With Body Support Means (e.g., Belt, Garment, Etc.) Patents (Class 604/345)
  • Patent number: 5853396
    Abstract: A fabric of flexible material adapted to be worn around the abdomen of a patient adjacent to the protruding end of a Peritoneal Dialysis catheter and transfer tube. The front part of the belt that crosses the abdomen consists of a single panel of fabric, the back part of the main belt is made up of two pieces of fabric layered one on top of the other forming a reinforced envelope into which the transfer tube is inserted. The rest of the belt is made of an elastic band attached to each end of the main belt and featuring a fastening means. This belt serves to enclose, protect, and secure the transfer tube and prevent it from dangling. The proposed device, Tuck-Away Belt, accommodates this transfer tube, is not restrictive to active Peritoneal Dialysis patients, and is not noticeable under conventional garment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Inventors: Solita M. Bennes, deceased, by James M. Bennes, legal representative, Cathy Dickson
  • Patent number: 5843054
    Abstract: An ostomy bag cover for an ostomy bag of the type having an inlet, a connecting member for connecting the inlet in communication with a stoma on a wearer's body and a closable outlet at the bottom of the ostomy bag for emptying the contents therefrom. The cover is in the form of a hollow body and includes a ribbed aperture formed therein adapted to be disposed in close tolerance with the inlet of the ostomy bag and to receive the connecting member therethrough. Said ribbed aperture provides an improved fit of the ostomy bag cover in relation to the ostomy bag inlet thereby providing the wearer with greater comfort by reduced contact of the wearer's skin with the ostomy bag, the connecting member, or the ostomy inlet. A second aperture is formed in the bottom of the hollow body between spaced side portions thereof and is adapted to be disposed in proximity with the outlet of the ostomy bag. A releasable fastener is mounted on the space sides for releasably closing the second aperture in the hollow body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 1, 1998
    Inventor: Judith A. Honig
  • Patent number: 5806096
    Abstract: A medical tube-retaining garment to deter patients, especially children, from disturbing a surgical wound site on the torso. An inner garment resembling a shirt or undergarment having a split back is affixed to an outer garment made of a wrappable, elastic bandage material. Both the outer and inner garments close over the back by overlapping portions having hook and loop type fasteners, which rear entry design deters the patient or child from detaching the garments. A crotch strap passes from front to back of the outer garment to deter the child from pulling up on the inner garment to reveal the surgery site. Similarly, shoulder straps of the inner garment deter the child from pulling the inner garment down to reveal the site. Secondary hook and eye fasteners prevent separation of the hook and loop fasteners. When the inner and outer garments are secured over the back the child is sufficiently deterred from gaining access to the implanted tubes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 1997
    Date of Patent: September 15, 1998
    Inventor: Jacqueline R. Pennington
  • Patent number: 5700257
    Abstract: A pack (10) for carrying an IV bag (12) and an ambulatory IV pump (16). The pack includes an inner back (30) and an outer back (32) that are sewn together on three edges to form a pocket (38) in which a plastic plate (40) is inserted to provided rigidity. A pair of inner flaps (64, 66) secure the IV bag against the back of the pack. Several straps (42, 50, 52, 62) also secure the IV bag in place, limiting its lateral and longitudinal movement relative to the back of the pack. Outer flaps (70, 72) overlap to enclose the IV bag. One of the outer flaps includes a pocket (14) in which the IV pump (16) is carried. The flaps and straps are secured by engaging a hook material attached to one surface of the strap or flap to a loop material attached to another surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 23, 1997
    Assignee: Abbott Laboratories
    Inventors: Steven E. Minick, Judith A. Segerson, William C. Rednour
  • Patent number: 5653701
    Abstract: An ostomy support belt includes a main pocket for supporting the weight of a conventional pouch for holding bodily drainages. A secondary pocket is provided on the inside of the ostomy support belt in which a support plate is inserted for providing additional lateral support to the areas of the skin and abdomen surrounding the stoma and to increase adhesion where the pouch attaches to the skin surrounding the stoma and to prevent leakage, skin irritation, mounding, and herniation. A guard may be attached to the outside of the belt at a location corresponding to the stoma to prevent the stoma from damage due to external forces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 5, 1997
    Assignee: Desert Shield Trust
    Inventor: Leonard V. Millman
  • Patent number: 5651777
    Abstract: A supporting device for the ostomy pouch having a waist belt with a length adjuster, an attaching means for connecting ends, an attaching means for attaching the belt to the sling. The sling can have attaching means compatible to that on the belt. An attaching means to close the sling and a C-shaped cut to allow better coverage of the pouch over the stoma area. The invention is designed to hold and support the ostomy pouch in a horizontal fashion across the abdomen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 29, 1997
