AU714528B3 - Improvements in or in relation to absorbent garments - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Details of Associated Provisional Application(s) No(s): YVETTE KAMINSKI YVETTE KAMINSKI

INTELLPRO

Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Level 7, Reserve Bank Building 102 Adelaide Street BRISBANE, QLD, 4000 (GPO Box 1339, BRISBANE, 4001) Improvements in or in relation to absorbent garments Australian Patent Application No. PP7777 filed 17 December 1998.

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: IMPROVEMENTS IN OR IN RELATION TO ABSORBENT GARMENTS FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to absorbent garments including but not limited to infant diapers, nappies, garments for the incontinent, aged and infirm.

BACKGROUND ART Present absorbent garments are either reusable, being made from washable fabrics or are disposable. A large number of patents have been published covering all manner of variations on the classic triangular form of diaper. Many such diapers are generally trapezium shaped in plan having a narrow front end and an opposed wider rear end, the wider end having opposed corners with respective tabs, the wider end being positioned in use behind the wearer, the narrow end being movable up between the legs of the wearer to a position above the genitals and to the region of the lower abdomen where the corners of the wider portion are drawn around bilaterally and secured to the narrow end by the tabs. This general operation is common to most diapers whether disposable or washable. The disposable diapers have an absorbent material extending medially from the narrow to the wide end. Also various special non-woven paper fabrics are employed to lead moisture away from the skin. In common disposable diapers side guards are employed and are intended to stand as a form of "fence" impinging on the skin in the inner thigh region to inhibit leakage between the diaper and the legs of the wearer.

Washable diapers suffer from the disadvantage that they are in the main variations on the simple cloth diaper. On the other hand the disposable diapers are technically advanced and more efficient when compared to their reusable 3 counterparts. Generally speaking a disposable diaper can be used for a longer period of time than the washable equivalent. As a consequence and for reasons of convenience and efficiency more people are using the disposable diapers rather than the washables. This of course has environmental risks since disposables are only suitable for single use and must be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner. Cost of disposables is not as economical as reuseables.

Present disposables also have deficiencies when used for nightwear. In particular where an infant is lying prone the flow of urine is not necessarily suited to the present designs and urine leakage is prone to occur through the front upper edge of the garment. The present invention alleviates this problem.

The present improvements are applicableto disposable absorbent garments as well as washable garments. However, it is preferred that the present invention be directed to reusable and washable garments, thus the applicant has envisaged a washable garment technically more advanced than the presently available disposables thus encouraging a return to washable garments.

OUTLINE OF THE INVENTION In one aspect therefore, the present invention resides in an absorbent garment either reusable or disposable having a narrow front end and a wider rear end, the rear end being adapted to locate behind the back of a user and the front end being adapted to pass up between the legs of the user, the back and the front having respective corners, the garment having a longitudinal axis extending between the ends, there being provided a longitudinally extending medial region of absorbent material and a pocket formed adjacent the narrow front end.

Preferably the garment has bilateral side guards extending from the front to the rear and across the front, and being so made and arranged to form a bias region at the front, the arrangement being that upon application of an outward force to the corners of the rear end the bias on the front of the guard causes the side guards to adopt an upstanding attitude. Preferably, the biased front portion of the side guards is formed as the pocket having a curved shape along its upper edge, the curve affording the above described bias.

Preferably the bilateral side guards extend from the rear towards the front and joining before the front end to form the pocket. Typically elastic runs along the upper edge of the side guards and the pocket exerting a tensile directional force upon this region. This configuration becomes effective upon spreading the garment as it has bias tendency to force the side guards to stand up laterally.

Preferably the side guards and front pocket are formed as part of a waterproof pouch holding the absorbent medium as a removable absorbent liner.

The pouch is preferably waterproof extending from front to rear with "ticking" fabric on the inside and outside. Typically the pouch is made from a polyester cotton blend using a teflon coating to make the fabric impermeable to urine as well as being easily cleaned and durable. The "ticking fabric" is a perforated 100% polyester and is used to draw moisture away from the skin and enhance airflow to the skin.

The removable absorbent liner is also preferably covered with a layer of ticking fabric. Typically the liner is made from a hydrophilic foam with a terrytowelling layer over the foam and with a ticking fabric layer over the terrytowelling to disperse urine over the absorbent.

The removable absorbent liner is preferably bulged at its front end. This is typically rounded and is multi functional. It increases the absorbent area of the overall pad and particularly in the front where most needed. The rounded section gives shape to the pocket and the combination of the bulged higher absorbent and the pocket increases absorption and reduces leakage particularly at night when the wearer is sleeping. The pocket also serves to retain the absorbent liner in its operative position.

The shape of the pouch is to most effectively maximise the amount of urine which can be held within the pad while minimising the area of waterproof fabric thereby limiting nappy rash.

The shape of the pocket is most effective at night when the wearer is in the horizontal position to reduce the amount of leakage from the front of the garment.

In another embodiment the pouch includes sewn in upper layer of urine permeable soft material such as towelling for added comfort. The upper layer is connected around the upper edge of the side guards. The absorbent pad in this case is inserted through an opening in the rear and defined by a rear edge of the upper layer and the rear edge of the pouch.

The absorbent pad may also be permanently secured in place or removable.

