Urine bag abstract
The cover and holder device is made of a cloth material which is
non-irritating to human skin and is adapted to provide a buffer
between a reusable plastic urine bag which is irritating to human
skin and the leg of a wearer thereof thereby to minimize discomfort
to the person who needs to wear such a urine bag strapped to his/her
leg. The device includes a bag portion with slits through which
the straps of the bag extend and cloth straps aligned with the plastic
urine bag straps to provide an underlay or buffer between them and
the persons leg.
Urine bag claims
I claim:
1. For use in an assembly which includes a reusable urine bag which
is made of a flexible material that is irritating to human skin
and which has flexible mounting straps extending therefrom, an improved
combination cover and holder device which is constructed of a cloth
material made from a natural or synthetic fiber which is substantially
non-irritating to human skin and which includes a generally rectangularly
shaped bag portion with an outer wall and an inner wall, each wall
being secured along two opposite side edges thereof and along at
least parts of a bottom edge thereof to the adjacent other wall,
the adjacent side edges of the walls along the top edge of the bag
portion being unattached along a major portion of their length to
define an opening therebetween for receiving the reusable urine
bag, said inner wall having two pairs of spaced apart slits, each
slit being aligned with the connection of one of the mounting straps
of the urine bag to the urine bag and said device further including
two pairs of straps, each strap having a free outer end and an inner
end which is secured to the outer surface of said inner wall adjacent
one of said slits and each strap being in a position to extend partially
around a human leg and between the leg and one of the urine bag
mounting straps.
2. The device according to claim 1 being made of a polyester material.
3. The device according to claim 1 being made of cotton.
4. The device according to claim 1 being made of cotton and polyester
fibers.
5. In combination, a reusable urine bag which is made of a flexible
material that is irritating to human skin and which has flexible
mounting straps extending therefrom and an improved combination
cover and holder device for said urine bag, said device being constructed
of a cloth material made from a natural or synthetic fiber which
is substantially non-irritating to human skin and including a generally
rectangular shaped bag portion with an outer wall and an inner wall,
each wall being secured along two opposite side edges thereof and
along at least part of the bottom edge thereof to the adjacent other
wall, the adjacent side edges of the walls along the top edge of
the bag portion being unattached along a major portion of their
length to define an opening therebetween for receiving said reusable
urine bag, said inner wall having two pairs of spaced apart slits,
each slit being aligned with a connection of one of said mounting
straps of said urine bag to said urine bag and said device further
including two pairs of straps, each strap having a free outer end
and an inner end which is secured to the outer surface of said inner
wall adjacent one of said slits and each strap being in a position
to extend partially around a human leg and between the leg and one
of said urine bag mounting straps.
Urine bag description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combined cover and holder device
for a reusable urine bag. Such devices are presently classified
in Class 128 Subclass 295 and related subclasses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore various devices have been proposed for holding and/or
covering liquid containing bags. Examples of covers and holders
are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 718053 and 1025012.
Also, there has been proposed a harness for a disposable urine
bag which harness is designed to be strapped around the waist and
leg and has a flat portion extending along the leg for holding a
disposable urine bag. Such a harness is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
3897785.
Further, there has been proposed a pouch for a urine bag with mounting
straps for mounting the pouch on a person's leg. Such an assembly
is disclosed in French Pat. No. 1445658.
As will be explained in more detail hereinafter the present invention
differs from these previously proposed devices for holding a reusable
plastic urine bag by providing a combined cover and holder device
for a reusable plastic urine bag which device, not only serves as
a holder for the urine bag, but also provides a buffer or insulating
layer of material between the reusable urine bag and the straps
thereof and the persons leg on which it is strapped thereby to minimize
irritation to the person's leg from the plastic material from which
the disposable urine bag is made or from the residue of cleaning
agents left on the bag after it is washed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided for use in an assembly
which includes a reusable urine bag which is made of a flexible
material that is irritating to human skin and which has flexible
mounting straps extending therefrom, an improved combination cover
and holder device which is constructed of a cloth material made
from a natural or synthetic fiber which is substantially non-irritating
to human skin and which includes a generally rectangular shaped
bag portion with an outer wall and an inner wall, each wall being
secured along two opposite side edges thereof and along at least
parts of a bottom edge thereof to the adjacent other wall, the adjacent
side edges of the walls along the top edge of the bag portion being
unattached along a major portion their length to define an opening
therebetween for receiving the reusable urine bag, said inner wall
having two pairs of spaced apart slits, each slit being aligned
with the connection of one of the mounting straps of the urine bag
to the urine bag and said device further including two pairs of
straps, each strap having a free outer end and an inner end which
is secured to the outer surface of said inner wall adjacent one
of said slits and each strap being in a position to extend partially
around a human leg and between the leg and one of the urine bag
mounting straps.
