Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-29
2002-05-07
Weiss, John G. (Department: 3761)
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
C604S358000, C604S359000, C604S360000, C604S362000, C604S367000, C604S378000, C604S385010, C604S385101, C604S385120
Reexamination Certificate
active
06384296
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to disposable articles and, more particularly, to disposable articles having a responsive system including an electrical actuator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Today, disposable articles, such as diapers, adult incontinence briefs, sanitary napkins and tampons, are widely used in infant and toddler care and in the care of incontinent adults as a means of containing, isolating and disposing of bodily wastes. These articles have generally replaced reusable, washable cloth garments as the referred means for these applications because of their convenience and reliability.
While many advancements have been made in the field of disposable articles for both infants and adults, which have enabled them to become widely preferred over conventional cloth garments, a number of problems still exist. Among the problems experienced with these disposable articles are leakage of bodily waste (e.g., urine, feces, menses), skin rash and irritation, contamination of large areas of the wearer's skin with feces, difficult cleanup of bodily wastes such as feces, waste odor, lack of customization to individuals (e.g., fit), etc.
Attempts have been made to address these problems. Super absorbent polymers, for example, have been used to increase the ability of an absorbent article to absorb and retain urine. Barrier leg cuffs have also been used to improve fit and reduce leakage. U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003, entitled “Contractible Side Portions For Disposable Diaper,” issued to Kenneth B. Buell on Jan. 14, 1975, for example, describes an elasticized leg cuff disposable diaper that has achieved wide acceptance and commercial success. Disposable articles have also used pockets, barriers, etc. to contain and prevent leakage of feces from the article. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,278, entitled “Absorbent Article Having Dual Cuffs,” issued to Michael I. Lawson on Sep. 22, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,454, entitled “Absorbent Article Having Leakage-Resistant Dual Cuffs,” issued to Jerry L. Dragoo on Jan. 3, 1989; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,671, entitled “Absorbent Article Having A Pocket Cuff With An Apex,” issued to Dreier on Jul. 30, 1996. Disposable articles having a selectively expandable or inflatable component that is activated at the point of use or in response to an activating liquid such as water or urine to provide fecal void space or displacement of a topsheet to improve fit have also been disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,459, entitled “Disposable Absorbent Article Having an Inflatable Spacer,” issued to Gary D. LaVon et al. on Jul. 19, 1994 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,674, entitled “Disposable Absorbent Article Having a Sealed Expandable Component,” issued to Gary D. Lavon et al. on May 28, 1996 describe disposable absorbent articles having a component that is expandable at the point of use or expands in response to an activating liquid such as water or urine. These expandable components, however, are problematic in that they either require action by the caregiver to activate the components or operate continuously and require too much of a liquid activator to fully expand because the expansion is proportional to the amount of the liquid activator. In addition, self-contracting leg gathers have been disclosed that react with a liquid activator such as water or urine. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,900, entitled “Diaper Including Moisture-Responsive Seal Means,” issued to Friedrich-Wilhelm Schroder on Jan. 27, 1981. Again, these self-contracting gathers have the problem that they either require action by the caregiver to activate the components or operate continuously and require too much of a liquid activator to fully contract because the contraction is proportional to the amount of the liquid activator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a disposable article having a responsive system that acts in response to an input such as bodily waste (e.g., to isolate it), a component of bodily waste (e.g., to inhibit enzyme activity of the waste), or pressure, motion, other actions or conditions of the wearer (e.g., to lubricate the skin, etc.).
REFERENCES:
patent: 2127538 (1938-08-01), Seiger
patent: 2926667 (1960-03-01), Burger et al.
patent: 3921232 (1975-11-01), Whyte
patent: 4022211 (1977-05-01), Timons et al.
patent: 4246900 (1981-01-01), Schröder
patent: 4335722 (1982-06-01), Jackson
patent: 4356818 (1982-11-01), Macias et al.
patent: 4401712 (1983-08-01), Morrison
patent: 4636474 (1987-01-01), Ogura et al.
patent: 4657537 (1987-04-01), Zimmerer
patent: 4681577 (1987-07-01), Stern et al.
patent: 4705050 (1987-11-01), Markham
patent: 4732930 (1988-03-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 4747166 (1988-05-01), Kuntz
patent: 4753645 (1988-06-01), Johnson
patent: 4754264 (1988-06-01), Okada et al.
