Strap Assembly For Securing A Patient's Arm To An Arm Board

Abstract

A strap assembly having three strap sections extending from a near common center. One strap section has a slip ring attached to its free end, allowing the free end of a second strap section to be passed through the slip ring. The free end of either or both of the second and third strap sections has a connection attachment so that the free ends of both strap sections can be temporarily connected to each other.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Article of manufacture for holding a patient's arm tightly to a board so that intravenous injections can be given or so the board can be used as a splint.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

In the past, a patient who was in need of an intravenous injection or in need of the arm to be held in a splint had the arm to be secured, placed on an arm board which was held in place by two strips of adhesive tape, one of which was wrapped around the board and arm at each end of the board. Many people are allergic to the adhesive used on adhesive tape and their skin which comes in contact with the adhesive becomes quite irritated. A certain amount of pain is felt when the adhesive tape is removed and although some movement of the arm is desirable to alleviate cramping, the tape prevents any movement, thereby necessitating frequent removal and replacement of the tape. The tape, of course, has to be discarded after each use.

Applicant's invention, by not using any type of adhesive and by being made of a nontoxic material, does not irritate the skin of the user, can be reused indefinitely by washing after each use and allows a small amount of movement, thereby preventing cramping of the arm.

As was enumerated in the description of the prior art, there are many problems associated with the use of adhesive tape to secure a person's arm to an intravenous arm board when there is a medical need to inject fluids by the use of a needle into a person's veins, or to minimize movement of an arm for any other reason.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a strap assembly for securing an arm to a board without the use of any adhesives or adhesive tape.

Another object of this invention is to provide a strap assembly for securing an arm to a board that is reusable an indefinite number of times.

A further object of this invention is to provide a strap assembly for securing an arm to a board that is nontoxic and will not irritate the skin of the arm that is secured to the board.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a strap assembly for securing an arm to a board that will allow a certain amount of movement to prevent cramping of the arm.

Briefly, the invention is a strap assembly, called an "IV cufflet," which utilizes three strap sections made of solid plastic or of cotton or plastic webbing extending from a common or near common center. One of the strap sections has a metal or plastic slip ring attached to its free end. The slip ring has an opening large enough to allow the free end of one of the other strap sections to be passed through the slip ring. When the need arises to secure a person's arm to an arm board, two strap assemblies are normally used. The board is slipped through the opening of each strap assembly formed between the strap section that passes through the slip ring and the strap section having the slip ring, with one strap assembly being secured to each end of the arm board. The arm to be secured is laid on the arm board and the two strap sections of each strap assembly that remain free are placed around the arm so as to encircle the arm and are joined to each other by any of a number of various types of connectors. The tightening of the two strap sections that encircle the arm to secure the arm to the board also tightly secures the strap assembly to the board itself, thereby preventing any slippage between the board, strap assembly and arm.

The novel features believed characteristic of this invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another isometric view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention being shown secured to an arm board.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of a person's arm being held securely to an arm board by two strap assemblies according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of still another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of a strap assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The strap assembly 10, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises three strap sections 1, 2 and 3 extending from a common or near common center 4. The strap section 10 can be fabricated from many different types of synthetic or natural materials, such as cotton, nylon, or other plastic materials. However, the preferred material is woven cotton webbing because of the ease of fabrication, flexibility, strength and reuseability. By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, a typical strap assembly has cotton webbing about one-twentieth inch in thickness and about 1 1/2 in width, with strap section 1 being about 5 inches in length as measured from the common center 4. Strap section 2 is about 9 inches in length and strap section 3 is about 4 inches in length. The length of the strap section 3, of course, depends on the width and thickness of the arm board 8, as shown in FIG. 2, but typically a board for an adult patient is about 3 1/2 inches in width and about three-fourths of an inch in thickness.

