Patent Publication Number: US-11389321-B2

Title: Female catheter assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to catheters and more particularly pertains to a new catheter for a discrete and comfortable solution to female urinary incontinence. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a collection unit having a partially cylindrical collection area and an inner band coupled around a perimeter of the collection area, the collection area being configured to cover from above a user&#39;s vagina to a user&#39;s perineum. A cover extends from a right side, a top side, and a left side of the inner band and an outer band is coupled to a perimeter of the cover. An inner surface of the collection unit has an adhesive coupled from the inner band to the outer band. The inner band is configured to adhere to a user&#39;s labial folds and the outer band is configured to adhere a user&#39;s outer vaginal area and the perineum. The collection area has a drain aperture extending therethrough adjacent a bottom side. The collection unit is flexible and is configured to form to the shape of the user&#39;s vaginal area. A drain port is coupled to the drain aperture and a hose is coupled to, and in fluid communication with, the drain port. A collection bag has an upper aperture extending through a top edge selectively engaged with a distal end of the hose and a lower aperture adjacent a bottom edge. A release tube is coupled to the lower aperture. A clamp is selectively engageable with the release tube to seal and alternatively unseal the release tube. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a female catheter assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear elevation view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a side elevation view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevation view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new catheter embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the female catheter assembly  10  generally comprises a collection unit  12  having a partially cylindrical collection area  14  and an inner band  16  coupled around a perimeter of the collection area  14 . The collection area  14  is configured to cover from above a user&#39;s vagina  18  to a user&#39;s perineum  20 . A cover  22  extends from a right side  23 , a top side  24 , and a left side  26  of the inner band  16 . The top side  24  may be semi-circular. An elliptical outer band  28  is coupled to a perimeter of the cover  22 . An inner surface  30  of the collection unit has an adhesive  32  coupled from the inner band  16  to the outer band  28 . The inner band  16  is configured to adhere to a user&#39;s labial folds and the outer band  28  is configured to adhere a user&#39;s outer vaginal area and the perineum  20 . The collection area  14  has a drain aperture  34  extending therethrough adjacent a bottom side  36 . The collection unit  12  is flexible and is configured to form to the shape of the user&#39;s vaginal area. When flattened, the inner band  16  protrudes past the inner surface  30 . The collection unit  12  may be a soft silicone material and the adhesive  32  may be chlorhexidine gluconate for easy and irritation-free removal. 
     A drain port  38  is coupled to the collection unit  12 . The drain port  38  comprises a collar  40  coupled to the drain aperture  34  and an elbow  42  coupled to the collar  40 . The elbow  42  may be rigid to allow easy connection with the collar  40  which may be flexible and rubberized to create a liquid seal around the elbow  42 . A hose  44  is coupled to, and in fluid communication with, the drain port  38 . The hose  44  is selectively engageable within the elbow  42  and may be a soft silicone. A leg clip  46  has a base  48  and a sleeve  50  coupled to the base  48 . The base  48  is adhesive and is configured to selectively adhere to a user&#39;s leg to guide the hose  44  and prevent accidental removal from the drain port  38 . The sleeve  50  is coupled around the hose  44 . The base  48  may be square and has rounded corners for user comfort. 
     A collection bag  52  is coupled to the hose  44 . The collection bag  52  has a neck  54  extending from a top edge  55  and an upper aperture  58  extending through the neck  54 . A rigid rim  56  is coupled to the neck  54  to selectively receive a distal end  58  of the hose. The rim  56  may have a wider grip portion  60  proximal the neck  54  and a thinner mouth portion  62  extending above the grip portion  60  to receive the hose  44 . The grip portion  60  provides more surface area for the user to grip the rim  56  when inserting and removing the hose  44  from the collection bag  52 . A front face  62  of the collection bag has a plurality of linear volume markings  64  to keep track of urination and a lower aperture  66  adjacent a bottom edge  68 . A release tube  70  is coupled to, and in fluid communication with, the lower aperture  66  to empty the collection bag  52 . A tip cap  72  selectively engages a tip end  74  of the release tube for sanitary purposes. A clamp  76  is selectively engageable with the release tube  70  to seal and alternatively unseal the release tube  70 . The clamp  76  may have a hinge  78  and a pair of jaws  80  extending from the hinge on either side of the release tube  70 . The pair of jaws  80  are selectively engageable to maintain a pinched position sealing the release tube  70  while the collection bag  52  is in use. 
     In use, the collection unit  12  is applied to sealingly enclose the vaginal area with the hose  44  coupled to the drain port  38 . The base  48  of the leg clip is adhered to the user&#39;s leg and the clamp  76  is maintained with the jaws  80  in the pinched position. When desired, the clamp  76  is released and the collection bag  52  may be emptied through the release tube  70 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.