Preferably the soft fabric overlays the elasticised edges of the side guard, to provide skin protection from the elastic edge in order to improve comfort.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 6 In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and be put into practical effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings and wherein:- Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a garment according to the teachings of the present invention; Figure 2 is a drawing illustrating the mode of construction of the pouch for a garment according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a drawing illustrating a section through a garment according to the teachings of the present invention showing the garment in is operative position; Figure 4 is a cut away view from one side illustrating the arrangement of layers in a garment according to the present invention; Figure 5 is a schematic drawing illustrating a further embodiment of the invention; and Figures 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams illustrating the force and tension distribution in the two embodiments described.

METHOD OF PERFORMANCE While the following description relates to a diaper it will be appreciated that the present invention can be applied to any situation where absorbent pants or undergarments are used.

Referring to the drawings there is illustrated garment, in this case a diaper having a narrow front end 11 and a wider rear end 12 and a removable liner 13. The diaper is formed with a front pocket 14 useful for retaining moisture by reason of a waterproof pouch 15 including the pocket 14 at its front end. The 7 pouch 15 comprises respective side guards 16 and 17 formed by an elasticised upper edge 18 extending from the corners 19 and 20 around the curved front section 21.

Upon spreading of the garment whilst being applied and being worn, the arcuate shape of the front section at 21 exerts an inward force upon the side guards at points toward the front. The relatively wide positioning of the side guards at the rear end at 19, 20 exerts an outward force at these points. These two opposing forces at each end of the garment cause the side guards between them to stand upright.

This upright attitude and the relationship between the forces involved is illustrated in Figure 1 represented by arrows 22, 23, 24 and 25. The blank from which the pouch is made is illustrated in Figure 2 at 26, the edges 27 of this blank are gathered and stitched to an elastic tape to form the pouch 15 illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 thus giving rise to the pocket 14 and the bias caused by curved edge 21.

The whole diaper and removable insert 13 are made from washable fabrics consequently the entire diaper can be reused. Referring to Figures 3 and 4 the components that make up the reusable diaper are illustrated with the diaper in its operative configuration in Figure 3.

The drawing of Figure 3 represents a mid-line section through the wearer. In the illustrated embodiment the diaper includes an outer fabric layer 28. An upper outer ribbing section 29 connected to the outer layer 28. Inside this is the waterproof pouch 15 represented by solid lines 30 and 31 with its elastic upper edge 18. A ticking fabric is represented by the broken lines at 32, and as can be 8 seen surrounds the entire pouch 15 and the removable liner 13. The absorbent insert 13 includes a fabric or towelling layer 33 which contains a hydrophilic foam 34.

Figure 5 illustrates a further embodiment 40 which is of the same construction as the previous embodiment with the addition of a soft fabric upper 41 extending between the front and side guards to close the pouch except for a rear opening at 42. The absorbent pad can be inserted into and removed through the opening 42.

Figure 6 shows the distribution of forces that cause the side guard to stand up upon application of a pulling action at 43 and 44 which is the usual action upon application of the garment to an infant.

Figure 7 is similar to Figure 6 except it illustrates the forces for the embodiment of Figure 5. The soft fabric upper layer is so sized and arranged that it experiences a slight tightening as the garment is applied for even distribution.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (3)

1. An absorbent garment having a front end and a rear end and having a generally self supporting configuration requiring the garment to be spread for use, the rear end being adapted to locate behind the back of a user and the front end being adapted to pass between the legs of the user, the back and the front having respective corners, the garment having a longitudinal axis extending between the ends, a longitudinally extending waterproof pouch with a longitudinal opening and a longitudinally extending medial region of absorbent material within the pouch, the pouch having a forwardly projecting pocket and the absorbent material extending into the forwardly projecting pocket, the forwardly projecting pocket being formed in the pouch adjacent to the front end of the garment, the pouch having opposed longitudinal side guards adapted to stand upright upon the garment being spread for use.

2. A garment according to claim 1 wherein the pouch has guards comprising said longitudinal side guards extending along opposite sides of the garment from the front to the rear and also extending across the front as a continuous guard, the guard being so made and arranged to form a bias region at the front of the guard, the arrangement being that upon application of an outward force to the corners of the rear end of the garment to spread the garment for use, the bias on the front of the guard causes the longitudinal side guards to adopt an upstanding attitude, the bias region of the front of the guards forming an upper edge of said forwardly projecting pocket and having a curved shape along its upper edge, the longitudinal side guards extending from the rear towards the front and joining before the front end to form the forwardly projecting pocket, elastic running along the upper edge of the guard and the forwardly projecting pocket exerting a tensile force upon the longitudinal side guards such that upon spreading the corners of the garment, the longitudinal side guards are biased to adopt the said upstanding attitude.

3. A garment according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the pouch has ticking fabric on the inside and outside of the pouch, the medial region of absorbent material comprising a removable absorbent liner, the absorbent liner being enlarged at its front end, the forwardly projecting pocket being conformable to the enlarged front end of the absorbent liner, the forwardly projecting pocket and absorbent liner co-operating to conform the forwardly projecting pocket to a predetermined desired shape and to aid retention of the absorbent liner in its operative position within the pocket and the generally self supporting configuration of the garment. DATED this 2 6 th day of October 1999 YVETTE KAMINSKI By her Patent Attorneys INTELLPRO