FI58061C - I VATTEN SOENDERFALLANDE MENSTRUATIONSTAMPONG - Google Patents

Description

RfiFl [B] (11) ADVERTISEMENT ςΟΛΑΙ lJ 'V UTLÄGGN INGSSKRIFT OÖ061 ^ Po ten t ti ayönr. ? t ty 10 1C 1920 (51) Kv.ik? /int.a.3 A 61 F 13/20 ENGLISH - FI N LAN D (21) PtMimihukumu * —P * t «» * «n.öknJnj 1605/73 (22) HtkamlspUvt - AmBknlnpdag 17.05 * 73 ^ ^ (23) Alkupllvi — GIHI | h «tsd« (17.05 * 73 (41) Become Public - Bltvlt offsntll * 10.11 * 73

Patent, and the National Board of Registration Nttuviksip ™,]. kuLjuiksisun pv *, -

Patents and Registration Purposes Ansftksn utlsgd och utUkriftsn pubiicund 29 * 06.60 (32) (33) (31) Claim Requested — Begirt prtorltet 17.05 * 72 USA (US) 25 ^ 055 (71) The Procter & Gamble Company, 301 East Sixth Street, Cincinnati,

Ohio 1 + 5202, USA (72) Robert Campbell Duncan, Cincinnati, Ohio, Darrel Dayfield Kokx,

This invention relates to a menstrual swab comprising an absorbent mass comprising pieces of a three-dimensional cellular absorbent material and a mass thereof. a flexible, liquid-permeable cover.

Discarding disposable absorbent articles has always been a problem. These absorbent articles are usually always thrown away with ordinary solid waste or in the toilet bowl. The method that is generally considered the most comfortable is flushing down the toilet, but some absorbent products such as disposable pads, sanitary napkins, and large tampons that are not properly made may clog the toilet network because they involve too much mass.

Several different absorbent materials are used in disposable absorbent articles, with different fibers being the most commonly used. Although fibrous products cause problems when thrown into the toilet bowl, sponges and sponge-like and foam products cause a greater problem when thrown into the toilet bowl because they do not easily disintegrate in the toilet network and thus easily clog this network.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly absorbent, effective menstrual swab that can be easily thrown into a toilet bowl.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a comfortable, effective menstrual swab that is degradable in water.

It is a particular object of the present invention to provide an agglomerate absorbent placed inside a tampon which is degradable in water and therefore easy to remove.

According to the present invention, there is provided a menstrual swab, characterized in that the coating has an absorbent mass removal member which remains closed before and during use and opens under the influence of water when the tampon is discarded after use in e.g. a toilet bowl, and an absorbent pieces of the substance then escape from inside the casing.

Although this description ends with claims which specifically show and claim the objects of the invention, which are considered to define the scope of the present invention, it should be understood that the invention can be better understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the thickness of certain materials is exaggerated. wherein: Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view of a tampon according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the tampon of Fig. 1 at one stage of its manufacture; of the tampon of Figure 3, Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of another tampon of the present invention;

Referring now to Figure 1, a tampon 20 is shown as an absorbent tampon in accordance with the present invention. This tampon 20 has an absorbent mass 21 formed by a structure of pieces 22 of three-dimensional, cellular, absorbent material enclosed within a cover 23, 3,58061 which can be made from a rectangular piece of cover which is then bent twice against the edge and edge in the tubular form thus formed by means of a longitudinal seam 26. The cover 23 has a removal portion for the pieces 22, one type of removal portion being formed by the opening end 28. The removal rope 2h can be attached to the closed end'29 of this tampon 20 in any manner known per se, e.g. by threading a double wire through this closed end 29. , so that a loop is formed, and by passing the free ends of the yarn 2b through this loop, or by attaching the yarn 2b to the cover 23 by sewing or gluing it firmly enough to withstand the forces occurring during removal.

