Stool Specimen Test Kit

Abstract

A stool specimen test kit, including; a generally-flat support means of a size and shape to fit over the bowl of a toilet and to be held in such position by the seat of the toilet; a perforated section in the support adapted to be punched out to form a centrally-disposed opening therein; a plastic container of a size and shape to fit in the opening of the support and having at least two closure flaps adapted to be folded outwardly to lie flat on the support and suspend the container in the opening of the support; and sealing means on the flaps of the container to seal the container after use.

Parent Case Text

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present Application is a Continuation-in-Part of application Ser. No. 159,268, filed on July 2, 1971 by the present inventor, now abandoned.

Description

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a stool specimen test kit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a stool specimen test kit adapted to be placed over the bowl of a toilet and held in position thereon by means of the seat of the toilet.

At times, during medical diagnosis, it is necessary for a patient to supply a stool specimen for laboratory testing. The most common methods of obtaining such a specimen is either to have the patient hold a container or retrieve a specimen from a toilet with a stick or other instrument. These methods, obviously, are embarrassing to the patient and have an undesirable psychological affect on him, particularly, where the patient is old or infirm or is a child and it is necessary to have a nurse, relative or other person assist the patient.

The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a simple test kit which is inexpensive, easy to utilize and causes none of the embarrassment of the techniques referred to above. In addition, the test kit of the present invention is convenient to use and, thus, greatly reduces the time required by a doctor or lab technician in completing the test.

The stool specimen test kit of the present invention is composed of two major components. A generally-flat, relatively-rigid support means is provided which is of a size and shape to fit over and be supported by the bowl of the toilet and be held firmly in this position by lowering the seat of the toilet. This support is provided with a generally H-shaped, perforated section, which is adapted to be punched out to form a centrally-disposed aperture in the support, with the punched out flaps depending downwardly. The other major component of the test kit is an opaque, plastic container which is of sufficient flexibility to be compressed or folded into a flat configuration. When thus folded in this flat configuration, the container can be attached to the support by means of adhesive or other suitable attaching means so that, during shipping and storage of the test kit, a compact, flat unit is provided.

In use, the perforated section of the support is punched out and the two flaps folded downwardly to provide a generally-rectangular opening to receive the plastic container. The plastic container is then removed from the base or support and is unfolded to form a container, which is preferably of a box-type configuration. The configuration and size of the container is such that it will fit through the opening in the support with the body of the container depending downwardly below the support. The container is provided with at least two closure flaps which are adapted to be folded outwardly and lie flat against the top of the support to thereby suspend the body of the container through the opening in the support.

The thus assembled support and container are then placed over the toilet bowl and the lid of the toilet is lowered over the test kit unit to firmly hold the same in place while a stool specimen is being obtained.

Once the specimen has been obtained, the plastic container is removed from the support, and the support may be disposed of in any suitable waste receptacle. The container is also provided with an appropriate sealing means to seal the closure flaps and thus close the container for transport to a laboratory or other testing location. The sealing means of the container may include a wide variety of sealing structures, such as, a pressure-bonding adhesive, which may simply be pressed together, a plastic, interlocking-type zipper adapted to be pressed together in a locking condition or a plastic, interlocking-type zipper adapted to be closed by a conventional traveler which presses the locking portions of the zipper together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the test kit of the present invention while in condition for shipping or storage;

FIG. 2 shows the test kit with an opening formed in the support;

FIG. 3 shows the test kit with the container positioned in the support;

FIG. 4 shows the assembled test kit in position on the bowl of a toilet;

FIG. 5 shows the container sealed and ready for transport to a laboratory;

FIG. 6 shows a closure means for the container;

FIG. 7 shows an alternate closure means for the container; and

FIG. 8 shows a zipper-type closure for the container.

FIG. 1 of the drawings shows the test kit of the present Application in condition for storage or shipping and before use. The test kit comprises two major components, namely; a disposable support means 10 and a plastic container means 12. Disposable support 10 is shaped and is approximately of a size to fit over and be supported by the bowl of a standard toilet and to be firmly held in place by the seat of the toilet. Support 10 has sufficient rigidity to support the container 12 when container 12 is placed in position for use. Consequently, the support 10 may be made of fiberboard, paperboard, corrugated paperboard, etc. In any event, it is desirable that the support 10 be made of a relatively inexpensive material so long as it has sufficient rigidity to support the container 12. Support 10 is perforated in a generally H-shaped configuration along lines 14, 16 and 18 and is hinged along lines 20 and 22 to form a pair of flaps 24 and 26 when the perforated portions are punched out. Container 12 is preferably made of a reasonably flexible plastic material so that it can be folded as shown in FIG. 1 and temporarily attached to the support 10 by an adhesive or other means of attachment.

FIG. 2 of the drawings shows support 10 with the perforated portions punched out to form downwardly depending flaps 24 and 26. The centrally-disposed opening 28 thus formed in support 10 should be approximately 8 inches by 7 inches.