    Inventor: Wanda K. Walters
  • Patent number: 5643233
    Abstract: A post-surgical drainage carrier for carrying a post-surgical drainage container used for draining fluids from patients after surgery. The post-surgical drainage carrier includes a pouch and a belt. The pouch includes a front pouch sidewall and a back pouch sidewall. The front pouch sidewall terminates at a pouch lip which is interconnected with a pouch extension at first and second lip attachment points which may extend downwardly and inwardly to open a pouch mouth for easily placing the drainage container within the pouch interior.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 1, 1997
    Inventor: Nancy F. Turner
  • Patent number: 5626570
    Abstract: An ostomy appliance belt for positively supporting and consealing an ostomy pouch as well as the stoma area of the user's abdomen. The belt is made from an elastic material and completely encircles the user's waist without interfering with the attachment of the ostomy appliance to the abdomen. The belt functions independently but cooperates with a self sealing ostomy appliance so as to permit removal and cleaning of the appliance without removal of the belt. A pocket forming elastic panel extends between the ends of the belt and covers the stoma area in the closed position. When the panel is opened, the ostomy pouch may be removed without removal of the belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 6, 1997
    Inventor: Kerry R. Gallo
  • Patent number: 5607412
    Abstract: An ostomy bag cover is formed of a single piece of a soft knit fabric, folded and sewn so that there are no rough edges in contact with the patient. The cover contains the ostomy bag and isolates the patient from direct contact of the plastic bag with the skin. The cover has a distal side panel and left and right proximal side panels that meet at a vertical midline on the patient side of the cover. The panels are left detached from one another from the top seam partway down the midline to define a vertical slot through which the fitting or flange of the ostomy bag protrudes. Another slot is provided along the bottom seam to accommodate a drain tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 4, 1997
    Inventor: E. Belle Brown
  • Patent number: 5586978
    Abstract: An incontinence device includes a tray having a body with an opening extending through the body, having an annular ring surrounding the opening and extending away from the body to a terminal edge, and having at least one drain to drain material from within the tray body. The annular ring also has an annular groove that opens radially outward from the annular ring. The drain may include an array of slots that extend through the body. The annular groove may be defined between the tray body and an annular flange that extends radially outward from the annular ring at the terminal edge. The annular ring, annular flange, and tray body may be formed in one piece of a moldable material. A liquid barrier having an aperture extending through the barrier may further be included and coupled with the tray body to define a passage through each of the body opening and barrier aperture. An absorbent lining may be interposed between the liquid barrier and the tray body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1996
    Inventor: Donald E. Bayne
  • Patent number: 5478334
    Abstract: A urine collecting assembly installable on an incontinent male, the assembly including a normally-flat urostomy pouch having a lateral inlet adjacent its upper end bordered by a circular belt-adapter flange, whereby the pouch may be strapped onto the hips or waist of an incontinent male whose penis then projects toward the inlet. The pouch is combined with a complementary circular fixture which is fitted over the penis and then snapped onto the flange of the pouch. Mounted on the fixture is an open-ended short condom, the rear end of which is stretched and attached to the fixture, the open front end of the condom then snugly engaging the shaft of the penis from whose head urine is discharged into the pouch through its inlet. The condom functions as a sealing membrane to prevent urine backup so that the incontinent male is not soiled by his own urine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 26, 1995
    Inventor: Jerry Bernstein
  • Patent number: 5375265
    Abstract: A holding apparatus for holding a urine bag on a user's leg, especially the thigh, has a first knitted hose part, a second knitted hose part of the same diameter which is connected to the first hose part via a continuous connecting region. The first hose part is positioned onto a leg. The second hose part is folded upwardly onto the first knitted hose part to secure the urine bag on the leg. Also, a separating region, in the connecting region, enables the passage of an outlet of the urine bag when the knitted hose parts are in a folded condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 27, 1994
    Assignees: Karl-Heinz Muller, Klaus Muller, Peter Muller
    Inventor: Klaus Selzer
  • Patent number: 5364378
    Abstract: A unique colostomy or ileostomy bag includes an anti-back flow member provided by a thin plastic tube. The structure of the thin plastic tube reduces any likelihood of waste contacting a patient's skin. The thin plastic tube has a relatively large opening compared to a seal positioned adjacent the patient. Thus, any waste passing through the seal tends not to contact the thin plastic member adjacent an entrance to the thin plastic member. Rather, the waste contacts the thin plastic member at a downstream position. At the downstream position, any waste on the thin plastic member would not be adjacent to patient, and would tend to not contact the patient. The thin plastic member has relatively little rigidity such that it presents little resistant to flow of the waste material between the sides of the thin plastic member. In this way, the waste moves easily between the sides of the thin plastic member and into a bag for storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 15, 1994