The opening end 28 is a closure formed by bringing together the end of the wrapper and holding the assembled wrapper together with a water-disintegrating adhesive (i.e., a substance that opens, breaks, or is destroyed in water) so that the closure remains closed before and during use of this tampon 20. and opens when the tampon 20 is placed in a regular toilet bowl. The water-dispersible closure portions described herein, such as the opening end 28, are removal means from this cover 23 to the pieces 22 and effectively close the passages of the pieces 22 before and during use of this tampon. The water-dispersible closure portion opens in turbulent water in a water-operated toilet bowl or when the tampon 20 is repeatedly immersed in the water in the toilet bowl.

The term "collecting" as used herein is understood to mean any assembly of this wrapper at its longitudinal end so that the wrapper forms a closure portion at this end, e.g., a closure in which the wrapper is radially inwardly assembled in all directions as if pulled into a pile by a string. , in which the extreme end is flattened in one plane using forces perpendicular to this plane, a bending joint in which the extreme end is bent inwards and the portions parallel to this end overlap, etc. This or any other part of the cover may be either the extreme end of the cover, the edge of the cover or an end portion as shown in Fig. k head 36.

The water-dispersible barrier portion may be formed using a water-dispersible adhesive 25. This tampon 20 may, at one stage of its formation, be as shown in Figure 2, with the cover 23 being tubular, tubular, and having a closed end 29 which may or may not be necessarily need to be water degradable. If it is not water-dispersible * 58061, the closed end 29 can be formed by any conventional means, such as sewing this end closed or, if desired, gluing it using water-insoluble adhesives. The structure of the absorbent mass 21 pieces of absorbent material 22 is placed inside this bag-shaped cover and the opening end 28 is assembled to form a closure which is bonded using the water-dispersible adhesive 25 shown in Figure 1. The cover 23 may be loosely located around the agglomerate, i. it does not have to form a tightly suitable coating which would cause tensile stresses. In fact, it may be advantageous to make the surface wrap 23 too large so that it is loosely located on the absorbent body 21 and is substantially tension-free. The oversized cover tends to make the tampon soft, comfortable to feel. The oversized cover also provides room for this absorbent material to swell if wet, so that its absorbent capacity can be maintained.

In another embodiment, as shown in Figure 3, the cover 30 is somewhat longer than is necessary for the embodiment of Figure 1, so that a certain part of this cover can be fitted inwards, i. bends the agglomerate mass around one end and inwards through a certain portion of this agglomerate mass. Generally speaking, it is the part of the cover that is not inwardly bent on the outside of this cover. In this embodiment, the cover may also be tubular in shape and may have a closed end 29. The absorbent body 21 is placed inside this bag-shaped cover and the pieces 22 are shaped to form a cavity 31 in which the inwardly bent portion 3 of the cover 30 is placed so that the extreme end of this cover 30 36 is located at the innermost end in this inwardly bent portion 3 * + of the cover 30 as shown in Figure U. Bending this inwardly bent portion 3 * + into the cavity 31 forms an opening 28 in this tampon as shown in Figure 1+. When the inwardly bent part 3 ^ is bent inwards, this absorbent body 31 is located inside the cover 30, when the inwardly bent part 3 ^ is bent open as shown in Fig. 3, an outlet opening is formed at this opened end. It is preferred that the inwardly bent portion extends inwardly at least to the middle of this tampon.

The opening end 28 of this tampon of Figure 1+ therefore has no tendency to open until it is immersed in a water bath, the cover itself is flexible and does not tend to "bounce back" and the forces applied to this tampon, before and during use, are directed mainly by the rays. When the tampon according to this embodiment is thrown into the boat bath, this inwardly bent portion 31 * moves outwardly, and thus an outlet is created so that the pieces of absorbent material 22 can escape from inside the cover. This tendency for any of the embodiments of the present invention to open and disintegrate is enhanced by the turbulence or agitation of the water bath and is believed to occur because the pieces 22 move with water currents and / or have inertial forces that develop forces to open and remove the pieces. inside it.

