Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-20
2002-12-24
Chapman, Jeanette (Department: 3761)
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
C604S317000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06497689
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a process for handling body liquids such as urine, sweat, saliva, blood, menses, purulence, or fecal material, and to devices carrying out such processes. The invention further relates to disposable absorbent articles such as baby diapers or training pants, adult incontinence products, and feminine hygiene products and other body liquid handling articles such as catheters, urinals, and the like.
BACKGROUND
Devices for handling body liquids are well known in the art and are frequently used for a wide variety of purposes. For example, the devices serve hygienic purposes such as diapers, sanitary napkins, adult incontinence products, underarm sweat pads, wound dressings, and the like. Accordingly such devices have been designed to cope with a large variety of different body liquids such as for example urine, sweat, saliva, blood, menses, purulence, fecal material, and the like.
Typically, it is desirable for such devices for handling body liquids to acquire the body liquid and at a first region of the device, transport the body liquid away from the zone of acquisition, and finally store the liquid in a second region, the designated liquid storage zone. The reasons for transporting the body liquid away from the zone of acquisition are manifold. These reasons include the creation of unwanted bulk close to the point of liquid discharge from the body and the avoidance of prolonged contact of the body liquids with the skin. The body liquid may either be transported in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the acquisition zone, i.e. into the bulk of the device, or the body liquids may be transported in a direction parallel to the surface of the acquisition zone and away from the point of acquisition. The transportation of liquid in these devices is typically achieved by means of capillary suction.
Capillary suction, however, has certain inherent limitations. In particular when it is desired to transport liquid against gravity, the capillary suction needs to be increased by decreasing the size of the capillaries. On the other hand, a capillary having a decreased pore size exhibits a higher resistance to liquid flow through the capillary. Hence, the combination of high capillary suction and high liquid flow rates can only be achieved by providing a large number of small capillaries which in turn leads to a large total cross-section of the device.
It has been suggested in PCT patent application WO 94/03214 (Lawrence) to remove liquid from the point of acquisition by means of siphoning. Therein, gravity or vacuum have been taught as the driving forces for liquid removal. Both driving forces, however, exhibit inherent disadvantages. When gravity is used as the driving force, the functionality of the device depends on its orientation in space, i.e. the storage region must always be lower than the acquisition region. Hence, applicability of liquid removal systems relying on gravity is limited. When vacuum is used as the driving force, a high mechanical effort is required to maintain the vacuum. Hence, in this case the complexity of the device limits the scope of possible applications. Furthermore, the liquid in this device is stored while still being relatively mobile which might create problems with respect to rewet and squeeze-out.
Hence, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems posed by the prior art devices for handling body liquids.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process for handling body liquids comprising a step of transporting the liquid by siphoning and a step of storing the liquid by either capillary or osmotic pressure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for handling body liquids which transports liquid by siphoning and which stores the liquid by either capillary or osmotic pressure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for handling body liquids comprising a liquid transport member which is substantially geometrically saturated before the intended use of the device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide to a device for handling body liquids comprising liquid transport member which comprises free liquid before the intended use of the device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a process for handling body liquids comprising the step of transporting the body liquids from an acquisition region to a storage region by siphoning. The step of transporting body liquid by siphoning comprises the steps of:
providing a liquid transport member being substantially geometrically saturated with liquid before the first step of acquiring liquid; the liquid saturating the liquid transport member being in liquid communication with the liquid acquisition region;
providing a liquid storage member in liquid communication with the liquid transport member, the liquid storage member being positioned inside the storage region;
acquiring liquid disposed onto the acquisition region into the liquid transport member;
replacing at least a portion of the liquid saturating the liquid transport member by the acquired liquid;
storing at least a portion of the replaced liquid in a storage member.
The process of the present invention is characterized in that the liquid is stored in a storage member by a means selected from the group of capillary pressure, osmotic pressure.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a device for handling body liquids designed to carry out the process of the present invention.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a device for handling body liquids having at least one liquid acquisition region and at least one liquid storage region. The storage region stores liquid by a means selected from the group of capillary pressure, osmotic pressure. The device for handling body liquids comprises a liquid transport member transporting liquid from the acquisition region to the liquid storage region. The device for handling body liquids of the present invention is characterized in that the liquid transport member is substantially geometrically saturated before the intended use of the device.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a device for handling body liquids having at least one liquid acquisition region and at least one liquid storage region. The storage region stores liquid by a means selected from the group of capillary pressure, osmotic pressure. The device for handling body liquids comprising a liquid transport member transporting liquid from the acquisition region to the liquid storage region. The device for handling of the present invention is characterized in that the liquid transport member is substantially geometrically saturated with free liquid.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5078709 (1992-01-01), Siciliano
patent: 5562646 (1996-10-01), Goldman et al.
patent: 5599335 (1997-02-01), Goldman et al.
patent: 2702371 (1993-03-01), None
Ehrnsperger Bruno Johannes
Schmidt Mattias
Chapman Jeanette
Fitzpatrick Matthew P.
Patel Ken K.
Robinson Ian S.
The Procter & Gamble & Company
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