    Inventor: Ruthie Denard
  • Patent number: 5330455
    Abstract: An enterostomy appliance which can be easily and rapidly applied and removed and which is capable of achieving a high quality, completely reliable, fluid-tight seal with the wearer's skin. The appliance does not require adhesive or other sealing medium to effect the seal with the wearer's skin. Also, the appliance is nonirritating to the skin and can be quickly manipulated away from the skin to release flatus without removing clothing. The appliance includes a pouch or bag for receiving discharge from the stoma, an elastomeric sealing ring with a specially constructed sealing surface for establishing the fluid-tight seal with the skin in the area immediately surrounding the stoma, an assembly base for carrying the pouch and sealing ring, and an adjustable elastic belt for encircling the torso and maintaining the pouch, sealing ring and assembly base in proper position on the wearer's body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 19, 1994
    Inventor: Lester M. McKay
  • Patent number: 5234420
    Abstract: Apparatus for supporting a drainage catheter collection chamber to a body portion of a patient in a comfortable, non-irritating manner including a sheet of soft fiber material having a loop portion formed on at least one edge thereof, at least two tabs extending from corner portions of the loop portion, male snap fastener portions affixed to the loop portion, and female snap fastener portions affixed to the tabs in such a manner that when the tabs are folded over the loop portion the male and female snap fastener portions are in alignment to be engaged with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1993
    Inventors: Ronald E. Horton, M. Irene Horton
  • Patent number: 5142702
    Abstract: Disclosed is a garment which houses an ostomy appliance. The garment has a rear section, a left section and a right section, of which the sections are combined together such that the left and right sections are secured to the back section. The garment further has an interior pocket for holding the ostomy appliance. The pocket, which is lined with a moisture resistant pliable material for retaining moisture within said pocket, is stitched to the interior of the garment. The pocket further includes a flap for securing the ostomy appliance in place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1991
    Date of Patent: September 1, 1992
    Inventor: Gladys G. Piloian
  • Patent number: 5135520
    Abstract: A variable closure device is provided for an ostomy garment having a pair of crisscross pocket forming panels configured to lie behind an ostomy device. The crisscross overlapping arrangement of the pocket forming panels forms an elongated slot above the crossover region. Panels are releasably joined together at their top portions over a range of relative positions, including spaced apart and overlapping conditions, so as to provide a measure of adjustment to the tension provided in support of the device, and to provide an improved degree of surrounding of the ostomy device flange when the ostomy device is emplaced relatively low on the user's abdomen. The variable closure device may be used with brief-type undergarments having a front and rear garment panels joined to the pocket forming panels to jockey style briefs having an insert panel attachable at the top to the waistband and at the bottom to the lower edges of the pocket forming panels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: August 4, 1992
    Inventor: Dolores Y. Beaupied
  • Patent number: 5135519
    Abstract: An ostomy maintenance apparatus comprising a shielding member made of a flexible lightweight material and fastened around ostomates waist using a releasable securing arrangement, a receptacle having an opening and being releasably attachable to the shielding member using an attaching arrangement. The receptacle includes reinforcement at the opening for support to keep the opening from collapsing while in use and for supporting a disposable waste receiver in an open and receivable manner into which refuse during and resulting from ostomy maintenance procedures is received and disposed of in, and a closure arrangement at the receptacle opening for temporary conversion of receptacle to a storage receptacle for the shielding member and some ostomy supplies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1990
    Date of Patent: August 4, 1992
    Inventor: Bradley G. Helmer
  • Patent number: 5048122
    Abstract: A garment to be worn by a person with an implanted catheter line. The garment includes a close fitting garment body that is easily donned and includes a pocket on an inside surface thereof adjacent the site of the catheter implant. The pocket stores a portion of the catheter line during normal activities of the person and includes closure means for partially closing the pocket. For certain patients the garment includes double closures that inhibit the wearer from opening the garment once it is donned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 17, 1991
    Inventor: Deborah G. Prieur
  • Patent number: 5048512
