WO1998005257A1

WO1998005257A1 - A stethoscope warming device

Info

Publication number: WO1998005257A1
Application number: PCT/GB1997/002114
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hendrik Hanse Van Vuuren
Original assignee: Ddw Botha Patente Bk; Baverstock, Michael, George, Douglas
Priority date: 1996-08-05
Filing date: 1997-08-05
Publication date: 1998-02-12
Also published as: AU3780097A

Abstract

A stethoscope warming device includes a housing, stethoscope holding means, mounted to the housing for holding at least one stethoscope, warming means for warming a head of the stethoscope when it is held by the holding means and at least one advertising display for displaying at least one advertisement.

Description

A STETHOSCOPE WARMING DEVICE

THIS INVENTION relates to a stethoscope warming device, to an ampoule warming device, to an advertising display and to a method of producing an advertising display.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a stethoscope warming device which includes a housing; stethoscope holding means mounted to the housing for holding at least one stethoscope; warming means for warming a head of the stethoscope when it is held by the holding means; and at least one advertising display for displaying at least one advertisement.

By an advertising display is meant a surface, part, assembly or the like of the warming device on or in which an advertisement is displayed or can be displayed . The advertising display may thus be a surface of the housing. Instead, the advertising display may form part of a separate display assembly which is mounted or mountable on the housing. Thus, the stethoscope warming device may include mounting means and the display assembly may be mountable by means of the mounting means on the housing. For example, the housing or the display assembly may include a surface and an advertisement may be affixed or affixable to the surface, for example by being pasted onto the surface or by being mounted on or secured to the surface by means of clips or the like. Instead, a surface of the housing or a surface of the display assembly may be provided with a transparent sheet such as a sheet of a transparent synthetic polymeric or plastics material or a sheet of glass which is spaced from the said surface and advertising material may be inserted or insertable between the transparent sheet and the display surface.

Thus, the display assembly may include a backing member and a sheet of a transparent material, mounted so that it is spaced from the backing member, so that advertising material is receivable between the sheet and the backing member.

The advertising material may, for example, be in the form of one or more printed advertisements.

Naturally, the advertising material may, instead, be affixed to a surface of the display assembly as described above.

In an embodiment of the invention, the display assembly is in the form of a television screen, monitor, electronic display device or the like, which is mounted or mountable by means of mounting means on the housing. In this embodiment, advertisements may be transmitted electronically to the advertising assembly so that they appear and are displayed on the television screen, monitor, electronic display device or the like.

The warming means may comprise an electrically heated warming strip and the stethoscope holding means may be arranged to hold the or each stethoscope so that a head of the or each stethoscope can be heated by the warming strip. The warming strip will typically be in the form of one or more strips of anodised aluminium. In particular, the warming strip may comprise a pair of anodised aluminium plates with one or more heating wires extending along grooves in the plates. Instead, the warming strip may be a strip of aluminium heated by an electric current via a transformer. Any other suitable warming element or device may be used. The stethoscope holding means may then include at least one clip which is engageable with the head of at least one stethoscope to hold the or each head against the warming strip. The clip may be of a resilient or spring-like material, for example stainless steel.

The warming device may include ampoule holding means for holding at least one ampoule so that the or each ampoule can be heated by the warming means. The ampoule holding means may, for example, be in the form of cylindrical-shaped recesses in the housing in which ampoules are receivable to be held, the recesses being arranged so that, when an ampoule is received in a recess, the ampoule is adjacent to, or abuts, the warming strip so that it can be warmed by the warming strip.

The warming device may, further, include a temperature controller for controlling the temperature of the warming strip. Typically, the warming strip will be maintained in use at a temperature of about 37°C, preferably about 37,2°C by the temperature controller.

The stethoscope warming device may optionally include disinfectant holding means for holding a disinfecting material.

The disinfectant holding means may be in the form of a container for holding a liquid disinfecting material. Typically, the container will be provided with a lid to prevent or reduce evaporation of the liquid disinfecting material and may be configured to be slidably receivable, drawer-fashion, in an aperture in the warming device. The warming device may, further optionally, be provided with a holder for holding cotton wool, swabs or the like for applying the disinfecting material to the head of the stethoscope in order to disinfect the head after an examination. Instead, the disinfectant may be in the form of a gel eg. Hibident (trade name) . The heating device may then be provided with a pad for applying the gel disinfectant.

