Method and system for recording heart lead tracings on segments of an EKG data strip and for detaching and transferring the segments to a permanent file

An electrocardiogram (EKG) data strip of the kind used for individual heart lead tracings which are transferred into a permanent record file, said data strip comprising,

• an elongated strip having an EKG chart on an upper surface for engagement by a movable stylus of an EKG recording machine during the recording of an individual heart lead tracing on the upper surface of the strip,
• a first longitudinal line of perforations formed adjacent one side edge of the data strip,
• a second longitudinal line of perforations formed adjacent the other side edge of the data strip, and
• a plurality of transverse lines of perforations formed across the data strip between the first and second longitudinal lines of perforations and at spaced intervals along the length of the EKG strip to thereby divide the central part of the strip into a plurality of longitudinally aligned segments, each of which has a predetermined width between the longitudinal perforations and a predetermined length between two adjacent transverse perforations and each of which is readily detachable from the EKG data strip along the longitudinal and transverse perforations and wherein the transverse perforations have individual serrations sufficiently smaller than the width of the stylus engageable with the data strip that the stylus bridges the perforations to prevent the perforations from interferring with the movement of the stylus with respect to the data strip during recording.

A system of the kind in which individual heart lead tracings are recorded on an electrocardiogram (EKG) data strip and then detached from the strip and transferred to a permanent file record, said system comprising,

• an EKG data strip having a first longitudinal line of perforations formed adjacent one side edge of the data strip,
• a second longitudinal line of perforations formed adjacent to the other side edge of the data strip,
• a plurality of transverse lines of perforations each formed of individual serrations and extending across the EKG data strip between said first and second longitudinal lines of perforations and at spaced intervals along the length of the EKG strip to thereby divide the central part of the strip into a plurality of longitudinally aligned segments, each of which has a predetermined width between the longitudinal perforations and a predetermined length between two adjacent transverse perforations and each of which is readily detachable from the the EKG data strip along the longitudinal and transverse perforations,
• an EKG recording machine for recording the individual heart lead tracings on said segments and within the width of said segments in the central portion of the EKG data strip between the first and second longitudinal lines of perforations,
• said EKG recording machine including a stylus mounted for movement in a direction across width of a segment on the upper surface of the data strip,
• said stylus having a width in the area in contact with the data strip sufficiently greater than the size of the individual serrations in the transverse perforations that the stylus bridges the transverse perforations to prevent the perforations from interferring with the movement of the stylus with respect to the data strip during recording,
• said EKG recording machine also including a friction drive roller engageable with the lower surface of the data strip to frictionally drive the data strip longitudinally beneath the stylus during recording of a heart tracing, and
• a file record having storage spaces matched to the dimensions of said segments for retaining the segments in place on the record file after they have been detached from the EKG data strip and transferred to the record file.