Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-05
2002-11-19
Chapman, Jeanette (Department: 3765)
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
C604S358000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06482192
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an absorbent article, such as pantyliners. More particularly, the present invention relates to discrete pantyliners for use with conventional and thong-type underwear. The invention includes means for attaching the absorbent article to underwear such that the attachment means are not discernible through the clothing of the user.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Currently, absorbent articles for sanitary protection, such as, pantyliners, sanitary napkins, and incontinence pads, must fit a variety of individual body shapes and sizes. In particular, women have an almost infinite variety of body shapes and muscle tone in the upper thigh region. A product that offers superior comfort, fit, and protection for one woman may be deficient for another woman due to her body shape and muscle tone.
The availability of different types of underwear also affects the choice of absorbent articles for sanitary protection. For example, conventional pantyliners and napkins are typically designed to be used with underwear having a full sized crotch portion, e.g., briefs and bikinis. However, such conventional pantyliners and napkins attach poorly to underwear having an abbreviated crotch portion, e.g., thong or G-string, which have a substantially narrower posterior end compared to the anterior end. As a result, many women purchase multiple types of sanitary protection depending on the underwear they choose to wear.
One problem with pantyliners, especially those for use with thong underwear, is their ability to be secured to such underwear and to stay in place. For example, there is little surface area of fabric at the narrow posterior end of such pantyliners for such pantyliners to attach. Additionally, the area between the buttocks is sensitive and subject to a high degree of movement.
Attaching a pantyliner to underwear, including thong, often includes at least one flap, tab or wing that extends laterally from a side edge of the liner that wraps around to the outside of the underwear fabric and attaches thereto. As used herein, “flap,” “tab,” and “wing,” whether plural or singular, are interchangeable and shall have the same meaning. Attachment of the flaps is typically accomplished by having an adhesive on the side of the flaps that face the outer underwear fabric.
Typically, absorbent articles used as sanitary protection are white. Because the materials, e.g., fibers and polymers, used to make the components, e.g., cover, absorbent core and barrier, of such absorbent articles often do not have the desired whiteness, pigments, dyes, or color imparting materials, such as, titanium dioxide, are added to such materials to produce the desired whiteness. However, for example, a cover and backsheet produced from such pigmented materials may make the flaps highly visible, thereby reducing discretion.
Accordingly, the need exists for a pantyliner that will attach securely to thong underwear and stay there, so as not to be discernible, especially through clothing. There is also a need for a pantyliner having a conventional silhouette that provides discretion because it is substantially transparent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an absorbent article having a silhouette that includes a first portion and a second portion, wherein the second portion is in opposite relation to the first portion, and a pair of opposed longitudinally extending sides connecting the first portion to the second portion. The absorbent article also contains a layered portion with a substantially transparent cover layer that absorbs fluid, a substantially transparent backsheet layer, and an optional absorbent core, which may be substantially transparent. At least one flap may optionally extend laterally from a longitudinally extending side.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The absorbent articles of this invention, include, but are not limited to, sanitary napkins, pantyliners, incontinence devices, wound care articles, e.g., surgical dressings and adhesive bandages, shoe liners and the like.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, absorbent articles that are worn externally generally have a layered construction with a body-facing surface that is oriented to face the wearer during use and a garment-facing surface oriented in the opposite direction from the body-facing surface. Typically such articles have a liquid previous cover on the body-facing surface of the article, an absorbent core and a backsheet on the garment-facing surface of the article. The absorbent core is interposed between the cover and the backsheet. The cover and the backsheet encase all components of the article. The cover and the backsheet may be joined or sealed to each other along their peripheral edge using any method known in the art.
Flaps, also known as wings, tabs and the like, are generally flexible and configured to be folded over the edges of the underwear so that the flaps anchor or secure the absorbent article to the underwear.
According to the present invention, the cover and backsheet are made from pigment-free materials. The cover, backsheet or a combination thereof may be used to form flap, thereby creating flaps that are formed from pigment-free materials. In a preferred embodiment, the cover and backsheet are substantially coextensive and are joined together about the periphery of the absorbent article. This results in a periphery, including any flap(s), that is substantially transparent.
As used herein, substantially transparent refers to those materials having a transparency of between about 60 to 100 percent light transmittance. Essential criteria of transparency are total transmittance, haze and clarity. Total transmittance is the ratio of total transmitted light to incident light. It is reduced by reflectance and absorbance. Haze is the percentage is the percentage of transmitted light that deviates from the incident beam by more than about 2.5 degrees on average. Clarity can be evaluated at angles of less than about 2.5 degrees.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a novel absorbent article, having a pigment-free body-facing fluid permeable cover sheet, a pigment-free fluid impermeable backsheet, which in the case of sanitary absorbent articles, face the users garment when in use.
In another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a novel absorbent article, having a pigment-free body-facing fluid permeable cover sheet, a pigment-free fluid impermeable backsheet, which in the case of sanitary absorbent articles, face the users garment when in use, and a pigment-free absorbent core between the cover sheet and the backsheet.
In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the absorbent article includes at least one flap extending laterally outward that is substantially transparent. The flap being made from the backsheet, the cover, or both.
The pigment-free liquid permeable cover sheet of an absorbent article of the present invention may be formed from any fluid previous material that is comfortable against the skin and permits fluid to penetrate to the absorbent core. The cover should retain little or no fluid in its structure in order to provide a relatively dry surface next to the skin. The cover may be a fibrous fabric made of fibers, including bicomponent fibers, or filaments of polymers, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, or cellulose. Alternatively, the cover may be formed from an apertured film, plastic nets, webs and the like. Any of these materials may be used provided that the cover, especially the outer edge portion be free of any pigment and be substantially transparent. The cover may be, for example, a 9 gsm polypropylene having code SB-PTE 09 available from Shalag, Upper Tieberias, Israel.
In a preferred embodiment, the cover is a pigment-free, non-woven fabric formed from an interconnected network thermoplastic polymer fibers, at least a portion of the non-woven fabric having a three-dimensional thickness profile.
The optional absorbent core of an absorbent article of the pr
Haarer Jutta S.
Luizzi Joseph M.
Moscherosch H. Michael
Motta Miriam O.
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