Extensible dressings
AssigneeJohnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.
InventorsMelinda Cettina, Paulo Oriani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to dressings such as bandages or tapes improved extensibility. The present invention further relates to dressings such as bandages or tapes which are extensible so as to at least partially conform to a body contour at wound surface upon stretching of the dressing.
Claims19
A dressing comprising a layer of resilient material, the layer of resilient material having a length direction (LD) and a width direction (WD), which together define a horizontal plane (HP), the layer of resilient material having a first surface and a second opposed surface, a longitudinal centerline (LC) and a transverse centerline (TC), the layer of resilient material further including one or more pleats formed in at least a portion thereof, each pleat comprising two or more folds, at least one of which folds each pleat shares in common with a neighboring pleat when there are two or more pleats, each pleat further has (i) length extending in a direction taken along a pleat length, (ii) a pleat width, and (iii) a lengthwise centerline (PC) bisecting the pleat width, wherein the direction of each pleat length independently makes an angle φ with the longitudinal centerline LC in the horizontal plane HP, and wherein the angle φ has a value that falls within a range specified by the equation:
- 0°<φ<180°, wherein at least one pleat is movable between collapsed and upright configurations, wherein the collapsed configuration the at least one pleat is in an overlaying relationship with the substantially fold-free segment of the layer of resilient material spanning the distance between it and its neighbor (an adjacent pleat), where in the upright configuration the at least one pleat is in a substantially upright orientation relative to the substantially fold-free segment of the layer of resilient as a consequence of being moved by the application of an external force to the layer of resilient material, and wherein the at least one pleat is biased to return to the collapsed configuration when the external force is removed.
A dressing comprising a layer of resilient material, the layer of resilient material having:
- (i) a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge, which together define a width (W) of the layer of resilient material;
- (ii) a first transverse edge and a second transverse edge, which together define a length (L) of the layer of resilient material, the length L and width W of the layer of resilient material 12 having a length direction (LD) and a width direction (WD) respectively, the length direction LD and the width direction WD together defining a horizontal plane (HP), the layer of resilient material having a first surface and a second opposed surface, a longitudinal centerline (LC), and a transverse centerline (TC);
- and
- (iii) a plurality of pleats formed in at least a portion of the layer of resilient material, each pleat comprising a multiplicity of folds, each fold extending from the first longitudinal edge to the second longitudinal edge, each pleat having a closed end (or an apex) 36 defined by a fold, an open end spaced from and opposite the closed end (or apex), and a trailing side wall and an opposing leading side wall sharing a common transverse edge running along the fold of the closed end (the apex) of the pleat, each of the trailing and leading side walls of the pleat further has a second transverse edge spaced from and opposite the common transverse edge and disposed on opposite sides of the open end of the pleat, wherein at least two (adjacent) neighboring pleats are arranged in a spaced relation to each other with a substantially fold-free segment of the layer of resilient material spanning the distance from the second transverse edge of the leading side wall of one of the pleats to the second transverse edge of the trailing sidewall of the neighboring pleat, and at least one pleat is movable between collapsed and upright configurations, wherein the collapsed configuration the at least one pleat is in an overlaying relationship with the substantially fold-free segment of the layer of resilient material spanning the distance between it and its neighbor (an adjacent pleat), where in the upright configuration the at least one pleat is in a substantially upright orientation relative to the substantially fold-free segment of the layer of resilient as a consequence of being moved by the application of an external force to the layer of resilient material, and wherein the at least one pleat is biased to return to the collapsed configuration when the external force is removed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.