DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR ADHESIVELY AFFIXED COPOLYMER MEDICAL COVERINGS

Abstract: A delivery system for adhesively affixed copolymer medical coverings such as adhesive bandages, surgical drapes, medical dressings and the like includes a film sheet disposed on and supported by a film sheet carrier. A transfer adhesive is disposed on all but one edge of a transfer sheet which is then positioned on the film sheet surface opposite the film sheet carrier with a release sheet remaining in place until affixation to a subject to cover and protect the transfer adhesive. The one edge of the transfer sheet without adhesive pro­ vides a grasping edge whereby the release sheet can be easily removed prior to affixation to the subject. A pull strip is affixed to one edge of the film sheet to facilitate removal of the film sheet from the subject after use. A carrier removal tab is affixed to the back of the film sheet carrier to facilitate its separation from the film sheet after affixation of the film sheet to the subject.

Description: BACKGROW;D OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to adhesively affixed copolymer medical coverings and in particular to a delivery system for enabling an adhesively attachable copolymer medical covering to be affixed to a subject without clinging, adhering or sticking to itself and which enables substantially the entire surface of the copolymer medical covering to be positioned in adhesive contact with the subject. The use of polyurethane or other thin copolymer films in medical applications such as for surgical drapes, wound dressings, bandages, and the like, are known. For example, one polyurethane film is presently marketed under the trademark "Op-Site" by Smith & Nephews. This product is disclosed in Hodgson Patent No. 3,645,835 issued February 29, 1972. The covering disclosed in the Hodgson patent includes an adhesively covered film sheet made of polyurethane or other copolymer. The adhesive is applied to one surface of the polyurethane film and is thereafter covered by a suitable protector material. The protector material or layer remains in place until just prior to affixation to the subject. The film is adhesively affixed to the subject by first peeling a small portion of the protector material from the adhesive and then affixing the exposed adhesive to the body of the subject. Thereafter the adhesive and polyurethane is progressively and continuously pressed against the body of the biological subject as the backing paper is progressively removed. This prior art delivery system thus left the back side of the polyurethane film sheet exposed and susceptible to germs, dirt and the like coming in contact with the back of the polyurethane film sheet. Additionally, because the polyurethane film sheet with adhesive is relatively thin and very flexible, it is impractical if not impossible to remove the protector entirely and thereafter place the polyurethane sheet on the subject. Such an application technique results in the gathering, clinging and self-sticking of portions of the polyurethane film sheet preventing the sheet from being affixed smoothly over a part of the body of the biological subject. To avoid this problem, it is necessary to effect affixation and removal of the protector from the adhesive at substantially the same time as above described. Even utilizing the above-described application technique, however, it is difficult to affix polyurethane sheets having a thickness of approximately one-half mil. However, limitations as to the thinness of the polyurethane exist because of the inability to easily and conveniently apply the adhesively covered polyurethane film to the body of the subject without the above-described gathering and self-sticking. The problem is compounded as the surface area of the film sheet increased as is required for surgical drape applications even if the film sheet thickness increased to several mils. Additionally, it is desired to have as thin a sheet of polyurethane as possible for patient comfort. Specifically, such a thin polyurethane film stretches and moves with the body of the subject and allows the skin of the subject to stretch, contract and fold in a substantially unimpeded manner while still maintaining the covering over the desired part of or the subject's body. The present invention solves the above application problem by providing a delivery system whereby a film sheet of polyurethane or other copolymer material having a thickness up to several mils or more which is stretchable and which has adhesive applied to one side may be applied to the body of a biological subject without gathering or self-adhering. This result is accomplished by providing a relatively un stretchable and rigid film sheet carrier on the surface of the film sheet opposite the adhesively covered surface where the film sheet carrier remains in place until after the film sheet has been affixed to the biological subject. Suitable means, such as a carrier removal tab, is then provided so that the film sheet carrier can be easily removed and discarded leaving only the film sheet affixed by the adhesive to the body of the biological subject. The above-described film sheet not only provides a substantially nonstretchable and relatively rigid carrier for the film sheet but also protects the film sheet from exposure to dirt, germs and the like. SUr2GRY OF THE ITNENTION The present invention comprises a delivery system for adhesively attached copolymer medical coverings for covering parts of the body of a biological subject. The delivery system in accordance with the invention includes a film sheet for covering a selected part