FIG. 3 of the drawings shows the support 10 and the container 12 when they are assembled into a unit for use in obtaining a stool specimen. Specifically, container 12 is removed from its temporary attachment on support 10 and is unfolded to form a container 12 having a box-shaped body portion 30 having dimensions of approximately 8 inches by 7 inches by 4 inches in depth. This body portion is, of course, of a size and shape to pass through opening 28 in support 10. Box 30 is provided with appropriate closure flaps 32 and 34, respectively. Closure flaps 32 are not absolutely necessary to the construction and therefore can be eliminated if desired. However, flaps 32 are of aid in providing a tight closure of container 12. Flaps 34 are, however, necessary to the construction to the extent that they are adapted to fold outwardly and rest against the top of support 10 to thereby hold the container 12 in the opening 28 in support 10. As previously indicated, container 12 is made of a suitable plastic material and should be of a character such that it can be ultimately disposed of. Thus, container 12 should be formed from relatively inexpensive plastic material. Container 12 should also have sufficient flexibility to be folded flat for storage and shipping. By the same token, container 12 should have sufficient rigidity to be supported by support 10 until it is placed in position on the toilet for actual use. Thereafter, the container 12 will also be firmly held in position by the toilet seat. Flaps 34 of container 12 are provided with an appropriate sealing means 36 which may take a variety of forms, such as, a pressure sealing adhesive, a zipper-type sealing means, etc. If desired, a pressure sealing adhesive can be applied to the tops of flaps 34 to provide a light adhesive contact with support 10. In this embodiment, flaps 34 can be made slightly longer than necessary to close the top of container 12. The adhesive surfaces can then be removed from support 10, folded inwardly to abut the adhesive surfaces and sealed by folding portions of the flaps 34 downwardly, thus forming an upstanding seal along the edges of the flaps. This embodiment of the invention also makes it possible to utilize a more flexible plastic to form the container, since rigidity is not necessary to hold the container in place on the support until the toilet seat is lowered.

As indicated in FIG. 4, support 10 is positioned over the bowl 38 of a conventional toilet with container 12 supported thereon by means of the flaps 34 and 36 and having the box portion 30 of container 12 depending downwardly into the toilet bowl 38. After thus positioning support 10 and container 12 over the bowl 38 of the toilet, the seat 40 of the toilet is closed to firmly hold support 10 and container 12 in place. After the stool specimen has been obtained, the seat 40 is lifted and the container 12 is removed from support 10. Support 10 may then be disposed of in any suitable waste receptacle.

The container 12, containing the stool specimen, is then closed by first closing flaps 34 and thereafter, flaps 36 as shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings. In FIG. 5 of the drawings, the flaps 36 are shown as closed by a pressure sealing adhesive means 36.

A zipper-type sealing means 42, made of plastic, can also be provided. The zipper-type sealing means 42 is conveniently an interlocking-type as shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Such interlocking plastic zipper-type closures can be pressed together by hand and interlocked in this fashion or they may have a traveler which actually presses the interlocking portions of the zipper together.

An alternate type of interlocking plastic zipper is shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings wherein the interlocking portions of the zipper 44 are flat and are closed by means of a traveler.

FIG. 8 of the drawings shows a traveler 46 in place over the two portions of zipper 44. Traveler 46 is designed to accommodate the two sections of the interlocking plastic zipper 44 and operates by having a central section 48 which is wedge or V-shaped so that the two openings 50 of the traveler 46 merge into a single opening at the rear of the traveler 46. The traveler 46 is provided with an appropriate pull tab 52. The traveler 46 may also be made of a suitable plastic material.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A stool specimen test kit, comprising; a generally-flat, support means of a size and shape to fit over and be supported by the bowl of a toilet and held in place by the seat of said toilet; a centrally-disposed, perforated section formed in said support adapted to be punched out to form an opening in said support; a container having a body of a size and shape to pass through said opening in said support; at least two closure flaps formed on the top of said container, adapted to be bent outwardly and lie flat against the top of said support to hold said container in place in said support, and having a length sufficient to be itself held in place by said seat of said toilet; and sealing means on said flaps adapted to seal said container when said flaps are bent inwardly to close said container.

2. A test kit in accordance with claim 1 wherein the support means is a thin sheet of fiberboard.

3. A test kit in accordance with claim 1 wherein the opening in the support means is generally-rectangular in shape.

4. A test kit in accordance with claim 3 wherein the body of the container is of box-type configuration.

5. A test kit in accordance with claim 3 wherein the perforated section of the support means is perforated in an H-shaped configuration.

6. A test kit in accordance with claim 1 wherein the container is a relatively-flexible plastic material adapted to be folded into a generally-flat configuration.

7. A test kit in accordance with claim 1 wherein the sealing means is a zipper-type sealing means.

8. A test kit in accordance with claim 6 wherein the sealing means is formed of plastic.