Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
lU3~
The present invention relates to a container for collecting
liqul-ds and gases. The invention especiall~ relates to a container for
collectIng products uncontrollably leaving the body, suc~ as urIne or
faeces. The container is thus particularly useful for persons with
different forms of incontinence C=inability of retaining secretions) or
different forms of stoma Cstomi = apertures). The present container is
preferabl~ carried on the body, e. g. on the thigh, and connected to the
urethra or the stoma Yia a discharge device.
It îs known to use containers for collecting products secreted
from the bod~. The type of container most comparable with the presen~
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container consists of a thin, flat plastic bag of two layers, the edges
of which are ~elded. Moreo~er this type of plastic bag has an inlet
proYided with a non-return valve on one short side and possibly an outlet
on the other short side. The presence of an outlet is due to the fact
whether the bag is intended for use one time or several times. Uæually
the bag is square-shaped and ~ill assume the form of a cushion when fill-
ed with a liquid or air. Moreover it is knoun in this connection to use
bags with rounded corners, with narrowed parts in the middle or combina-
tions thereof, but these designs are less usual. An essential disadvant-
age of tbe kno~n designs is that they are bulky in a filled state.
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Therefore the clothes of one handicapped by incontinence or
stomi ~111 bulge, and it may even be necessary to carry the container
loosel~ in one's hand. The handicapped peraon is easily noticed, which
he will find Yery emharrassing. Furthermore the indicated handicaps are
often com~ined wit~ psychical disturbances. Accordingly there has for
a long time been a need of a design, uhich is not bulky and inconspicuous
as possible~
ThiB present invention oVercQmeS the problem of known, bulky
containers, as the present container is thin and has an "anatomical" form
in the filled state. The anatomical form means that it can be adapted
to arched body surfaces. The container is carried under the clothes and
it is hardly possible to notice any bulge. Another advantage is that
the design of the container Cthe presence of intermediate ~alls, see
; - 1 - ''~,~
1(~3~ZSZ
belo~) reduces the splashing to a ~inimum ari~ing when the carrier is
mov.ing .
T~e present container is, in empty state, substantially flat
Ctwo~dimensîonal~ and comprises two outer ~talls~ Intermediate walls
are arranged between the outer ~alls to form an uneven number, preferably
at ~east three chambers, which are associated with each other. Further-
more, the present container has an inlet provided ~ith a valYe and
- possi~l~ also an outlet. The container is characterized in that the
same numfier of intermediate walls are arranged on both ~ides of an
i~aginar~ centre line through the middle chamber and in the longitudinal
direction of the container, that the intermediate walls are associated
with the outer walls along joints in the longitudinal direction of the
container and that at least one distance between the joints of two
adjacent intermediate walls at one outer wall is bigger than the distance
between the joints of the same adjacent intermediate walls at the other
outer wall.
Th~ container m~~ be made of plastic, rubber or another flexible
material and which permits welding the longitudinal joints.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present inven-
tion the intermediate walls consist of parts of at least one intermediate
layer lying between the outer walls. According to one embodiment the
intermediate layers can have th~ same area in Yiew of size and form as
the outer walls. This embodiment is especially suitable for bags for
collection of urine. In other cases it can he adYantageous to design the
- intermediate layer as a broad band, which is parallel to the short sides
of the container. This embodiment i5 suitable in urine as well as stoma
bags. The chambers of the container are in this case formed by the
- intermediate layer being connected to the outer walls along the longitud-
inal joints. In case several intermediate layers occur, they can be
associated with each other.
In cases whDre the container consists of more than 3, e. g. 5,
7, etc. ch~mbers, it may be suitable to design the intermediate walls so
that the intermediate wall being most spaced frQm the intermediate chamber
lQ3l~
is the broad~st one. The connectiolls between the chambers can e. g.
cons;st of holes, which llave been made in the intermediate walls.
According to anotELer preferred embodiment at least one of the
outer walls includes an insulating material. The outer wall can e. g.
consist of a plastic film, which is laminated with an insulating material.
T~e principle on which the present invention is based can
also be used for construction of safety ~ackets.