of the biological subject where the film sheet has a subject facing surface and an opposite parallel back surface. The film sheet back surface is releasably joined to a film sheet carrier. The film sheet carrier is inelastic and rigid relative to the film sheet but is bendable to conform generally to the contours of the part of the biological subject. The film sheet carrier is for the purpose of supporting and maintaining the film sheet in planar configuration until after the film sheet is affixed to cover the selected part of the biological subject. The film sheet carrier is thereafter removed and discarded. The delivery system further includes a release sheet and a transfer adhesive disposed for covering at least a portion of the release sheet. The release sheet and transfer adhesive are then positioned adjacent the film sheet so that the transfer adhesive adheres to at least a portion of the subject facing surface of the film sheet. Thus, the film sheet is sandwiched between the release sheet and the film sheet carrier prior to application to the selected part of the biological subject. In operation, the transfer adhesive transfers to the film upon removal of the release sheet prior to application of the film sheet to the selected part of the biological subject. The film sheet is held to the selected part of the subject by the transfer adhesive. In accordance with the invention, the delivery system further includes a pull strip which is adhesively attached along at least a section of one edge of the subject facing surface of the film sheet. Preferably, at least a section of the release sheet is transfer adhesive-free with the transfer adhesive-free section being positioned over the pull strip whereby at least a portion of the pull strip is free of transfer adhesive to facilitate grasping and removal of the film sheet from the biological subject after use. In accordance with the further embodiment of the invention, the delivery system includes a carrier removal tab which is adhesively attached to the film sheet carrier for being grasped and pulled to thereby pull the film sheet carrier from the back surface of the film sheet after placement of the film sheet on the selected part of the biological subject. The carrier removal tab is positioned so that the film sheet carrier is between the film sheet and the carrier removal tab. In the preferred embodiment, the carrier removal tab is relatively rigid compared to the film sheet carrier to facilitate grasping and pulling. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A complete understanding of the present invention and of the above and other advantages thereof may be gained from a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view of the delivery system in accordance with the invention with layer thicknesses exaggerated. FIGURES 2A, 2B and 2C illustrate one method of making the delivery system shown in FIGURE 1. FIGURES 3A, 3B and 3C illustrate one method by which the delivery system in accordance with the invention may be used to adhesively affix a copolymer film sheet medical covering to a body part of a biological subject. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention comprises a delivery system for enabling a film sheet to be adhesively affixed to a selected part of the body of a biological subject. The invention is particularly useful in allowing a thin film sheet which is stretchable and which has an adhesive applied to one side to be applied without clinging or sticking to itself prior to affixation. Accordingly, referring to FIGURE 1, a delivery system 10 for self-adhering copolymer medical covering comprises a film sheet 12 disposed on a film sheet carrier 14 by any suitable means such as casting or extrusion whereby the film sheet 12 adheres to the carrier 14 without the necessity of adhesives. In the preferred embodiment, the film sheet is a thermoplastic polyurethane having a thickness of about one-half mil or larger. Films having thicknesses of about one-half mil are preferably made by casting a solution of the polyurethane or other copolymer onto a smooth surface such as a release coated silicon paper. Suitable materials and their production are described in U.S. Patent No. 2,871,218. The present invention is particularly useful with copolymer film sheets because of the tendency of such sheets to gather and cling to themselves making it impossible to affix such film sheets over a selected part of a biological subject. Such gathering and self-sticking thus prevents a continuous contact over the selected part of the biological subject allowing gaps and spaces, in which germs, dirt and other foreign matter can become trapped. Such unsterile conditions can defeat the objectives of the Hodgson adhesive material in actual use. The transfer adhesive 16 is deposited over the subject facing surface 28 of the film sheet 12 by pressing (laminating) the transfer adhesive 16 on release sheet 17 against film sheet 12. The delivery system in accordance with the invention further includes a transfer adhesive initially disposed on a release sheet 17. Thereafter the release sheet 17 remains in place to cover and protect the transfer adhesive 16 until a time just prior to application to the selected part of the biological subject. The transfer adhesive 16 may be disposed over the entire surface 28 of the film sheet 12 with the release backing sheet 17 similarly protecting the entire surface of the transfer adhesive 16. However, in the preferred embodiment, the release sheet 17 extends beyond an edge of the transfer adhesive 16 to form a flap section 18. The flap section 18 enables the release sheet 17 to be readily removed from