Wound dressing having peeling-force varying release liners

A dressing comprising:

• a plastic film having a wound contacting portion and lateral ends;
• an adhesive coating on one surface of said plastic film about said wound contacting portion providing an adhesive-free wound contacting window and requiring a first force for overcoming the adhesive resistance of said adhesive coating laterally outward of said wound contacting window;
• release liner means covering at least a portion of said adhesive coating and at least a portion of said wound contacting window of said plastic film, said release liner means being in releasable contact with said adhesive coating and including grasping means for enabling said release liner means to be peeled from said adhesive coating;
• and
• means laterally outward of at least one lateral side of said wound contacting window and spaced from said lateral ends of said plastic film for requiring a second force for overcoming the adhesive resistance of said adhesive coating to peel said release liner means from said adhesive coating, said second force varying abruptly from said first force to provide a signal to the user when said release liner means have been peeled at least sufficiently to uncover said wound contacting window.

A dressing comprising:

• a plastic film having a wound contacting portion and lateral ends;
• an adhesive coating on at least a portion of one surface of said plastic film immediately laterally outward of said wound contacting portion providing an adhesive-free wound contacting window;
• release liner means covering at least a portion of said adhesive coating and at least a portion of said wound contacting window of said plastic film, said release liner means being in releasable contact with said adhesive coating and including grasping means for enabling said release liner means to be peeled from said adhesive coating;
• and
• means laterally outward of at least one lateral side of said wound contacting window and spaced from said lateral ends of said plastic film for increasing abruptly the force required to peel said release liner means from said adhesive coating thereby providing a signal to the user when said release liner means have been peeled sufficiently to uncover said wound contacting window and a portion of said adhesive coating immediately outboard of said wound contacting window.