U.S. patent number 3,900,032 [Application Number 05/440,175] was granted by the patent office on 1975-08-19 for holder for absorbent pads, such as infants napkins.
Invention is credited to Olof Torgny Heurlen.
United States Patent |
3,900,032 |
Heurlen |
August 19, 1975 |
Holder for absorbent pads, such as infants napkins
Abstract
A holder of thin sheet material for an absorbent pad or inlay is
provided, comprising a central portion from which tie ends extend
in X or H form. An opening is provided near each junction tie end -
central portion for threading through of the tie ends before the
holder is tied on, whereby opposite edges of the central portion
are raised and twisted so as to cause the holder to assume a
trough-like form for conveniently receiving the absorbent
material.
Inventors: |
Heurlen; Olof Torgny (S-191 45
Sollentuna, SW) |
Family
ID: |
20316595 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/440,175 |
Filed: |
February 6, 1974 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
Current U.S.
Class: |
604/394; 604/397;
604/401 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61F
13/64 (20130101); A61F 13/76 (20130101); A61F
13/505 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61F
13/64 (20060101); A61F 13/56 (20060101); A61F
13/15 (20060101); A61F 13/76 (20060101); A61f
013/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;128/286,287,29R,29H,284 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Medbery; Aldrich F.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn
Claims
I claim:
1. A holder for an elongated absorbent pad intended to be secured
to the body, for instance by being tied therearound, comprising a
substantially rectangular center portion formed from a thin
flexible sheet material, said center portion being extended in the
longitudinal direction of the pad, and plural striplike fastening
portions fixed to and extending from the corners of said center
portion, the improvement wherein opening means in the form of holes
or slits are formed in the center portion adjacent the corners
thereof, and the free end of each strip portion being threaded into
and the strip portion pulled through the adjacent opening means,
the two strip portions adjacent each end of the center portion
being pulled away from one another in opposite directions to
tension said strip portions and cause twisting of the adjacent
longitudinally extending edges of the center portion so that said
center portion assumes a troughlike form for accommodating an
elongated absorbent pad therein.
2. A holder according to claim 1, wherein said center portion has a
length which is greater than the minimum width thereof, one pair of
said striplike fastening portions being fixedly connected to one
end of said center portion adjacent the opposite longitudinally
extending edges thereof and projecting outwardly therefrom in
opposite directions, and another pair of said striplike fastening
portions being fixedly connected to the other end of said center
portion adjacent the opposite longitudinally extending edges
thereof and projecting outwardly in opposite directions.
3. A holder according to claim 2, wherein all of said striplike
portions are substantially parallel to one another and are
elongated in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to
the longitudinally extending direction of said center portion when
said holder is disposed in a substantially planar condition prior
to the striplike portions being threaded through the respective
opening means.
4. A holder according to claim 2, wherein each said pair of
striplike fastening portions is formed by a single elongated strip
of thin flexible sheet material which is disposed adjacent an end
of said center portion and extends substantially transversely
thereof, each said strip having a central part which overlaps a
part of said center portion to form a socket and a pair of end
parts which project outwardly in opposite directions beyond the
opposite longitudinally extending edges of said center portion, and
the opening means as formed in each corner of said center portion
also extending through the central part of the respective
strip.
5. A holder according to claim 4, wherein said center portion and
each said strip are initially integrally formed from a single sheet
of said thin flexible material, and said strips being folded over
so that the central part thereof overlaps said center portion.
6. A holder according to claim 4, wherein said strips and said
center portion are initially formed as separate pieces and are then
fixedly united together.
7. A holder according to claim 4, wherein the center portion and
each said strip are fixedly united together along at least a
portion of the periphery surrounding each said opening means.
8. A holder according to claim 4, wherein each of said strips is
substantially rectangular.
9. A holder according to claim 1, wherein each said opening means
is formed by a flap which is cut or punched in the center portion,
said flap being connected along an edge thereof to the remaining
material and being capable of being bent outwardly away from the
plane of the center portion.
10. A holder according to claim 1, wherein an end portion of thin
flexible sheet material overlaps each end of said center portion
and extends inwardly through a distance sufficient to overlap the
opening means as formed adjacent the opposite corners of the
respective end of said center portion, said end portion and said
center portion being fixedly connected along their outer edges so
as to define therebetween a pocket-like opening which opens
inwardly towards the other end of said center portion, said
pocket-like opening being disposed between the pair of opening
means located adjacent the end of the center portion for
accommodating therein the end of an absorbent pad.
Description
The present invention relates to a holder or fastening device for
an absorbent pad, e.g. an infant's napkin.
As infant's diapers there are widely used today light elongated
cushions or pads of a strongly absorbent paper or cellulose
material which by means of a holder, the "back sheet" or "swaddle",
of thin plastics, is tied on the infant. The device is simple and
efficient but suffers from the inconvenience that the cooperation
between the pad and the swaddle is not always very good, so that
the pad may often slide out of position in relation to the swaddle.