the transfer adhesive 16 to expose the transfer adhesive 16 immediately prior to application to the selected part of the biological bioloGical subject. In the preferred embodiment, the transfer adhesive 16 is applied to cover only a portion of the subject facing surface 28 of the film sheet 12 with at least an edge region 19 being left without adhesive covering. This adhesive-free strip or edge region 19 then provides a region that can be grasped and pulled to facilitate easy removal of the film sheet 12 from the subject after use. Of course, other areas of the subject facing surface may be left without adhesive covering so that a gauze 40 or other object can be adhesively attached to the film by an adhesive 42 without itself being subsequently covered with transfer adhesive 16 In accordance with the invention, the transfer adhesive 16 may be any of a number of well-known transfer adhesives, such as those disclosed in the Hodgson patent No. 3,645,835 issued February 29, 1972, which disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference. The release sheet 17 may be release-coated silicon or any other suitable release sheet well known in the art. The film sheet carrier may similarly be a release-coated silicon paper or preferably is a Mylar sheet which is flexible but relatively rigid compared with the film sheet 12 and is relatively unstretchable when compared with the stretchability of the film sheet 12. Thus, the film sheet carrier 14 serves as a support for the film sheet 12 until after affixation of the film sheet 12 to the selected part of the biological subject. After the film sheet 12 has been affixed to the biological subject, the film sheet carrier 14 can be removed since its support function is no longer required. It is will be appreciated that the edge region 19 of the film sheet 12 may be provided as a pulling section without any reinforcement. However, in the preferred embodiment and in particular when the film sheet 12 is thin, a reinforcing pull strip 20 is laminated along the edge region 19 to thereby reinforce the edge region 19 and further facilitate removal of the film sheet 12 from the subject after use. The pull strip 20 may be adhesively affixed along the edge region 19 of the film sheet 12 utilizing any of a number of available permanent medical grade adhesives 22 such as medical grade transfer adhesive No. 1514 produced by 3M Corporation. The flap section 18 of the release backing sheet 16 then extends either partially or entirely over the pull strip 20. To facilitate removal of the film sheet carrier 14 from the film sheet after affixation, a carrier removal tab 24 is provided. The tab 24 is adhesively affixed to the back of the film sheet carrier 27 utilizing a suitable permanent adhesive 26 which may, for example, be the same as the adhesive 22 used to affix the pull strip 20 to the subject facing surface 28 of the film sheet 12. In the preferred embodiment, the carrier removal tab 24 has a thickness of between 5 and 10 times the thickness of the film sheet carrier 14 and may, for example, be a 10-point tag. Such a thickness results in a carrier removal tab.24 which is relatively rigid compared to the film sheet carrier 14, thus enabling the carrier removal tab 24 to be grasped and pulled to separate and remove the film sheet carrier 14 from the film sheet 12 after the film sheet 12 has been applied to the selected part of the biological subject. Referring to FIGURES 2A, 2B, and 2C, the delivery system for self-adhering copolymer medical coverings may be manufactured by first casting the polyurethane film 12 on a Mylar backing 14. The combination of the polyurethane film 12 and Mylar backing 14 is commercially available and may be purchased from any of a number of different suppliers. A pull strip 20 with the permanent adhesive 22 on one side is then disposed on the edge region 19 of the film sheet 12 utilizing suitable laminating machinery such as the Mark Andy 2100 System produced by Mark Andy Incorporated of Chesterfield, Missouri. After the pull strip 20 has been permanently adhesively affixed to the edge of the film sheet 12, a release sheet 17 with transfer adhesive 16 disposed over all but a flap section 18 is laminated onto the subject facing surface 28 of the film sheet 12 as shown in FIGURE 2B so that the layer of transfer adhesive 16 is laterally adjacent to the previously affixed pull strip 20. Thus, at least a portion and preferably all of the top 21 of the pull strip 20 will be free of the transfer adhesive 16. In such an arrangement, the transfer adhesive 16 is laterally adjacent to the pull strip 20 with the release sheet 17 covering the transfer adhesive 16 and remaining in place until just prior to affixation to the selected part of the biological subject. The transfer adhesive and release backing may be disposed on Lhe subject facing surface 28 of the film sheet 12 utilizing conventional laminating- techniques and machinery and may be affixed in a manner similar to the method by which the pull strip 20 is affixed. In a similar manner a gauze 40 or other object can also be affixed to the film sheet without being covered by transfer adhesive. Finally, referring to FIGURE 2C, the carrier removal tab 24 is permanently adhesively affixed to the back surface 27 of the film sheet carrier 14 utilizing a laminating technique as above described. It will, of course, be appreciated that the carrier removal tab 24 may be positioned at any location along the back surface 27 of the film sheet carrier 14. The resultant preferred embodiment of the delivery system 10 for self-adhering copolymer medical coverings with the pull strip 20 and the carrier removal tab 24 