Patent Publication Number: US-2010122993-A1

Title: Pocket supported dispenser OFR dispensing disinfecting fluid

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/115,373, filed Nov. 17, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention pertains to a dispenser for dispensing a small amount of disinfecting fluid, such as, alcohol gel hand rub, for use by physicians and nurses during their normal activities, which dispenser is carried on the person. 
     On average, six million people die each year due to infections acquired at the hospital. In the medical field hand sanitization and combating the spread of infection within a hospital is a matter of life and death. To deal with this, medical facilities have installed hand sanitizer dispensers on walls and counters in an attempt to make it convenient for medical staff to frequently sanitize their hands. It has been proven time and time again that these units are not used nearly as frequently as they should. 
     A number of wearable dispensing devices have been designed for speed and ease of repeated use for dispensing disinfecting fluids. For example, see US Patent Application Publication Nos. 2006/0289567 published Dec. 28, 2006, and US 2007/00517752 published Mar. 8, 2007, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,927,548 issued Jul. 27, 1999, and 6,983,864 issued Jan. 10, 2006. 
     Problems with such existing wearable dispensing devices is that they are designed to be carried by a belt or they are clipped onto a pocket. Medical staff rarely use belts as belts, and waistbands of pants act as a collector of contaminants, and belts are difficult to cleanse. Accordingly, sanitary washable garments without belts or waistbands are worn. In addition, the pocket supported dispensers cannot be readily operated effectively and conveniently while clipped on to the pocket, and if utilized while clipped to a pocket, they exert excessive stress onto the lip and seams of the pocket, and deform the pocket whereby the dispenser slides around in the pocket and it is difficult to manipulate and operate the dispenser as stored in or on the pocket. 
     It is a principal object of the present invention to eliminate these aforesaid problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a pocket supported dispenser for dispensing small amounts of disinfecting fluid, such as, an alcohol-glycerine disinfecting gel or liquid, from a container which includes an interior for holding the disinfecting fluid. A pump spray head is secured to an upper end of the container for dispensing small amounts of fluid from the container through a nozzle on the spray head. Full support by the pocket is provided by a pocket support that is contoured and dimensioned for supporting the container from the bottom interior of the pocket with the pump spray head exposed above the top edge of the pocket for downward hand pumping compressions of the pump spray head to dispense fluids through the nozzle without displacing the dispenser in the pocket and without distorting the pocket. 
     The pump spray head is positioned at a side edge of the pocket with a nozzle directed to spray to the side of the pocket. This permits the physician or nurse to carry the dispenser of the present invention in the side pocket of a lab coat, which physicians and nurses commonly wear, and thereby conveniently reach and pump fluid in a forward direction into one&#39;s hand. 
     The pocket support consists of a bracket supporting the container wherein the bracket follows bottom contours of the pocket and extends upward to support the container in an upright position with the pump spray head exposed above the pocket. This bracket also preferably includes a lip protruding outwardly over an upper edge of the pocket and extending in the same direction as the directional spray emanating from the spray nozzle. This protruding lip is positioned below the spray head, and also positioned relative to the spray head, whereby the lip may be grasped by the fingers of the operator&#39;s hand for leveraged downward pump compressions of the pump spray head with the palm of the operator&#39;s hand to dispense disinfecting fluid on the operator&#39;s hand. The dispenser of the present invention accordingly provides complete and full support of the dispenser for actual convenient operation thereof in the lab coat pocket as the container is fully supported in the pocket for downward pump compressions on the spray head and the spray head is faced to the side of the pocket or forward relative to the operator&#39;s lab coat for convenient dispensing. 
     The support bracket may also include a downwardly depending finger that extends externally of the pocket and downwardly from the protruding lip. This provides additional support for the support bracket to assist in preventing the support bracket from displacing within the pocket when hand pump compressions are applied to the spray head. 
     The pocket support itself, instead of being in the form of an elongated bracket, may in fact be comprised of the fluid container itself whereby the fluid container is shaped in dimension to fully fit and fill the interior contours of the pocket whereby the dispenser is fully supported within the lab coat pocket for well supported and convenient operation of the pump spray head. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims. The accompanying drawings show, for the purpose of exemplification, without limiting the scope of the present invention or the appended claims, certain practical embodiments of the present invention wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a view in side elevation of a first embodiment of the dispenser of the present invention with the dispenser container shown in partial section and as supported in a lab coat side pocket during operation; 
         FIG. 2  is a view in side elevation of a second embodiment of the dispenser of the present invention illustrated as being supported within the side pocket of a lab coat; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the dispenser illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view from the back side of the dispenser illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a right end view in front elevation of the dispenser illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a top view of the dispenser illustrated in  FIG. 2  with the dispenser container or bottle and its associated spray pump removed; 
         FIG. 7  is a back side view in side elevation of the dispenser illustrated in  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4  and  5  with the container support illustrated in mid cross section and the container also illustrated in partial mid cross section as seen along section line VII-VII of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a view in side elevation of a third embodiment of the dispenser of the present invention providing full support in a lab coat side pocket; and 
         FIG. 9  is a top view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring first to the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the pocket supported dispenser  10  of the present invention is provided for dispensing small amounts  11  of disinfecting fluid  15 , such as an alcohol based gel, into the hand  12  of an operator, such as a physician or nurse. The dispenser  10  includes a cylindrical bottle or container  13  with interior  14  for containing disinfecting fluid  15 . 
