Sanitary Wear

Abstract

A device for retaining a sanitary pad, incontinence pad or the like in position in a nether garment comprising a first element having means for attaching to the pad or the like, or to a loop or tab attached thereto, and a second element which may be press-fitted to the first element.

Description

This invention relates to sanitary wear, and is especially concerned with a device for supporting a catamenial appliance, e.g., a sanitary towel or pad, a baby's diaper or an incontinence pad, within a nether garment, e.g., a pantie or tights, or waterproof pants.

Various devices are available for supporting appliances of this type. One device comprises a belt, normally of elasticated material, which is provided with hooks, cords or other attaching means for attaching to the respective ends of the sanitary appliance which itself may be provided with hooks, or, more normally, loops. In another device a special compartment is provided in the garment for accommodating and retaining a sanitary pad. Many variations on these themes have been proposed and used over the years.

Apart from the fact that these earlier devices are quite expensive to manufacture, the main drawback, so far as the user is concerned, is that they are rather uncomfortable. The object of the present invention is to provide a support for a catamenial appliance such as a sanitary pad which is both inexpensive to manufacture, and thus cheap to buy, and in use is extremely comfortable.

According to the invention a device for retaining a sanitary pad or the like in position in a nether garment comprises a first element having means for attaching to a sanitary pad, or to a loop or tab attached thereto, and a second element which may be press-fitted to the first element.

In use, the first element is assembled with the sanitary pad inside the garment, the sanitary pad being placed in the desired position inside the garment. The first element is then held against the material of the garment (suitably at the front of the garment) and is press-fitted to the second element, which is offered up to the outside of the garment. Thus the device is held firmly in place, by means of the material of the garment which is caught between the two elements, and consequently the sanitary pad, attached to the first element, is also held firmly in place.

The two elements forming the device of the invention may be made from any suitable material, and suitable materials include textile fabrics and, particularly, thin sheet plastics materials such as polyvinyl chloride. For maximum comfort the elements of the device will be very flexible, in order to be able to take on the shape of the adjacent region of the wearer's body.

The means provided on the first element for attaching a sanitary pad to it will, of course, depend on the particular pad used. Thus, the said means may be a hook or clip, for attaching to the loop or tab formed at the end of some sanitary pads, or it may be one or more tabs for attaching to that type of pad formed at its ends with a hole or holes.

The press-fit between the two elements of the device may be formed by one or more press-studs, the male halves of which are provided on one of the elements and the female halves of which are provided on the other element. In order to minimize the risk of tearing or laddering the material of the garment caught between the press-stud halves when the device is being used, the press-studs are preferably made of a material which is softer than the yarn of which the garment material is made. Plastics materials such as acetal resins are particularly suitable for forming the press-studs. In a preferred construction the two elements of the device are formed from thin p.v.c. sheet and the press-studs are of an acetal resin.

The first element, i.e., that which, in use, is inside the nether garment, may if desired be provided with an additional piece of material, e.g., plastics material, which is larger than the sanitary pad itself and is disposed between the pad and the material of the garment; this gives greater protection to the garment. This additional piece of material, which may be shaped to fit round the sides of the pad, may be fixed to the garment at the back or sides if required, for example by means of a further device or devices according to the invention. Furthermore the rear end of the sanitary pad may be fixed to the back of the garment by a further device according to the invention, although it will normally be sufficient simply to attach the pad at the front of the garment.

The device of the invention is cheaper than the normal sanitary belt, and is much cheaper than special sanitary garments. It may be worn with any type of nether garment, e.g., panties, tights and girdles, and is more comfortable than any other device used for suspending the external type of sanitary pad. The device can be provided in various colours, in order to merge with the particular garment with which it is being worn. Its position in the garment is infinitely variable, so that it may be made in a single size and yet be used by persons of widely different sizes. Furthermore, it can remain in position in the garment when a sanitary appliance is not being used, without interference with the comfort of the wearer.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a piece of the material forming the front of a nether garment to which one form of sanitary pad-supporting device is attached;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the device of FIG. 1 in position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, showing a modified supporting device; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing a further embodiment.

