Therapeutic cold pack for hand, wrist and forearm

Abstract

A device which is shaped like a mitt or a glove with separate sheaths for the thumb and fingers. The mitt or glove has surfaces for covering the palm and back of the human hand. Each of the palm and back surfaces is formed as a plenum which is filled with a heat exchange material. The heat exchange material is selected to provide cooling over a reasonably extended period of time, at an appropriate therapeutic temperature. The heat exchange material is preferably a phase change material such as a paraffinic phase change material having a phase change temperature on the order of 50 degrees F. However, other temperatures and materials are contemplated. The mitt or glove is made of a flexible plastic sheet material such as a tripolymer material or polypropylene. The mitt or glove is formed of four die cut sheets of the plastic sheet material which are shaped in the pattern of the outline of a human hand and forearm. The patterned sheets are stacked together and heat sealed together along their periphery. An opening is left between the palm plenum and back of the hand plenum so that the hand can be inserted into the mitt. Plenums are formed between the inner sheets and outer sheets which are left with filling openings through which the heat exchange is filled. The filling openings are then heat sealed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.