Although it is not necessary to form a glued closure end to the end 36 of the embodiment of this Figure U, a water dispersible adhesive 25 according to Figure 1 may be used, if desired, to assist in sealing this end 36. The glued closure portion at this end 36 provides a reassurance to the critical user who is viewing the tampon, as the consumer will then notice that the pieces 22 are enclosed within the sealed cover during use.

Another embodiment of the closure part which opens to form an outlet opening is shown in Fig. 5, in which the cover 30 is sufficiently long so that its front end, i. the end 37 of the cover 30 is located adjacent the closed end 29, i. the inwardly bent portion 35 extends completely through the structure of the pieces 22. In this embodiment, as in the case of Figure 1 *, the end 37 can either be glued or not glued. If glued, a water-degradable adhesive 33 similar to the water-degradable adhesive 25 in the embodiment of Fig. 1 may be used. The extreme end 37 may be attached to the closed end 29, but not necessarily. If the extreme end 37 is attached to the closed end 29, a water-dispersible adhesive 33 can be used. The tampon of Figure 5 is thus a completely closed, water-disintegrating agglomerate tampon with an opening end 28 from which an outlet path is provided.

In an alternative embodiment, shown in Figure 1, both ends, as opposed to only one on top of this cover, may be bent inwardly into the absorbent body 21 with the ends of these inwardly turned portions located adjacent approximately at the center of this tampon. These extremes may be, but are not necessarily glued together with, a water-degradable adhesive, and each end allows the pieces to be released out of the casing. Also, these two inwardly turned extremes of the cover part may, if desired, be attached to each other by means of a water-degradable adhesive.

6 58061

An alternative tampon structure to that shown in Figure 1 that provides for the escape of absorbent material particles is a structure in which the cover is substantially tubular with closed ends and has a water-disintegrating longitudinal seam, such as seam 26 in Figure 1 or seam 32 in Figure it, which opens. when exposed to excess water. This seam may be of any type known per se, such as one in which the opposite edges forming this seam are superimposed and glued together with a water-disintegrating adhesive 27, as seen in Figure 1, which then opens when the tampon is thrown away or immersed in the toilet. -altaaseen. Thus, in this embodiment, the means of exit is a water-disintegrating longitudinal seam.

This water-disintegrating longitudinal seam may, of course, be combined with other described exit means to enhance the opening properties of this cover. These opening possibilities are enhanced by the inclusion of such a seam in the structure of this cover, since both the longitudinal seam and the end open, as a result of which the pieces 22 forming the absorbent body 21 also leave this cover radially as well as longitudinally.

In a preferred embodiment of the tampon of the present invention, the cover is a nonwoven fabric, the absorbent article is a structure of individual and discrete pieces 22 of hydrophilic, wet-swellable polyurethane foam, and the water-dispersible adhesive has a temperature-dependent and water-soluble adhesive. Although not critical to the present invention, the outer diameter of this tampon may be approximately 6 cm in diameter and the length of the tampon may also be about 6 cm. The foam that forms the absorbent body weighs about 2.5 g and is cut into pieces about 10 mm in diameter and smaller, i. they are pieces that pass through a sieve mesh with a mesh size of 10 mm. Although pieces of 10 mm and smaller have been found to work well, the size of these pieces may vary widely. The minimum acceptable size is determined by whether these pieces absorb liquid and remain inside the casing. The maximum acceptable size is determined by whether this piece is able to come out of the casing and yet still be able to pass through the drainage system. The joint structure of the pieces 22 does not have to be self-adhesive, as the cover keeps this structure together, but it is conceivable that a water-degradable joint between adjacent pieces can be used if desired.

