Vaginal tampon and method for fabrication thereof

Details Vaginal tampon and method for fabrication thereof Vaginal tampon and method for fabrication thereof

1999-08-30

2001-02-13

Ruhl, Dennis (Department: 3761)

Surgery

Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material

Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...

C604S904000, C028S118000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06186995

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of vaginal tampons and, more particularly, to vaginal tampons suitable for high-speed fabrication from a continuous sheet of material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Vaginal tampons are usually one of two types, those which require some type of inserter device for use, and those which may be inserted by hand, a procedure also known as digital insertion. Currently available vaginal tampons, both inserter and digital, have disadvantages. The use of tampons, in general, is plagued with various problems.
Tampons of conventional construction are known to shed and leave fibers in the vaginal canal of the user. Such fugitive fibers may provide attachment places for microorganisms, and thereby may serve to promote their overgrowth in the vagina, with potential adverse consequences for the user.
The use of a string for effecting removal of the vaginal tampon is an additional source of problem. The string is difficult to securely attach to the tampon during manufacture. Attachment of the string to the absorbent material is often a rate limiting step in the manufacturing process. Current tampon manufacturing production rates are usually in the range of 150 to 700 tampons per minute. In addition, the string may detach while the user is attempting removal of the tampon, creating at the very least an annoying problem. A popular vaginal tampon in current use is made of a large cotton batting, with a string sewn onto the batting. The batting is then rolled into a tampon shape, compressed, and either wrapped for digital insertion or combined with an inserter. This popular design embodies the various problems highlighted above.
Moreover, inserter type vaginal tampons are expensive to manufacture, particularly because of the added materials, processing and cost attributable to the inserter device. Further, disposal of the inserter device has become an environmental issue, not only because of the added trash volume which it contributes, but also due to associated concerns related to disposal of articles contaminated with body fluids.
Tampons constructed from absorbent materials rolled up in a nonabsorbent material have been known in the art. Most of these tampons have also incorporated a string device connected to the absorbent body of the tampon for use in removal of the device. Tampon rolls having this design may suffer from the unfortunate tendency to unroll as they are pulled from the vagina for disposal. When the user pulls on the string, the tampon roll tends to unwind, or “telescope”, producing an elongated, twisted, unsightly result which is a mess to handle and is difficult to remove.
Newer, super absorbent vaginal tampons are designed so that they form an effective seal when properly positioned within the vaginal canal. This effective seal ensures essentially little or no leakage of menstrual flow to the outside. Such an effective seal, however, may prove to be irritating to the vaginal epithelium of some users. Combined with this enhanced absorbent quality, the effective leak prevention has encouraged some users to leave these tampons in place for extended periods of time, a contributing factor which may lead to a medical condition known as toxic shock syndrome. Toxic shock syndrome is now known to be caused by an overgrowth of toxin secreting strains of
Staphylococcus aureus
, a bacterium which may sometimes be found in the vaginal flora of otherwise healthy menstruating women. Because toxic shock syndrome is caused by the staphylococcal toxin, which is produced in greater amounts during overgrowth of these bacteria, it has been theorized that changing tampons at least once every 24 hours, rather than leaving the tampon in place for an extended time, could help reduce the bacterial overgrowth, and thus help prevent toxic shock syndrome. In fact, this observation has proved correct, and implementation of the recommended practice of changing tampons daily has reduced the incidence of this condition.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the foregoing in mind, the present invention provides a vaginal tampon having a hollow tail useful both in digital insertion and in removal of the tampon. The hollow tail is formed by a sheet of nonwoven material which is an integral structural component of the tampon and is not a separate component which must be connected thereto, such as a string sewn onto a tampon of conventional design. The hollow tail of the present tampon invention provides various advantages. Elimination of the string produces a tampon which is substantially resistant to unwinding and to breakage during removal. The hollow tail allows positioning of a finger therein for aiding in digital insertion of the tampon. In this procedure, the user's finger is essentially protected from direct contact with menstrual discharges during insertion of the tampon. In addition, in one embodiment of the invention the hollow tail has an opening positioned transversely therethrough, preferably near the distal end of the tail, for providing a grasping place for aiding in digital removal of the tampon.
The present invention further provides a vaginal tampon of overall construction suitable for manufacturing by a method which may be implemented in a high speed production line at production rates not previously achieved for tampons. Such a method of manufacturing the vaginal tampon of the present invention includes the step of forming a continuous absorbent pad by positioning an absorbent material on spaced-apart portions of a continuous sheet of nonwoven material moving along a direction of manufacture. The continuous absorbent pad is next divided into a plurality of individual absorbent pads. Each absorbent pad is then rolled so as to form a tampon roll having a head positioned at a proximal end of the tampon roll and a tail positioned at a distal end of the tampon roll. The head is formed by the portion of the sheet of nonwoven material having the absorbent material positioned thereon, so that the sheet of nonwoven material forms an outer surface of the head. The tail is an elongated member having a hollow center and extending distally away from the head. The hollow tail is formed by that portion of the sheet of nonwoven material having no absorbent material positioned thereon, the hollow center allowing positioning of a finger therein for aiding in inserting and removing the tampon. Lastly, the tampon roll is molded so as to form a head having a shape suitable for promoting digital insertion of the tampon. The tampon roll produced by this method of manufacture has sufficient structural strength for digital insertion, eliminating the need for an inserter. In addition, this method of manufacturing allows for production rates of up to approximately 2000 tampons per minute, resulting in greatly reduced per unit production cost.


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