U.S. patent application number 10/213820 was filed with the patent office on 2004-02-12 for mirror wipe assembly.
Invention is credited to Halkyard, Douglas R..
Application Number | 20040026289 10/213820 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31494535 |
Filed Date | 2004-02-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040026289 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Halkyard, Douglas R. |
February 12, 2004 |
Mirror wipe assembly
Abstract
A mirror wipe assembly for use in particular by dentists
consists of an absorbent strip of material on a backing strip
saturated with a defogging substance for transfer to the surface of
the mirror used by such dentist to look within the mouth of a
patient, by wiping the saturated absorbent strip across the
mirror's surface. A single absorbent strip with its backing strip
are enclosed within the impervious sealed pocket of a metalized
flexible sheet pouch that is impervious to penetration by liquid or
gaseous materials. The pouch may be opened for entrance to the
pouch by pulling apart or by cutting. The pouch includes an
adhesive strip with a peel off cover strip on the back of the pouch
for the dentist or other user to adhere the pouch to a convenient
location while working on a patient. To clear a fogged up mirror
surface, the saturated absorbent strip is withdrawn from the pouch
and wiped across the surface of the mirror, then replaced in the
conveniently located pouch for re-use if necessary while working on
that particular patient. When the dentist is through with that
patient, the pouch and absorbent strip with its backing strip are
then thrown away, and a new pouch with a new sealed in saturated
absorbent strip are then obtained from the dentist's storage
supply.
Inventors: |
Halkyard, Douglas R.;
(Morris, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Ernest S. Kettelson
KETTELSON LAW OFFICES, LTD.
Wynderidge place
Post Office Box 2517
Joliet
IL
60434
US
|
Family ID: |
31494535 |
Appl. No.: |
10/213820 |
Filed: |
August 8, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/494 ;
15/104.93 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 75/30 20130101;
A61B 1/253 20130101; A61B 1/126 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/494 ;
15/104.93 |
International
Class: |
A47L 013/17; B65D
073/00 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A mirror wipe assembly comprising a pouch having an impervious
pocket bounded by an impervious peripheral wall to prevent entrance
of water and other liquid materials as well as air and other
gaseous materials from entering into said pocket when sealed, and
to prevent such materials from escaping outwardly from said pocket
when sealed, and a material transfer member having a material
transfer substance thereon received in said pocket when sealed,
said impervious peripheral wall of said pocket having an access
portion for entrance to said pocket.
2. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
material transfer substance is a substance that is transferable to
the surface of a mirror to prevent fogging of the mirror
surface.
3. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein said
material transfer member includes an absorbent material to absorb
said substance that is transferable to the surface of a mirror, and
a backing strip, said absorbent material being held on said backing
strip.
4. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
pouch comprises a peripheral wall of metalized foil material.
5. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said
pouch comprises a first sheet of metalized foil material and a
second sheet of metalized foil material superimposed on said first
sheet of metalized foil material, said first and second sheets each
having a peripheral edge extending entirely around, each of said
peripheral edges of said first and second sheets being sealed
together throughout the portions thereof adjacent said impervious
pocket, said impervious pocket being bounded by said sealed
together peripheral edges.
6. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 5, wherein at least
one of said metalized foil sheets includes metalized polyester and
polyethylene.
7. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 5, wherein at least
one of said metalized foil sheets includes forty-eight gage
metalized polyester and two mils of peelable polyethylene.
8. A pouch for health care purposes having an impervious pocket
bounded by an impervious peripheral wall to prevent entrance of
water and other liquid materials as well as air and other gaseous
materials from entering into said pocket when sealed, and to
prevent such materials from escaping outwardly from said pocket
when sealed, and an item for health care purposes received in said
pocket when sealed, said impervious peripheral wall of said pocket
having an access portion for entrance to said pocket, wherein said
impervious wall bounding said pocket includes an inwardly facing
surface facing inwardly of said pocket and an outwardly facing
surface facing outwardly of said pocket, an adhesive strip on said
outwardly facing surface of said peripheral wall and a peelable
cover strip over said adhesive strip for peeling from said adhesive
strip when said adhesive strip is to be exposed for adhering said
pouch to a convenient surface.
9. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein said
material transfer substance includes a mirror defogging
material.
10. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein said
material transfer substance includes a surfactant material.
11. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein said
material transfer substance includes mineral oil.
12. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein said
material transfer substance includes benzylkonium chloride.
13. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein said
material transfer substance includes a small amount of a
disinfectant material.
14. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 5, wherein a
portion of said peripheral edges of said first and second sheets of
metalized foil material outward from and remote from said
impervious pocket are not sealed together to provide access for
pulling adjacent portions of said sheets apart for access to said
impervious pocket.
15. A mirror wipe assembly as set forth in claim 4, wherein said
metalized foil material may be cut with a scissors to thereby gain
entrance to said impervious pocket.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to the field of devices to prevent
mirrors from fogging over when exposed to a warmer more humid
environment, and particularly to those mirrors used by dentists and
other health care professionals to look inside of a patient's
mouth.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] It is widely known that dentists use a small round mirror
mounted at an angle at the end of an elongated shaft or handle,
inserted into a patient's mouth to look behind the patient's teeth
for problem areas. Such mirror surfaces fog up rapidly when entered
into the patient's mouth, so the dentist has to withdraw the mirror
and wipe off the condensation and coat the mirror surface with a
material that tends to prevent fogging up.
