CN-122003220-A - Adhesive tape applicator device

Abstract

A hand-held tape applicator device (10) for tape assisted wound closure for applying an adhesive tape (18) to skin, wherein mechanical traction is applied to the skin. The device (10) includes a housing (12), a spool (14) having a roll (16) of tape (18), and a tape cutting mechanism (20). A displaceable actuator (36) is pivotally mounted to the housing (12). The driven roller (28) frictionally engages the tape. The actuator includes a toothed pawl (46) that engages a toothed ratchet wheel attached to the driven roller (28) to drive rotation of the roller and thereby dispense adhesive tape. The application of the adhesive tape is initiated by rotating the adhesive tape discharged from the device for a length by means of a drive roller (28). The positive engagement of the ratchet by the pawl (46) provides resistance to tape feed, allowing the tape to be tensioned. For greater traction, the device (10) includes a brake pad (70) mounted to the actuator (36) for applying a braking force to the roller (28).

Inventors

• M. Daya

Assignees

• 夸祖鲁-纳塔尔大学

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20231009

Claims (17)

1. 1. A tape applicator device for use with a tape-assisted wound closure tape, the tape applicator device comprising: a housing sized to fit within the palm of a user's hand, the housing defining an interior chamber and a tape dispensing outlet through which tape with adhesive applied to one side thereof can be dispensed from the housing; A supply spool for receiving a roll of the adhesive tape rotatably mounted within the interior chamber; A tape cutting mechanism mounted to the housing adjacent the tape dispensing outlet for cutting the tape to a desired length as the tape is dispensed from the housing; An adhesive tape feeding mechanism, comprising: a) At least one driven roller rotatably mounted within the interior chamber for receiving tape from the supply spool; b) At least one follower guide roller rotatably mounted within the interior chamber for receiving tape from the follower roller, and C) A displaceable transfer member mounted to and extending between said driven roller and guide roller, said transfer member being displaceable via rotation of said driven roller and having a frictional engagement surface for frictionally engaging said adhesive tape to displace said adhesive tape toward said tape dispensing outlet, A braking means for applying a braking force to the driven roller to prevent rotation of the roller, thereby allowing a relatively high mechanical traction to be applied to the adhesive tape adhered to the skin, and A manually operable displaceable actuator means displaceably mounted to the housing, the actuator means comprising a drive member for engaging the driven roller for driving rotation of the driven roller upon displacement of the actuator means relative to the housing.
2. 2. The tape applicator device of claim 1 wherein the braking means comprises at least one brake pad associated with the actuator device for applying a braking force to the driven roller when the actuator device is displaced toward the housing in an arrangement that causes the brake pad to engage the driven roller.
3. 3. The tape applicator device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the housing defines the interior chamber, the driven roller and the guide roller rotatably mounted within the interior chamber.
4. 4. A tape applicator device according to claim 3, comprising at least one pressure abutment structure for abutting and applying a force to a side of the tape at a location opposite to the side of the tape in contact with the guide roller.
5. 5. The tape applicator device of claim 4 wherein the pressure abutment structure comprises a freely rotatable abutment roller mounted to the housing within the interior chamber.
6. 6. The tape applicator device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transfer element comprises an elongate strip spanning the driven roller and the follower guide roller and frictionally engaging the adhesive-applied side of the tape.
7. 7. The tape applicator device of claim 6 wherein the transfer element comprises a pair of the elongate belts spanning the driven roller and the follower guide roller in a spaced apart arrangement.
8. 8. The tape applicator device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tape cutting device comprises: a) A cutting blade; b) A manually operable applicator structure mounted to the cutting blade for applying a force to the cutting blade to displace the cutting blade between a cutting position in which the cutting blade severs the adhesive tape and a rest position in which the cutting blade is spaced from the adhesive tape, and C) A biasing element for biasing the cutting blade toward the rest position, The housing defines a guide structure within which the cutting blade is slidingly received.
9. 9. The tape applicator device of any of the preceding claims, wherein the driven roller has a first ratchet mounted thereon, and the drive member of the actuator device may include a complementary first pawl for engaging the first ratchet and driving rotation of the driven roller upon displacement of the actuator device relative to the housing.
10. 10. The tape applicator device of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the actuator device is pivotally mounted to the housing in an arrangement in which the actuator device is displaceable towards the housing to drive rotation of the driven roller to dispense tape from the housing and displaceable away from the body portion to return the pawl to a rest starting position.
11. 11. The tape applicator device of claim 10, wherein the actuator device comprises an actuation means for displacing the actuator device to the inactive starting position.
12. 12. The tape applicator device of claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the actuator device comprises a displaceable wall portion that is received within a bore in the housing and that partially defines the interior chamber of the housing.
13. 13. The tape applicator device of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the housing and the actuator device are configured so as to fit within the palm of the user's hand in an arrangement wherein a squeezing action applied between the actuator device and the housing drives rotation of the driven roller.
14. 14. The tape applicator device of any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the driven roller includes a resistance means for resisting, but not preventing, rotation of the driven roller.
15. 15. The tape applicator device of claim 14 wherein the resistance means comprises a second ratchet and a second pawl fixedly mounted to a central shaft rotatably mounted to the housing, the second pawl engaging the second ratchet in an arrangement that resists but does not prevent rotation of the driven roller.
16. 16. The tape applicator device of claim 15 wherein, in certain applications, the resistance provided by the second ratchet and the second pawl to dispensing tape from the tape applicator device is sufficient to permit mechanical traction to be applied to a portion of the tape adhered to skin, thereby providing expansion of the skin.
17. 17. A method of using the tape applicator device of any one of claims 1-16 in a procedure for closing an open wound of a patient, the method comprising: The user holds the tape applicator device in one hand; a) To initiate a tape application procedure to close the wound, the user discharges a predetermined length of the tape from the tape applicator device by displacing the actuator device to drive rotation of the driven roller; b) The user holding the front end region of the tape in the other free hand of the user and pulling the tape to dispense the required extra length of tape from the tape applicator device; c) Applying an adhesive tape to one side of the wound by the user using the user's free hand and pressing the adhesive tape against the patient's skin, causing the adhesive tape to adhere to the patient's skin; d) Applying the braking means to the driven roller of the tape applicator device while pressing the tape against the patient's skin, applying a braking force to the driven roller, and applying a pulling force to the tape, thereby applying a mechanical pulling force to the skin to draw the skin closer to the wound; e) When the skin is allowed to relax, the user holds the wound in a pinched condition between the index finger and thumb of the user's free hand; f) The user controllably pulls the tape to dispense additional tape by using the user's free hand, or incrementally dispenses additional tape by using the actuator device, extending the tape across the wound; g) The user pressing the adhesive tape against the patient's skin at the opposite side of the wound of the patient while maintaining the wound in a pinch condition and continuing to apply tension to the adhesive tape, adhering the adhesive tape to the patient's skin; h) When the adhesive tape is in tension and the braking device is applied, the user cuts the adhesive tape using the adhesive tape cutting mechanism of the adhesive tape applicator apparatus, and Repeating steps a) to h) as many times as may be necessary to achieve wound closure.