is thus shown in FIGURE 1. Referring now to FIGURES 3A, 3B, and 3C, the use of the delivery system in accordance with the invention is illustrated. Specifically, the release sheet 17 is first removed by pulling on the flap section 18. After the release sheet 17 is removed and discarded, the transfer adhesive 16 which remains on the subject facing surface 28 of the film sheet 12 is exposed. The exposed transfer adhesive 16 is then placed over a selected part of a biological subject 32 as shown in FIGURE 3B. The polyurethane is thereby adhesively affixed to the biological subject 32 using the transfer adhesive 16 with the film sheet carrier 14 still in place. Once the film sheet 12 has been so adhesively affixed, the carrier removal tab 24 is pulled causing the film sheet carrier 14 to separate from the film sheet 12. The film sheet carrier 14 is then discarded. The part of the body of the biological subject 32 will thus be covered by the polyurethane film sheet 12 which is affixed by the adhesive 16 in a smooth continuous manner without the normal problems of gathering and self-sticking of the film sheet 12 prior to affixation. The film sheet 12 may subsequently be removed by simply grasping the pull strip 20 and pulling the polyurethane film sheet 12 from the subject 32 as illustrated in FIGURE 3C. It will be appreciated, of course, that various modifications and changes may be made in the above-described preferred embodiments without departing from the essence of the invention.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A delivery system for self-adhering copolymer medical coverings for covering parts of biological subjects comprising: a film sheet for covering a selected part of the biological subject, the film sheet having a subject facing surface and a back surface; a film sheet carrier, the film sheet releasably adhering to the film sheet carrier along the back surface of the film sheet, the film sheet carrier being inelastic relative to the film sheet but bendable to conform generally to the contours of the part of the biological subject for supporting the film sheet until after the film sheet is affixed to cover the selected part of the biological subject, the film sheet carrier thereafter being removed; a release sheet; ; a transfer adhesive disposed for covering at least a portion of the release sheet, the release sheet and transfer adhesive positioned adjacent the subject facing surface of the film sheet whereby the transfer adhesive adheres to at least a portion of the subject facing surface so that the film sheet is sandwiched between the release sheet and the film sheet prior to application to the selected part of the biological subject and whereby the transfer adhesive transfers to the film sheet upon removal of the release sheet in preparation for affixation of the film sheet to the selected part of the biological subject, the film sheet being adhesively held to the selected part of the biological subject by the transfer adhesive. EMI16.1 2. The delivery system of Claim 1 further comprising: a pull strip adhesively attached along at least a section of one edge of the subject facing surface of the film sheet. 3. 3. The delivery system of Claim 2 wherein at least a section of the release sheet is transfer-adhesive free, the I transfer-adhesive free section being positioned over the pull strip whereby at least a portion of the pull strip is free of transfer adhesive to facilitate grasping and removal of the film sheet from the biological subject after use. 4. The delivery system of Claim 1 wherein at least a section of the release sheet is transfer-adhesive free, the delivery system comprising: a a gauze affixed to a section of the film sheet; II an anadhesive for affixing the gauze to the-section of the film sheet, the adhesive-free section of the release sheet being positioned over the gauze. 5. The delivery system of Claims 1, 2, 3 or 4, further comprising: a carrier removal tab attached to the film sheet carrier for being grasped and pulled to thereby pull the film sheet carrier from the back surface of the film sheet after placement of ofthe film sheet on the selected part of the biological subject, the carrier removal tab being positioned so that the film sheet carrier is between the film sheet and the carrier removal tab. 6. The delivery system of Claim 5 wherein the carrier removal tab is permanently adhesively attached to the film sheet carrier. 7. The delivery system of Claim 5 wherein the carrier removal tab has a thickness at least five times the thickness of the film sheet carrier. 8. The delivery system of Claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 wherein the film film sheet has a thickness less than about one-half mil. i 9. The delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the film sheet is polyurethane. 10. The delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the film sheet carrier is Mylar. 11. The delivery system of Claim 1 wherein the film sheet is stretchable copolymer for conforming to variations in the contours of the selected part of the biological subject as the biological subject moves. 12. The delivery system of Claim 1 wherein at least a section of the release sheet is free of transfer adhesive and the transfer adhesive and release sheet are joined to the subject facing surface of the film sheet so that an edge region of the film sheet is free of transfer adhesive when the release sheet is removed and the film sheet applied to the selected part of the biological subject.

Inventors: MUCHIN, JEROME D., MUCHIN, JEROME DOUGLAS
Applicants: MUCHIN, JEROME D.
Application year: 1982
Main classification: A61F13
IPC codes: A61F13