[0003] Such prior art methods are time consuming, and the
fogging-up deterring effect does not last very long. The prior art
methods also require disposal of wiping cloths after each wipe or
risk the danger of infection.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The mirror wipe assembly in accordance with the present
invention avoids the problems of prior art methods and provides
significant advantages over the prior art. It provides individually
sealed mirror wipes in an impervious pouch protected from
contamination by external sources such as air and other gaseous
materials as well as from liquid materials. Each pouch has a single
impervious pocket and a single mirror wipe strip of absorbent
material on a backing strip, saturated with a substance that
substantially prevents a mirror surface on which it is applied from
fogging over. That substance comprises a surfactant material
suspended in mineral oil, with a preservative also included such as
benzalkonium chloride plus a disinfectant. A single mirror wipe
strip can be used to wipe the mirror surface to keep it from
fogging over while the mirror is being used on a single patient.
That mirror wipe strip is then discarded, and a new pouch with a
new mirror wipe strip saturated with the defogging substance is
then used for the next patient that substantially reduces the risk
of cross contamination and infection. The pouch in accordance with
this invention comprises two sheets of flexible metalized material
bonded together around their respective peripheral edges, defining
a sealed impervious pocket in which the strip of absorbent material
saturated with the defogging material is received. The very outer
edges of a portion of the pouch are left unsealed whereby they can
be gripped to pull them apart enough to open an entrance to the
impervious pocket to withdraw the saturated absorbent strip for
use. The metalized flexible sheet material of the pouch may be
easily cut with a scissors or other cutting tool for access to the
pocket in that way. An adhesive strip with a peel-off cover strip
is provided on the back wall of the pouch for the user to adhere
the pouch to any convenient surface while working on a patient.
After wiping the absorbent strip across the surface of the mirror
to defog it the first time, the absorbent strip may then be
reinserted into the pocket of the pouch for convenient reuse when
necessary while working on that particular patient. When finished
with that particular patient, the absorbent strip and pouch used
while working on that patient are then discarded.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 is a plan view of an absorbent strip component of the
mirror wipe assembly in accordance with this invention.
[0006] FIG. 2 is an end elevation view of the open end of a
metalized foil pouch showing the absorbent strip received in the
pocket thereof, and showing an anti-fogging solution being applied
to saturate the absorbent strip before heat sealing the open end
shut.
[0007] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a dental mirror.
[0008] FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the anti-fogging solution
in a dispensing container for use in accordance with this
invention.
[0009] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the absorbent strip in accordance
with this invention to show its downwardly facing surface that is
bonded to the upwardly facing surface of the backing strip.
[0010] FIG. 6 is a plan view of the backing strip in accordance
with this invention to show its upwardly facing surface to which
the downwardly facing surface of the absorbent strip is bonded.
[0011] FIG. 7 is a plan view of the metalized foil pouch in
accordance with this invention showing one side thereof and one of
the metalized foil sheets that forms the side shown.
[0012] FIG. 8 is a plan view of the metalized foil pouch in
accordance with this invention showing the other side thereof and
the other one of the metalized foil sheets, this one having an
adhesive strip on the outwardly facing surface to adhesively secure
the pouch to a convenient location when in use, the adhesive strip
being covered with a peel-off strip until ready for use.
[0013] FIG. 9 is a plan view of one of the metalized foil sheets to
form one side of the metalized foil pouch in accordance with this
invention.
[0014] FIG. 10 is a plan view of the other one of the metalized
foil sheets to form the other side of the metalized foil pouch in
accordance with this invention.
[0015] FIG. 11 is a plan view of the inwardly facing surface of one
of the metalized foil sheets to form-one side of the metalized foil
pouch in accordance with this invention, showing the heat sealing
strips along the edges of such inwardly facing surface.
[0016] FIG. 12 is a plan view of the inwardly facing surface of the
other one of the metalized foil sheets to form the other side of
the metalized foil pouch in accordance with this invention, also
showing the heat sealing strips along the edges of such inwardly
facing surface
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] The mirror wipe assembly 2 in accordance with the present
invention comprises an absorbent strip 4 of foam material secured
to a backing sheet 6 of polyethylene or comparable sheet material.
The absorbent strip 4 is preferably about one inch wide and about
three inches in length. It is made of an absorbent material such as
open cell polyurethane. The backing sheet 6 is preferably about one
and an eighth inches wide with a backing sheet border 8 about an
eighth of an inch wide extending outwardly from one side edge 10 of
the absorbent strip secured to the backing sheet 8. The backing
sheet 6 is about three inches long, having an upwardly facing
surface 12 to which the entire downwardly facing surface 14 of the
absorbent strip 8 is secured. The backing sheet 8 is preferably a
thin sheet of heat sealable plastic material such as polyethylene,
and the absorbent strip 4 is bonded thereto by heat sealing.
