Vaginal contraceptive shield
OwnerVirgil A. Place, Harold L. Crowinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible contraceptive vaginal shield having a supporting structure with an outer ring and an internal member which may comprise one or more concentric rings with or without a plurality of ribs connecting the rings said structure bonded to a flexible non-elastomeric film. A spermicide is normally applied to both sides of the film. The bonding of the supporting structure to the film is preferably by heat sealing. Spermicide applied to the ring side of the film is retained within reservoirs formed by the rings, the ribs and the film. In addition there may be reservoirs formed within the supporting structure that release spermicide through the flexing action caused by sexual intercourse.
Claims20
A contraceptive vaginal shield comprising:
- a circumferential plastic flexible non-elastomeric rod-like supporting member;
- a thin non-elastomeric film bound to said supporting member and relatively tautly extending over the area enclosed by said circumferential supporting member;
- at least one internal flexible plastic rod-like supporting member bonded to said non-elastomeric film for providing structural support for said non-elastomeric film;
- and
- wherein said supporting member and film define at least one spermicidal reservoir and when said shield is bent into a U-shaped configuration and inserted into the vagina, the restoring forces of said flexible rod-like supporting member maintains said non-elastomeric film in juxtaposition to the vaginal wall.
A contraceptive vaginal shield comprising:
- a supporting member including inner and outer concentric spaced apart flexible rings, said rings having generally curved upper surfaces and generally flat lower surfaces and from 2 to 10 flexible connecting ribs extending between said rings;
- a thin flexible non-elastomeric film bound along a first face to the lower surfaces of said rings and ribs and tautly extending over the area defined by said outer ring;
- a spermicide contacting at least a portion of said first face of said film;
- and
- wherein when said shield is bent into a U-shaped configuration and inserted into the vagina the restoring forces of said supporting member maintains said flexible non-elastomeric film in juxtaposition to the vaginal wall.
A contraceptive vaginal shield comprising:
- a supporting structure comprising a circumferential flexible, rib supporting member and at least one internal flexible non-elastomeric rib supporting member connected to said circumferential member at at least one point;
- a flexible thin non-elastomeric film bound to one side of said supporting structure and tautly extending over the area defined by said circumferential member;
- wherein said supporting structure and film define at least one spermicide reservoir and when said shield is bent into a U-shaped configuration and inserted into the vagina, the restoring forces of said supporting structure maintains said non-elastomeric film in juxtaposition to the vaginal wall.
A method for producing a vaginal contraceptive comprising
- forming a flexible, generally planar framework, said framework comprising at least an outer ring and an inner member defining at least one reservoir space within said outer ring;
- bonding at least a portion of one side of said framework to a thin flexible film to tautly extend over the area defined by said outer ring;
- and
- applying a spermicide to at least one side of said film.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.