7,58061 This preferred embodiment can be inserted into the vagina using an expandable tubular insertion tube, as is known per se to those skilled in the art of tampons. This tampon is flexibly compressed and held in this state before and during use by inserting it into the outer tube of the insertion tube. This outer tube is inserted into the vagina and the tampon is removed from the outer tube by pushing the inner tube so that it moves inside the outer tube. The insertion tube is removed from the vagina after the tampon is inserted out of the outer tube.

Absorbents that act as a highly absorbent article for the tampon of this invention include the polyurethane foams described in detail in another U.S. patent application, entitled "Flexible and Adaptive Tampon," Serial No. 172,699, filed August 18, 1971. · One such polyurethane foam is commercially available. available from the company

Scott Paper Company, Foam Division, Eddystone, Pennsylvania USA, as TMTM

Scott Hydro-Foam. This "Hydro-Foam" is hydrophilic and swellable when wet. It has a number of cells of approximately 30 cell cells per centimeter, its density

O

is about 30-37 kg / nr and the dry compression modulus (as measured by ASTM Test D1564, Compression Load Deflection Test / Subtype ζ7 modified so that the samples were 5 cm cubic) was about 0.03 kp / cm. Other three-dimensional cellular absorbents such as other gas blown foams, natural sponges and cellulosic sponges can also be used as such absorbent in this tampon.

The material used as the coating is a smooth, soft, lint-free, flexible, liquid-permeable nonwoven fabric. A biodegradable material should be considered the preferred coating. Two nonwoven nonwovens that have performed well in this surface wrap and are believed to be "biodegradable" are "Dexter 21-9", a nonwoven nonwoven fabric consisting of a mixture of approximately 60: 1 + 0 cotton and rayon glued to the impregnation rate. with the adhesive mixture "HA8u and" HA2U ", which are acrylic 2 binders from Rohm and Haas, the measured weight of this fabric being about 20-23 g / m, it is additionally hydrophobic and can be obtained from CH Dexter & Sons Co, address Windros Locks Connecticut USA and the other material is "Viskon", a 100% rayon nonwoven line glued nonwoven fabric, it is hydrophilic, weighs about 15 g / m and can be purchased from Chicopee Mils, address 1 ^ 50 Broadway, New York, NY U.S. Another nonwoven fabric, 8 58061 which has functioned satisfactorily as a coating, is the material "Reemay", a non-woven fabric of hydrophobic, spun low basis polyester, weighing about 13 g / m 2, which can be obtained from E.I. Du Pont de Nemours, Wilmington, Delaware USA.

The water degradable adhesive that can be used in the preferred embodiments of the tampon of this invention most preferably has a temperature and water solubility characteristic that is inversely proportional, i. it is insoluble at temperatures above a certain threshold temperature, but it is soluble at temperatures below this. Any such physiologically safe adhesive having a threshold temperature lower than normal body temperature but higher than sewer water temperature will perform satisfactorily, but most preferably the threshold temperature should be about 35 ° C to 21 ° C. In a satisfactory, particular embodiment of the present invention, the adhesive used had a threshold temperature of about 30 ° C so that the adhesive was insoluble inside the vagina, where it is moistened with menstrual fluids and at a temperature of about 3 ° C, i. above the threshold temperature, but it is soluble in water used in a conventional sewer system at a temperature of about 20 ° C or below. The adhesive used was called Klucel and can be purchased from Hercules, Inc., Wilmington, Delaware USA.

This adhesive Klucel is a non-ionic, water-soluble, thermoplastic cellulose material formed by reacting alkali cellulose with propylene oxide to give hydroxypropylcellulose (ether coupling) having a molecular weight of about 60,000 to 1,000,000. the molar amount of substitution is 3.0.

