Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F13/00—Bandages or dressings; Absorbent pads
  • A61F13/15—Absorbent pads, e.g. sanitary towels, swabs or tampons for external or internal application to the body; Supporting or fastening means therefor; Tampon applicators
  • A61F13/20—Tampons, e.g. catamenial tampons; Accessories therefor
  • A61F13/2082—Apparatus or processes of manufacturing
  • A61F13/2085—Catamenial tampons
  • A61F13/2097—Catamenial tampons method of manufacturing tampon applicators
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
  • A61F13/00—Bandages or dressings; Absorbent pads
  • A61F13/15—Absorbent pads, e.g. sanitary towels, swabs or tampons for external or internal application to the body; Supporting or fastening means therefor; Tampon applicators
  • A61F13/20—Tampons, e.g. catamenial tampons; Accessories therefor
  • A61F13/34—Means for withdrawing tampons, e.g. withdrawal strings

Definitions

• the present invention refers to an internal absorbent, also known as a tampon, being particularly used for absorbing and holding vaginal exudes, such as menstrual blood and intermenstrual secretions.
• Tampons in general, are known from the prior art and usually comprise a body made of an absorbent material having a substantially cylindrical shape, suitable for introduction into the vaginal cavity According to some references in the state of the art, a tam- pon may be cylindrical and curved, and the context of the present invention should be understood in this sense.
• such tampons are provided with a cord projecting from one of its ends, which is intended to facilitate the removal of the tampon out of the vaginal cavity after its use.
• the absorbent body of tampons are made of absorbent fibers such as cotton fibers, and may include a superabsorbent material, in order to increase the efficiency of holding liquids in said absorbent body
• the absorbent body is manufactured from a substantially rectangular web of absorbent fibers, first transversely folded and then rolled up so as to form a cylindrical piece, still with the same consistency of the absorbent fibers
• the tampons from the prior art may also comprise a film of non-woven fabric superposed on one of the surfaces of the web of absorbent fibers, in order to involve the absorbent material and impart greater consistency to it.
• the cord is interwoven at the fold of the web and remains interwoven with the web while the latter is being rolled up, thus remaining permanently fixed to the absorbent body
• the absorbent body undergoes a radial compaction process, whereby the tampon is formed
• the material presently used in manufacturing the cord typically cotton, has low elasticity and may be cut during the process of compacting the absorbent body with said blades
• the cord may be damaged when the compaction of the absorbent material occurs in conjunction with said cord, and the force applied by the blades to said absorbent material is transferred to the cord, which might break or weaken the filaments of this cord, resulting in a failure of the product
• One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a tampon with an elastic or extensible cord that will not be broken or damaged at the time of compacting the absorbent body, replacing the cotton cord, which has been used lately
• a tampon particularly a tampon for holding vaginal exudates, which comprises a substantially cylindrical absorbent body, preferably provided with longitudinal grooves in its surface and comprising a cord associated to the absorbent body, suitable for handling said tampon, the cord comprising synthetic fibers, preferably textured (crimped)
• an “elastic cord” is one provided with a higher or lower degree of property of quickly tending to return to its original dimensions, after removal of the force that is causing its elastic deformation
• An “extensible cord” is one provided with the property of extending or elongating without substantially permanent plastic deformation under application of a specific force
• the cord of the invention may be either elastic or extensible without being elastic
• a further objective of the present invention is to provide a method of manufac- tunng a tampon using an extensible or elastic cord that will replace the cotton cord used at present
• a method of manufacturing a tampon, particularly a tampon for holding vaginal exudates comprising a substantially cylindrical absorbent body provided with longitudinal grooves in its surface and comprising a cord suitable for handling said tampon, associated with the absorbent body, the method comprising the steps of cutting a substantially rectangular portion of a web of an absorbent matenai, folding the absorbent web, interweaving the cord at the folded end of the web, rolling up the web to form the absorbent body, compacting the absorbent body by means of blades of a press, the cord being textured
• the process of the present invention involves a step of superposing a non-woven material on a surface of the web of absorbent material, after the step of cutting a substantially rectangular portion of said web of absorbent mate ⁇
• the tampon cord of the present invention preferably comprises textured synthetic fibers
• the textured fibers and/or the cord when tested for tensile strength and elongation properties, such as by the standardised test methods ASTM D-2256 and D-3822, exhibit a multi-phase, tensile stress-strain curve having an inflection point between a first and second phase
• a typical stress-strain curve is a plot of the amount of stress applied to the material versus the amount of strain the material is undergoing "Stress" is defined as force per unit original area, while 'strain" is the amount of elongation over the original length
• the slope of the stress-strain curve in the linear region of the plot is a measure of the material's elasticity The slope measurement is referred to as "Young's modulus"
• the second phase begins after the fibers are totally extended In the second phase, a much greater amount of force is required to elongate the fibers
• the material in the second phase will undergo a limited amount of elongation without permanent (plastic) deformation
• the yield point, or point wherein deformation transitions from elastic deformation to plastic deformation is reached, the elongation will be permanent and will alter the cross-sectional area of the ma- te ⁇ al
• the second phase provides a second Young's modulus, which is greater than the first Young's modulus
• Synthetic fibers of similar chemical make-up in the absence of any texture will typically exhibit only a single-phase stress-strain curve that substantially corresponds to the second phase, as described above
• one effect of the texture is to allow the material ⁇ be extended a much greater extent prior to undergoing plastic deformation, to a point of material failure
• the material used in manufacturing the cord is polypropylene, polyester or nylon fibers or mixtures thereof, these fibers being subjected to a texturing process
