U.S. patent number RE33,351 [Application Number 07/440,507] was granted by the patent office on 1990-09-25 for menstrual and incontinence pad.
Invention is credited to Elissa D. Papajohn.
United States Patent |
RE33,351 |
Papajohn |
September 25, 1990 |
Menstrual and incontinence pad
Abstract
A sanitary napkin is formed of a plurality of vertically stacked
layers comprising an underply of fluid impervious material, an
intermediate ply of absorbent material, an underply of fluid
impervious material and a peripheral binding ply of fluid
impervious material having an inner and outer peripheral edge and
defining a central opening into the body. The plies are adhered
together about their outer peripheral edge and include an
elastomeric member along each of the longitudinal side edges of the
body, which resiliently contracts the body in the longitudinal
direction drawing the body into a cup shape providing a deep
compartment for retaining fluid between the underply and the
intermediate ply and at the same time, raising the inner peripheral
edge of the binding ply to form a continuous encircling wall
against the flow of fluid from the compartment.
Inventors: |
Papajohn; Elissa D. (Brooklyn,
NY) |
Family
ID: |
26743399 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/440,507 |
Filed: |
November 22, 1989 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
63413 |
Jun 18, 1987 |
04758241 |
Jul 19, 1988 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
604/387;
604/397 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61F
13/472 (20130101); A61F 13/47245 (20130101); A61F
13/4753 (20130101); A61F 13/4704 (20130101); A61F
13/471 (20130101); A61F 2013/15878 (20130101); A61F
2013/4512 (20130101); A61F 2013/49031 (20130101); A61F
2013/49074 (20130101); A61F 2013/530883 (20130101); A61F
2013/53966 (20130101); A61F 2013/587 (20130101); A61F
13/511 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61F
13/15 (20060101); A61F 13/56 (20060101); A61F
013/16 () |
Field of
Search: |
;604/387,385.1,385.2,386,389-391,375,380,397,398 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Yasko; John D.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A sanitary napkin having a substantially oblong body formed of a
plurality of vertically stacked layers comprising an underply of
fluid impervious material, an intermediate ply of absorbent
material, an upperply of highly fluid pervious material, said
intermediate ply being secured along uniformly spaced parallel
lines so as to provide, in cross-section, a corrugated effect from
which separate chambers are formed between the intermediate ply and
said underply to minimize lateral flow of fluid, and a peripheral
binding ply of fluid impervious material having an inner and outer
peripheral edge and defining a central opening into the body having
one end larger than the other in the lateral direction such that,
in plan view, the body generally resembles a figure eight
configuration, said underply integrally formed with two planar
projections one of which extends from the front edge of the
last-mentioned ply and the other of which extends from the rear
edge of such ply thus to define forward facing and rearward facing
planar tabs that are aligned along the longitudinal axis of the
body, each of said tabs including pressure sensitive adhesive means
detachably to secure the same to an undergarment, said adhesive
means including a removable protective cover, said plies being
secured together about their outer peripheral edge and including an
elastomeric member along each of the longitudinal side edges of the
body, which resiliently contracts the body in the longitudinal
direction drawing the body in to a cup shape providing a deep
compartment for retaining fluid between said underply and said
intermediate ply and at the same time, raising the inner peripheral
edge of said binding ply to form a continuous encircling wall
against the flow of fluid from the compartment. .Iadd.
2. A sanitary napkin having a substantially oblong body formed of a
plurality of vertically stacked layers comprising an underply of
fluid impervious material, an intermediate ply of absorbent
material, an upperply of highly fluid pervious material, and a
peripheral binding ply of fluid impervious material having an inner
and outer peripheral edge and defining a central opening into the
body, said plies being secured together about their outer
peripheral edge and including an elastomeric member along each of
the longitudinal side edges of the body, which resiliently
contracts the body in the longitudinal direction drawing the body
into a cup shape providing a deep compartment for retaining fluid
between said underply and said intermediate ply and at the same
time, raising the inner peripheral edge of said binding ply to form
a continuous encircling wall against the flow of fluid from the
compartment. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to construction of sanitary napkins
and in particular, to an improved menstrual pad and/or incontinence
pad.