OH

0CH CHCH- OH

t ^ J I

CH H OCH CHCH

Hx C-0 i-O — i C -.................... C H

'' '' fi / I ^ '' 'P -____' I_p SI ti / \ pk | \ H? H / XH h / \ 0H / “1 [\ och2chch3 h / \ h / ----- 0. ........... cc 'c - o ---

H OCH CHCH_ CH

^ t J! C-OH OCH2CHCH3 OCH2CHCH3

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9 58061

Other water-degradable adhesives that can be used to form water-degradable closures in the tampon of this invention, although they do not have an inverse relationship between temperature and water solubility, include "Elvanol" available from E.I. Du Pont de Nemours, Wilmington, Delaware USA, and "Carbovax," available from Union Carbide, address 2? 0 Park Ave, New York, N.Y. 10017 USA. "Elvanol" is a water-soluble polyvinyl alcohol with a typical structure as follows: --- CH -CH-CH0-CH-CH0-CH- 2 | 2, 2 |

OH OH OH

"Elvanol" adhesive is generally used in combination with a plasticizer such as Gly-serine to give it a low solution viscosity. "Carbowax", on the other hand, is an ethylene oxide polymer (called polyethylene glycol) having a typical structural formula as shown below.

HO-CH - (CHo-O-CH) -CH -OH 2 2 2 n 2 n = average number of oxyethylene groups per molecule. The substances "Carbowax 1,000" and up to "Carbowax 6,000" are waxy water-soluble solids suitable for certain hot melt applications.

One material that has worked well as a removal rope is a water-resistant cotton rope with 5/3 threads and a tensile strength of 1+ kg. Such a string can be obtained from Bibb Manufacturing Company, Macon Georgia USA, under the tradename "5/3 stranded Sno-spun bleached 108 cotton string". The waterproofing of this cord has been implemented to prevent absorption along the cord inside this cord, which could result in menstrual bleeding fluids outside the vagina, which would stain the wearer's clothing.

Thus, it is apparent that the present invention provides an absorbent tampon that fully satisfies the purposes, purposes, and advantages listed above. Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description that many alternatives, modifications, and variations may be practiced. Accordingly, it is intended that all such alternatives, variations, and modifications be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (11)

A menstrual swab comprising an absorbent mass (20) consisting of pieces of three-dimensional cellular absorbent material (22) and a flexible, liquid-permeable cover surrounding the mass, characterized in that the cover (23, 30) has an absorbent mass (20) remover. a part (26, 28, 32) which remains closed before and during use and opens under the influence of water when the tampon is discarded after use, e.g. in a toilet bowl, and the pieces of absorbent material (22) then escape from the cover (23, 30 ). Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the outlet part is closed by means of a closure part provided by a water-degradable adhesive (25, 27, 33). Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the adhesive (25, 27, 33) has an inversely proportional temperature-water solubility ratio and that the temperature threshold is between about 35 ° C and 21 ° C. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the cover is substantially tubular and in that the closing part is formed by a longitudinal water-impermeable seam (26) of the cover. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the cover is tubular and the closing part consists of an assembled end part (36) of the cover. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the closure part further comprises a longitudinal water-impermeable seam (32) of the cover, which extends up to one collected end part of the cover. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the removal part comprises an inwardly bent part (3 * 0) of the cover (30), this inwardly twice bent part being an end part of the cover which is turned inwards by the mass (20) formed by the pieces (22). around the head and through the mass, the mass (20) being located in the region of this inwardly bent portion between the outer portion of the cover and its inserted portion, and the inserted portion extending at least about halfway through the tampon. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that said discharge part consists of an inwardly bent part (3 ^) at both ends of the tampon. 11 58061 Device according to Claim 7, characterized in that the extreme end (36) of the inwardly bent section is collected as a sealing part and in that the closing part is held together by a water-disintegrating adhesive. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the closed end (37) of the inwardly bent portion is located next to the opposite closed end (29) of the cover (30), Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the closed end (37) of the inwardly bent portion (3 * 0) is attached to the opposite closed end (29) of the cover (30) using a water-degradable adhesive (33). Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the cover (30) is tubular and that the discharge part also comprises a longitudinal seam (32) extending to the end (36) of the inwardly bent part, this seam (32) containing a water-disintegrating adhesive. agent. 12 „Ä Ä 58061