     A pump spray head  16  is secured to an upper end  17  of container  13  for dispensing small amounts of fluid  15  as indicated at  11  through nozzle  18  of spray head  16 . 
     Pocket support  20  supports container  13  and is contoured and dimensioned for supporting container  13  from the bottom interior  21  inside lab coat pocket  22  illustrated in dashed outline. The container  13  is thus supported with spray head  16  exposed above the top edge  23  of pocket  22  for downward hand pumping compressions of pump spray head  16  to dispense the disinfecting fluid  15  through nozzle  18  as illustrated by the fluid spray  11 . 
     The spray head  16  is positioned at side edge  24  of pocket  22  with the nozzle  18  directed to spray as indicated at  11  in the forward direction to the side  24  of pocket  22 . This provides a convenient location for the user. 
     The dispenser  10  is accordingly supported from the bottom contours  21  of side lab coat pocket  22  and therefore remains in position even though pumping applications are being applied to spray head  16 . Also, no undo stress is applied to the upper pocket edge  23  or to the side seams of pocket  22 . In addition, the configuration of the dispenser  10  of the present invention prevents the dispenser from shifting position within pocket  22  and the dispenser  10  accordingly remains with solid support during pumping operations. Bracket  20  follows the bottom contours  21  of pocket  22  and extends upwardly to support container  13  in the upright position as illustrated with the pump spray head exposed above the upper edge  23  of pocket  22 . 
     Bracket  20  further includes a lip  25  protruding outwardly in a forward direction over the upper edge  23  of pocket  22 . Lip  25  extends in the same direction as the direction of spray  11  emanating from nozzle  18  and is positioned below spray head  16 , and relative thereto, whereby lip  25  may be grasped by the fingers  26  on operator&#39;s hand as illustrated in the figure for leverage downward pump compressions of pump spray head  16  with the palm  27  of the operator&#39;s hand to dispense disinfecting fluid  15  on the inside  28  of the operator&#39;s hand. After dispensing of the disinfecting fluid as illustrated, the operator then rubs his or her hands together uniformly spreading the disinfecting fluid over all portions of the hands in a conventional manner to adequately disinfect the hands before contacting a patient or an implement which will contact the patient. 
     To further insure the solid support of bracket  20  within pocket  22 , a downwardly depending finger  30  extends externally of pocket  22  from lip  25 . This downwardly depending finger  30  assists in preventing the bracket  20  from slipping downwardly into or around in the interior of pocket  22 . A similar downwardly depending finger  31  is provided on the opposite end of bracket  20 . 
     Container  13  is in the form of a plastic cylindrical bottle and it is supported on bracket  20  at the bottom by bottom arm support  33 . Container  13  is supported at the top by a clip engagement adjacent screw cap  34  with a snap fit in an opening contained in upper support arm  35 . This connection will be explained in greater detail with regard to the next embodiment. 
     Turning next to the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 2 through 7 , similar elements are designated with the same reference numerals. 
     The primary difference between the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 3 through 7 , from that illustrated in  FIG. 1 , is that the bracket  20  is much shorter in length, yet is contacted with and is fully supported by the bottom interior contours  21  of pocket  22 . In addition, the downwardly depending finger  30  is made considerably longer to further ensure that the shortened bracket  20  does not slide downwardly into and rearwardly around the interior of pocket  22 . 
       FIG. 7  further illustrates the manner in which container  13  is supported on bracket  20  and further discloses the interior of container  13 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 7 , the container  13  and spray head  16  are conventional in function and design. When the top of hand spray head  16  is compressed downwardly against the compression of an internal spring (not shown) a small quantity of the fluid  15  is pumped upwardly through tube  36  and out nozzle  18  as indicated in the form of a spray  11  in  FIG. 1 . 
     The upper neck  37  is engaged between the flexible fingers  38  of support arm  35  and there further retained by the contact of screw on cap  35 . 
     Turning next to the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the dispenser  10  is contoured and configured whereby container  13  is in and of itself shaped and dimensioned to provide the pocket support  20  to thereby fully contact the bottom and inside interior edges of pocket  22  thereby eliminating the requirement of an external downwardly depending finger  30  and separate container and support elements  13  and  20 .