If the strap assembly 10 is to be made from plastic, it is possible, using conventional injection molding technology, to fabricate strap sections 1, 2 and 3 as one piece. However, as stated previously, the easiest material to work in fabricating the strap assembly 10 is common woven cotton webbing. Since it is not necessary (although it can easily be done) in fabricating the strap assembly 10 from cotton webbing to start with 3 individual and separate strap sections and then to join them together, only two pieces of webbing normally are utilized. Either strap sections 1 and 2 or sections 1 and 3 are one piece of cotton webbing. Sections 2 and 3 could be one piece also but it is not desirable, for the webbing would have to be bent at the common center 4. The simplest arrangement is to sew one end of strap section 3 to the single piece comprising strap sections 1 and 2 at or near the center 4 or, alternatively, strap sections 1 and 3 are made from one piece with one end of strap section 2 being sewn to the single piece of material at center 4. The least desirable arrangement, as stated above, is to have strap sections 2 and 3 made of one piece with strap section 1 sewed to the single piece of material at the common center 4.

A ring 5, of either metal or plastic, is attached to the free end of strap section 3 by any convenient method, to be used as a slip ring. In the case where cotton webbing is used for the strap assembly, the free end of strap section 3 is looped through the slip ring 5 and sewn back on itself to secure the slip ring 5. In the instance where a solid plastic strap assembly is used, the slip ring can be attached to the free end of strap section 3 during the molding of the strap assembly 10.

The preferred connection method for temporary connecting the free ends of strap sections 1 and 2 together to secure an arm to a board is the use of a two part material, known as "hook and pile," comprising a strip of fuzzy material composed of a myriad of miniscuel thread loops (pile) and a strip of material having rows of hooklike appentages (hook) made by a number of manufacturers, one of which is Velcro Manufacturing Co., which adhere tightly to each other when pressed together. An adherent strip 6 of the fuzzy material is sewed to the bottom side of strap section 1 by conventional sewing methods. Another adherent strip 7 of hooklike material is sewed to the top side of strap section 2, also by commonly known sewing methods. When strip 7 is pressed firmly against strip 6, strips 6 and 7 adhere very tightly to each other but are easily released by peeling strap section 2 back and away from strap section 1. Both strips 6 and 7 are of sufficient length so that the strap assembly 10 will accommodate a large range of arm sizes, the total length of either strip not being required to be in contact with the other to firmly secure the free ends of strap sections 1 and 2 together. The hook and pile material is preferred for attaching the strap sections 1 and 2 over the double buckles 12, as shown in FIG. 4, because the tightening pressure, when strap section 1 is connected to strap section 2, is exerted over a wider area of the patient's arm. In addition, the strap sections 1 and 2 can be secured and released much more quickly using the hook and pile material. It is obvious that the strips 6 and 7 can be placed on the opposite sides of the strap sections on which each is sewed or their positions can be reversed without reducing the effectiveness of the strap assembly 10. The only location reference that must be maintained between strips 6 and 7 is that when both strap sections 1 and 2 wrapped around a patient's arm, strips 6 and 7 must come in contact with each other. The opening in slip ring 5, of course, is large enough to accommodate the thickness of the material, cotton webbing or plastic, used to fabricate strap section 2 plus the material thickness of strip 7.

To connect the strip assembly 10 to an arm board 8, as shown in FIG. 2, the free end of strap section 2 is passed through the slip ring 5 to form an enclosure between strap sections 2 and 3. One end of the arm board 8 is then slipped through the opening formed by strap sections 2 and 3. A typical arm board 8 is a fiber board approximately 18 inches long, 3 1/2 inches wide, and one-fifth of an inch thick with a foam rubber pad of the same width and length placed adjacent one side of the fiber board and the fiber board and pad sealed within a plastic cover. The strap section 3 goes under the arm board 8, the underside of the board 8 being the side opposite the side on which the patient's arm will lie, and is of sufficient length to allow the slip ring 5 to extend to the side of the arm board 8. By pulling on the strap sections 1 and 2, the enclosure formed by a portion of strap section 2 and strap section 3 is reduced in size, thereby tightening down on the arm board 8 therebetween.