To remedy this inconvenience the swaddle is often made in such a
way that it forms two opposing pockets in which the ends of the pad
may be inserted whereby the pad is better and more safely oriented
in relation to the swaddle. The arrangement means a considerable
improvement but still the cooperation between the pad and the
holder or swaddle cannot be considered as completely
satisfactory.
The invention has thus for its object to provide a holder of the
kind under consideration, in particular a pad or napkin swaddle
which as to its structure and design is quite as simple as swaddles
hitherto known but considerably improved so as to form together
with the napkin or pad a perfectly cooperating unit or diaper, in
which the pad is firmly and securely oriented and which may be
readily tied in place on the infant with the pad in a fixed
position without any risk of displacement. The object is attained
and the above indicated inconveniences in connection with previous
pad or napkin swaddles are removed, it being gained at the same
time that the swaddle itself is caused to contribute to the
protecting and collecting effect which was previously the
responsibility of the absorbent pad alone, by the holder or swaddle
according to the invention.
A few embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of
example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a developed blank of a pad holder or
swaddle according to the invention.
FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the completed swaddle and
FIG. 2a is a fragmentary cross-section along the line IIa--IIa in
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2b is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 2a but
shows a modification.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the pad holder or swaddle with a pad
inserted, and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along the line IV--IV in FIG.
3.
FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to one half of FIG. 3 and shows a
modified embodiment of a pad holder or swaddle according to the
invention, and
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the line VI--VI in FIG.
5.
FIG. 7 corresponds likewise to one half of FIG. 3 and shows an
embodiment further modified, whereas
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII--VIII in FIG.
7.
FIG. 7a is a fragmentary view showing a modified configuration of
the apertures which are formed according to the invention in the
swaddle.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view which illustrates how the swaddle and
the pad are caused to cooperate according to the invention.
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the complete unit pad/swaddle or
diaper ready for tying on the infant and finally,
FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view taken along the line XI--XI in
FIG. 10.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the diaper as posistioned on an
infant.
In FIG. 1 there is thus shown a developed blank 11 for a pad holder
or swaddle 10 according to the invention, the material comprising
in conventional manner a thin plastics foil. The blank 11 shown
agrees, in fact, substantially with the simplest type of swaddles
now used, that is, it comprises two parallel strip portions 11'
united by a transverse central portion 17 whose opposite edges in
most cases are curved. When such a blank with no further treatment
is used as a swaddle, see e.g., the U.S. Pat. No. 3 563 242, the
blank is folded along lines x--x so that folded strip portions 12
are formed, see FIG. 2. Developed in plan the swaddle will thus
exhibit an X or H form which may be considered as composed of a
central, elongated, substantially rectangular portion, as indicated
by dash-dot lines 17' in FIG. 2, and strip portions 12 which extend
from the corners of said portion. An absorbent pad is applied by
its end being pushed into the portions 12 thus folded,
approximately as shown in FIG. 3 where the pad is designated by 20.
In order to better orient the pad and fix its position in
relationship to the holder or swaddle it may occur that the folded
and superposed portions of the strip portions 12 are tacked or
united along welding beads or hot seals 15, see FIG. 3, a pocket
being formed between the beads 15 of each pair, the ends of the pad
20 thus being received in said pockets in a fixed position. The
complete diaper-forming assembly pad/swaddle is then tied in place
on an infant by means of the ends 18 of the strip portions 12.
According to the invention the blank 11 is provided with apertures
14, either in connection with the manufacture (punching) of the
blank 11, as shown in FIG. 1, or after the strip portions 11' have
been folded along lines x--x, in which case the apertures 14 are
punched through the superposed layers of each folded strip portion
12 as shown in FIG. 2. In the last mentioned case preferably a heat
punching operation is used so that, at the same time as the
apertures 14 are cut, there is a melting together or welding of the
two layers along the edges of the aperture, as indicated at 16 in
the figures. The apertures 14 are located symmetrically in
relationship to the axes of symmetry of the blank or swaddle, and
the spacing of the apertures in each strip portion 12 is adjusted
to the width of the pad which may be received at a proper clearance
between the apertures, as may be clearly seen from FIG. 3. If the
edges of the apertures 14 are melted or welded together according
to the above, a pocket will obviously be formed between these welds
16, corresponding to the pocket formed between the previously used
weld beads 15, as may be seen from FIG. 3.
It may be stated that the essence of the invention resides in the
introduction of the apertures 14. As a matter of course the
completed diaper assembly pad/swaddle, as this is shown in FIG. 3,
may be tied directly on the infant by means of the strip portions
12 in accordance with conventional practice. However, thanks to the
apertures 14 introduced according to the invention a great
advantage is gained in that the ends 18 of each strip portion 12 is
first threaded through the adjacent aperture 14, which operation is
illustrated in FIG. 9. In doing so each end 18 is threaded from
above, that is from that side of the swaddle upon which the pad is
resting, through the adjacent aperture 14 and is then pulled
completely through the aperture. The final result will then be as
illustrated in plan in FIG. 10, that is, the pad will rest in a
trough-like or hammock-like structure, as threading of the ends 18
through the holes 14 will bring about a kind of twisting movement
which causes the edges of the central portion 17 of the swaddle to
raise, see FIG. 11, on either side of the longitudinal edges of the
pad 20. Hereby the diaper formed will be capable of exercising a
further function beyond its basic fastening and holding function,
viz., to form a regular container about the pad, as may be
particularly clearly seen from FIGS. 10 and 11. Hereby the unit
pad/swaddle need not rely exclusively on the absorption capacity of
the pad for intercepting liquid and feces, but the swaddle itself
forms an external cover about the pad with a collecting and
shielding effect.