    Abstract: A surgically implanted gastrostomy tube through which the wearer receives part or all of his required nourishment is an unnatural, awkward, inconvenient and damage-vulnerable appendage added to the human body that is approximately 10" to 16" long and 1/4" in diameter, is made of surgical rubber tubing, and protrudes and dangles from the stomach area of the wearer. This invention, the gastrostomy tube protector and hider, is a belt or girdle worn by a person with a gastrostomy tube, that incorporates a pocket with a method of closure in which said gastrostomy tube can be stored and protected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 1985
    Date of Patent: September 17, 1991
    Inventors: W. Richard Turner, Linda T. Turner
  • Patent number: 5026362
    Abstract: An ostomy bag holder and cover of lightweight fabric material, comprises a waist encircling belt adapted to be adjustably secured about the waist of the user, and a pouch secured to the belt for holding and covering an ostomy bag, said pouch comprising a back panel having a cut-out therein for providing access from an ostomy bag to a stoma, and a front panel having releasable fastening means thereon for releasably attaching the front panel to the belt for covering an ostomy bag supported in the pouch. The front and back panels define a pocket at their lower ends for supporting the ostomy bag.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 25, 1991
    Inventor: Elsie M. Willett
  • Patent number: 4898162
    Abstract: An eyeshield which can be attached either by tape or a removable band over the eyesocket of a patient after surgery is of low friction resilient material and includes integral low profile bosses that are spaced apart near diametrically opposed edges. A flexible band having snap fasteners adjacent each end may be attached to the bosses on the eyeshield. The band having snap fasteners is easily released from the eyeshield by gripping extending fringes of the end portions of the band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 6, 1990
    Assignee: Surgin Surgical Instrumentation, Inc.
    Inventor: Theodore S. Worthrich
  • Patent number: 4888006
    Abstract: An ostomy garment comprises an undergarment having front, back and crotch panels, waist and leg bands stitched together to construct a typical panty or undergarment. The garment incorporates a retaining pocket and closure device. The retaining pocket has an opening defined by a crisscross arrangement which surrounds the connected flanges of an appliance and contains the appliance pouch apart from the user's abdomen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1989
    Inventor: Dolores Y. Beaupied
  • Patent number: 4738661
    Abstract: A belt for use on patients having had a gastrostomy surgical procedure perfomed wherein a flexible entrance tube extends outwardly, via a stoma, from the patient's body. The belt includes a pocket into which extends the flexible tube so that any excretions emanating therefrom will be absorbed by the absorbent material of the pocket and may include anti-bacterial medicaments and/or odor neutralizing medicaments therein, fits comfortably around the patient's body and may be reused many times without deteriation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1988
    Inventor: Marie R. Marut
  • Patent number: 4666432
    Abstract: A catheter retaining means and method for a surgically implanted catheter having an internal tubing portion received within the body and an external tubing portion with a free end extending from an exit site on the body. The retaining means comprises a band of flexible material for being received about the body and over the exit site of the implanted catheter for protecting the site of the body and securely retaining in position proximate to the body the external tubing portion as it extends from the exit site. The band has an opening and a pocket overlying the opening for receiving into the pocket through the opening at least a part of the external tubing portion and its free end for storage therein, the pocket allowing the removal therefrom of the free end and part of the external tubing portion of the catheter for placing it in use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 1985
    Date of Patent: May 19, 1987
    Inventors: Kenneth McNeish, Marilyn McNeish
  • Patent number: 4533355
    Abstract: A loose-fitting garment for individuals wearing an ostomy appliance with an encircling band which contacts the body above the stoma. The downwardly extending fabric which covers the torso has a large vertical opening therein and a pocket on the exterior covering a portion of the opening. The appliance fitted to the stoma extends through the opening and rests in the pocket. A cover flap is provided to shield the appliance from view.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 1984
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1985
    Inventor: Marjorie A. Fair
  • Patent number: 4511358
    Abstract: This invention provides a urine leg drainage bag supporter comprising a waist encircling belt; a pouch for holding a urine bag, the pouch being formed of front and back panels connected at the vertical edges to define an opening in the top and bottom portions of the pouch, the front panel being formed of a stretchable material to firmly hold the bag within the pouch; a plurality of vertical straps connecting the pouch to the belt; and a plurality of horizontal straps extending from the pouch for encircling the leg of the wearer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 16, 1985
    Inventors: Clifford B. Johnson, Jr., Barbara Johnson, Alex Amadio, Williane Amadio