[0018] A small amount of a liquid solution of transfer material 16
is applied to the absorbent strip 4, for transfer of a layer of
such material to the mirror surface of a dental mirror 17 or other
mirror surface when the mirror surface is wiped across the
absorbent strip 4 for prevention of fogging-up when the mirror is
placed in a dental patient's mouth. The transfer material 16 also
includes a small amount of disinfectant material. A suitable
transfer material having such properties and characteristics is
available on the market known as Butler Clear Dip solution made by
John O. Butler Co. of Chicago, Ill. and sold in dental supply
stores. Any solution of transfer material 16 having such properties
and characteristics is within the scope of this invention. The
preferred embodiment of this invention is not limited to the
specific transfer material identified as Butler Clear Dip solution.
Other liquid solutions having a surfactant suspended in mineral oil
with a preservative material such as benzylkonium chloride plus a
small amount of disinfectant material may be used as the transfer
material solution 16.
[0019] To protect the mirror wipe 2 and its-absorbent strip 4 from
exposure to the air, and to prevent loss or deterioration of the
transfer material solution 16 applied to the absorbent strip 4
until ready for use, the mirror wipe 2 is enclosed within a
metalized flexible foil pouch 18 which can be easily opened for
withdrawing the mirror wipe 2 when ready for use. The pouch 18
comprises two sheets of flexible metalized foil, comprising a first
metalized foil sheet 20 and a second metalized foil sheet 21. Each
foil sheet includes a first relatively short end 22 having a
dimension of about two inches and an opposite second relatively
short end 24 having a dimension of about two inches, a first
elongated side edge 26 about four inches long and an opposite
second elongated side edge 28 about four inches long. At least one
of the foil sheets 20 and 21, include a first short heat sealing
strip 30 along the first end 22 extending inwardly thereof a short
distance of about a half inch, a second short heat sealing strip 32
along the opposite second end 24 extending inwardly thereof a short
distance of about a half inch, a third elongated heat sealing strip
34 along the first elongated side edge 26 extending inwardly
therefrom a short distance of about a half inch, and a fourth
elongated heat sealing strip 36 long the opposite second side edge
28 extending inwardly therefrom a short distance of about a half
inch.
[0020] The metalized foil sheets 20 and 21 with heat sealing strips
suitable for use in accordance with this invention are available
from Technipaq, Inc., 975 Lutter Drive, Crystal Lake, Ill. However,
it is within the scope of this invention to use other metalized
foil strips and other means of bonding the outer edges of a
superimposed pair of such sheets together to make the metalized
pouch 18 in accordance with this invention. The preferred
embodiment of this invention is not limited to use of the metalized
foil sheets available from Technipaq, Inc. The metalized foil sheet
20 may comprise forty-eight gage metalized polyester and two mil of
polyethylene, and the opposite metalized foil sheet 21 superimposed
over sheet 20 may comprise forty-eight gage metalized polyester and
two mil of peelable polyethylene.
[0021] The mirror wipe 2 and metalized pouch 18 in accordance with
this invention are assembled as follows. The metalized sheet 20 is
placed over the metalized sheet 21 with their respective side edges
26 in facing relationship and their respective side edges 28 in
facing relationship, then heat sealed by applying a heat sealing
bar thereto to close the side edges 26 and 28. The absorbent strip
4 secured to the backing strip 6 is laid on the metalized sheet 21
with the metalized sheet 20 over the top thereof. The end 22 has
not been heat sealed at this time, but is still open. The liquid
solution of transfer material 16 is then applied through the open
end 22 to saturate the absorbent strip 4 inside of the pouch 18
between the side edges 26 and 28 with the transfer solution
material 16. The open end 22 of the pouch 18 is then closed by heat
sealing the ends 22 of the metalized foil sheets 20 and 21
together.
[0022] An adhesive material strip 40 is provided on the outwardly
facing surface 42 of the metalized foil sheet 20, extending
laterally across from side edge 26 to 28, and a peel-off cover
strip 44 covers the adhesive strip 40 until ready to adhere the
pouch 18 to a convenient surface for the user to withdraw the
mirror wipe 2 from the pouch to wipe and defog the surface of a
mirror, after which the mirror wipe 2 can be placed back into the
pouch 18.
[0023] The metalized foil pouch 18 in accordance with this
invention provides a sealed recess or pocket 46 that when closed
seals the pocket 46 from outside air, fumes and other contaminants
to protect the mirror wipe 2 therein from contamination and from
deterioration of the transfer solution 16 by exposure to the
ambient environment and air. The metalized foil sheets 20 and 21
are impervious to air, water and other materials, to prevent any
such materials from the outside entering into the sealed pocket 46
and to prevent the transfer solution 16 from leaking out of the
sealed pocket 46.
[0024] To access the pocket 46 for withdrawing the absorbent strip
4 with the transfer material 16 thereon, the outer edges 48 of the
end 22 of the metalized foil sheets 20 and 21 are not completely
bonded together so they can be grasped to pull apart. Also the
metalized foil sheets 20 and 21 can be cut by a pair of scissors or
other cutting instrument to provide an entrance to the pocket
46.
* * * * *