Within the scope of the invention the swaddle may be formed in
several ways and in particular it is possible to adjust readily the
material thickness of the strip portions 12 as desired, for
example, as illustrated in FIG. 2b. According to this figure the
strip portion 12 of the blank is folded not once but twice so that
the thickness of the finished strip portion 12' is tripled.
In the aforegoing is has been disclosed how the swaddle or
pad-holder according to the invention is made in one piece, that
is, a blank is cut or punched from a suitable plastics material,
e.g., a film or sheet of plastics having suitable properties. In
doing so it is unavoidable, which may be understood from e.g., FIG.
1, that there is a rather considerable waste of material. However,
the holder or swaddle according to the invention may also be made
in three parts, substantially with no waste at all, as illustrated
in FIGS. 5-8. According to FIGS. 5 and 6 the main portion of the
swaddle 30 consists of a substantially rectangular portion 31 which
is folded at either short end 31' about a crossing strip 32, after
which four apertures 34 are punched in the same pattern as before,
preferably while heat sealing the edges 36. In order to further fix
the joint and to avoid freely extending corner and edge portions, a
few further weld or seal beads 35 may be applied at the same time
adjacent the corners of the folded portions 31', as shown in FIG.
5. As before a napkin or an absorbent pad 20 is inserted into the
the pocket formed between the apertures 34, and the swaddle is used
and operates exactly as described in the aforegoing. One advantage
is that the tie strings or strips 32 may be made longer so that
they may be more readily tied together when the swaddle with the
pad is applied, and these strips 32 are also suited for being
supplemented with hooks or the like in order to further facilitate
application.
A still further simplified embodiment is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8
according to which there is no folding at all. The back sheet or
swaddle 40 shown in these figures comprises quite simply a central
rectangular portion 41 with transverse strips 42, said strips being
applied across the short ends 41' of the rectangular portion 41 and
secured by means of a continuous weld or seal bead 48, which
possibly is divided into shorter sections. As in previous
embodiments further short beads 45 perpendicular to the bead 48,
see FIG. 7, may be provided adjacent the crossing between the ends
41' of the central portion and the transverse strips 42, and
likewise the same pattern of apertures 44 with heat-sealed edges 46
are provided. As to appearance and function the swaddle 40 almost
exactly coincides with the swaddle 30; the difference is only that
the ends of the napkin or pad 20 is received in a somewhat
different manner in the pockets formed between the openings 34 and
44 of each pair, see FIGS. 6 and 8, respectively.
As disclosed above the apertures 14, 34 and 44 are preferably made
by heat punching or heat sealing so that their edges are welded
together in the manner described. However, it is expressly pointed
out that the invention for its function is in no way dependent on
such a melting or welding together of the edges of the apertures.
In the simplest case a perfectly operative back sheet or swaddle is
obtained according to the invention if a swaddle sheet 11 according
to FIG. 1 is provided quite simply with eight openings 14
symmetrically arranged as this figure shows. If the strip portions
11' of the blank are folded along lines x--x, so that the openings
coincide in pairs according to FIG. 2 and if, in connection with
the folding, the ends 18 of the strip portions 12 formed are
directly threaded through the openings, then, of course, there will
be defined as before a pocket between the openings by the strip
portions 12 pulled through. As before the ends of an absorbent pad
may be pushed into the pockets formed and oriented in a fixed
position, and a complete unit or diaper can be tied on with the
same result as before. For practical reasons and reasons of
convenience, however, it is advisable to provide the openings with
welded or hot sealed edges so that the swaddle, when ready for use,
will appear as shown e.g., in FIG. 2.
To conclude it is also pointed out that the openings or apertures
disclosed of course need not be circular but may have an arbitrary
configuration. Neither need they form completely tree openings; in
mechanical manufacture of articles of the kind under consideration
it means a great advantage if there is no material scrap cut off in
the machine proper. Thus the openings or apertures need not be
completely punched out but the material may hang on in the form of
a flap. This may even be arranged in such a way that it offers an
advantage and facilitates the above disclosed threading through the
openings. In FIG. 7a there is illustrated a proposed arrangement of
the apertures, applied on the embodiment 40 of the swaddle shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8. A weld or hot seal is provided, for example, in such
a way that the bead formed has a rounded portion 46' and a straight
portion 46", after which the thickness of the material is only
slitted or cut through within the rounded portion so that a flap
44" clinging to the straight seal portion 46" is formed, which flap
is shown in FIG. 7a as bent down from the opening 44' formed.
According to this principle many types and forms of apertures may
be provided.
As a matter of course the invention is not limited to the
embodiments disclosed but may be varied in further respects within
the scope of the inventive concept.
* * * * *