Abstract:
An umbilical cord closure device comprising an elongate strap ( 20 ) connected at one end of to fastening means ( 10 ), the strap ( 20 ) and fastening means ( 10 ) having co-operative means for engagement to form a tightenable loop for receiving an umbilical cord.

Description:
BACKGROUND AND FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to an umbilical cord closure device.  
           [0002]    The umbilical cord connects a baby to his/her mother for supply of nutrients during pregnancy. At birth, it is necessary for the umbilical cord to be detached. Conventionally, this has been done by applying two umbilical cord clamps at the mother (placenta) and child ends of the umbilical cord and severing the cord between the clamps. In time the severed ends of the cord will fall off together with the clamps. Umbilical cord clamps generally act like a pair of tongs having first and second clamping surfaces pivoting at a hinge with the umbilical cord being clamped closed between the clamping surfaces. It is a disadvantage of such prior art umbilical cord clamps that they have difficulty in accommodating umbilical cords of differing diameter. Furthermore, such clamps tend to be large, heavy and expensive.  
           [0003]    It is an object of the invention to provide a novel umbilical cord closure device which alleviates at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    According to the invention, there is provided an umbilical cord closure device comprising an elongate strap connected at one end to a fastening means, the strap and fastening means having co-operative means for engagement to form a tightenable loop for receiving a said umbilical cord. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]    Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a three dimensional view of a first embodiment of the invention;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a fastener of the embodiment of FIG. 1; and  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view through A-A of FIG. 2 showing the strap connected to the fastener.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a second embodiment of the invention in which a cover to hide the free end of the strap is provided.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the cover closed.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 6 is a front view of the third embodiment of the invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 7 is a view in the direction of arrow A of FIG. 6;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6 with the strap engaged with the fastener to form a loop;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 9 is a three dimensional view of the loop of FIG. 8;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the portion labelled B of FIG. 6. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    With reference to FIGS.  1 - 3 , an umbilical cord closure device being a first embodiment of the invention is illustrated. The closure device is formed as one piece from injection moulded plastics material for example nylon. The device comprises a strap  20  connected at one end to a fastener  10  and at the other end to a handle  30 . The strap  20  is connected to the handle  30  via a region  22  of narrower cross section. As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the fastener  10  is provided with a cavity  12  in which a locking pawl  14  is disposed. The cavity is closed on three sides but on the fourth side is provided with a slot  15 . The slot  15  is of a width sufficient just to receive the narrower portion  22  of strap  20  but not the main portion  20 . The cavity  12  is of a width sufficient slidably to receive the main portion  20 . The strap  20  is provided with a elongate array of teeth  24  which are adapted to engage corresponding teeth  16  of the pawl  14  as shown in FIG. 3. The pawl  14  has a resilient support  14 a which deflects to allow the strap to be pulled through the cavity, with the teeth  16 ,  24  engage, in a click-stop manner.  
         [0017]    The device is preferably formed with the first and second sides of the mold running along an edge  50  of the array of teeth  24  so that any flashing at the parting line of the mold is not formed on surfaces which are likely to engage the umbilical cord of the child.  
         [0018]    The fastener  10  is connected to the strap  20  by means of a thin bridging portion  17 . Parallel to the thin bridging portion a reaction member  18  is provided which extends from the fastener  10  almost to reach the strap  20 . Connecting the strap  20  to the bridging portion  17  is a region  25  which includes an abutment surface  26  against which the free end  19  of the reaction member  18  can engage.  
         [0019]    In use, hospital staff can attach the embodiment of the invention to an umbilical cord by grasping handle  30  (preferably by putting a finger through opening  32 ) and passing strap portion  22  through opening  15  in fastener  10  and then pulling strap  20  through cavity  12 . This will cause teeth  24  of strap  20  to engage teeth  16  of pawl  14  in a click-stop manner. The teeth of both pawl  14  and strap  20  are formed to allow one-way movement only in the direction of arrow B by having a leading slanted surface and a trailing perpendicular surface as shown in FIG. 3. Pulling the strap  20  through fastener  10  will thus cause a loop to be formed which can be tightened. As the loop is tightened the umbilical cord will be forced into a region C of FIG. 3 between the strap  20  and reaction member  18 . The reaction member  18  is arranged to be non-resilient. This might, however, flex slightly when contacted by the umbilical cord but only until abutment of surfaces  19 ,  26 . The arrangement of strap  20  and member  18  thus provides solid surfaces between which the umbilical cord may be pinched and thus closed off. At that point the handle  30  together with any excess portion of the strap  20  can be cut along face  13  leaving a neat closure.  
         [0020]    A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This embodiment differs from the previous embodiment by the addition of a cover  100  to the fastener  10 . The sides of cavity  12  do not extend the length of the fastener  10 , but are cut back to form a ledge  114  and recessed surface  113 . The cover  100  is connected to an edge of ledge  114  via a film hinge  112 . The cover  100  is provided with a fastener  116  connected via film hinge  115  and having an arrow-shaped portion  117  adapted to be press-fitted into a corresponding arrow-shaped slit  118  in the cavity top surface. In use, once the strap  20  has been cut along face  113  in a similar manner to that described in the preceding paragraph, the cover  100  is moved from the position shown in FIG. 4 to that shown in FIG. 5, with the portion  117  engaged with slit  118  so that the cover  100  hides the cut end of strap  20  to prevent any sharp edge of the cut end from being exposed.  
         [0021]    Occasionally during post-natal procedure, it is necessary to remove the closure device. This can be easily accomplished with the described embodiments of the present invention by cutting through the bridge portion  17 .  
         [0022]    FIGS.  6 - 10  illustrate a third embodiment of the invention which is broadly similar in concept to the embodiment of FIGS.  1 - 3  with similar components being identified by similar reference numerals with the addition of  200 . As in the first embodiment, the umbilical cord closure device has a strap  220  connected at one end to a fastener  210  and at the other to a handle  230  via a region of narrower cross-section  222 . The strap  220  and fastener  210  together form a loop, in the manner of the first embodiment, as best shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0023]    The third embodiment includes an additional handle  400  connected to fastener  210  via strap  410 . As best shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 the strap  410  is connected to fastener  210  so as to be offset relative to strap  220  and to the side of slot  215 . The strap  220  is also slightly offset relative to the centre line of fastener  210  so that the straps  220 ,  410  do not interfere with one another when the loop is tightened. The function of additional handle/strap  400 / 410  is to allow the user to gain a greater purchase when tightening the closure device, by being able to grasp both handles and pull them apart, in the direction of arrows C of FIG. 8 to tighten the loop.  
         [0024]    The fastener  210  is further provided with a chamfered surface  420  at one end of cavity  212 . The chamfered surface allows the strap  222  to be cut at an angle, flush to the surface  420  once the loop has been tightened thus reducing the risk of sharp edges once cut.  
         [0025]    In order to increase the ability of the strap  220  and fastener  210  to mate against one another to close an umbilical cord, region  225  which connects strap  220  to bridging portion  217  includes a gap  430  which allows the strap  220  to be pulled closer to the reaction member  218  when being tightened. The reaction member  218  is further provided with an arcuate umbilical cord engaging surface  440  which follows the line of the strap  220  when this is tightened.  
         [0026]    As best shown in FIG. 10, the edge surfaces of the fastener  210  are also chamfered along surfaces  450 ,  451 ,  452 , to reduce the risk of cuts. A cover in the manner of the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be provided.