Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Patent
1987-04-15
1989-01-17
Yasko, John D.
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
604366, 604370, A61F 1316
Patent
active
047986042
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a water permeable, apertured, contoured polymeric film in which the film is formed from an elastomer. The contoured, apertured film of the invention is suitable for use as a cover for absorbent devices such as sanitary napkins, incontinence pads and surgical dressings and therefore the present invention also relates to absorbent devices containing the contoured apertured film and to their manufacture.
It is desirable that body fluid such as blood, urine or wound exudate entering the absorbent material of an absorbent device such as a sanitary napkin, diaper, bed pad, incontinence pad, surgical dressing or bandage should be dispersed throughout the absorbent material in order to utilise its full absorptive capacity. It is an undesirable feature of current absorbent device design that absorbed fluid may re-emerge at the entry point or at sites distant from the entry point when localised pressure is brought to bear on the absorbent device. This phenomenon of the re-emergence of absorbed fluid is commonly termed `wet-back`.
The two main methods by which it was sought to reduce wet-back were:
(a) to employ specially designed coverstock, that is the material which contacts or may contact the body of the wearer in use and
(b) to employ a separator layer between the coverstock and absorbent.
These improved coverstocks and separator layers were formed essentially from hydrophobic water permeable films or non-woven fabrics which were often coated with surfactant to facilitate passage of the aqueous body fluid into the absorbent.
British Pat. No. 1526778 describes an absorbent structure in which the top sheet (that is the skin contacting sheet) is formed from a fluid impervious material provided with tapered capillaries in which each capillary has a single opening at the apex of the capillary for passage of liquid to the absorbent material. This patent does not disclose or suggest the use of elastomeric polymers to form the material of the top sheet.
European Patent Application No. 0171268 describes a non-adherent wound dressing which comprises an absorbent in a porous bag. The porous bag is formed from a contoured net of a thermoplastic elastomeric polymeric film. The film has a regular pattern of geometrically shaped depressions each of which has a single apical opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 3292619 describes an absorbent dressing comprising a pad of absorbent material and a wound contacting surface comprising a thermoplastic film which has depressed portions containing a plurality of openings in which the peripheral edges of the openings are adhered to the absorbent. This patent does not disclose that the film could be an elastomeric polymer.
It has now been found that by using as a coverstock a water permeable, apertured, contoured, polymeric film formed from elastomeric polymer and in which the ratio of apertures to raised areas of greater than one, an absorbent device may be manufactured which has good absorbent and wet-back properties. Contoured apertured films formed from elastomeric polymer and in which the ratio of apertures to raised areas is greater than one are new. Such films when used to form the body contacting surface of an absorbent device help to provide a soft feel to the device.
Accordingly the present invention provides a water permeable, contoured, polymeric film which comprises a film containing apertures and which has a pattern of raised areas therein and in which the film is formed from elastomeric polymer and in which the ratio of apertures to raised areas is greater than unity.
Within the scope of the present invention are films in which the raised areas may contain different numbers of apertures for example some raised areas may contain no apertures, some raised areas may contain one aperture and some apertures may contain more than one aperture but the ratio of the total number of apertures to the total number of raised areas will be greater than unity.
Suitably each raised area will contain at least one aperture and preferably the ratio of apertures to raised a
REFERENCES:
patent: 3292619 (1966-12-01), Egler
patent: 4055180 (1977-10-01), Karami
Smith and Nephew Associated Companies p.l.c.
Yasko John D.
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