Further according to the invention there is provided in combination,
a reusable urine bag which is made of a flexible material that is
irritating to human skin and which has flexible mounting straps
extending therefrom and an improved combination cover and holder
device for said urine bag, said device being constructed of a cloth
material made from a natural or synthetic fiber which is substantially
non-irritating to human skin and including a generally rectangular
shaped bag portion with an outer wall and an inner wall, each wall
being secured along two opposite side edges thereof and along at
least part of the bottom edge thereof to the adjacent other wall,
the adjacent side edges of the walls along the top edge of the bag
portion being unattached along a major portion of their length to
define an opening therebetween for receiving said reusable urine
bag, said inner wall having two pairs of spaced apart slits , each
slit being aligned with a connection of one of said mounting straps
of said urine bag to said urine bag and said device further including
two pairs of straps, each strap having a free outer end and an inner
end which is secured to the outer surface of said inner wall adjacent
one of said slits and each strap being in a position to extend partially
around a human leg and between the leg and one of said urine bag
mounting straps.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the urine bag cover and holder
device of the present invention with a reusable urine bag therein.
FIG. 2 is a vertical plan view of the urine bag cover and holder
device shown in FIG. 1 with portions thereof folded outwardly and
broken away.
FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 3--3 of
FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a vertical perspective view of the urine bag cover and
holder device showing how it would be fitted around a person's leg.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings in greater detail, there is illustrated
in FIG. 1 a combined cover and holder device made in accordance
with the teachings of the present invention and generally identified
by the reference numeral 10. The device 10 is especially adapted
for receiving, covering, holding and mounting a reusable plastic
urine bag 12 on a person's leg. These urine bags are worn by persons
who have limited or no control over the evacuation or release or
urine such as a person with a spinal injury, e.g., a quadriplegic.
The device 10 includes a bag portion 14 in which the urine bag
12 is received and, as best shown in FIG. 3 the bag portion 14
has an outer wall 16 and an inner wall 18. An upper pair of straps
20 and 21 are secured to the outer surface of the inner wall 18
and extend outwardly therefrom adjacent slits 22 and 23 formed in
the inner wall 18 through which plastic straps 24 and 25 of the
reusable plastic urine bag 12 can extend, as best illustrated in
FIG. 3. A lower second pair of straps 26 and 27 also extend from
the outer surface of the inner wall 18 of the bag portion 14 adjacent
the bottom side 28 of the bag portion 14 and adjacent slits, such
as slit 30 (FIG. 2), through which lower plastic straps 32 and 33
of the urine bag 12 can extend.
The inner and outer walls 16 and 18 of the bag portion 14 are secured
together along adjacent edges of opposite sides 34 and 35 of the
bag portion 14. Also the adjacent edges of walls 16 and 18 along
the bottom side 28 of the bag portion 14 are unattached along a
portion of the length thereof midway between the bottom corners
of the bag portion 14 to provide an opening for a lower nozzle 40
of the urine bag 12.
The upper side 42 of the bag portion 14 has only a small portion
of the adjacent edges of walls 16 and 18 secured together at the
upper corners of the bar portion 14 so as to provide a sufficiently
large opening 44 for inserting the urine bag 12 into the bag portion
14.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention the reusable
urine bag cover and holder device 10 is made of a cloth material
which is made from a natural or synthetic fiber which is substantially
non-irritating to human skin. Examples of such materials are polyester
or cotton materials or materials made from a blend or mixture of
cotton and polyester fibers.
Also, the bag portion 14 and straps 20 21 26 & 27 are constructed
and arranged so as to underly the urine bag 12 and the straps 24
25 32 & 33 thereof so as to provide a buffer or insulating
layer between the urine bag and the straps thereof and a human leg
on which the urine bag is attached. In this way, irritation of the
skin of the leg is minimized, if not altogether eliminated.
In an emperical test of a reusable urine bag cover and holder device
constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention,
irritation, discomfort and chaffing was essentially completely eliminated
for a quadriplegic who wore the cover and holder device with reusable
urine bags held therein.
From the foregoing description it is apparent that the reusable
urine bag cover and holder device of the present invention has several
advantages, some of which have been described above and others of
which are inherent in the invention. The major advantage is that
with the cover and holder device 10 of the present invention, reusable
urine bags can be utilized without the plastic material of the bag
and straps and/or residue from strong cleaning solutions on the
plastic material of the bag and straps irritating the skin of the
wearer. Also the cover and holder device 10 can be made of different
colored cloth materials to match or contrast with wearing apparel
of the wearer thereby to reduce and minimize the unattractiveness
of a translucent plastic urine bag strapped to a person's leg. Accordingly,
the scope of the present invention is only to be limited as necessitated
by the accompanying claims.
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