1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a urinary collector for women and, more particularly, to a collector device which can be worn discretely under clothing and undergarments to receive urinary discharges and comfortably, yet snugly fits directly around a user's vulva and urethral meatus, such that the rest of the surrounding pelvic area is not exposed to urine. The present urinary collector device buffers the flow of urine from the urethra without the urine backflowing and accumulating around the vulva such that the vulva can remain relatively dry and sanitary, and the device smoothly and evenly discharges the urine directly to other urine receiving and holding means such as a urinal bag or the like. The present collector is particularly adaptable for use on women who, for instance, have a urinary incontinence condition such as due to injury, disease and the like, women who are bedridden or are not sufficiently mobile or ambulatory to walk to a restroom or latrine such as due to advanced age, or physical handicaps, and women who suffer from dysuria (dysuriacs), which is a difficulty or pain in discharging urine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known urinary collector devices for women include catheter type devices including a tube which is inserted into and fixed in position in the urethra; diaper type garments wherein an absorbent material is fitted around the vulva region for receiving and absorbing urine therein; polyethylene bag type appliances wherein the polyethylene bag is adhered to the vulva using pressure sensitive adhesives and the excreted or discharged urine is introduced therein and received thereby; and molded type appliances wherein a rubber or plastic member is molded in a boat or cup shape, attached securely to the vulva by means of a supporter and also connected to a urinal collector bag or other receiving means, such as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 2-31754, Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 2-21812, and Japanese Examined Utility Model Application Publication No. Hei 3-27623.
Such prior art devices, however each have important limitations and shortcomings. For instance, risk of fungal infection, such as urethral infection, nephritis cystitis and the like, prevents long-term application of catheter devices unless under direct physician control. The diaper and diaper-type devices expose a wide area of the pelvic area to urine for a long time after urination which causes discomfort and makes the wearer susceptible to dermatitis and infection. Also, the attachment and removal of the diaper requires substantial effort for bedridden patients. The polyethylene bag type of collector reduces fecal contamination related infections since the vulva can be fitted independent of the anus, however, the device has troublesome problems associated with the shaving of pubic hair, dermatitis caused by adhesives, and urine leakage which cannot be completely prevented because of the complicated structure of the vulva. Use of a molded plastic collector appliance secured with a supporter includes a risk of urine leakage because the whole appliance cannot be uniformly fixed to the body when the user moves or reclines and also raises a risk of harm to the vulva from the hard plastic appliance.
Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application No. Hei 2-30320 discloses a urinary collector comprising a skin contacting portion and a urine receiving bag-shaped portion, the skin contacting portion including a skin barrier portion which covers the pelvic region from approximately the mons pubis region to the perineum region, and having an opening positioned so as to correspond to the location of the urethral meatus. The urinary receiving portion of the collector is made of soft material and is connected to the skin contacting portion so that the urinary receiving portion surrounds the opening under the skin contacting side. This prior art collector as a whole is compact and flexible, and urine seldom leaks due to its close proximity to the wearer's skin. But this prior art device still enables urine to remain in direct contact with the wearer's skin because the material comprising the collector's skin barrier retains the urine and does not effectively transport the urine away from the wearer. In addition, excreted urine is not transmitted promptly from the collector to the urinal bag through the discharge outlet and can backflow toward the urethral meatus, which may cause dermatitis and fungal infections. Still further, increasing the adhesiveness of the skin barrier portion to avoid these problems is counter-beneficial due to the discomfort associated with removal of such adhesive in contact with the pubic hair.