In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,512 dated Dec. 20, 1983 I disclosed
a pantyhose garment having an integrally formed crotch support
means for receiving a more or less conventional sanitary napkin in
fluid tight confinement. A drawback of this construction lies in
the fact that a specially constructed pantyhose, or undergarment
must be used. While effective for intended use, this construction
of pantyhose is somewhat uncomfortable for normal wear and thus has
very limited use. Further, since the advent of menstruation is
frequently rapid and with surprise, the user is most often not
wearing the special pantyhose nor does she have special pantyhose
accessible to her.
It is therefore, the primary object of the present invention to
provide a sanitary napkin which can be worn with ordinary panties,
pantyhose or similar undergarments, but which has the fluid tight
confinement which was the hallmark of my prior patent.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
self-contained, individual, independent sanitary napkin which can
be used in combination with ordinary undergarments which provide
both comfort and effective fluid absorbtion and confinement.
The foregoing objects, together with other objects and numerous
advantages will be apparent from the following disclosure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a sanitary napkin is provided
comprising a substantially oblong body formed of a plurality of
vertically stacked layers comprising an underply of fluid
impervious material, an intermediate ply of absorbent material, an
upperply of highly fluid previous material and a peripheral binding
ply of fluid impervious material having an inner and outer
peripheral edge and defining a central opening into the body. The
plies are adhered together about their outer peripheral edge and
include an elastomeric member along each of the longitudinal side
edges of the body, which resiliently contracts the body in the
longitudinal direction drawing the body into a cup shape providing
a deep compartment for retaining fluid between the underply and the
intermediate ply and at the same time, raising the inner peripheral
edge of the binding ply to form a continuous encircling wall
against the flow of fluid from the compartment.
Preferably the intermediate ply of absorbent material is stitched
or adhered along uniformly spaced parallel lines so as to provide
in cross-section a corrugated effect from which separate chambers
are formed between the intermediate ply and the underply, which
minimize lateral flow of fluid.
Further, the body is provided with tabs at its front and rear end
which may be provided with an adhesive allowing the sanitary napkin
to be removably secured to a conventional panty or other
undergarment with which it is used.
Still further, the oblong shape of the body can be modified so that
one end is larger than the other. The larger end may be used for
example, by an incontinent male while the smaller end may be used
by a menstruating female.
Full details of the present invention are set forth in the
following description and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the sanitary napkin of the present
invention placed for use within an undergarment of a wearer,
FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the components in isometric
spaced relation,
FIG. 3 is a top view of the sanitary napkin of the present
invention.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the sanitary napkin.
FIG. 5 is a right side view of the sanitary napkin.
FIG. 6 is an a plan view of the sanitary napkin during the
manufacture thereof,
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 6,
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As seen in FIG. 1, the sanitary napkin of the present invention,
generally depicted by the numeral 10 is applied by the water 12 on
the inner crotch surface of a panty 14 or other conventional
undergarment. To insure positioning of the sanitary napkin, the
sanitary napkin is provided with a pair of longitudinally extending
tabs 16 having an adhesive surface 18 capable of removably adhering
to the fabric of the panty 14.
As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sanitary napkin 10 comprises an
underply 20 of impervious material, an intermediate ply of fluid
absorbing material 22, an upperply 24 of highly pervious material
such as gauze, net or the like and binding ply 26 of impervious
material, preferably the same material as that which the underply
20 is formed of. The binding 26, provided with an inner peripheral
edge 28 defines an opening through which fluids may pass inwardly
into the sanitary napkin 10.
