Disposable probe cover assembly for medical thermometer

A disposable probe cover assembly adapted for use with an infrared sensitive medical thermometer having an elongated, generally cylindrical probe sized to fit within a patient's ear, the assembly comprising:

• a stretchable plastic film substantially transparent to infrared radiation;
• a thin, flat base layer laminated to one side of the plastic film, the base layer having a generally circular aperture size to slide over an elongated, generally cylindrical probe of an infrared-sensitive medical thermometer;
• and
• a protective layer laminated to the side of the plastic film opposite the base layer, with the portion of the protective layer that is aligned with the base aperture including generally radially-aligned perforations;
• wherein the probe cover assembly can be placed on the elongated probe by inserting the probe through the aperture of the base layer, from the assembly's protective layer side, to stretch the plastic film over the probe and thereby prevent contaminants from moving between a probe and the patient's ear, the perforated protective layer functioning initially to separate the film from the probe and prevent the film from initially sticking to the probe and stretching unevenly;
• and wherein the assembly can be removed from the elongated probe by sliding the base layer outwardly along the probe, with the perforated protective layer functioning to scrape the stretched film from the probe surface.

A disposable probe cover assembly adapted for use with an infrared sensitive medical thermometer having an elongated, generally cylindrical probe sized to fit within a patient's ear, the assembly comprising:

• a stretchable plastic film formed of a linear, low-density polyethylene material, with a uniform thickness in the range of 0.005 to 0.00125 inches, the film being substantially transparent to infrared radiation;
• a thin, flat layer sonically welded to one side of the plastic film, the base layer being formed in a high-density polyethylene material, with a uniform thickness of at least about 0.010 inches, and having a circular aperture sized to slide over an elongated cylindrical probe of an infrared-sensitive medical thermometer;
• and
• a paper layer sonically welded to the side of the plastic film opposite the base layer, with the portion of the paper layer that is aligned with the base aperture including a plurality of uniformly-spaced, radially-aligned perforations;
• wherein the probe cover assembly is substantially flat and can be placed on the elongated probe by inserting the probe through the aperture of the base layer, from the assembly's paper layer side, to stretch the plastic film over the probe and thereby prevent contaminants from moving between the probe and the patient's ear, the perforated paper layer functioning initially to separate the film from the probe and prevent the film from initially sticking to the probe and stretching unevenly;
• and wherein the assembly can be removed from the elongated probe by sliding the base layer outwardly along the probe, with the perforated paper layer functioning to scrape the stretched film from the probe surface.

A disposable probe cover assembly for an elongated probe of a medical thermometer having a remote end adapted for insertion into a body cavity and an opposite base end, comprising:

• a base layer having an opening defined therethrough the opening sized sufficiently larger than the remote end of the probe so as to fit easily thereover and sufficiently smaller than at least a portion of the base end of the probe so as to engage the probe and be retained at its base end in a fixed position;
• and
• a stretchable plastic film extending across the opening defined through the base layer, the film being affixed to the base layer around the periphery of the opening, and the film further being substantially flat prior to use in covering the probe,
• wherein the probe cover assembly is configured to fit on the elongated probe by inserting the probe's remote end through the opening in the base layer to initially stretch the plastic film evenly over the probe's remote end and by then sliding the base layer along the probe to further stretch the plastic film until the base layer is retained at the base end of the probe.

A disposable probe cover assembly for an elongated probe of a medical thermometer having a remote end adapted for insertion into a body cavity and an opposite base end with a rigid and fixed enlargement formed thereon, comprising:

• a flat base layer formed of a resilient material, the base layer having a generally circular opening defined therethrough, the opening being sized to fit over the remote end of the probe and to be retained in a fixed position at the base end of the probe by a snap fit over the rigid and fixed enlargement formed on the base end of the probe;
• and
• a stretchable plastic film formed of a low-density polyethylene material that is substantially transparent to infrared radiation, the plastic film extending across the opening defined through the base layer and being affixed to the base layer around the periphery of the opening, and the film further being substantially flat prior to use in covering the probe,
• wherein the probe cover assembly is configured to fit on the elongated probe by inserting the probe's remote end through the opening in the base layer to initially stretch the plastic film evenly over the probe's remote end, and by then stretching the plastic film along the probe by sliding the base layer until the opening defined in the base layer snaps over the rigid and fixed enlargement at the base end of the probe, the plastic film being stretched longitudinally by an amount at least as great as the diameter of the opening defined through the base layer.