US-12622813-B2 - Wound and bandage protection system and method

US12622813B2US 12622813 B2US12622813 B2US 12622813B2US-12622813-B2

Abstract

A wound/bandage protector configured as a wrap, a sock/mitten, or a bandage may be made out of stretchable material. The wrap may have one or more fastening straps as well as possibly a first catch fastening surface. The sock/mitten may have a fastening strap and a sheath. The wrap, the sock/mitten, and the bandages may have apertures and aperture covers. In addition, the wound/bandage protectors as well as the bandages may have diamond or triangular gauze configurations with the gauze pad having three or four primary corners, the primary corners of the gauze pad in most instances being oriented towards edges of the body portion or length or width tangents of the body portion, preferably mid-points or mid-sections of the length or width tangents or body portion edges.

Inventors

Jennifer DiGrazia

Assignees

Jennifer DiGrazia

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20201001

Claims (16)

1 . A wrapping, comprising: a body configured as a sock/mitten having a first end that is open, a second end that is closed, an internal side, and an external side; and a fastening strap attached to the body and having an internal side and an external side, wherein a non-slip grip material is disposed on the internal side of the body, wherein the fastening strap extends entirely or partially around the external side of the body and fastens to at least one of the external side of the body and the external side of the fastening strap upon the fastening strap being wrapped around a body part and fastened, wherein the non-slip grip material is adapted to contact the body part upon the fastening strap being wrapped around the body part and fastened, wherein an end of the fastening strap is attached to the body at an attachment region, and the attachment region is a dead zone that provides little to no stretch at a point of attachment of the fastening strap, wherein the attachment region is disposed at a fixed location on the body at a location such that an entirety of the fastening strap entirely overlaps the external side of the body upon the fastening strap being wrapped around the body part and fastened, wherein the body comprises a breathable material.
2 . The wrapping of claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a stretchable material.
3 . The wrapping of claim 2 , wherein the body comprising the stretchable material is stretchable to at least double an un-extended size of the body.
4 . The wrapping of claim 1 , wherein the non-slip grip material is positioned to be on an internal side of the wrapping at a portion aligned with an upper half of the wrapping and is fixed so that the non-slip grip material makes contact with the body part and the internal side of wrapping upon the fastening strap being wrapped around the body part and fastened.
5 . The wrapping of claim 1 , wherein an entirety of the wrapping is a dead zone having little to no stretch.
6 . The wrapping of claim 1 , wherein the non-slip grip material is further disposed on the external side of the body.
7 . A wrapping, comprising: a body configured as a sock/mitten having a first end that is open, a second end that is closed, an internal side, and an external side, wherein the body is tapered from the second end to the first end such that the second end is larger than the first end, wherein the body comprises a first side portion, a second side portion opposing the first side portion, a third side portion, and a fourth side portion opposing the third side portion, wherein the first side portion connects the first end to the third side portion, and the second side portion connects the first end to the fourth side portion, wherein the first and second side portions are straight and run parallel to each other, wherein the third and fourth side portions are curved, wherein among the first to fourth side portions, the first and second side portions are the only side portions that run parallel to each other, wherein a non-slip grip material is disposed on the internal side of the body, wherein the non-slip grip material comprises a rubberized material, wherein the body comprises a stretchable material.
8 . The wrapping of claim 7 , further comprising: a fastening strap attached to the body and having an internal side and an external side.
9 . The wrapping of claim 8 , wherein the fastening strap is attached to the body at the first side portion of the body.
10 . The wrapping of claim 8 , wherein the fastening strap extends around the external side of the body and fastens to the external side of the fastening strap upon the fastening strap being wrapped around a body part and fastened, wherein the fastening strap is attached to the body at a location on the body such that an entirety of the fastening strap entirely overlaps the external side of the body upon the fastening strap being wrapped around the body part and fastened.
11 . The wrapping of claim 8 , wherein the non-slip grip material is positioned to be on an internal side of the wrapping at a portion aligned with an upper half of the wrapping and is fixed so that the non-slip grip material makes contact with a body part and the internal side of wrapping upon the fastening strap being wrapped around the body part and fastened.
12 . The wrapping of claim 7 , wherein the body comprises a water resistant material.
13 . The wrapping of claim 7 , wherein the body comprises a waterproof material.
14 . The wrapping of claim 7 , wherein the body comprising the stretchable material is stretchable to at least double an un-extended size of the body.
15 . The wrapping of claim 7 , wherein the non-slip grip material is further disposed on at least a portion of the external side of the body.
