Patent Document

TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to a suspended urinary external drainage system (SUEDS) for incontinent people and more particularly to a suspended urinary external drainage system type diaper which moves fluids from contact with a person&#39;s skin and delivers fluids to a holding bag. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Cloth and paper diapers for small children work reasonably well. Children hold urine in their bladders for some period of time and then discharge a manageable quantity at one time. Periodic checks by parents or others generally result in diaper changes before skin problems develop due to prolonged exposure to urine. By the time a baby reaches the normal age for potty training, the quantity of urine discharged from the bladder at one time has increased. Conventional diapers have a limited capacity to hold liquids and may be overloaded at times when babies grow and become mobile. Problems with rashes and infections increase with age but are still manageable with adequate care. 
     Incontinent adults tend to discharge urine almost constantly. Cloth and paper diapers, worn by incontinent adults, are wet most of the time. Diapers worn by such adults must be changed frequently and even then skin problems occur. To reduce these problems with skin rashes and infections due to over exposure to urine, catheters have been developed. Female catheters are indwelling, tend to leak, become unattached, and frequently cause infections. For many females, catheters are unacceptable. Condom catheters for males are more successful but still have problems. They frequently fall off. Skin inside the condom is in contact with urine almost constantly and develops rashes which are difficult to treat. 
     Urethral catheters for males that are inserted into the urethra are superior to other catheters. They eliminate contact between the skin and urine. Skin rashes are substantially eliminated. Infections are not eliminated however. Catheter tubes must be removed frequently and replaced with clean tubes. Insertion of catheters into the urethra can be difficult and time consuming and is never a pleasant task. Infections that start in the urethra can spread to the bladder and kidneys. Kidney and bladder infections tend to be difficult to treat and can be fatal. 
     Individuals who are incontinent are generally older individuals. Most of them have other health problems and many are in medical facilities such as nursing homes. These individuals may require several man-hours of care daily. Providing such care is expensive. 
     Infections, that frequently afflict individuals that are incontinent, are treatable if the individual is otherwise healthy. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, incontinent individuals often have other medical problems. These other problems can make infections in the urinary tract more difficult to treat as stated above and may result in such infections becoming life threatening. A bladder or kidney infection can be fatal to a person with an artificial heart valve for example. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the invention is to provide a suspended urinary external drainage system type diaper which drains urine away from exposed skin. Another object of the invention is to provide a diaper which catches urine that is drained away from the skin and is collects the urine in a collector. A further object of the invention is to drain urine from the collector into a holding bag. A still further object of the invention is to provide a diaper which remains comfortable and relatively dry for several hours when worn by an incontinent person. A yet still further object of the invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive extended wear diaper. 
     The diaper includes a substantial number of short capillary tubes positioned to receive urine and carry the urine to a collector. The collector is a ring-shaped member with a wall that the capillary tubes pass through. A liquid tight seal is formed between the capillary tubes and the wall of the collector. Drainage tubes are connected to the collector in positions in which at least one drainage tube will drain liquid from the collector when the person wearing the diaper is sitting, lying on the back, lying on the stomach or lying on a side. The discharge ends of the capillary tubes are near the center of the collector passage to ensure that fluids are not carried out of the collector by the capillary tubes. 
     The drainage tubes include one-way valves that prevent the flow of fluid from the drainage tubes into the collector. These one-way valves can be located in the drainage tube entries or between the drainage tube entries and the holding bag. 
     A pressure increase at the normal discharge end of the capillary tubes relative to the inlet end of the capillary tubes could prevent the flow of fluid into the capillaries and into the collector. A vent valve may be provided in the collector that equalizes the pressure of air inside the collector with the pressure of air outside of the collector. If necessary a tube can be connected to the vent valve to move the gas discharge away from the person wearing the diaper. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The presently preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the following description and in the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a diaper unfolded and laying in a generally flat plane with part broken away to shown the interior construction of the diaper; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line  3 — 3  in FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The suspended urinary external drainage system type diaper  10  as shown in FIG. 10 has a flexible outer liquid barrier  12  made from a plastic material, a treated nylon material or other suitable material. The barrier  12  is connected to the collector  14 . The collector  14  has a tubular cross section and preferably forms a ring that encircles the entire diaper  10 . A flexible material is used to construct the collector. However, the collector  14  must maintain a central passage that permits the flow of liquid when such flow is required. The flow of liquid can be ensured by using a semi-rigid material for collector construction or by providing internal projections  68 , shown in FIG. 3, that prevent the collector walls from collapsing. 
