WO2019008283A1 - Structure intended to be in contact with the human body, offering improved ventilation - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a structure intended to be in contact with a part of the human body, comprising a film of synthetic material coated with a layer of flexible material, characterized in that the layer of flexible material has a surface provided with a plurality series (10) of indentations (11), the indentations of each series (10) being in fluid communication with each other, each series (10) of indentations extending from one edge to another of the film, said series of cavities thus forming air evacuation channels towards the edge of the film.

Description

 STRUCTURE FOR CONTACT WITH THE HUMAN BODY FOR IMPROVED AERATION

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The invention relates to a structure intended to be in contact with the human body, said structure limiting transpiration generated at the body part with which it is in contact.

[002] The structure may be especially, but not exclusively, implemented in a breast prosthesis or any other article, medical or not, intended to be worn or in contact, direct or not, with a part of the human body. STATE OF THE ART

[003] In the particular case of breast prostheses, it is known to form protuberances in the form of silicone gel bumps on the surface of the prosthesis which is intended to be supported on the bust of the person to allow circulation air or air exchange around the bumps, between the bearing surface and the body surface. An example of such a breast prosthesis is described in patent application EP2301485.

[004] The disadvantage of such a prosthesis lies in that the surface of the prosthesis bearing the bumps is in permanent contact with the surface of the body so that the air flow between the bumps remains limited. The aeration obtained is therefore insufficient. [005] The invention aims to remedy this problem by providing a structure intended to be in contact with a human body part, providing improved ventilation so as to limit the visible effects of perspiration and improve the comfort of the person in contact with of said structure.

The invention also aims to provide a breast prosthesis comprising such a structure to overcome the shortcomings of breast prostheses of the prior art in terms of aeration.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[007] For this purpose, and according to a first aspect, the invention provides a structure intended to be in contact with a part of the human body, comprising a film of material synthetic material coated with a layer of flexible material, the structure being remarkable in that the layer of flexible material has a surface provided with a plurality of sets of indentations, the indentations of each series being in fluid communication with each other, each series of indentations extending from one edge to another of the film, said series of indentations thus forming air evacuation channels towards the edge of the film.

[008] The footprints of each series thus arranged and allow to propel the air mechanically at the moment of contact of the human body with the said support surface of the structure. Each movement of the person in contact with the structure makes it possible to press the support surface and, under the effect of crushing the latter, to propel the air at the outer environment of the structure .

[009] Advantageously, each imprint is arranged to present a junction portion with the adjacent imprints of the same series.

Advantageously, each footprint is delimited with an adjacent footprint of the same series by a raised portion of semicircular shape, said raised portion having a passage opening ensuring the fluid communication between the two adjacent footprints. Advantageously, the imprints of each series are arranged to form a sequence of impressions directly interconnected.

Advantageously, the fingerprints of each series are distributed regularly from one edge to another.

Advantageously, the imprints of each series are arranged to form linear air evacuation channels.

According to a particular application, the structure forms a constituent part of a breast prosthesis. The advantage of a prosthesis having the arrangements described above is to avoid overheating of the rear part of the latter when in contact with the body.

According to other possible applications, and not limiting, the structure forms a constituent part of items such as a sole, a brace, a toggle or atele. It may also form a surface covering for a seating device, such as a seat, chair or the like. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a schematic side view, in cross section, of a breast prosthesis according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows a rear view of the breast prosthesis of Figure 1;

FIG. 3 represents a detailed view of the rear surface of the breast prosthesis illustrated in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES [0016] In relation to FIGS. 1 to 3, there is described an example of an article intended to be placed in contact with a body zone, namely a breast prosthesis 1.

In the illustrated example, the breast prosthesis 1 is formed of three parts: a shell 2, a ballast portion 3 and a lid 4.

The shell 2 is formed of two films 20, 21, preferably polyurethane, sealed to one another at their edge so as to define a chamber filled with silicone gel 22. The shell 2 is the part visible from the breast prosthesis 1 when the latter is worn (the furthest part of the bust of the person). The gel may or may not be colored according to the expected visual appearance.

The lid 4 comprises a film 40 of synthetic material, synthetic fabric type, covered on each of its faces, a layer 41, 42 of flexible material, such as silicone. The lid 4 is sealed with the shell 2 at their respective peripheral edges so as to define, between said shell 2 and the lid 4, an inner chamber 31. Weighting elements, of natural or synthetic material, are placed in the inner chamber 31 according to the desired weight for the breast prosthesis 1. It can be provided, once the desired weight is reached, a silicone part placed between the cap 4 and the weighting elements to fill the possible vacuum present in the inner chamber 31.

To limit the appearance of traces of perspiration on the prosthesis 1, and to improve the comfort of the person wearing said prosthesis, the rear surface 43 of the layer 42 of flexible material (surface intended to bear on the bust of the person) is provided with series of fingerprints 11 hollow. The fingerprints 11 of each series 10 are in fluid communication with each other. Each series of fingerprints 11 extends from one edge to another of the lid. As will be understood below, each series 10 forms air circulation channels making it possible to circulate the air present between the lid 4 and the bust of the person and to evacuate it into the environment outside the prosthesis. .