T~e invention is illustrated by way of example in the accomp-
anying dra~ings wherein:
Pig. la i5 a plan view of a bag for collection of urine with
three chambers in a filled state.
Fig. lb is a section of the bag of figure la taken along the
the line A-A;
Fig. 2a and 2b are sections of a container ~ith five chambers
i~ empty and filled state respectively; and
Pig. 3 sho~s a curved, narrowing unsymmetrical container.
Referring to Fig. la the container has an inlet pipe 1 for
connection to a discharge device, holes 2 for attaching the bag to a
sultable support. A non-return Yalve 3 is located in the container for
preventing the contents of the container frQm running back. Chambers
a~e provi~e~-in the container by seams 4 t preferably by welding ) and
there is proYided an outlet 5.
The chambers are separated from one another by intermediate
walls having one or more aperatures 6 therethrough connecting the differ-
ent chambers wlth each other Csee Pig. lh~.
In Fig. 2a-b there is illustrated a container haYing four lay-
ers, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of which layers 7 and 10 are outer walls and 8 and
9 are intermediate layers. The intermediate layers 8 and 9 have the
- same surface in view of size and shape as the outer walls 7 and lO except
for the holes made in the parts of the intermediate layers forming inter-
mediate walls. All the layers are joined along the welding seams 11 and
11'. Purthermore the outer wall 7 and the intermediate layer 8 are
joined along the welding seams 13 and 13', the outer ~all 7 and the
252
intermediate layers 8 and 9 are joined along the welding seams 12 and
12', the intermediate layers 8 and 9 are jolned along the welding seams
15 and 15' and the intermediate layer 9 and the outer wall 10 are joined
along the welding seams 17 and 17'. In the intermediate layers holes
are made in the parts of the intermediate layers, which parts form
intermediate walls when the container is in a filled state. The hole~
are designated 16 and 16' and 14 and 14'. As is apparent from Fig. 2a-
b the container is flat in a non-filled state, i. e. substantially two--
d$mensional, and arched in a filled state CFig. 2b).
When the container is filled e. g. by supplying the liquid
or the gas through the slit formed between the joints 13 and 13', the
layers 7 and 8 are separated from each other between the welding seams
13 and 13', after which the liquid or the gas flows through the holes
14 and l4' and 16 and 16' and SQparateS the layers 8 and 9 and 9 and 10
respectively from each other between the points 12 and 15, 12' and 15'
and 11 and 17 and 11' and 17' respectively. The layers 7, 8 and 9 main-
tain their contact between 11 and 12 and 11' and 12' respectively, the
layers 7 and 8 between 12 and 13 and 12' and 13' respectiYely, the layers 8,
9 and 10 between 15 and 15' and the layers 9 and 10 between 17 and 17'.
The pressure from the liquid or the gas acts uniformly on the walls of
the container, the container trying to assume a round shape. Tensile
forces in opposite direction to the tensile forces arising simultaneously
from the outer walls will appear in the intermediate walls between the
points 12 and 17, 12' and 17l as well as 13 and 15 and 13' and 15',
- which prevents the container from assuming a round shape as a whole and
` which results in that instead each indiYidual chamber tries to assume a
round form. As the pressures on both sides of each intermediate wall
are equal, the intermediate walls will be maîntained straight due to the
~' tensile stresses.
Containers with seven, nine or more chambers can be built in
~` 30
an analogous way. For seven chambers five layers are necessary, for
nine chambers six layers etc. The systematics of the construction will
also appear in the fact that the number of layers is always the same
IQ3825Z
when the number of wall layers of each chamber is summarlzed, but the
n~nber of layers changes by one step between two ad~acent chambers.
The outer wall of the middle charQber on the upper side consists of the
layer 7, the chalQbers on both sides of the middle chamber consist of
the layers 7 and 8 etc.
The advantage of this manner of construction is that the
production method is cheap and simple. However, one disadvantage is
that the ~alls of certain chambers will be thick. In applications,
w~re the ~all thickness can be regarded as embarrasing, the parts of
the intermediate layers, not forming intermediate walls, can be omitted.
Sometimes it is advantageous to provide the whole bag, i. e.
both the outer ~alls with an insulation layer.
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