Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Reexamination Certificate
1995-12-20
2001-11-13
Ruhl, Dennis (Department: 3761)
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
C604S385010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315764
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
Absorbent articles such as infant diapers, training pants, adult incontinence products, and the like are well known. Such articles have achieved a wide acceptance due to their ability to receive and absorb body exudates.
This invention pertains to an absorbent article for containing body exudates. Such absorbent articles generally utilize leg cuffs to help prevent leakage of body exudates. This invention utilizes a rear reservoir to prevent leakage of exudates, and especially fecal material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In general, body exudates of urine and fecal material should be received and contained by the absorbent article. However, leakage problems are common, especially leakage of exudate material which has not been absorbed by the absorbent material in the absorbent article. In general urine will be substantially all absorbed. Fecal material, by contrast, is absorbed only in part, and even the partial absorption tends to occur more slowly. This invention is directed generally toward the exudate material which has never been absorbed, as opposed to exudate material which has been absorbed into the absorbent core or other absorbent element.
Leakage generally occurs for one of two reasons. First, the exudates may be released from the user's body so rapidly that the absorption rate of the absorbent article is temporarily overpowered. In such case, the excess exudates need only be held and contained at the surface of the absorbent article for a short period of e.g. a few seconds until absorption into the absorbent article catches up with release from the body, and all readily absorbable exudate material becomes absorbed.
Second, the exudate material, especially fecal material, which is absorbed by the absorbent core more slowly than urine, may move laterally along the body-side surface of the absorbent article, to an edge of the interfacial area defined between the absorbent article and the user's body. To the extent there is an effective seal between the absorbent article and the user's body at the respective edge portion, the exudate material is retained and held between the absorbent article and the user's body pending absorption of readily absorbable portions of the exudate material. However, should there be no seal, or if the seal is ineffective or otherwise insufficient, the exudate material can move past the edge and out from between the absorbent article and the user's body. Such movement past the edge constitutes a failure of the absorbent article to perform its primary function, namely to contain the exudates.
Seal requirements for absorbent articles generally fall into three classes, namely side seals around the user's legs, front seals at the front of the user's trunk and rear seals at the rear of the user's trunk. Leg cuffs and leg flaps have been designed and implemented to prevent leakage in the sides, or leg regions, of diapers and the like. The need for front seals is somewhat limited in that the primary direction of exudate flow from the user's body is downwardly and to the rear.
The need for rear seals is significant. The problem of rear leakage is well known, especially in association with liquidous and/or explosive bowel movements, which are common in young children.
It is known to fold inwardly a flap at the rear of the absorbent article to prevent wicking of absorbed liquids to the rear edge of the absorbent article. With the in-folded rear flap, the outer cover layer generally provides a liquid barrier between the absorbent core, or the absorbent material, and the rear outer edge of the absorbent article.
The in-folded flap prevents leakage from absorbent material (in the absorbent article) to the outer edge of the absorbent article. However, it does not prevent leakage across the top surface of the in-folded flap, between the top surface of the infolded flap and the user's body.
It is also known to provide elastic properties, such as an elastic waist band, across the absorbent article at or adjacent the rear outer edge of the absorbent article. However, waist band and like elastics are not entirely effective to prevent movement of the exudate material out from between the absorbent article and the user's body. Indeed no structure has been devised in known art effective to prevent leakage of fecal material past the rear edge of diapers and like absorbent articles.
It is an object of this invention to provide an absorbent article which is effective to prevent leakage of fecal material past the rear edge of the absorbent article.
It is another object to provide an absorbent article having a rear containment reservoir for receiving and holding exudate material which has not been absorbed by the absorbent article.
It is still another object to provide a rear waist flap for disposition against the user's body, which provides an effective barrier to leakage of liquidous fecal and other material.
It is yet another object to provide elastic implementations which urge the distal edge of the rear waist flap away from the bodyside liner layer of the absorbent article and thus create an opening through which exudate material enters the rear containment reservoir.
It is a still further object to provide a spacer in the rear containment reservoir, holding open, for receiving exudates, a minimum volume of space in the rear containment reservoir.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an absorbent article designed to absorb and contain body exudates. This invention comprises an absorbent article having a rear reservoir which includes a rear waist flap to contain body exudates such as fecal material. A spacer is mounted to the rear portion of the absorbent article. The rear waist flap in combination with at least one of the spacer, the leg elastics, and the rear waist elastics form the rear reservoir.
In one aspect, the present invention resides in an absorbent article having a rear portion with a rear edge, a front portion, and a crotch portion connecting the rear portion and the front portion. The absorbent article comprises an outer cover layer; a bodyside liner layer mounted to the outer cover layer; a spacer mounted to the rear portion of the absorbent article, and extending across the absorbent article; and a rear reservoir defined in part by the spacer, adjacent the rear edge, whereby the rear reservoir provides void volume capacity for a user of the absorbent article, the void volume capacity preventing leakage of exudates. A rear waist flap preferably extends from the rear edge outwardly around the spacer and toward the crotch portion of the absorbent article.
In some embodiments, the spacer can be located between the outer cover layer and the bodyside liner layer. The spacer can comprise a regenerated cellulose fluff blended with polyester. The spacer can also comprise a rod-like shaped structure which, in combination with rear waist flap, forms the rear reservoir.
The spacer preferably has first and second ends, and a midpoint, the spacer being bowed such that the midpoint of the spacer is displaced rearwardly of the absorbent article with respect to the first and second ends.
In some embodiments, the rear waist flap comprises portions of both the outer cover layer and the bodyside liner layer folded inwardly toward the bodyside liner layer of the rear portion, with the rear waist flap attached at opposing side edges thereof to the rear portion to thereby form the rear reservoir between the rear waist flap and the rear portion.
In another embodiment, the rear waist flap comprises an elastic member attached to the rear portion at the rear edge and opposing side edges. The elastic member can be substantially stretched when attached to the rear portion, the elastic member, when released from the stretched condition, retracting the rear portion to form in part the rear reservoir.
In yet another embodiment, the rear waist flap comprises a nonelastic material extending from the rear portion at the rear edge and opposing side edges, the nonelastic material having wais
Faulks Michael John
Serbiak Paul John
Suprise Jody Dorothy
Dudkowski Alyssa A.
Kimberly--Clark Worldwide, Inc.
Ruhl Dennis
Wilhelm Thomas D.
Wilhelm Law Service
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