In the illustrated embodiment, the series of fingerprints are distinct from each other. By "distinct" is meant series in which the imprints 11 are not in fluid communication with imprints 11 of another series 10. Of course, arrangements may be provided in which imprints 11 of a series 10 are common or in fluid communication with fingerprints of another series 10.

The fingerprints 11 of each series 10 are evenly distributed from one edge to another so as to form a channel for the circulation of air during the wearing of the prosthesis. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the indentations are arranged one after the other, advantageously contiguous, so as to form vertical rectilinear channels, said channels advantageously extending from the edge delimiting the lower part 1 A breast prosthesis 1 at the edge delimiting the upper portion 1B of said prosthesis. The terms "lower part" and "upper part" are given with reference to the position of the prosthesis when worn by a person. It can of course also be provided a channel pattern arrangement of curved shape. In addition, the cavities may be arranged to produce channels connecting edges that are not necessarily opposite. Figure 2 shows only six sets of fingerprints, the other series are not shown to lighten the figure. Depending on the desired ventilation, a larger or smaller number of sets of impressions may be provided. Similarly, it may be provided a distribution of different circulation channels in terms of shape according to the desired aeration to implement.

Each fingerprint 11 of a series is arranged to present a junction portion with the adjacent fingerprints of the same series 10. More particularly, and as illustrated in FIG. 3, each fingerprint 11 is delimited by an adjacent fingerprint. a same series 10 by a raised portion 13 of semicircular shape. Each raised portion 13 has a passage opening 14 providing fluid communication between the two adjacent cavities when the rear surface 43 is pressed against the body of the bust. The raised portions 13 are arranged so that the footprints communicate directly with adjacent footprints of the same series. The raised portions 13 separating the adjacent impressions of the same series 10 have the same orientation. In FIG. 3, they are oriented to have a concave shape in the direction of the lower part 1A of the prosthesis, the air flowing in the direction opposite to the concave side (direction designated in FIG. 3 by the arrow f) . The fingerprints of each series thus arranged in a chain, and adjoining each other, define a circulation channel provided with a plurality of restricted section air passage zones (areas defined by the raised portions) making it possible to produce an air jet through the openings 14. The indentations 11 of the same series 10 thus define zones for expelling the air in the adjacent cavity, in the manner of a bellows, under the action of a crushing of the rear surface of the lid on the bust of the person wearing the prosthesis to reach the edge of the lid from which the air is expelled. This crushing is obtained with each movement of the person wearing the prosthesis. The air is thus constantly propelled. Thanks to the sequence of fingerprints, ventilation of the prosthesis is optimized.

In the illustrated example, the traffic channels are straight. The raised portions all having the same concavity, the flow of air is therefore unidirectional. In the case of curved traffic channel arrangements, the raised portions and the associated passage openings will be arranged to promote an air flow directed along the axis of the corresponding traffic channel.

The sets of impressions are made on the rear surface 43 of the breast prosthesis 1 by means of a preferably femtosecond laser. Each series of impressions is formed by successive impacts of the laser beam on the rear surface 43. Each impact is made by overlapping the impact previously made. This overlap makes it possible to produce the raised portions 13 separating two adjacent impressions. The impacts are made on the back surface so as to define lines extending from one edge to another edge. Once the fingerprints have been made, it is proceeded to the realization of the opening of the fingerprints with the prints of the same directly adjacent series. To do this, the laser beam is applied in a longitudinal direction, from one of the end imprints of the series to the other end imprint (in the example illustrated from top to bottom or from bottom to top ) along the longitudinal axis of the series of impressions made.

The advantage of using femtosecond laser technology is to obtain imprints of regular and precise shapes, with limited or no impact in the immediate vicinity of the impression. It is of course obvious that the invention is not limited to this technology and that any other known technique of the state of the art can be implemented without departing from the scope of the invention. Although the example described relates to a breast prosthesis, the invention is not limited to this application, and any article or product comprising a structure comprising an aeration system as defined in the claims falls within the scope of the present invention. field of the present application.

The invention is described in the foregoing by way of example. It is understood that the skilled person is able to achieve different embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

Structure intended to be in contact with a part of the human body, comprising a film of synthetic material coated with a layer of flexible material, characterized in that the layer of flexible material has a surface provided with a plurality of series (10) recessed impressions (11), the imprints of each series (10) being in fluid communication with each other, each series (10) of impressions extending from one edge to another of the film, said series of impressions thus forming air evacuation channels towards the edge of the film. Structure according to claim 1, characterized in that each footprint is delimited with an adjacent footprint of the same series (10) by a raised portion (13) of semicircular shape, said raised portion (13) having an opening passageway ensuring fluid communication between the two adjacent footprints. Structure according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the imprints of each series (10) are arranged to form a series of impressions directly connected to each other. Structure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the imprints of each series (10) are distributed regularly from one edge to another. Structure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the indentations of each series (10) are arranged to form linear air evacuation channels. Structure according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it forms a constituent part of a breast prosthesis (1). Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it forms a constituent part of a plantar sole, a brace, a toggle or an atele. Structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it forms a surface coating for a seating device. 9. Breast prosthesis comprising a structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5.