Sheath Arrangement For Male Urinal Device

Abstract

A sheath arrangement for a male urinal device in which there is a urinal sheath of flexible material designed to extend over a substantial portion lengthwise of the penis and a liner pad of synthetic, resiliently compressible, deformable, waterproof material in the form of a relatively wide strip to be wound around the penis to form a cushion between the penis and the sheath. The liner pad is wide enough to extend from the head of the penis upwardly along the penal shaft a sufficient distance to provide an adequate cushion between the sheath and the penis and long enough to be wrapped at least one and a half turns around the penis. The liner pad may be either of a polymer-oil elastomeric combination or of a closed cell foam material and, preferably, has at least one adhesive surface as to cling to the penis. In some forms of the invention, we also employ a relatively wide tape of elastic material designed to be wrapped under tension over the sheath to hold the sheath firmly against the liner pad.

Parent Case Text

This application is a continuation-in-part of our earlier abandoned application Ser. No. 331,683 dated Feb. 12, 1973.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In connection with a male urinal device of the type employing a urine receptacle worn on the body or near the body, it is quite common to employ a sheath of flexible material which is placed over the penis and is connected to the receptacle through a tube or other form of flexible conduit. Such a sheath is commonly applied by initially having the sheath in a rolled-up condition and then unrolling it directly over the penis. In order to insure that the sheath is held firmly enough against the penis to prevent the escape of urine, it is customary to employ a narrow tape which is wound about the sheath relatively tightly. Urinal devices of this type must be worn for very long periods of time, particularly in the case of a paraplegic. Because of the tape being relatively tight, it exerts continuous pressure on the penis and particularly on the urethral passage which is located on the underside of the penis fairly close to the surface. This can cause partial constriction of the urethral passage and considerable discomfort. If the tape is sufficiently loose so as to avoid this irritation, there is always danger that leakage of urine may occur between the sheath and the penis.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention is concerned with a sheath arrangement for such a male urinal device in which the discomfort experienced by the wearer when a urinal sheath of elastic material is worn for a long time is avoided by the use of a liner pad of synthetic, resiliently compressible, deformable, waterproof material in the form of a relatively wide strip which is wound around the penis for at least one and a half turns to form a long cushion between the penis and the sheath. The liner pad is preferably of a width such that it extends from a point close to the head of the penis to an area near the upper end of the sheath so that practically the entire portion of the penis upon which any pressure would be exerted by the sheath or tape is protected by the liner pad. The liner pad is preferably deformed after being applied so that the overlapping portions closely fit together to produce a liquid-tight barrier. The liner pad preferably has an adhesive surface to retain the pad in position on the penis as well as to maintain the sheath in place with respect to the liner.

One form of liner pad which we employ is a pad of a polymer-oil elastomeric combination. Such a material forms a very soft pad which readily conforms to the shape of the penis and causes no irritation, even when worn for long periods of time. The material, furthermore, tends to adhere to itself so that it forms a good seal between the penis and the sheath. An alternative form of liner pad which we may employ is one formed of a closed cell polyurethane foam. One form of polyurethane foam particularly suitable for this purpose is one which is cross linked by electron radiation. With either of these liner pads, we have found it desirable to wrap over the sheath a relatively wide tape of elastic material. The elastic tape is preferably of a type which is capable of adhering to an underlying layer of the tape when wrapped under tension. The tape may be initially corrugated before being tensioned so as to increase its extensibility. The elastic tape, while wide, is somewhat narrower than the liner pad so that it terminates before the end of the sheath. It thus acts to press the sheath down against the liner pad over the intermediate portion of the liner pad.

We have found, however, that if a pad of closed seal, foamed, resilient material having an adhesive layer on both surfaces is used as the liner pad and if the sheath is rolled over the end of this pad, it is possible to eliminate the need of an outer tape of elastic material. This results in a much simpler construction which is much more comfortable to wear because of the absence of the surrounding elastic tape.