The housing will typically be provided with mounting means for mounting it against a surface such as the surface of a wall, a cupboard or the like.

The invention extends to an ampoule warming device which includes a housing; ampoule holding means mounted to the housing for holding at least one ampoule; warming means for warming a head of the ampoule when it is held by the holding means; and at least one advertising display for displaying at least one advertisement.

The ampoule holding means may be as hereinbefore described. The warming means and the advertising display may be as hereinbefore described.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an advertising display which includes a device selected from stethoscope warming devices and ampoule warming devices and at least one advertisement displayed on the device.

The stethoscope warming device or the ampoule warming device may be as hereinbefore described.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of producing an advertising display, the method including the step of mounting advertising material on a device selected from stethoscope warming devices and ampoule warming devices.

The stethoscope warming device or the ampoule warming device may include a housing and a display assembly, and mounting the advertising material on the device may include attaching the advertising material to the display assembly. The display assembly may be mountable on the housing and the method may include mounting the display assembly on the housing.

Mounting the advertising material may include providing the display assembly with a transparent window and locating the advertising material behind the window. Instead the housing may include a transparent window and mounting the advertising material may include locating the advertising material behind the window of the housing.

The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which

Figure 1 shows a three-dimensional view of a first embodiment of a stethoscope warming device in accordance with the invention with a stethoscope suspended from the device; Figure 2 shows a three-dimensional view of part of a housing of another embodiment of a stethoscope warming device in accordance with the invention;

Figure 3 shows a side elevation of the housing of the device of Figure 1; Figure 4 shows a sectional side elevation of the housing of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 5 shows a three-dimensional view of another embodiment of a stethoscope warming device in accordance with the invention; and Figure 6 shows a side view of the warming device of Figure 5.

Referring to Figure 1, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a stethoscope warming device in accordance with the invention. The stethoscope warming device 10 includes a housing 12, stethoscope holding means generally indicated by reference numeral 14, warming means. generally indicated by reference numeral 16, for warming a head of the stethoscope when it is held by the holding means 14 and an advertising display in the form of a display assembly 17 which is mounted on the housing 12. A stethoscope 18 is shown held by, and suspended from, the stethoscope warming device 10. The housing 12 is generally hollow and is of moulded ABS high temperature plastic with a wall thickness of about 2 - 3mm. The plastic optionally includes a flame retardant. The housing 12 is generally rectangular in front elevation, as can be seen in the drawing, with a length of about 308mm, a height of about 100mm and a base width of about 60mm. Instead, the housing may be larger and the heating device may be adapted to heat 10-20 stethoscopes.

The housing 12 includes a rear wall 19 (Figure 3) and a base 20 (Figure 3), an upper generally horizontal wall 22 and a front generally vertical wall 24, the upper and front walls being connected together by a generally vertical wall 26 extending downwardly from a leading edge of the upper horizontal wall 22 to the base 20 (as can be seen in Figure 4) and a diagonally sloping wall 28 extending from the vertical wall 26 below the horizontal wall 22 to the upper edge of the front horizontal wall 24. The housing further includes two end walls 29, 30.

The base 20, the front wall 24 and the diagonal wall 28 are interrupted by generally T-shaped openings or slots 31, 32 and 33 formed by vertically extending cut away parts of the front vertical wall 24 which are about 15mm wide, laterally extending cuts away parts of the diagonal wall 28 which are about 55mm long and 15mm wide and rearwardly extending cut away parts of the base 20 as can be seen, in particular, in Figure 1 so that the front vertical wall 24 is divided into four parts 24.1, 24.2, 24.3 and 24.4 with the parts 24.1 and 24.2 separated by the slot 31, the parts 24.2 and 24.3 separated by the slot 32 and the parts 24.3 and 24.4 separated by the slot 33. The parts 24.2 and 24.3 are connected to the vertical wall 26 and the base 20 by connecting parts 34 as can be seen in the drawings. The head 35 of the stethoscope 20 is received in the slot 31, as can also be seen in the drawing.