     The diaper  10  has a back half  16  and a front half  18  connected by crotch portion  20 . The barrier  12  is narrow in the crotch portion  20  so that the barrier and two portion of the collector  14  can pass between the legs of a person wearing the diaper  10 . The collector  14  as shown in FIG. 1 extends across the top portion  22  of the back half  16  as well as the top portion  24  of the front half  18 . The portions of the collector  14  that extend across the top portion  22  of the back half  16  could be eliminated but in some situations fluid might be retained in the collector that should be discharged. 
     A large number-of capillary tubes  26  pass through the walls of the collector  14  and extend into the center section of the front half  18  of the diaper  10 . Each capillary tube  26  has an inlet end  28  and a discharge end  30 . The inlet ends  28  are positioned in a center portion of the front half  18  and in the crotch portion  20  where a plurality of the inlets can receive any fluids that are discharged and carry these fluids to the collector  14  under the force of gravity regardless of the position the person wearing the diaper  10  is in. The discharge ends  30  of the capillary tubes  26  are positioned away from the walls of the collector  14  so that any discharge fluids in the collector are generally out of contact with the discharge ends of other tubes. The capillary tubes  26  make sealing contact with the walls of collector  14  where they pass through the walls. 
     The capillary tubes  26  can be glass or plastic. If they are plastic, they must be a plastic that will not hold fluid droplets on their surfaces. Medical plastics used in heart pumps and blood filters can be used. 
     Discharge openings are provided at position  32  through  42  in the walls of the collector  14 . Positions  32  and  42  are toward the top of the back half  16  of the diaper. Positions  34  and  40  are in the crotch area or portion  20 . Positions  36  and  38  are near the top of the front half  18  of the diaper. At each position  32  through  42  there is preferably an upper opening  44  and a lower opening  46  as shown at positions  36  and  38  in FIG.  2 . Two openings  44  and  46  are provided so that fluid can be drained from the collector  24  regardless of the position of the person wearing the diaper. 
     Each of the openings  44  is connected to a short discharge tube  48 . Each opening, 46  is also connected to is a short discharge tube  50 . Each pair of short discharge tubes  48  and  50  are connected to a common T coupler  51  with an outlet  52 . The short discharge tubes  48  and  50  have sufficient length for the outlet  52  to fall below the opening  44  and  46  depending on the orientation of the diaper  10 . 
     Long discharge tubes  54 ,  56 ,  58 ,  60 ,  62 , and  64  connect the out lets,  52  of each T coupler  51  to a holding bag  66 . A one-way valve (not shown) is built into each T coupler  51  if desired to prevent the return flow of discharged fluids to the collector  14 . If desired the long discharge tubes  54 - 64  can be connected to a common connector and a single final discharge tube can extend to the holding bag  66 . 
     Long discharge tubes could also be connected directly to each of the openings  44  and the holding bag  66 . Long discharge tubes would also have to be connected to the openings  46  and to the holding bag  66 . 
     The capillary tubes  26  are covered with a fabric lining  70 . The outer edge of the lining  70  is secured to the collector  14 . This fabric lining  70  is a soft cotton material which permits urine to pass through to the inlet ends  28  of the capillary tubes  26 . The cotton material is treated to prevent the absorption of liquid and keep the lining substantially dry. 
     Tape strips  72  and  74  on each side of the back half  16  of the diaper  10  can adhere to the front half  18  to hold the diaper on an individual. 
     The diaper  10  is made primarily from inexpensive synthetic materials. This makes it inexpensive to change the diaper  10  two or three times a day and keep the wearer dry substantially all the time. Skin problems are substantially reduced and infections are substantially eliminated. Labor costs are substantially reduced. Overall there will be significant savings. 
     The drain tubes  48  and  50  are removed from the collector  14  when the diaper  10  is changed. A disinfectant can be quickly forced through the drain tubes if desired. The holding bag  66  is discarded together with the urine collected and the disinfectant periodically. 
     The disclosed embodiment is representative of a presently preferred form of the invention, but is intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.

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