Various other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the accompanying specification, claims and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a penis with my improved sheath arrangement secured thereto, the bottom portion of the sheath being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the sheath arrangement shown in longitudinal cross-section;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the sheath arrangement and the penis taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a strip of the elastic tape, showing the tape in the corrugated condition it assumes when not under tension; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a modified form of the liner pad.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a modified form of our sheath construction;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view through the sheath arrangement of FIG. 6 and the penis to which the sheath arrangement is applied, the section being taken along the line 7--7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view of the liner pad used in the modification of FIGS. 6 and 7 with portions of the protecting backing partially peeled away; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a portion of the sheath with the body portion completely rolled up until it engages the bulbous portion of the sheath.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES OF FIGS. 1 THROUGH 4

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheath of our invention is indicated by the reference numeral 11. This comprises a very thin body portion 12, joined at 19 to a conical portion 13 terminating in a tubular portion 14 extending to some urine receptacle (not shown). The sheath is formed of a flexible material, which may be elastic, and the conical portion 13 and tubular portion 14 are formed of relatively heavy material so as not to pinch off readily. The body portion 12 is formed of very thin material capable of being unrolled up over the penis 10. Initially, when it is being applied, the body portion 12 is completely rolled up and the sheath is applied over the penis 10. The body portion is then unrolled until the desired portion of the penis has been covered. The remaining unrolled portion is indicated by the reference numeral 15.

The sheath 11 forms part of the urinal device of the type shown in our co-pending application entitled Male Urinal Device, Ser. No. 331,684 filed Feb. 12, 1973. As pointed out above, the sheath has, in certain prior devices, been held rather snugly against the penis by a narrow tape wrapped under tension about the sheath to form a relatively liquid tight seal with the surface of the penis. Unfortunately, this results in constriction of the urethral passage and discomfort to the wearer when the sheath must be worn for long periods of time.

In the sheath arrangement of the present invention, a liner pad 16 is disposed between the penis 10 and the body portion 12 of the sheath 11. This liner pad is formed by wrapping around the penis prior to the application of the sheath 11 thereto, a strip of synthetic, resiliently compressible waterproof material. The strip should be of a length sufficient to wrap around the penis and overlap somewhat, preferably at least one and a half turns altogether. In other words, the length of the strip should be substantially greater than the circumference of the penile shaft. It will be noted from FIG. 3, which is a cross-sectional view, that the strip 16 in the particular example shown in the drawing, completes almost two full turns around the penis. The strip should be of a width sufficiently great to extend from a point adjacent to the head 17 of the penis to a point near the rolled portion 15 of the sheath 11. In this modification, the strip is wide enough to extend above the end of the rolled portion. We found that a strip of a width between 21/2 and 23/4 inches is desirable. In the modification shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the liner pad 16 is formed of a polymer-oil elastomeric combination. A suitable material of this type is described in the Lindhof U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,387, granted July 11, 1972. Such a material is resilient but somewhat deformable. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible, because of the material being deformable, to have the overlapping portions closely fit together to produce a relatively liquid tight barrier. Furthermore, the material tends to adhere to itself so that when the material is wrapped around the penis in more than one layer, the overlapping portions adhere firmly to each other. We have found it desirable to employ a strip about 31/2 inches long and an eighth of an inch thick. When this is wrapped around the penis, it forms a cushion of substantial thickness which is highly resilient and yieldable.

After liner pad 16 is applied and held in place, the sheath 11 can now be positioned on the penis. As pointed out above, this is done by initially having the sheath completely rolled up. The sheath is then placed over the end of the penis and the body portion 12 is then unrolled until a short distance remains between the end of the sheath and the end of the liner pad 16. Since there is some tendency for the sheath material, particularly where it is a resilient material such as latex, to adhere to the polymer-oil elastomeric material of which the pad 16 is formed, it is desirable before the sheath is unrolled to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to apply some powder such as talcum powder to the pad 16. This talcum powder may be applied only over the upper portion of the pad 16 so that the lower portion of the sheath still adheres to the pad 16. This aids in maintaining the sheath in position with respect to the pad. By placing powder over at least the upper portion of the pad 16, it is possible to more readily remove the sheath 11.

In addition to the adhesion between the sheath 11 and the liner pad, we have found it desirable in this modification to employ over the sheath an elastic tape 18 which is wound over the sheath in a plurality of layers. We preferably use a tape which tends to adhere to an underlying layer when wrapped under tension over an object. This may be accomplished either by use of a pressure sensitive adhesive coating or by use of a material which by reason of its composition and surface texture tends to result in adhesion of overlapping layers under tension. A type of tape which is particularly suitable for this purpose is that marketed under the trademark Coban. Such a tape is formed of spaced aligned elastic yarns which are sealed between two thin porous gathered nonfibrous webs by means of a soft flexible coherent binder. Such a tape is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,575,782 granted on Apr. 20, 1971, to Paul E. Hansen. Because of the elasticity of the yarns, when the tape is not under tension, the webs are drawn normally to assume a somewhat corrugated condition, the corrugations being shown in FIG. 4 and identified by the reference numeral 19. When the tape is placed under tension as when it is wrapped around the penis, these corrugations tend to be partically removed. When one layer is placed upon another under tension, the successive layers tend to adhere to one another by reason of the corrugations interlocking as the tension is removed. Furthermore, because of the elasticity of the tape and the corrugations, the tape is very extensible and conforms closely with a surface upon which it is wrapped.