• the texturing process is a physical-chemical treatment applied to threads of synthetic continuous fibers
• This treatment aims at modifying the aspect, characteristics and properties of the fibers, usually causing them to be more elastic or extensible, due, partly or totally, to the fixation of folds or curves along the length of the fibers, for instance by means of heat
• the linearity of the fibers is altered in a substantially permanent way
• the fibers used to make the cord of the invention may be manufactured by any of the above processes, the air-blow process being the preferred one, which consists in interweaving the fibers at a high speed under application of hot or cold air to the fibers, the latter having been previously wetted with hot water
• the cord of the invention is composed of a set of fibers, preferably a set of cables of twisted fibers which, in turn, are joined together to compose the cord
• the number of fibers per cable ranges between about 30 and about 200
• the number of cables to form the cord ranges between about 8 and about 25 more preferably, about 12 preferably
• the number of twist of the cables ranges between about 50 and about 250, more preferably, about 120, preferably the cables have dtex ranging between about 100 and about 200 (dtex being the weight in grams of 10,000 meters of cable)
• the cord of the invention exhibits an elastic or non-elastic extensibility (calculated as the difference between the final length and the initial length divided by 100) higher than about 25%, preferably between about 30% and about 200, and more preferably between about 40% and about 60%.
• the cord is provided with a partly or totally fluid-repelling characteristic, for instance, by dipping it into a bath of a hy- drophobic or fluid-repelling substance.
• This characteristic aims at preventing the blood absorbed by the tampon from contacting the cord, which would convey to the wearer a feeling of moisture and a little attractive visual aspect. It may also be dyed to a desired color.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tampon and cord according to the present invention.
• Figure 2 is a view of a step of manufacturing the tampon after one folding of the web.
• Figure 3 is a view of another step of manufacturing the tampon illustrated in figure 1 , prior to the process of pressing the web, after rolling it up.
• Figure 4 is a simplified representation of the press used for compacting the absorbent body when the compacting blades are open.
• Figure 5 is a simplified representation of the press used for compacting the absorbent body when the compacting blades are closed.
• Figure 6 is a view of the web of the tampon shown in figure 1 , open after press- ing;
• Figure 7 is a graph of the behavior of materials subjected to deformation. Detailed Description of the Figures
• the tampon 1 comprises a substantially cylindrical absorbent body 3 having longitudinal grooves 4 in its surfaces and comprising a cord 5
• the end 2 is substantially rounded or ogival in shape
• the absorbent body 3 is manufactured from a web of an absorbent material, for instance, cotton fibers mixed with rayon fibers cut with dimensions of approximately of 235 mm long and 50 mm broad, forming an absorbent web 10
• a film of non-woven material 11 is superposed on one of the surfaces of the web 10, as can be seen from figures 2 and 3
• the film 11 is longer than the length of the ab- sorbent body 3
• the web 10 is rolled up to form an absorbent body 3, as illustrated in fig- ure 3
• the part of the film 11 longer than the length of the absorbent body 3 is used to overlap the outer surface of the body 3, maintaining the web 10 rolled-up
• the absorbent body 3 is then passed through a press 40 and is compressed in order to mold the material into a cylindncal-ogival shape
• the end 2 of the tampon 1 is molded as an ogive, so that the tampon will have a rounded end, which facilitates its introduction into the vaginal cavity
• the cord 5 projects from the opposite end of the tampon 1 , as shown in figure 1
• the absorbent body 3 in conjunction with the cord 5 is then subjected to compaction
• the press 40 is provided with a plurality of blades 41 , which are moved radially towards the center of the press 40 (see figure 5), thus compressing the surface of the absorbent body 3, which remains with grooves 4 arranged longitudinally at the place where said blades 41 contact said absorbent body 3
• the cord 5 used at present might be damaged or even broken, in which case the tampon would be defective
• the cord 5 is capable of receiving higher pressures, extending at the points 20 that is to say, in the regions where the blades 41 of the press 40 penetrate more deeply
• the cord 5 used at present is manufactured with a textured fiber that bears, without breaking, forces (stress) applied to the absorbent body 3 by said blades 41 of the press 40
• a stress-strain curve of a cord of the present invention is illustrated in Figure 7
• An introductory phase, a first phase, and second phase are separated in the vicinity of points P1 and P2, respectively
• the first phase yields considerable elongation with limited amount of applied stress, thus exhibiting a relatively small first Young's modulus E1
• the second phase has a much steeper linear range, providing a second Young's modulus E2 that is greater than E1
• the first phase predominantly alters the material by removing texture therefrom Therefore, material not having such texture would exhibit only a single- phase stress-strain curve similar to that shown in curve "1" having a Young's modulus corresponding substantially to E2 This cord would have a lesser amount of elongation prior to material failure

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Biomedical Technology (AREA)
• Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
• Vascular Medicine (AREA)
• Epidemiology (AREA)
• Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Absorbent Articles And Supports Therefor (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=4072210

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Families Citing this family (13)

Family Cites Families (2)

• 1999
  • 1999-03-17 BR BR9901167A patent/BR9901167A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2000
  • 2000-03-17 EP EP00916709A patent/EP1162931A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2000-03-17 AU AU37981/00A patent/AU3798100A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-03-17 WO PCT/BR2000/000022 patent/WO2000054714A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-03-17 CN CN 00805081 patent/CN1355684A/zh active Pending
  • 2000-03-17 AR ARP000101215 patent/AR022977A1/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-03-17 CA CA002365459A patent/CA2365459A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-03-17 RU RU2001128070/14A patent/RU2001128070A/ru not_active Application Discontinuation
• 2001
  • 2001-10-16 ZA ZA200108489A patent/ZA200108489B/xx unknown

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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