Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-07
2001-11-06
Weiss, John G. (Department: 3761)
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
C604S385040, C604S385050, C604S385010, C604S385030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06312417
ABSTRACT:
The present invention concerns an absorbent product such as a sanitary napkin, pantyliner or an incontinent protector, which is packaged in a protective wrapper and is equipped with at least one attachment flap. The attachment flap is arranged on a longitudinal side edge of the product and comprises an adhesive attachment means.
There are many reasons why it is advantageous to pack single absorbent products of the type described in the introduction in individual protective wrappers. In this manner small handy packages can be obtained which can easily and comfortably be taken along in a handbag or a pocket, and out of which an article can quickly and easily be produced when necessary. Such so-called individual wrappers ensure that the article is protected against soiling and damage before use and is therefore much appreciated by the users. By suitably shaping the package wrapper it can also be used as a wrapper for used articles, which can thus be thrown away in a hygienic and aesthetically acceptable manner.
The usual way to fasten an absorbent product such as a sanitary napkin or the like inside a pair of underpants during use is to arrange a fastening surface in the form of pressure-sensitive, self-adhesive glue on the side of the napkin which during use is intended to be in contact with the underpants of the user. In order to prevent self-adhesion problems with the adhesive surface during storage and transportation of the napkin, the attachment adhesive is usually protected with a special, removable material tape made of release agent treated paper or the like. When the product is to be used, the protective tape is removed so that the adhesive is exposed and can be used for attaching the product in the underpants of the user. The protective tape has afterwards no further function but is thrown away once it has been removed from the attachment adhesive. The use of such protective tapes has a number of disadvantages. For example, it is difficult to handle the protective tapes at the same time as the product is being used, especially if the product is equipped with several different protective tapes which have to be removed. The use of protective tapes also means that an excessive amount of material is consumed, which is a disadvantage from both the environmental and the energy points of view as well as the cost point of view.
It has therefore become more common to provide absorbent products of this sort with a removable protective wrapping which fulfills the double function of protecting the fastening adhesive against undesirable adhesion until the use of the product, as well as forming an individual wrapper for the product. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,146, ZA 884,054, SE 459,067, GB 2,221,667, EP 357,000, U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,610, WO 91/18574, WO 93/09743 and WO 94/04111, absorbent products equipped with protective wrappers are described, which form both the wrapper for the product and a protector for the attachment adhesive.
A big disadvantage of these earlier prior art protective wrappers is, however, that they only partly solve the problem of eliminating the use of separate protective tapes for the attachment adhesive on so-called wing napkins. In order to reduce the risk of side edge leakage and in order to improve the fastening security and reduce the deformation of the absorbent product during use, a considerable share of, above all, sanitary napkins which are sold are equipped with flexible fastening flaps, also known as wings, on the side edges of the product. Such fastening flaps are intended during use to be bent around the leg edges of the underpants of the user and fastened against the outside of the underpants by means of surfaces of pressure-sensitive self-adhesive glue on the attachment flaps. Examples of sanitary napkins with attachment flaps are shown in SE 455,668, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,343, EP 130,848, EP 134,086 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,047.
In the known removable wrappings the attachment adhesive on the attachment flaps on a wing napkin must be protected by a special protective tape. Before the product can be used, the user must remove and throw away this protective tape. Naturally, the advantage of using the wrapping material as a protector for the attachment adhesive of the product is greatly diminished. Furthermore, the known wing release tapes are small and difficult for the user to handle. A special problem thereof is that they easily become statically charged and fasten onto the user's skin and clothes. Much effort has therefore been made to solve the problem of eliminating the special protective tapes for the attachment adhesive on the wings.
EP 532,649 describes an individually wrapped sanitary napkin with a removable protective wrapper, which can also be used to package a sanitary napkin with attachment flaps. The protective wrapper extends laterally beyond the attachment flaps when these flaps are in a position where they protrude straight out from the side edges of the sanitary napkin. Such an arrangement makes it possible to avoid the use of special protective tapes for the fastening flaps. However, it means, on the other hand, that approximately twice as much packaging material as used in conventional individual wrappers is required. This is naturally a serious disadvantage as the large consumption of material makes the sanitary napkin more expensive and is negative from an environmental point of view. Furthermore, the extra wrapping material must be handled and folded out by the user, which makes it complicated and cumbersome to take the wing napkin out of the wrapping.
WO 94/14398 describes a wing napkin with a pattern of attachment adhesive, which in combination with a special folding of the fastening flaps allows the use of a single protective layer in order to cover all of the adhesive surfaces on both the napkin itself and the attachment flaps. The disadvantage of this known napkin is, however, that it is limited to a certain combination of attachment flap shapes and adhesive surface appearance and positioning. For example, it is not possible to arrange the attachment adhesive along the longitudinal side edges of the sanitary napkin, which is normally desirable. Furthermore, WO 94/14398 does not give any suggestion to how to make an individual wrapper for a sanitary napkin.
Similar problems occur in the packaging described in GB 2,227,914, where a protective layer for adhesive surfaces on an absorbent article is fixed at an edge inside a small bag-like wrapper. When the article is taken out of the bag, the protective layer is folded away from the wrapper and in this way comes loose from the adhesive surface. Such a wrapper, however, limits the possibilities of where the attachment adhesive can be placed on the article and how the article can be folded together before it is packaged. It is furthermore almost impossible to use the empty wrapper in order to throw away a used article because a used article is soiled, bulky and deformed and difficult to fold together in a hygienic manner to the same compact format as an unused article.
With the present invention, however, an individually packaged absorbent product of the type mentioned in the introduction has been achieved, in which the problem of earlier known such products is avoided.
The product according to the invention is distinguished primarily by a protective layer being arranged with a release-agent-treated surface on the protective flap removably covering the adhesive fastening means on the attachment flap and having a part which is firmly joined to the packaging wrapper near a transverse end edge on the packaging wrapper, wherein the connection between the protective layer and the packaging wrapper is stronger than the connection between the protective flap and the adhesive fastening means on the attachment flap and remains in place even after the packaging has been opened.
In accordance with the invention, a number of advantages are achieved by equipping the packaging wrapper with a special protective flap, fixed to the wrapper, for the attachment adhesive on the wings of the produ
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Kidwell Michele
SCA Hygiene Products AB
Weiss John G.
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