As will be noted from FIGS. 1 and 2, the tape 18 is relatively wide. In actual practice, we employ a tape which is two inches wide. While this is substantially shorter than the liner pad 16, it is nevertheless wide enough so that the pressure it exerts is distributed over a relatively long portion lengthwise of the penis.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the urethral passage is indicated by the numeral 20. It will be noted that this passage is relatively close to the surface of the penis on the underside. It would be obvious that if the sheath 11 were directly applied over the penis and if a relatively narrow non-elastic band were applied over the sheath to hold the sheath in position, considerable restriction of the urethral passage could result. With our arrangement, however, this is overcome in several ways. In the first place, because of the nature of the liner pad 16, any pressure exerted upon the sheath by the tape 18 is absorbed to a large extent by the cushioning effect provided by pad 16. Furthermore, because of the width of the tape 18 and the elasticity thereof, the tape does not exert the constricting effect upon the penis that would be the case if a narrow tape were used. Thus, as a result of the combined effect of the pad 16 which extends over the entire portion of the penal shaft covered by the sheath and the width and elasticity of the tape 18, the construction of the present invention enables the sheath to be worn with a high degree of comfort. This is extremely important whenever a urinal of this type must be worn more or less continuously for long periods of time.

It will be noted that the outer corners of the liner pad 16 and the tape 18 are shown as turned outwardly. This is purely for purposes of illustration to show better the construction of these members. It is to be understood that in actual practice, these corners will be held securely against the underlying layers.

MODIFICATION OF FIG. 5

The modification of FIG. 5 is basically the same as that of FIGS. 1 through 3 with the exception that the liner pad, identified in this figure by the numeral 25, is made of a closed cell foam material. One form which we found particularly desirable is a polyurethane foam which has been cross-linked by electron radiation. Such a foam material is waterproof and resiliently compressible. We have found it desirable where such a foam material is employed to employ a layer about one-sixteenth of an inch thick and 6 inches long. This results in a number of layers of the material about the penis. Thus, while the thickness of the foam material is only about half that which is employed when the polymer-oil elastomeric combination is employed, the length is sufficiently great that there are more layers of the material about the penis and the total thickness of the pad is approximately the same. While this material does not tend to adhere to underlying layers to the same extent as the polymer-oil elastomeric combination of the species of FIGS. 1-3, it does have a surface that makes it relatively easy to apply and that does not adhere as much to the sheath 11. Consequently, it is not necessary to apply powder to the liner pad in order to permit removal of the sheath from the pad.

Because the material of which the liner 25 is made is somewhat less distortable than that of which liner 16 is made, we have found it desirable to employ a strip which may be just slightly less in width than that of strip 16. In other words, when strip 16 is stretched, it tends to become somewhat narrower. Thus, in one instance, we found it desirable to employ a strip 21/2 inches wide while the liner 16, before being stretched, was approximately 23/4 inches wide.

It will be appreciated that in both the species of FIGS. 1 through 3 and that of FIG. 5, the elastic tape 18 is applied in the same way and functions in the same manner. In each case, it acts to hold the sheath 11 firmly in engagement with the liner material to prevent any leakage around the liner material between the sheath and the penis. In the modification of FIG. 5, as well as that in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the effect of the wide cushioned pad 25 along with the wide elastic tape 18 is to result in a sheath construction in which there is a minimum amount of discomfort in wearing the urinal sheath. At the same time, because of the waterproof nature of the liner pad and the tendency of the material to conform to adjacent surfaces, there is very little opportunity for any leakage between the sheath and the penis.

MODIFICATION OF FIGS. 6 THROUGH 8

In the species described above, an elastic tape was employed outside of the sheath. The purpose of this elastic tape was to insure that there was no leakage between the sheath and the penis and to hold the sheath in position on the penis. We have found, however, that if a particular type of sheath liner is employed, the sheath can be maintained in position in a liquid-tight manner without any elastic tape. This greatly facilitates the the comfort of the wearer since even with the elastic taper referred to above, there is some tendency for pressure to be exerted upon the penis. When the urinal is worn for long periods of time, the pressure can eventually lead to considerable discomfort.

