Sanitary absorbent article having flaps

Details Sanitary absorbent article having flaps Sanitary absorbent article having flaps

1999-04-12

2004-11-23

Ruhl, Dennis (Department: 3761)

Surgery

Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material

Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...

C604S387000, C604S389000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06821269

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to sanitary absorbent articles such as feminine sanitary napkins and incontinence pads, and, more particularly, to sanitary absorbent articles having side-projecting flaps.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Sanitary absorbent articles generally are large-scale commercially-manufactured articles used to absorb and retain a variety of bodily exudates. Such articles are convenient in that they are often economical yet disposable; they include sanitary napkins, infant diapers, adult incontinence pads and the like.
The technology surrounding sanitary absorbent articles, and particularly feminine sanitary napkins, has undergone several advances over the past two decades. One of such advances was the addition of a flap projecting laterally from each longitudinal side of the article when the article is in a flattened state. Such flaps may comprise integral extensions of a material from which the article is formed or, alternatively, may simply comprise additional material added to the article after its formation.
When such articles are in use, the flaps are folded over the edges of the wearer's undergarment. They thus may more firmly secure the article to the undergarment, stabilize the article within the undergarment, provide an increased absorptive area for bodily exudates, and help prevent the undergarment from becoming soiled in part by protecting the side edges of the wearer's undergarment. The flap concept has generally met with success in the marketplace, and articles with flaps of various configurations and conformations are available to the consumer.
Conventional wisdom on the part of both designers and consumers has to date dictated that flaps on absorbent articles should be maximized at their line of juncture with the main body of the article in order to provide a greater area of protection against exudate leakage over the side of the article. Hence, a very common flap configuration is an isosceles (i.e. bilaterally symmetrical) trapezoidal-shaped flap having its base adjoined with the longitudinal side of the main body of the article and projecting (and tapering) away therefrom to the top of the trapezoid. The size of the flap may vary from article to article. Other prior art flap shapes may be loosely described as rectangular, square or mushroom-shaped.
The difficulty with absorbent articles of the trapezoidal and other conventional flap configurations is that the absorbent articles are designed and manufactured in a flat state, while in use the article should generally adopt a two- and often three-dimensional curvature in order to correctly interface with the body of the wearer. By two-dimensional curvature it is meant that the article will curve along one axis of the three-dimensional coordinate system formed by the longitudinal centre-line of the article, the transverse centre-line of the article, and the line perpendicular to both. By three-dimensional curvature it is meant that the article will curve along more than one axis of a three-dimensional co-ordinate system (such a system having three orthogonal axes).
As an example, where the absorbent article is a feminine sanitary napkin, and is in use, a cross-section of the article in both the sagital plane of the wearer's body (i.e. the longitudinal axis of the article) and the frontal or coronal plane of the wearer's body (i.e. the transverse axis of the article) would most likely be curved. The flaps, however, are generally designed to be folded about a linear folding axis commonly located along the line of juncture of the flap with the longitudinal side of the main body of the article. The difficulty with such a linear folding axis is that the edges of the wearer's undergarment, about which the flaps are folded, is curved. Moreover, the undergarment edges usually contain an elastic material for snugly securing the undergarment about the legs of the wearer. Depending on the force exerted by the elastic material, a curved shape may be imparted to the flaps and the central portion of the main body of the article causing them lift off the undergarment and wrinkle, or a flattened shape may be imparted to the edges of the undergarment causing them to not fit snugly against the legs of the wearer. In both cases, the comfort and efficiency of the article and its flaps are sacrificed. Moreover, the larger the flap, the more acute the problem. Thus while large flaps alleviate some difficulties on one hand (i.e. side leakage protection), they create problems on the other (i.e. instability and stress).
To date, most have thought that the benefits afforded by large flaps have outweighed their detriments, so they have been preferred. This has led to substantial efforts to attempt to overcome the difficulties associated therewith. As a result, many different solutions have been attempted in the past to resolve the problems of instability and stress present in absorbent articles of conventional flap design. None to date, however, has been completely satisfactory in that they have always yielded structures that are complex, expensive and/or complicated to manufacture. Moreover, they are often not comfortable for the wearer, or at least could be more comfortable.
An absorbent article having an improved flap configuration that would avoid, alleviate or relieve the stress created in conventional flap configurations as described above, yet while being relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture is therefore desirable.
OBJECT AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
It is thus an object of an aspect of the present invention to provide a sanitary absorbent article having an improved flap configuration.
It is a further object of an aspect of the present invention to provide a sanitary absorbent article having a flap configuration having relatively large flaps while having a reduced stress as compared with some of the prior art designs and all-the-while being relatively simple and/or inexpensive to manufacture.
It has been discovered by the present inventors, that, contrary to conventional wisdom, a flap having a configuration generally inverted from those of the prior art is indeed desirable. By inverted it is meant that the flap will generally constantly increase in width (i.e. being substantially constantly divergent) progressing from its proximal side to its distal side (i.e. it is inversely tapered). An example would be a generally isosceles trapezoidal-shaped being larger at its distal side that at its proximal side, i.e. the base of trapezoid being at the distal side of the flap. Such flaps provide the appearance of being relatively “large”, yet have reduced stress and increased stability over the prior art flap designs; surprisingly without significantly affecting side leakage protection.
Thus, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides a sanitary absorbent article comprising:
(A) a main body, said main body having a first longitudinal side, a second longitudinal side generally opposing the first longitudinal side, two generally-opposing transverse sides, and a longitudinal centerline; and
(B) a first flap united with said main body, said first flap projecting laterally from the first longitudinal side of said main body when the article is in a flattened state and being capable of being folded over a crotch portion of a wearer's undergarment, said first flap having:
(i) a distal side;
(ii) a proximal side generally opposing the distal side of said first flap, the proximal side being adjacent the first longitudinal side of said main body;
(iii) a first transverse side;
(iv) a second transverse side generally opposing the first transverse side of said first flap; and
(v) a garment-facing surface including a fastener for securing said first flap to the garment;
the first transverse side of said first flap and the second transverse side of said first flap being substantially continually divergent from the proximal side of said first flap until an imaginary line parallel to the longitudinal centerline of said main body at approximately a

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