In the drawings, a piece of the material forming the front part of a nether garment, e.g., a pantie or a pair of tights, is designated 1. The entire garment is not shown, for the sake of simplicity.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2, the supporting device is made up of two pieces 2, 3 of thin sheet plastics material such as polyvinyl chloride. Piece 2 fits inside the garment and is provided with extension strips 4, 5, 6 and 7. Strips 4 and 6 are folded over and attached to strips 5 and 7, respectively, by means of press-studs 8 and 9, respectively, which are pressed together through two holes formed at the extremity of a sanitary pad 10.

Piece 2 is also provided with the female halves, 11 and 12, of two further press-studs, the male halves, 13 and 14 respectively, of which are attached to the other piece, 3, of the device. Piece 3 is of about the same size and shape as piece 2. All the press-stud components are preferably made of a material such as an acetal resin.

The device is used by attaching the inner component, piece 2, to the sanitary pad by means of strips 4 to 7, holding piece 2 against the material of the garment 1, and pressing the male halves 13, 14 of the press-studs provided on piece 3 into the female halves 11, 12 on piece 2, with the material 1 between them. The material 1 is firmly held between the respective halves of the two press-studs, and so the device 2, 3 is fixed in position on the garment.

In the device illustrated in FIG. 3, which is basically similar to that of FIGS. 1 and 2, the inner component 2 of the support device has a single downwardly depending central tab 15 which carries a hook 16 at its lower end. The loop 17 of a sanitary pad (not shown) is looped over the hook 16 to attach the pad thereto, and the device 2, 3 is assembled as before.

The supporting device illustrated in FIG. 4 is again basically the same as that illustrated in FIG. 1, and comprises two pieces 2, 3 of thin sheet plastics material, such as polyvinyl chloride, provided with press-stud elements 11 and 12, 13 and 14 respectively. Piece 2 is positioned inside the nether garment 1 and piece 3 outside, and the device is retained in position by pressing the pieces 2 and 3 together with the material of the garment 1 firmly held therebetween.

Attached to piece 2 is a loop 15 of similar material to that of piece 2. The loop 15 is advantageously attached to piece 2 by heat-sealing along the line 16. The loop 15 carries a suspender element 17 of conventional construction, which element 17 is adapted to be secured to a sanitary pad. For example, the flexible part 18 of the element 17 may be passed through the loop of a sanitary pad and then secured to the rigid part 19 in the conventional manner.

It will be seen that in each case the device 2, 3 may be placed and retained in any position on the garment, and thus may be used by all persons, whatever their size.

Claims

What we claim is:

1. A holding device for a sanitary pad and like article, said holding device comprising holding means for holding a sanitary pad and like article in position within a nether garment, said holding means including at least one two element attaching device, a first element of said attaching device being particularly constructed for mounting within a nether garment and including attaching means for attaching a sanitary pad to said first element, and a second element of said attaching device formed separate and apart from said first element, and cooperating securing means on said first and second elements for interlockingly securing together said first and second elements with a portion of an associated nether garment releasably clamped therebetween.

2. A holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first and second elements are formed of a material selected from textile fabric and thin sheet plastics material.

3. A holding device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the first and second elements are formed of thin polyvinyl chloride.

4. A holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said attaching means is of the class including a hook, a clip and one or more tabs.

5. A holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first element is provided with means for positioning between a sanitary pad and the like and the material of the nether garment.

6. The holding device of claim 1 wherein said securing means include press-stud components.

7. A holding device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the press-stud components are made of an acetal resin.

8. The combination of a nether garment and a holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first element is disposed entirely inside the garment, the second element is disposed entirely outside the garment, and the first and second elements are interlockingly press-fitted together with the material of the garment between them.