16 . A wrapping, comprising: a body configured as a sock/mitten having a first end that is open, a second end that is closed, an internal side, and an external side, wherein the body is tapered from the second end to the first end such that the second end is larger than the first end, wherein the body comprises a first side portion, a second side portion opposing the first side portion, a third side portion, and a fourth side portion opposing the third side portion, wherein the first side portion connects the first end to the third side portion, and the second side portion connects the first end to the fourth side portion, wherein the first and second side portions are straight and run parallel to each other, wherein the third and fourth side portions are curved, wherein among the first to fourth side portions, the first and second side portions are the only side portions that run parallel to each other, wherein a non-slip grip material is disposed on the internal side of the body, wherein the non-slip grip material comprises a rubberized material, wherein the body comprises a breathable material.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Divisional Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/831,692 filed Dec. 5, 2017, which is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/807,404 filed Dec. 28, 2012, which is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT/US2011/042216 filed Jun. 28, 2011, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61,453,341 filed Mar. 16, 2011, is a Continuation-in-Part Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/004,866 filed Jan. 11, 2011, claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/360,873 filed Jul. 1, 2010, and is a Continuation-in-Part Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/826,644 filed Jun. 29, 2010 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,591,447), the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention generally relates to a wound and bandage protection system that is designed to resolve many issues of durability, comfort and ease of application that are not adequately resolved by current wound and bandage protection systems. The invention also relates to a method of using the wound and bandage protection system for wound care. BACKGROUND ART Traditional solutions for wound care involve use of gauze and bandages affixed to skin with adhesive, which need to be replaced completely when redressing the wound. This type of wound dressing has numerous shortcomings, in particular for animals with fur. Bandages affixed with adhesive restrict patient movement, and are uncomfortable. Removing the adhesive from skin can be painful, and removing it from fur is not only uncomfortable for an animal, but is also time consuming, and therefore very impractical. However, veterinarians and pet supply stores today almost exclusively sell or use bandages designed for humans for purposes of pet wound care. One alternative for wound care are self-adhesive wraps that adhere to themselves via a sticky adhesive quality of the wrap material, without sticking to skin or fur. However, a major drawback of these bandages is that they lose the ability to stick when wet or when dirty. The wraps can become undone and unusable in a matter of seconds if licked or tampered with. Therefore, while a good solution for human wound care, these wraps are still impractical for pet wound care. An additional reason for the need for a comfortable bandage for animals is because they are very prone to infection when healing from a wound, due to the instinct of the animals to lick the location of the wound, leading to the introduction of bacteria and germs to the wound. The animal will also lick and possibly gnaw on bandages as well. Dogs, for example, like the taste of adhesive. The current solution of veterinarians is to place a cone collar around the animal's neck. However, the cone is big, cumbersome and a nuisance for both pet and owner. A dog will swing its head wildly while trying to get the collar off. In the process they can injure themselves; they also find it difficult to navigate when moving about. They also bang into things and knock down everything that is not attached. The cone is a very unpleasant solution. Therefore, there is a need for a bandaging system that reduces pull on skin and fur, will attach quickly and effortlessly, stay on securely, and be removable and exchangeable without pain. Furthermore, throughout the history of bandage making, a common problem has plagued the adhesive bandage industry. In order to properly protect a wound, it should be covered and insulated from outside infectants. However, most adhesive bandages do not adequately protect a wound when applied. Makers of older bandages tried to size the gauze pad to allow for a thin strip of adhesive around the gauze pad to adhere to the skin around the wound. However, the strip of adhesive around the gauze pad would often buckle or come loose altogether, and not keep the wound properly sealed, and possibly cause discomfort. Recently companies have tried other solutions. Band-Aid® brand has given up on sealing the wound and has extended the gauze to the edge of the adhesive to maximize the amount of gauze available to cover the wound. Nexcare® has created bandages with extremely small gauze in relation to the bandage, allowing for a better seal, but providing less gauze in the exchange. Furthermore, these bandages tend not to perform well on joints, where the areas of adhesive do not conform to the bending of the limbs without causing a large amount of buckling of the gauze. Therefore, there is a need for a bandaging system to prevent buckling and loosening of the adhesive around the gauze pad of an adhesive bandage, particularly with regard to application of bandages to joints, while at the same time maximizing the amount of gauze available to cover the wound. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION The present invention provides a wound/bandage protection system and a method of use thereof. An exemplary embodiment of a super-stretch tu