patent: 4776331 (1988-10-01), Simjian
patent: 4778459 (1988-10-01), Fuisz
patent: 4787896 (1988-11-01), Houghton et al.
patent: 4790836 (1988-12-01), Brecher
patent: 4796014 (1989-01-01), Chia
patent: 4842593 (1989-06-01), Jordan et al.
patent: 4852578 (1989-08-01), Companion et al.
patent: 4968312 (1990-11-01), Khan
patent: 4981465 (1991-01-01), Ballan et al.
patent: 5002541 (1991-03-01), Conkling et al.
patent: 5100933 (1992-03-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 5103835 (1992-04-01), Yamada et al.
patent: 5118607 (1992-06-01), Bignami et al.
patent: 5181905 (1993-01-01), Flam
patent: 5184620 (1993-02-01), Cudahy et al.
patent: 5264830 (1993-11-01), Kline et al.
patent: 5330459 (1994-07-01), Lavon et al.
patent: 5341127 (1994-08-01), Smith
patent: 5416469 (1995-05-01), Colling
patent: 5468236 (1995-11-01), Everhart et al.
patent: 5520674 (1996-05-01), Lavon et al.
patent: 5558655 (1996-09-01), Jezzi et al.
patent: 5568128 (1996-10-01), Nair
patent: 5582604 (1996-12-01), Ahr et al.
patent: 5607417 (1997-03-01), Batich et al.
patent: 5641562 (1997-06-01), Larson et al.
patent: 5643241 (1997-07-01), Ahr et al.
patent: 5649914 (1997-07-01), Glaug et al.
patent: 5653862 (1997-08-01), Parris
patent: 5658268 (1997-08-01), Johns et al.
patent: 5678564 (1997-10-01), Lawrence et al.
patent: 5681298 (1997-10-01), Brunner et al.
patent: 5702376 (1997-12-01), Glaug et al.
patent: 5702428 (1997-12-01), Tippey et al.
patent: 5722931 (1998-03-01), Heaven
patent: 5728125 (1998-03-01), Salinas
patent: 5733272 (1998-03-01), Brunner et al.
patent: 5736590 (1998-04-01), Rasmussen
patent: 5760694 (1998-06-01), Nissim et al.
patent: 5769834 (1998-06-01), Reiter et al.
patent: 5797892 (1998-08-01), Glaug et al.
patent: 5876393 (1999-03-01), Ahr et al.
patent: 6093869 (2000-07-01), Roe et al.
patent: 6149636 (2000-11-01), Roe et al.
patent: 3 921 784 (1989-07-01), None
patent: 0 286 374 (1988-10-01), None
patent: 0 612 520 (1994-08-01), None
patent: 0 804 912 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0 804 913 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0 804 914 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0 804 915 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0 804 916 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0 804 917 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0 806 194 (1997-11-01), None
patent: WO 98/22063 (1997-11-01), None
patent: 0 815 818 (1998-01-01), None
patent: 0 815 821 (1998-01-01), None
patent: 10-62369 (1998-03-01), None
patent: 01277558 (1999-11-01), None
patent: WO 92/02005 (1992-02-01), None
patent: WO 94/24974 (1994-11-01), None
patent: WO 95/00089 (1995-01-01), None
patent: WO 95/00090 (1995-01-01), None
patent: WO 95/32697 (1995-12-01), None
patent: WO 95/32698 (1995-12-01), None
patent: WO 96/14813 (1996-05-01), None
patent: WO 96/20681 (1996-07-01), None
patent: WO 97/16149 (1997-05-01), None
patent: WO 97/24150 (1997-07-01), None
patent: WO 97/32542 (1997-09-01), None
patent: WO 806 195 (1997-11-01), None
patent: WO 97/42613 (1997-11-01), None
patent: WO 97/45082 (1997-12-01), None
patent: WO 98/18505 (1998-05-01), None
patent: WO 98/29079 (1998-07-01), None
patent: WO 98/29501 (1998-07-01), None
patent: WO 99/07317 (1999-02-01), None
Allen Patrick J.
Ehrnsperger Bruno J.
Khomjakov Oleg N.
Kruchinin Mikhail L.
Litvin Simon S.
Kidwell Michele
Moore Jeffrey R.
Patel Ken K.
The Procter & Gamble & Company
Weirich David M.
LandOfFree
Disposable article having a responsive system including an... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Disposable article having a responsive system including an..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Disposable article having a responsive system including an... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2878148