The plies 20,22,24 and 26 are sealed together, as seen in FIG. 3,
along a continuous line 30 extending about the entire peripheral
adjacent the outer edge thereof. Preferably, the peripheral seal 30
is created by a thread stitch or a heat seal (if the material
permits) to bind the plies together and seal them so that leakage
of fluid laterally through the plies is prevented. Set between the
plies along the longitudinall side edges, are one or more
elastomeric bands 32, which when applied during manufacture, are
stretched (arrows A) so as to have an inherent contracting stress.
The elastomeric bands 32 may be heat sealed sewn or otherwise
adhered to one or more of the plies.
When relaxed, the elastomeric bands 32 contract forming a shirring
33 along each of the longitudinal side edges, thereby drawing in
the longitudinal ends of the sanitary napkin toward each other,
providing the conforming shape to the crotch of the wearer, as seen
in FIGS. 4 and 6, in which in developed view, has a modified
dumb-bell or figure eight shape, as a consequence of which the
oblong shape of the sanitary napkin is modified such that the one
end 34 is slightly larger in the lateral direction than the other
end 36. This allows the same sanitary napkin to be used both for
females as a menstrual pad, (placing the smaller end 36 at the
front of the torso) and by males as an incontinence pad, (placing
the larger end 34 at the front of the torso).
The securing tabs 16 can be integrally formed with the underply 20
and allowed to extend in opposite longitudinal directions when the
underply is stitched to the intermediate and upperplies 22, 24 as
shown. The under-surface 38 of each tab 16, has applied to it a
contact adhesive of conventional and readily available material
covered by a removable protective sheet 40, which of course, is
removed just prior to placement into the panty 14.
The elastomeric bands 30 can be replaced with a simple shirring
thread which inherently gathers the material in much the same
manner as the tensioned band 30. Other means may be used to gather
the side edges under elastomeric bias.
The placement of the elastomeric band 30 in the positions indicated
along the side edges of the sanitary napkin body 10, not only
produces a simple curvarture to the sanitary napkin, but places the
body under such stress that a deep cup 42 is formed having a well
in its central portion, indicated generally by the reference
numeral 44, as seen in FIG. 7. This well 44 produces a relatively
deep reservoir for the collection of the fluid below the
intermediate absorbent layer 22.
Furthermore, the elastomeric bands 30 place the binding ply 26
under such stress that its inner peripheral edge 28 stands upwardly
away from the upper ply 24 forming a continuous peripheral wall 46
around the entire edge of the upper ply 24 preventing flow of fluid
outwardly from the interior of the sanitary napkin.
To further control the flow of fluid, and prevent lateral flow both
within the sanitary napkin and outwardly therefrom, the absorbent
intermediate layer 22 is striated as by the use of a plurality of
parallel seal lines 46 which convert the absorbent ply 22 into a
corrugated cross-sectional form. The parallel seals 46 which extend
longidudinally from end to end can be formed by heat sealing the
material should a plastic resinous fiber be used to form the
absorbent intermediate ply 22, or by simply stitching the same by a
simple sewing measure. As a result of the formation of the
corrugated cross-section, the reservoir 44 is further divided into
a plurality of parallel small chambers which further isolate the
fluid and resist lateral displacement.
While each ply is shown in the drawings and described as being of
only a single thickness, it will be quite obvious that they may be
formed of one or more layers.
It will be apparent that an improved sanitary napkin is thus
produced, which while capable of retaining the fluid for an
extended period, also isolates the fluid from the skin surface of
the user. A particular advantage, arising from the parallel
disposed elastomeric bands, lies not only in shaping the sanitary
napkin, but in creating a deep fluid well and in addition, with the
cooperation of the elastomeric bands and the peripheral binding, in
creating a continuous circumferential wall to further insure
effective retention of fluid.
Various modifications and changes have been suggested herein and
others will be obvious to the reader. It is intended, therefore,
that the present disclosure be taken as illustrative only and not
limiting of the present invention.
* * * * *