The modified form of our construction is shown in FIGS. 6 through 8. In this figure, the sheath 11 is basically the same as in FIGS. 1 through 5 and the same reference characters have been applied to designate it, and the elements of it, as in those figures. In this modification, a liner is used which has at least one adhesive surface and which is readily deformable so as to form when wrapped around the penis a soft cushion which forms a complete seal against fluid between the sheath and the penis. The material is sufficiently soft and yieldable to cause very little irritation. Furthermore, because of the adhesive coating on the liner pad, it is possible to dispense entirely with the outer elastic band. The comfort to the patient is further increased by rolling the end of the sheath over the end of the liner so that the rolled end of the sheath exerts relatively little pressure on the penis.

Referring specifically to the drawing, the liner pad 35 is formed of a blend of nitrile rubber and polyvinyl chloride which has been expanded to form a closed cell foam structure. A typical material of this type is disclosed in the Daly et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,182 granted Oct. 9, 1951. Such material is sold under the trade name Ensolite Type M by Uni-Royal, Inc. Secured to the opposite surfaces of this material are adhesive layers 26 and 27 of an adhesive which is adhesive pressure sensitive and nonirritating. A typical adhesive of this type is sold under the trade name Mactoc by Morgan Adhesive Company of Stowell, Ohio. This adhesive is a copolymer of 2-ethyl-hexyl-acrylate and vinyl acetate. The adhesive has the properties of having substantial tensile strength and adhering to the skin but readily separable therefrom. Secured to the adhesive layers 26 and 27 are liner strips 28 and 29 so as to prevent the adhesive layers 26 and 27 adhering to other objects until the liner pad is to be used.

A typical liner pad, as shown in FIG. 8, is 13/4 inches wide, 53/4 inches long and three thirty-seconds inch in thickness. The width will, of course, depend upon the length of the penis and the length upon the circumference. The length should be positioned that the strip can be wrapped around at least 11/2 times. Thus, the length should be at least 11/2 times the circumference of a typical penis when in flaccid condition. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, it will be noted that the strip 35 is wrapped around the penis 10 about 21/2 times.

In use, the liner strips 28 and 29 are removed and the liner pad 35 is wrapped around the penis relatively firmly. The liner pad may now be molded to the penis by grasping the wound liner and forcing it firmly against the penis. The sheath is then rolled back on itself as far as it will go, that is until the rolled portion 15 approaches the re-entrant portion 12. The position of the sheath when rolled back in this manner is shown in FIG. 9. It will be noted that the rolled portion 15 of the sheath is in engagement with the bulbous portion of the sheath so that the inner diameter of the roll 15 tends to expand slightly to conform with the inwardly increasing diameter of the curved portion of the sheath adjacent to point 19. In this way, it is possible to roll up the entire body portion of the sheath into a roll 15 which has a diameter substantially equal to or even greater than the inner diameter of the body portion when it is unrolled. This makes it very easy for the wearer to apply the sheath 11 to the penis. It is merely placed in position, the tip of the penis extending into the conical portion 13 as shown in FIG. 6 and the body portion is then unrolled upwardly along the penis to assume the position shown in FIG. 1. The same procedure can be employed in connection with the sheath arrangements of FIGS. 1 through 5. In the case of the arrangement of FIGS. 6 through 9, the roll 15 is brought up over the end of the liner pad 35. Because the roll 15 at this point has only a few remaining turns to it, it exerts practically no constricting force upon the penis 10. Furthermore, because of the fact that it extends over the end of the liner pad which is of much greater outer circumferential extent than the penis 10 at the point where it is surrounded by the roll 15, the roll 15 is prevented from exerting any particular pressure upon the penis 10. The engagement of the roll 15 with the penis is not relied upon to effect a seal. Rather, the seal is effected between the sheath and the liner pad 35 and in turn between the liner pad 35 and the penis.

In order to insure that the sheath can be readily removed from the liner pad despite the adhesive layers 26 and 27, it is desirable to soak the sheath prior to use in a mixture of 100 cc of sulfuric acid, 200 cc of chlorine bleach containing 15 percent chloride and ten gallons of water. The sheaths are agitated in this material for about one-half hour, then washed and allowed to dry. The effect of this is to make the surface less sticky and to enable it to be rolled more readily away from the adhesive liner pad when it is desired to remove the sheath.