Description

Adhesive tape applicator device Technical Field The present invention relates to a tape applicator device for tape assisted wound closure for external skin tissue dilation and other forms of soft tissue reconstruction for wound closure management in the field of orthopedic and reconstructive surgery. The invention also relates to a method of using the tape applicator device in a procedure for closing a wound of a patient. Disclosure of Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a tape applicator device for use in tape assisted wound closure, the applicator device comprising: A housing sized to fit within the palm of a user's hand, the housing defining an interior chamber and a tape dispensing outlet through which tape having adhesive applied to one side thereof can be dispensed from the housing; A supply spool for receiving a roll of adhesive tape rotatably mounted within the interior chamber; A tape cutting mechanism mounted to the housing adjacent the tape dispensing outlet for cutting the tape to a desired length as it is dispensed from the housing; An adhesive tape feeding mechanism, comprising: a) At least one driven roller rotatably mounted within the interior chamber for receiving tape from the supply spool; b) At least one follower guide roller rotatably mounted within the interior chamber for receiving tape from the follower roller, and C) A displaceable transfer member mounted to and extending between the driven roller and the guide roller, the transfer member being displaceable by rotation of the driven roller and having a frictional engagement surface for frictionally engaging the adhesive tape to displace the adhesive tape toward the tape dispensing outlet, A braking means for applying a braking force to the driven roller to prevent rotation of the roller, thereby allowing a pulling force to be applied to the adhesive tape when the adhesive tape is adhered to the skin, and A manually operable displaceable actuator means is displaceably mounted to the housing, the actuator means comprising a drive member for engaging the driven roller for driving rotation of the driven roller upon displacement of the actuator means relative to the housing. In use, when the tape is adhered to the skin, application of a pulling force to the tape by the braking means allows a relatively high mechanical traction to be applied to the patient's skin to pull the skin towards the wound. In addition, applying tension to the tape facilitates cutting a length of tape under tension by the tape cutting mechanism. The braking means may comprise at least one brake pad associated with the actuator arrangement for applying a braking force to the driven roller when the actuator arrangement is displaced towards the housing in an arrangement which causes the brake pad to engage the driven roller. The tape applicator device may include at least one pressure abutment structure for abutting and applying a force to one side of the tape at a location opposite the side of the tape in contact with the guide roller. More specifically, the pressure abutment structure includes a freely rotatable abutment roller mounted to the housing within the interior chamber. The transfer member may include an elongated strip that spans the driven roller and the follower guide roller and frictionally engages the adhesive-applied side of the tape. More specifically, the applicator device may include a pair of spaced apart transfer elements in the form of elongated strips that span the driven roller and the follower guide roller in a spaced apart arrangement. The tape cutting mechanism may comprise: a) A cutting blade; b) A manually operable applicator structure mounted to the cutting blade for applying a force to the cutting blade to displace the cutting blade between a cutting position in which the cutting blade cuts through the adhesive tape and a rest position in which the cutting blade is spaced from the adhesive tape, and C) A biasing element for biasing the cutting blade toward the rest position, The housing defines a guide structure within which the cutting blade is slidably received. The driven roller may have a first ratchet mounted thereon and the drive member of the actuator device may include a complementary first pawl for engaging the first ratchet and driving rotation of the driven roller upon displacement of the actuator device relative to the housing. The actuator device is pivotally mounted to the housing in an arrangement wherein the actuator device is displaceable toward the housing to drive rotation of the driven roller to dispense adhesive tape from the housing and displaceable away from the housing to return the first pawl to the rest starting position. The actuator device may comprise actuating means for displacing the actuator device to the rest starting position. The actuator device may include a displaceable wall portion that is received within a bore in the housing and that partially defines