Holder for a stethoscope or the like

A monaural stethoscope attached to a holder having a hook and loop fastening system. The holder is configured such that when the loop fastening material is folded up on itself, it mates with the hook fastening material to form a closed loop for retaining the coiled tubing of the monaural stethoscope. A pin fastener, such as a safety pin, is attached to the back of the holder so that the holder can be pinned to a medical garment, such as an anesthesiologist's scrub suit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention is directed to a holder for a stethoscope or other 
articles for medical personnel, more particularly, to a novel and improved 
type of holder for a monaural stethoscope which can be attached to a 
medical garment and used to retain the substantial length of tubing 
associated with the monaural stethoscope. 
2. Prior Art 
A monaural stethoscope is a device used routinely by an anesthesiologist to 
monitor a patient during the administration of anesthesia. The monaural 
stethoscope consists of a long piece of tubing (usually 3 to 5 feet long) 
with a molded ear piece on one end that fits in the anesthesiologist's ear 
and a connector on the other end that attaches to a patient's precordial 
or esophageal stethoscope. Following the completion of administering 
anesthesia or during administration, the monaural stethoscope may be 
disconnected from the patient's stethoscope so that the anesthesiologist 
may move about freely in the operating room or to another patient. The 
monaural stethoscope may then be reconnected to the same patient or 
connected to another patient. 
One of the limitations of the monaural stethoscope is that the 3 to 5 feet 
of tubing is cumbersome to accommodate when the anesthesiologist moves to 
another patient. Anesthesiologists have attempted different methods to 
solve this problem. Some of them wrap the tubing around their necks and 
tuck the free end into their scrub shirt. Others coil the tubing up and 
place it in their scrub shirt pocket. Still others coil the tubing up and 
place it in their scrub pants. All of these methods have their own 
limitations ranging from unsanitary to cumbersome. 
Another of the limitations of the monaural stethoscope is that the earpiece 
is easily pulled from the anesthesiologist's ear if the anesthesiologist 
inadvertently moves away from the patient before disconnecting the 
stethoscope from the patient's stethoscope or if someone bumps into the 
tubing when the monaural stethoscope is attached to the patient's 
stethoscope. Either of these events can be painful and/or damage the 
monaural stethoscope. 
In view of the limitations of prior attempts to accommodate the substantial 
length of tubing of the monaural stethoscope, it would be highly desirable 
to have a holder that would retain the stethoscope in a convenient 
location when the stethoscope is not being used and that would help 
prevent the earpiece from being pulled from the anesthesiologist's ear 
inadvertently when the stethoscope is being used. It would also be 
desirable to have a device for holding articles, such as rings, watches, 
key rings, etc. in a secure fashion for medical personnel. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One purpose of the subject invention is to provide a holder for a monaural 
stethoscope that can be attached to a medical garment and which retains 
the substantial length of tubing associated with the monaural stethoscope 
in a convenient location when the stethoscope is not being used. Another 
purpose of the present invention is to prevent the earpiece of the 
monaural stethoscope from being pulled accidentally from the 
anesthesiologist's ear. 
To accomplish these purposes there is provided a monaural stethoscope 
attached to a holder having a hook and loop fastening system. The holder 
is configured such that when the loop fastening material is folded up on 
itself, it mates with the hook fastening material to form a closed loop 
for retaining the tubing of the monaural stethoscope in a coiled fashion. 
A pin fastener, such as a safety pin, is attached to the back of the 
holder so that the holder can be pinned to a medical garment, such as an 
anesthesiologist's scrub suit. 
In one aspect of the invention there is provided a medical device, 
comprising a holding strap having a loop securing surface along its length 
thereof and a first end, a patch having a hook securing surface, the patch 
being attached to the first end of the holding strap so that when the 
holding strap is folded over on itself the loop securing surface and hook 
securing surface mate to form a closed loop, a pin fastener pivotally 
journalled in the first end of the holding strap for removably securing 
the holder to a garment, and an aural stethoscope attached to the medical 
device so that the aural stethoscope can be coiled up and placed in the 
closed loop created when the holding strap is folded over on itself. 
In another aspect of the invention there is provided a holder for an aural 
stethoscope or the like, comprising a holding strap having a loop securing 
surface along its length thereof and a first end, a patch having a hook 
securing surface, the patch being attached to the first end of the holding 
strap so that when the holding strap is folded over on itself the loop 
securing surface and hook securing surface mate to form a closed loop, a 
pin fastener pivotally journalled in the first end of the holding strap 
for removably securing the holder to a garment, and said aural stethoscope 
being attached to the holder so that the aural stethoscope can be coiled 
up and placed in the closed loop created when the holding strap is folded 
over on itself. 
In yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a device 
for holding articles for medical personnel, comprising a holding strap 
having a loop securing surface along its length thereof, the holding strap 
having a first end and a second end, a securing pad having a hook securing 
surface and an inner surface, the securing pad being attached to the first 
end of the holding strap with the inner surface contacting the loop 
securing surface of the holding strap so that when the holding strap is 
folded over on itself the loop securing surface at the second end and the 
hook securing surface of the securing pad mate to form a closed loop to 
hold the articles, and a pin fastener pivotally journalled between the 
holding strap and the securing pad for removably securing the device to a 
garment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
With reference to the drawing, FIG. 1 illustrates the construction of the 
holder in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The holder, 
shown generally at 1, comprises holding strap 5, securing pad or patch 10, 
monaural stethoscope 15 and pin fastener 20. 