We have also found it desirable prior to applying the liner pad 35 to use an alcohol impregnated swab to remove any residential body oil from the penis. This causes the liner to adhere better to the penis and to minimize the chance of any leakage.

We have found that the sheath arrangement shown in FIGS. 6 through 9 can be worn for long periods of time with no leakage and with a minimum of discomfort to the wearer. This is due to the fact that there is no outer elastic band as in the modifications of FIGS. 1 through 5. Furthermore, the residual rolled-up portion 15, since it is rolled past the liner pad, exerts very little constricting force on the penis. The material of which the pad 35 is formed is readily moldable to form a water-tight seal without exerting any appreciable pressure upon the penis. The portion of the sheath which surrounds the liner pad 35 and the penis 10 is of relatively thin material and hence exerts comparatively little compressive force upon the liner pad and the penis within the liner pad.

While we have shown the sheath and the liner pad in the positions they occupy on the penis, it is to be understood that they are sold in unassembled form in a box or other container. With the modifications of FIGS. 1 through 5, the box also contains a roll of the elastic tape. Thus, the buyer is able to obtain in a simple container all of the components of our novel sheath construction.

CONCLUSION

It will be seen that the sheath arrangement of the present application results in an arrangement which is comfortable enough so that it may be worn for long periods of time. It could be readily applied and removed when necessary. While we have shown certain specific embodiments of our invention, it is to be understood that this is only for purposes of illustration and that the scope of the invention is limited solely by the appended claims.

Claims

We claim as our invention:

1. A sheath arrangement for a male urinal device comprising:

a urinal sheath of flexible material designed for application to a penis for covering a substantial portion lengthwise of the same and having a reduced portion for extending over and beyond the tip of the penis; said reduced portion having connection means secured thereto for connecting the sheath through a suitable conduit to a urine receptacle, and

a liner pad of synthetic, resiliently compressible deformable waterproof material in the form of a strip of such material having a width of well over half of the length of the upper portion of the sheath above the reduced portion so as to extend over a substantial portion lengthwise of a normal flaccid penis and of a length substantially greater than the circumference of such a normal flaccid penis to enable the strip to be wrapped at least one and a half turns around the penis before application thereto of said sheath, the thickness of said strip being less than one-fourth of an inch to facilitate wrapping said strip about the penis.

2. A sheath arrangement for a male urinal device comprising:

a urinal sheath of flexible material designed for application to a penis for covering a substantial portion lengthwise of the same and having a connection means secured thereto for connecting the sheath through a suitable conduit to a urine receptacle, and

a liner pad of synthetic, resiliently compressible deformable waterproof material in the form of a strip of such material having a width sufficiently great to extend over a substantial portion lengthwise of a normal flaccid penis and of a length substantially greater than the circumference of such a normal flaccid penis to enable the strip to be wrapped at least one and a half turns around the penis before application thereto of said sheath, at least the surface of the liner pad intended to be in contact with the penis being adhesive so that it tends to be held in place on the penis.

3. The sheath arrangement of claim 2 in which both surfaces of the liner pad are adhesive so that the liner pad is not only held in place on the penis but the sheath is also held against movement with respect to the liner pad.

4. The sheath arrangement of claim 3 in which the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive and in which the sheath is formed of a thin rubber which has been treated in a sulfuric acid solution to reduce the tendency of the rubber to adhere to the adhesive.

5. The sheath arrangement of claim 1 in which the liner pad is made of a closed cell foam material.

6. The sheath arrangement of claim 5 in which said closed cell foam material is a polyurethane foam cross linked by electron radiation.

7. The sheath arrangement of claim 1 in which the liner pad is made of an expanded vulcanized, closed cell blend of nitrile rubber and polyvinyl chloride.

8. The sheath arrangement of claim 7 in which the strip of liner pad is of a thickness of approximately three-sixteenths of an inch.

9. The sheath arrangement of claim 1 in which the material of said liner pad is a polymer-oil elastomeric combination.

10. The sheath arrangement of claim 1 in which there is a tape formed of elastic material, said tape having a width substantially less than the width of the liner pad and of a length at least twice that of the circumference of a normal flaccid penis to enable a plurality of layers of said tape to be wrapped over the sheath when in position on a penis to hold the sheath firmly in engagement with the liner pad.

11. The sheath arrangement of claim 1 in which the portion of the sheath which extends over the penis is relatively thin as compared with the remaining lower portion thereof.