Five further generally circular openings 36 each having a diameter of about 25mm are provided in the diagonal wall 28 between the end wall 29 and the opening 31 and an ampoule 37 is located in each of the openings. The opposite end portion of the housing 12 is in the form of a box-shaped structure 38 which is about 60mm wide with upper vents 40 and an on-off switch 42, in which an electronic control mechanism or temperature controller (not shown) , for controlling the temperature of the warming means 16 is located.

The warming means 16 composes a warming strip 44, located within the housing 12, and extending along the wall 26 between the box-shaped structure 38 and the end wall 29 of the housing 12 as can be seen, in particular, in Figure 4. The warming strip 44 consists of a pair of anodised aluminium plates (not shown) having a length of about 180mm, a height of about 50mm and a width of about 3mm and an insulated heating wire (not shown) located in a groove (not shown) between plates. In another embodiment the heating strip is of stainless steel. Naturally any other suitable heating means may be used. The holding means 14 for holding the stethoscope head includes three resilient stainless steel clips 50 (Figure 4) which are attached to the bottom of the warming strip 44. Each clip 50 is curved, or bow-shaped, and extends upwardly from a lower part of the warming strip 44 and each has an upper end portion which abuts an upper part of the warming strip 44. Each clip 50 is resiliently displaceable in the directions of the double-headed arrow 54 (Figure 4) so that a portion of the head 24 of the stethoscope 20 can be received between the clip 50 and the warming strip 44. The clip 50 thus serves to suspend the stethoscope 18 from the warming device 10, as indicated in Figure 1, and at the same time to urge the head 35 against the warming strip 44 so that it can be heated by the warming strip 44.

The electronic control mechanism or temperature controller located in the box-shaped structure 38 regulates the temperature of the warming strip at about 37 °C so that, in use, the head 35 of the stethoscope 20 is heated to about 37 °C before it is used in an examination. Similarly, the ampoules 37, when they are located in the openings 36 as indicated in Figure 1, are heated to a temperature of about 37 °C before use.

The display assembly 17 is mounted on the housing 12 as can be seen in Figure 1. The display assembly 17 includes a sheet of a transparent plastics material 60 mounted with clearance against a backing member 62 so that a gap (not shown) is provided between the sheet and the backing member 62. The gap is large enough so that a sheet of advertising material such as for example a poster, a logo, descriptive material, a picture, a drawing or the like, can be inserted between the sheet 60 and backing member 62. The assembly 17 is mounted on the housing 12 by means of a mounting member 64. In an embodiment of the invention (not shown) , the display assembly 17 is releasably mounted to the housing 12.

In another embodiment of the invention (not shown) , the display assembly 17 is in the form of an electronic (eg LED) or digital display or in the form of a screen or monitor such as a TV screen or computer monitor and advertisements are displayed on the screen. In yet another embodiment (not shown) , the display assembly 18 includes a display face to which advertisements can be affixed, eg. by pasting, by means of clips or by any other suitable method. Referring now to Figure 5, reference numeral 80 generally indicates another embodiment of a stethoscope warming device in accordance with the invention. The warming device 80 generally resembles the warming device 10 and the same numbers have been used to indicate the same or similar features of the devices 80 and 10.

The device 80 also includes a housing 12, stethoscope holding means generally indicated by reference numeral 14 , warming means in the form of a warming strip, indicated schematically by the horizontal lines 44, and advertising displays 18 and 19.