The monaural stethoscope comprises a substantial length of tubing 17, 
earpiece 16, and connector 18. The tubing can have any desired diameter 
and thickness such as that of intravenous extension tubing or larger. For 
instance, the tubing can range from 0.375 to 0.625 inches (0.95 to 1.59 
cm) in diameter. Likewise, the tubing can have various lengths such as in 
the range of 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 meters). Earpiece 16 can be molded to 
fit in the outer ear, or have other forms such as a foam cylinder that is 
compressed and then placed in the outer ear canal and allowed to expand 
until it wedges itself in the outer ear canal. Connector 18 is used to 
connect the monaural stethoscope to a patient's precordial or esophageal 
stethoscope (not shown). 
One side of holding strap 5 can include a loop securing surface 6 along 
some or all of the length thereof. Patch 10 can include a hook securing 
surface 11 on at least one side thereof. It is contemplated that part of 
the surface of the holding strap 5 may be free of the loop fasteners. One 
example of a holding strap and patch material that is especially suitable 
for use in the manufacture of the device of this invention is commercially 
available in the form of woven nylon hook and loop fasteners sold under 
the trade name "VELCRO" (available from VELCRO U.S.A., Inc., New Jersey). 
Pin fastener 20 can comprise a safety pin. One example of a pin fastener 
that is especially suitable is a diaper safety pin because it is lockable, 
light weight, durable and rustproof. 
To construct one embodiment of the present invention, holding strap 5 is 
placed between fixed arm 21 and movable arm 23 of the pin fastener 20, as 
shown in FIG. 3. In this case, movable arm 23 faces back side 9 of the 
holding strap 5, as shown in FIG. 4. Patch 10 is then placed over arm 21 
and attached to strap 5 so that the arm 21 is held between front side 8 of 
holding strap 5 and back surface 12 of patch 10. With this arrangement, 
patch 10 is secured over arm 21 so that the pin fastener 20 is allowed to 
pivot around arm 21. In this way, the holder is free to pivot about an 
axis through arm 21 that is essentially parallel to the chest of the user, 
thus allowing freedom of movement of the holder away from the body of the 
user. Patch 10 may be secured to holding strap 10 by a variety of means 
such as stapling, sewing, gluing, etc. as long as the pin fastener is 
allowed to pivot around arm 21. However, it is also contemplated that the 
pin fastener may be held in a manner such that it does not pivot. 
In one embodiment, monaural stethoscope 15 is attached to one end of pin 
fastener 20 by tie 22. For instance, monaural stethoscope 15 can be 
attached to pin fastener 20 at a location along the tubing 17 such that 
there is a convenient length of tubing between the holder and the 
anesthesiologist's ear. Thus, the anesthesiologist can move his/her head 
freely without pulling the earpiece 16 from his/her ear. Tie 22 can 
comprise a variety of fasteners, such as a ratchet toothed bundling tie, a 
twist tie, etc. However, monaural stethoscope 15 may be attached directly 
to holding strap 5 or tubing 17 may be threaded through the coil spring 
loop of the pin fastener 20. 
FIG. 3 shows tubing 17 of the monaural stethoscope in its coiled and 
retained position in holder 1. Only a portion of the tubing is shown for 
simplicity. When holding strap 5 is folded over on itself, loop securing 
surface 6 on front side 8 of holding strap 5 mates with hook securing 
surface 11 of patch 10. In this way, a closed loop 7 is formed by the 
holding strap 5. It is advantageous to have the loop securing surface 6 of 
holding strap 5 in contact with itself when the closed loop is formed and 
to have the relatively small patch of hook securing surface 11 compared to 
the length of the holding strap so that the anesthesiologist can easily 
unhook holding strap 5 from the relatively small patch 10 in order to use 
the monaural stethoscope. 
FIG. 2 shows holder 1 attached to the chest area of a medical garment with 
the monaural stethoscope in its coiled and retained position. With the 
present invention, the anesthesiologist can attach the holder and monaural 
stethoscope to a scrub suit at the beginning of the day with the pin 
fastener and have it readily available as he/she visits each patient. When 
the anesthesiologist is ready to administer anesthesia to a patient, 
he/she merely has to unhook holding strap 5 from patch 10, uncoil tubing 
17, place earpiece 16 in his/her ear, and attach connector 18 to the 
patient's stethoscope. When the procedure is complete, the 
anesthesiologist disconnects connector 18, removes earpiece 16 from 
his/her ear or leaves it in his/her ear, coils tubing 17, places the 
tubing in holding strap 5, and mates loop securing surface 6 with hook 
securing surface 11 to retain tubing 17 conveniently until the 
anesthesiologist is ready to use the stethoscope again. 
An added advantage is achieved by attaching tubing 17 to holder 1 by tie 
22. For instance, when the anesthesiologist has the earpiece in his/her 
ear and connector 18 is connected to the patient's stethoscope, if the 
anesthesiologist moves too far away from the patient, the tubing will pull 
on the anesthesiologist's scrub shirt 24 via pin fastener 20 instead of 
pulling the earpiece out of his/her ear. 
FIG. 5 shows holder 1 adapted to hold personal articles such as ring 26 for 
medical personnel. For instance, when medical personnel wash their hands 
for surgery, it is advantageous to use holder 1 to retain personal items 
such as rings, watches, key rings, etc. instead of putting them in the 
pockets of the scrub suit where they may inadvertently be lost when the 
garment is placed in the laundry. 
The foregoing has described the principles, preferred embodiments and modes 
of operation of the present invention. However, the invention should not 
be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed. 
Thus, the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative 
rather than restrictive, and it should be appreciated that variations may 
be made in those embodiments by workers skilled in the art without 
departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the 
following claims.