Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Patent
1997-06-11
1999-10-05
Weiss, John G.
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
6043851, A61F 1315
Patent
active
059615079
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an absorbent article which includes a liquid-permeable outer sheet disposed on a first article surface, a liquid-impermeable outer sheet disposed on a second article surface, and an absorbent body which is enclosed between the two outer sheets and which includes a receiving space in which body liquid is taken up, said space consisting in at least one cavity in the absorbent body.
Hitherto, the problem encountered with absorbent articles, such as diapers, incontinence guards, sanitary napkins or like articles which are intended to repeatedly receive and absorb body liquid, or fluid, discharged by a user is that the rate at which the liquid is able to penetrate into the article decreases considerably with each new wetting occasion. This problem is particularly pronounced in diapers and incontinence guards that are intended for children and adults, since in these cases the quantities of liquid that the article will receive and absorb are relatively large and are discharged within the space of only a few seconds. It is therefore not unusual, particularly after a first wetting of the article, that the liquid which is not able to penetrate into the article immediately will instead flow over the surface of the article and leak past the edges thereof. Such leakage of body liquid is naturally highly undesirable, since it is liable to soil the clothes, bed linens and mattresses used by the wearer, and even stain and destroy such commodities.
The reason why the body liquid penetration rate decreases with repeated wetting of the article is because the absorbent body of the article becomes saturated with body liquid temporarily within a limited area around the area on the article surface in which the body liquid first impinges, the so-called primary wetting area. The absorbent articles are normally comprised of one or more layers of hydrophilic fibres, for instance cellulose fluff pulp, and often also include a powerful absorbing hydrocolloidal material, so-called superabsorbents. Liquid is transported relatively slowly through such materials, since transportation of the liquid is mainly governed by the capillary forces acting in the cavities located between fibres and particles in the absorbent body of the article. Liquid is transported within the hydrocolloidal materials by diffusion, which is a still slower process than the process generated by the capillary forces. The liquid will therefore remain in the primary wetting area of the article for a relatively long period of time and will then gradually be transported out to surrounding parts of the absorbent body.
It is known to provide the article with liquid-transporting means in the form of compressed patterns, for instance compressed stripes, which function to disperse the liquid in the longitudinal direction of the article, so as to steer the transportation of liquid away from the primary wetting area to parts of the absorbent body in which absorbent material is still unused. An article possessing such compressed stripes is earlier known from PCT/SE94/00835. Liquid transportation in the article is mainly the result of the differences in capillary forces acting between the compressed stripes and surrounding material. Even though a positive effect is obtained in this case in the form of a directed liquid flow in the absorbent body, the rate at which liquid is transported in the article is much too slow in relation to the rate at which body liquid is discharged to the article. Consequently, there is a risk that liquid will not be absorbed quickly enough, but instead will run along the surface of the article and out over the edges thereof, resulting in leakage, this risk being particularly manifest in products which are intended for urine absorption, such as diapers and incontinence guards, onto which large quantities of liquid are often discharged over a short period of time. Furthermore, heavy compression of the article results in rigid parts which do not flex easily and which prevent the article from following satisfactorily the mo
REFERENCES:
patent: 3889679 (1975-06-01), Taylor
patent: 5110386 (1992-05-01), Ochi et al.
patent: 5454800 (1995-10-01), Hirt et al.
patent: 5669895 (1997-09-01), Murakami et al.
Ruhl Dennis
SCA Hygiene Products AB
Weiss John G.
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