Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Reexamination Certificate
1994-09-06
2002-04-23
Ruhl, Dennis (Department: 3761)
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
C604S385220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06375646
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an absorbent pants-type diaper of the kind which is intended for one-time use only and which comprises a front-part, a back-part, a crotch-part that extends between said front and back parts, at least two side-closure parts which mutually join parts of the side-edges of the front and back parts such that the diaper will include a waist opening and two leg openings. The diaper further comprises an elongated absorbent pad having a front and a rear end-part and a centre-part located therebetween, an inner casing layer placed on that side of the pad which is intended to face towards the wearer in use and an outer casing layer, or backing sheet, placed on the other side of the absorbent pad.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the case of diaper-wearing children who are in a transition period in which they learn to control the discharge of urine and are weaned-off the use of conventional diapers and trained to perform their bodily evacuative functions on the toilet, there is a need for an absorbent article which while absorbing body fluids will, at the same time, resemble a pair of conventional underpants. Absorbent pants-type diapers which are intended to be worn during such weaning or training periods are often referred to as training pants. One significant difference between an absorbent pants-type diaper and a conventional diapers is the manner in which they are intended to be worn in daily use. Absorbent pants-type diapers shall be capable of being taken-off and put-on repeatedly in the same manner as a pair of conventional underpants, until the wearer urinates in the pants-type diaper, wherewith the urine is absorbed by the pants, in precisely the same manner as a diaper, so that the pants-type diaper will continue to function as underpants in a user-safe fashion, until there is time and the opportunity to replace the soiled pants-type diaper with a fresh diaper. The soiled diaper can then be thrown away. The pants-type diaper will preferably be designed to give the wearer a decisive feeling that he/she is wearing a garment which is different from the diapers earlier used, and so that the wearer is able to remove the diaper easily, for instance when going to the toilet. In this latter respect, it is important, among other things, to give the pants-type diaper the form of a pair of pants, i.e. an article which has a waist opening and two leg openings, and not the form of a diaper that has fastener tabs or the like for joining the back-part of the diaper to the front-part thereof when putting-on the diaper. This latter procedure is highly complicated and extremely difficult for a child, or even an adult person, to achieve by himself/herself. In the case of known disposable pants-type diapers, or training pants, it has also been proposed to include an outer casing layer which is made of a textile-like, disposable material, such as to assimilate a genuine textile material to the greatest possible extent, so that primarily adult wearers are relieved of the psychologically negative association with napkins that is given unavoidably by the plastic outer casing sheets or layers characteristic of disposable diapers.
However, the requirement for pants-type diapers to resemble a pair of underpants creates a number of problems. The fastener tabs which function to secure diapers around the wearer's body also fulfil the important role of supporting the extra load occasioned by the not inconsiderable amount of fluid that is delivered to the absorbent pad. As a result of the fastener tabs, the waist part of the diaper, i.e. that part around the wearer's waist which is formed when the fastener tabs are secured to the diaper, becomes rigid and unyielding to a certain extent in those parts where the fastener tabs are attached. The waist parts of the diaper are thus prevented from stretching to an extent beyond that permitted by the material in the waist part of the diaper and in the rigid or inflexible fastener tabs. Naturally, the extent to which the waist part will yield or give varies among known fastener tabs, although the fastener tabs will normally place a limit on the extent to which the waist parts of the diapers can stretch. Consequently, the diapers remain safely in position on the wearer, even when the absorbent pad has been filled with urine, at least provided that the fastener tabs are secured tightly enough. This waist-tightening mechanism is not found in pants-type diapers, since they lack the provision of fastener tabs. Thus, the pants-type diapers are held-up around the wearer's waist totally through the agency of the diaper casing layers or sheets and any elastication that may be provided. When considering that pants-type diapers are intended to be used by diaper-wearing children from about two to four years of age, or by older children who suffer from incontinence, or even by adults, it will be understood that the quantities of fluid that are liable to be absorbed by the absorbent pad can be quite considerable and therewith also the weight that acts on the diapers. Consequently, high demands are placed on the construction of such pants-type diapers with regard to their load-supporting capacity, so that the pants-type diapers will not fall down the legs of the wearer under the weight of the fluid absorbed.
In addition to being able to support the weight of the absorbed fluid, the pants-type diaper shall also fit snugly around the wearer's body. Furthermore, the diaper shall be sufficiently elastic or stretchable to enable it to be readily pulled on and off.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,679 teaches an absorbent pants-type diaper which is constructed from one or more layers of stretchable non-woven fabric. According to one preferred embodiment, both the outer and the inner casing sheet of the pants-type diaper is made of a micro-corrugated or micro-pleated non-woven material which in the manufacture of the material can be made stretchable in two directions, i.e. in the machine direction and in a direction transversely thereto. Elastic elements, for instance in the form of an elastic natural-rubber bands or ribbons are also mounted along the end-edges of the diaper, i.e. at its waist opening.
European Patent Application EP 0 320 991 A2 teaches an absorbent pants-type diaper which includes a central absorbent unit and two side-pieces which are joined with the absorbent unit along parts of the side-edges thereof. The side-pieces include elastic side-parts. In addition, elastic elements may be mounted to provide waist and leg elastic in certain embodiments. On the other hand, none of the casing sheets of the absorbent unit is made of an essentially stretchable material. The object of the invention is to provide vertical force vectors which function to urge the absorbent unit against the crotch of the wearer, and inwardly directed, horizontal force vectors towards the wearer's hips such as to press the absorbent unit against the sides of the wearer.
The European Patent Application EP 0 412 549 A1 teaches an absorbent pants-type diaper which includes elastic inner and outer casing sheets or layers and an elastic barrier layer mounted between said casing sheets. The pants-type diaper also includes elastic elements at both the waist and the leg openings.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,681 teaches a pants-type absorbent article that is intended for use with menstruation or mild incontinence. The absorbent pad is integrated with the article and the front and the back part of the article extend further up the body of the wearer than in the case of “normal” menstruation pads. On the other hand, the size of the absorbent pad is so restricted as to be considered unsuitable for use in absorbing larger quantities of urine. The absorbent pants include waist and leg elastic. The pants also include casing layers which are made of a stretchable material, for instance a mixture of nylon and cotton. The absorbent pad is located in an impermeable zone of the pants, between the side-pieces thereof. This impermeable zone includes non-stret
Hedlund Gunilla
Kling Robert
Widlund Urban
Ruhl Dennis
SCA Hygiene Products AB
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