In this embodiment of the invention, the housing 80 comprises a generally rectangular rear wall 82 and a pair of side walls 84, 85 extending forwardly from vertical side edge portions of the rear wall 82. Each side wall 84, 85 has a generally horizontal lower edge 86, 87 and a diagonal upper edge 88, 89 which slope downwardly towards the lower edge 86, 87, as can be seen in the drawings, and a generally vertical leading edge 89, 90. The housing 12, further, has a base 91 and a front wall 92. The front wall 92 is attached to a leading edge portion of the base 90 by a curved portion 94 as can be seen, in particular in the side elevation shown in Figure 6. The front wall 92 is thus resiliently displaceable, spring-fashion, in the directions of the double-headed arrow 96 (Figure 6) . The front wall 92 is divided into two portions 92.1 and 92.2 by a gap 94. The advertising displays 18 and 19 comprise surface portions 92.3 and 92.4 of the portions 92.1 and 92.2 of the front wall 92. In an embodiment of the invention, the portions 92.3 and 92.4 are provided with transparent windows which are spaced slightly from the wall 92 so that an advertisement can be inserted behind the windows as described above. In another embodiment of the invention, the display surfaces 92.3, 92.4, are used for affixing advertisements to the housing 12, by for example pasting the advertisements to the surface, by mounting the advertisements by means of clips or by any other suitable means. The heating strip, indicated schematically by the horizontal lines 44, is optionally constructed in the same way as the heating strip of the embodiment 10 described above and the warming device 80 will then include a temperature controller (not shown) of the type used in the embodiment 10 described above. Four tongues 96, 98, 100 and 102 project diagonally and rearwardly from the upper edge of the portion 92.1 of the front wall 92 generally parallel with the upper edges 88, 89 of the sidewalls 84, 85. The tongue 96 is adjacent the edge 88 of the side wall 84 and the tongue 102 is adjacent the gap 94 between the wall portions 92.1 and 92.2, as can be seen in the drawings. The tongues 98, 100 are spaced inwardly from the tongues 96, 102 so that slot-shaped primary recesses 104, 106, 108 are defined between the tongues 96 and 98, 98 and 100, 100 and 102. Secondary recesses or slots 104.1, 106.1 and 108.1 are provided at the bottoms of the primary recesses 104, 106, 108. Forwardly and upwardly directed lips 110, 112, 114, 116 are provided at the upper ends of the tongues 96, 98, 100, 102.

In use, the heads of stethoscopes are inserted behind the lips 110, 112, 114, 116 with the stethoscope tubes received in the secondary slots 104.1, 106.1, 108.1, and with the stethoscope heads abutting the warming strip 44. The resiliently displaceable front wall 92 then acts in the manner of a leaf spring or clip to hold the stethoscope heads against the warming strip 44. In this way the stethoscope heads are warmed by the warming strip 44. The wall portion 92.2 is similarly provided with three upwardly directed tongues 118, 120, 122 with the tongue 120 adjacent the tongue 102, the tongue 106 adjacent the upper edge portion 89 of the side wall 85 and the tongue 120 located between the tongues 118, 122 so that rectangular shaped recesses or slots 124, 126 are defined between the tongues 118, 120 and 120, 122 respectively. In use, ampoules (not shown) can be inserted into the slots 124, 126 so that they rest on the heating strip 44 and are warmed by the warming strip 44. A disinfectant dispensing container or tray, generally indicated by reference numeral 130, is slidably mounted on the side wall 85 below the slots 124, 126 by means of a drawer-like slide mechanism (not shown) so that the dispensing tray 130 can be slid into and out of the housing 12, drawer-fashion. The dispensing tray 130 is optionally provided with a lid (not shown) to inhibit evaporation of a disinfectant in the tray 130.

Figure 2 shows a part 150 of a housing of another embodiment of a stethoscope warming device in accordance to the invention. The part 150 resembles the housing 12 of the stethoscope warming device 10 and the same numbers have been used to describe the same or similar features of the housing 12 and the part 150. In this embodiment of the invention, the housing 12 includes a single slot 31 and a single opening 36 for holding a stethoscope and an ampoule. It is an advantage of the invention illustrated that the stethoscope heating device 10,80 heats the head of a stethoscope to approximately body temperature, so that the discomfort of being examined with a stethoscope with a cold head is abated. The Applicant believes that this feature of the invention will be of particular value when children or elderly patients are being examined. It is a further advantage of the invention illustrated that the stethoscope heating device 10,80 also provides a storage mechanism for storing a number of stethoscopes and a warming device for warming ampoules. The Applicant believes that this feature of the invention will be useful in those cases where the ampoule contains a relatively viscous substance, which becomes more fluid when the temperature is raised and will also reduce the discomfort of being injected with a cold fluid. It is a further advantage of the invention illustrated that the invention provides means for disinfecting the head of a stethoscope, thereby preventing possible transfer of infection from one patient to another.

