15. In the illustrated embodiment, the top fastener 16 comprises an adhesive. However, in other embodiments the top fastener 16 can comprise any suitably secure fastener, such as a hook and loop or snaps, for example. The top fastener 16 is configured to secure to an exterior of the elongated member 11 along the top side 12. In this way, the top fastener 16 provides additional securement along the wrist of the user when the protective sleeve is worn.

In the illustrated embodiment, the top side 12 is level along each edge to provide for a uniform fit when secured around the wrist. However, the bottom side 13 is arced along each edge to provide for additional maneuverability when wrapping the elongated member 11 around the forearm of the user and aid the user in delineating the difference between the top side 12 and the bottom side 13.

Additionally, in the illustrated embodiment, the protective sleeve further comprises a side fastener 17 disposed along a perimeter of a side edge 14 of the interior 15. In this embodiment, the side fastener 17 comprises an adhesive. However, in other embodiments the side fastener 17 can comprise any suitably secure fastener, such as a hook and loop or snaps. The side fastener 17 is configured to secure to an exterior of the elongated member 11, thereby securing the protective sleeve around the forearm of the user at a preferred level of tightness. In this way, the protective sleeve prevents the exposure of bodily fluids to the forearm. In the shown embodiment, the side fastener 17 is disposed along the entire perimeter of the side edge 14 such that the protective sleeve is secured uniformly around the forearm. Thus, the side fastener 17 is positioned adjacent to the top fastener 16 at one corner of the interior 15.

In the illustrated embodiment, at the corner wherein the top fastener 16 and side fastener 17 are adjacent to one another, the top fastener 16 and side fastener 17 are each tapered towards the interior 15 of the protective sleeve, such a gap is produced between the top fastener 16 and the side fastener 17. In this way, the two fasteners do not overlap with another and thus the adhesive properties of one do not interfere with the adhesive properties of the other. This allows the user to have different adhesive materials used on each fastener, should the user desire different levels of tightness between the top fastener 16 and the side fastener 17.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a front view of an embodiment of the protective sleeve in use wrapped around an arm. In the illustrated embodiment, the protective sleeve is oriented such that the interior of the elongated member is positioned against the forearm 70 of the user and the exterior 18 is exposed. The protective sleeve is configured to taper outwards to adjust to the specific measurements of the forearm 70. In the shown embodiment, a protective layer is disposed on the exterior 18 of the protective sleeve thereby providing additional security in preventing the contact of bodily fluids with forearm 70. The top side 12 of the elongated member is configured to secure around a wrist of the user such that a glove 71 is secured within the protective sleeve. The elongated member is wrapped around the forearm and secured when the side fastener 17 is removably affixed to the exterior 18. The bottom side 13 is configured to secure around the forearm 70.

In operation, the user will put on a glove to protect their hand. The user will then wrap the elongated member of the protective sleeve around their forearm 70 such that the bottom end of the glove at the wrist is enclosed within the protective sleeve at the top side 12 of the elongated member. The user can then secure their wrist within the protective sleeve using the top fastener. The user can then secure the remainder of the elongated member by affixing the side fastener 17 to the exterior of the sleeve. In this way, the user has secured the protective sleeve around their forearm 70 thereby providing them protection against exposure of bodily fluids.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in various embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1) A protective sleeve, comprising:

an elongated member having an interior and an exterior;

wherein the exterior comprises a liquid-impermeable material;

the interior having a perimeter defining a top side, a bottom side, and at least one side edge;

the top side and the bottom side each having an elastic band disposed therein;

wherein the interior forms a seal when the elongated member is secured around an arm of a user and thereby prevents fluid penetration therethrough.

2) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the elongated member further comprises a fastener disposed on at least one side edge of the interior configured to affix to the exterior of the elongated member.

3) The protective sleeve of claim 2, wherein the fastener comprises an adhesive material.

4) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the elongated member further comprises a fastener disposed on the top side of the interior configured to affix to the exterior of the elongated member.

5) The protective sleeve of claim 4, wherein the fastener comprises an adhesive material.

6) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the elongated member is planar.

7) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the elongated member is air permeable.

8) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein a protective layer is disposed on the exterior of the elongated member and is configured to provide additional protection against bodily fluids from passing therethrough.

9) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the elongated member comprises a torus, such that the elongated member is able to be slidably disposed over the arm of the user.

10) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein a first upper length of the protective sleeve tapers inwardly to a second lower length of the protective sleeve in order to adjust to specific measurements of a forearm of the user.

11) The protective sleeve of claim 8, wherein the protective layer comprises a liquid-impermeable material.

12) The protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the exterior of the elongated member forms a seal when the elongated member is secured around the arm of the user and thereby prevents fluid from penetrating the exterior and making contact with a surface of the arm of the user.