Sanitary absorbent article with side barriers against leakage

Details Sanitary absorbent article with side barriers against leakage Sanitary absorbent article with side barriers against leakage

1996-07-08

2001-03-13

Weiss, John G. (Department: 3761)

Surgery

Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material

Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...

C604S366000, C604S387000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06200297

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sanitary absorbent product, such as a sanitary napkin, diaper or urinary protection article, which is worn in contact with the skin of the wearer for the purpose of absorption and holding of body liquids and, more particularly, to an absorbent product having tabs extending laterally for attachment to the undergarment of the wearer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The typical design for winged or tabbed sanitary napkins includes a central absorbent body, and two tabs for wrapping around the edges of the undergarment and holding the product in place. A problem with the early designs for sanitary napkins with tabs was that when the tabs were pulled into place, there was no effective barrier to protect against leakage along the side of the napkin. The pulling of the tabs can also result in the central absorbent body surface sloping away from the user in the region adjacent to the tabs, thus making side leakage more likely to occur in this area.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sanitary absorbent product with tabs, which is capable to offer enhanced protection against side leakage.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a sanitary absorbent product comprising:
a layered elongated main body, comprising from top layer to bottom layer a cover layer which is permeable to liquid, at least one absorbent layer and a barrier layer which is impermeable to liquid, said main body having two opposed longitudinal edges;
two tabs projecting laterally from said longitudinal edges of said main body and adapted to be folded around a crotch portion of an undergarment; and
a pocket adjacent to each tab which is capable of collecting body exudate, said pocket including an inlet opening providing a means of entrance to body exudate in said pocket, said pocket being responsive to a lateral outward tension applied to the tab that would occur during attachment of the tab to undergarment of the wearer to cause an increase in size of said inlet opening, thereby enhancing an ability of said pocket to collect body exudate.
In a most preferred embodiment the longitudinal peripheral edge portions of the main body are folded over the cover layer adjacent the longitudinal edges of the main body and thermally bonded to the cover layer along their entire length except in the vicinity of the tabs where the liquid collecting pockets are formed. The tabs are continuous with the folded over portions. When the tabs are subjected to outward tensile force which occurs during the attachment of the tabs to the undergarment of the wearer, the tension is transmitted to the pockets and causes them to open-up.
As embodied and broadly described herein the invention further provides a sanitary napkin, comprising:
a layered elongated main body, comprising from top layer to bottom layer a cover layer which is permeable to liquid, at least one absorbent layer and a barrier layer which is impermeable to liquid, said main body having two opposed longitudinal edges and two opposed lateral edges;
two tabs extending laterally from the longitudinal edges in a direction away from said main body, said tabs being intermediate said lateral edges, each tab comprising a barrier layer element continuous with the barrier layer of said main body, and a cover layer element continuous with the cover layer of said main body; and
portions of said barrier layer being folded over the longitudinal edges of the main body and affixed to said main body along said longitudinal edges at four regions proximate intersections of said tabs with said main body, each region excluding at least part of a line of intersection between said main body and a respective tab;
whereby a lateral force which is applied to the tabs during the attachment of said tabs to an undergarment, results in the formation of wells along an interface between the tabs and the main body for collection of liquid having been exuded by the user and which may leak in a lateral direction.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention also provides a method of making a sanitary absorbent product, said method comprising the steps of:
cutting an absorbent layer having two opposed longitudinal edges and two opposed lateral edges and having a longitudinal axis;
cutting a liquid permeable flexible sheet material to provide a liquid permeable cover layer and cutting a liquid impermeable flexible sheet material to provide a fluid impermeable barrier layer, wherein the cover layer and the barrier layer have respective main body portions and two tabs extending laterally from the sides of the main body portions;
sandwiching the absorbent layer between the cover layer and the barrier layer;
adhering the cover layer to the barrier layer about their respective outer edge margins to form a flange;
folding the flange around the longitudinal edges of the main body onto the cover layer to form a pair of folded over portions and bonding each folded over portion to the cover layer all along a respective longitudinal edge of said main body with the exception of a line of intersection between the tab and said main body.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4496359 (1985-01-01), Pigneul
patent: 5344416 (1994-09-01), Niihara
patent: 5387210 (1995-02-01), Murakami
patent: 5389094 (1995-02-01), Lavash et al.
patent: 5490847 (1996-02-01), Correa et al.
patent: 2244653 (1991-12-01), None
patent: 9304651 (1993-03-01), None

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