Although only one strap assembly 10 is shown secured to the arm board 8 in FIG. 2, a second strap assembly 10 is secured to the opposite end of the arm board 8, as shown in FIG. 3. The patient's arm 9 is laid on the top surface of the arm board 8, with the patient's lower arm near its wrist placed over the open lower arm strap assembly 10 and the upper arm near the patient's biceps placed over the open upper arm strap assembly 10. One strap assembly 10 is shown completely secured, holding and securing the patient's upper arm to the arm board 8. The second strap assembly 10 is shown secured to the arm board 8 with strap section 1 placed on the patient's arm 9 near the wrist with strip 6 on what is now the top surface of strap section 1. Strap section 2 is shown just prior to being placed over strap section 1 and prior to having strip 7 brought in contact with and pressed down on strip 6, which will hold the patient's arm securely to the arm board 8. Although the patient's arm is secured to the arm board 8, the patient can move his wrist slightly to alleviate cramping but without hurting the patient's arm whether an intravenous injection is being given or the arm is being held in a temporary slint. After each use, both strap assemblies 10 can be easily removed from the arm board 8, cleaned hygenically and reused indefinitely.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 4. Strap assembly 11 is similar to the strap assembly 10, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, except that instead of using the hook and pile material to connect strap sections 1 and 2, a double buckle 12 is attached to strap section 1. To use strap assembly 11, strap section 2 is passed through the slip ring 5 to form an enclosure therebetween into which an arm board 8 (not shown) is slipped or passed. The patient's arm (not shown) is placed on the arm board and strap section 2 is connected to strap section 1 by connecting the free end of strap section 2 to the conventional double buckle 12.

Still another embodiment of the invention is shown as a two-piece strap assembly 12, as shown in FIG. 5. Both strap sections 13 and 14 have slip rings 15 and 16, respectively, attached to one end. The opposite end of each strap section is passed through the slip ring of the other strap section to form an enclosure therebetween for an armboard (not shown). Adherent strips 6 and 7 are attached to the strap sections 13 and 14, respectively, as in strap assembly 10. Strap assembly 12 is less desirable than the one-piece strap assemblies 10 and 11, due to the use of the two slip rings 15 and 16 instead of one. It is obvious, of course, that strap sections 13 and 14 could be one piece with the portion 17 of strap section 14 being a separate piece, both slip rings 15 and 16 then being attached to portion 17.

Another embodiment of the invention (not shown) is very similar to strap section 10, as shown in FIG. 1, except that strap section 2 has a second slip ring attached to its free end and strap section 1 has adherent strips 6 and 7 placed side by side thereon rather than strip 6 being on strap section 1 and strip 7 being on strap section 2 of strap assembly 10 (of course the second slip ring could be on strap section 1 and strips 6 and 7 could be on strap section 2). An arm board is secured between strap sections 2 and 3, as previously explained. To secure the patient's arm, the free end of strap section 1 is passed through the second slip ring and brought back on itself so that strip 6 comes in contact with strip 7. By pressing strips 6 and 7 together the patient's arm is secured to the arm board as before. Again there is no particular advantage to the strap assembly just described over the preferred embodiment but in fact it would be slightly more expensive due to the use of two rings instead of one.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention along with alternate embodiments has been described in rather specific detail, it is to be understood that various changes, substitutions and alternations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A combination of a strap assembly and an arm board wherein the improvement comprises

a. first, second and third strap sections extending from a near common center;

b. a slip ring attached to the free end of said third strap section; and

c. connection means attached to at least one strap section other than said third strap section, whereby when said second strap section is slipped through said slip ring to form an enclosure thereby, and said board is placed in said enclosure, and said arm is encircled by said first and second strap sections, and said first and second strap sections are joined by said connection means, said arm is secured to said board.

2. The strap assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said connection means comprises a first adherent strip attached to said first strap section and a second adherent strip attached to said second strap section, whereby said first and second strips adhere to each other when pressed together.

3. The strap assembly, as defined in claim 2 wherein said first and second strap sections are made from one piece and said third strap section is sewed thereto.

4. The strap assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said first, second and third sections are made from cotton webbing.

5. The strap assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said first and third sections are made from one piece and said second strap is sewed thereto.

6. The strap assembly as defined in claim 5 wherein said first, second and third strap sections are made from cotton webbing.

7. A strap assembly for securing an arm to an arm board, comprising:

a. first, second and third strap sections extending from a near common center;

b. a slip ring attached to the free end of said third strap section; and

c. a double buckle attached to at least one strap section other than said third strap section, whereby when said second strap section is slipped through said slip ring to form an enclosure thereby, and said board is placed in said enclosure, and said arm is encircled by said first and second strap sections, and said first and second strap sections are joined by said double buckle, said arm is secured to said board.