In particular, it is an advantage of the invention illustrated that it provides an advertising medium for companies such as pharmaceutical companies or companies which supply medical devices, equipment and the like. The Applicant has found particularly in the case of new drugs, that there is a substantial lead time before a drug is frequently prescribed by a medical practitioner. The Applicant believes that, by mounting the stethoscope warming device in a doctor's surgery, and by using it to advertise, for example, a new drug, the name of the new drug will frequently be drawn to the attention of the medical practitioner, since a stethoscope is used in most medical examinations, thereby increasing the likelihood that the practitioner will prescribe the drug in appropriate circumstances. The Applicant believes that the advertising space provided by the heating device of the invention will readily be rented by companies of the type mentioned above which wish to bring their products to the attention of medical practitioners.

SUBSTITUTESHEET(RULE2Ϊ

Claims

1. A stethoscope warming device which includes a housing; stethoscope holding means mounted to the housing for holding at least one stethoscope; warming means for warming a head of the stethoscope when it is held by the holding means; and at least one advertising display for displaying at least one advertisement.

2. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in claim 1, in which the advertising display is a surface of the housing.

3. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in claim 1, in which the advertising display forms part of a separate display assembly which is mounted or mountable on the housing.

4. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in claim 3, in which the display assembly includes a backing member and a sheet of a transparent material, mounted so that it is spaced from the backing member, so that advertising material is receivable between the sheet and the backing member.

5. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the warming means comprises an electrically heated warming strip and in which the stethoscope holding means is arranged to hold the or each stethoscope so that a head of the or each stethoscope can be heated by the warming strip.

6. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in claim 5, in which the stethoscope holding means includes at least one clip which is engageable with the head of at least one stethoscope to hold the or each stethoscope head against the warming strip.

7. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which includes ampoule holding means for holding at least one ampoule so that the or each ampoule can be heated by the warming means.

8. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which includes disinfectant holding means for holding a disinfecting material.

9. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in claim 8, in which the disinfectant holding means is in the form of a container for holding a liquid disinfecting material.

10. An ampoule warming device which includes a housing; ampoule holding means mounted to the housing for holding at least one ampoule; warming means for warming the ampoule when it is held by the holding means; and at least one advertising display for displaying at least one advertisement.

11. An advertising display, which includes a device selected from stethoscope warming devices and ampoule warming devices and at least one advertisement displayed on the device.

12. An advertising display as claimed in claim 11, in which the stethoscope warming device is a device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 inclusive and the ampoule warming device is a device as claimed in claim 10.

13. A method of producing an advertising display, the method including the step of mounting advertising material on a device selected from stethoscope warming devices and ampoule warming devices.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, in which the stethoscope warming device or the ampoule warming device includes a housing and a display assembly, and mounting the advertising material on the device includes attaching the advertising material to the display assembly.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, in which the stethoscope warming device is a device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 inclusive and the ampoule warming device is a device as claimed in claim 10.

16. A stethoscope warming device is claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

17. An ampoule warming device as claimed in claim 10, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

18. An advertising display as claimed in claim 11, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

19. A method of producing an advertising display as claimed in claim 13, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

20. A new stethoscope warming device, ampoule warming device, advertising display or method substantially as herein described. AMENDED CLAIMS

[received by the International Bureau on 18 December 1997 (18.12.97); original claims 1 and 5 amended; remaining claims unchanged (1 page)]

1. A stethoscope warming device which includes a housing; stethoscope holding means mounted to the housing for holding at least one stethoscope; electrical warming means for warming a head of the stethoscope when it is held by the holding means; and at least one advertising display for displaying at least one advertisement .

4. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in claim 3, in which the display assembly includes a backing member and a sheet of a transparent material , mounted so that it is spaced from the backing member, so that advertising material is receivable between the sheet and the backing member.

5. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the electrical warming means comprises an electrically heated warming strip and in which the stethoscope holding means is arranged to hold the or each stethoscope so that a head of the or each stethoscope can be heated by the warming strip.

6. A stethoscope warming device as claimed in claim 5, in which the stethoscope holding means includes at