GB2173990A

GB2173990A - Female incontinence briefs and pants

Info

Publication number: GB2173990A
Application number: GB08517871A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham Emery Steer
Original assignee: Craig Medical Products Ltd
Current assignee: Craig Medical Products Ltd
Priority date: 1985-04-29
Filing date: 1985-07-16
Publication date: 1986-10-29
Also published as: GB8517871D0

Abstract

A pair of briefs or pants for wear by a female includes a pocket in the crotch region of which an inner wall and an outer wall are of liquid impermeable material such as thin rubber or rubberised cloth. The pocket is open at a region facing towards the vagina (when the briefs or pants are being worn), and the edges of the opening are partly or wholly elasticated. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Female incontinence briefs and pants This invention relates to incontinence briefs and pants for wear by females.

Prior proposals for pants provided with means for attaching or accommodating pads to absorb urine or menstrual discharge are to be found in numerous prior patent specifications, for example British Patent Specifications Nos. 292,464; 358,765; 436,869; 855,020; 878,455; and 888,827.

It has been proposed in British Patent No. 1143419 that a so-called sanitary slip should have a flexible support for containing or locating an absorbent member. The slip and support have and are connected together by corresponding fastening elements. British Patent No. 1178212 discloses a sanitary garment comprising a stretchable body of pantieform having in its crutch section a lining of waterproof material, the ends of which are respectively attached to the front and back panels of the pantie form, whereas its side edges are gathered to the respective adjoining leg openings, the lining at each end being further covered with sections of waterproof material forming a front and a back pocket for inserting the ends of an absorbent pad, such as a sanitary napkin.In such a garment there is folded a double layer of thin waterproof material weldable to the lining and welded thereto through a pair of spaced welding seams forming a gap for maintaining the end of the absorbent pad.

It has been proposed for example in British Patent No. 1441087 (KANGA) to provide a pocket for a pad of absorbent material which in use absorbs accidentally-discharged urine. For briefs or pants intended for normal or daily wear rather than hospital or geriatric use, it is desirable to have a pocket which (1) allows easy insertion and removal of a pad, (2) securely retains a pad in position once inserted, (3) is comfortable, (4) does not bulge and is unobtrusive and (5) prevents so far as possible any urine reaching fabric parts of the garment. The present invention has been developed in an attempt to address these conflicting and demanding require- ments.

According to one aspect of the invention, a pair of briefs or pants for wear by a female includes a pocket in the crotch region of which an inner wall and an outer wall are of liquid impermeable material such as thin rubber or rubberised cloth, the pocket being open at a region facing towards the vagina (when the briefs or pants herein called pants merely for brevity and with no intention of limitation) are worn by a wearer, the edges of the opening being partly or wholly elasticated.

In this specification the words inner and outer are used in relation to a garment as worn.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a pair of pants includes a pocket located in the crotch region and defined by an outer wall of a liquidimpermeable material which is longer than it is wide and an inner wall of like material whose edges define a substantially oval hole, these edges being crossed over one another at one end of the pocket.

An advantage of this arrangement is that it allows easy insertion of an absorbent pad and yet securely retains the absorbent pad in its effective position during normal wear, including during sporting activities.

With such an arrangement, the outer and inner walls are positioned so as to retain, in use, the elongate absorbent pad in the pocket with its marginal edges sandwiched between the inner and outer walls and its central region in registry with the hole ready to absorb any urine which may be discharged.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in a pair of pants or briefs for incontinence use, a pocket which can receive an absorbent pad has an inner cover formed by a fabric wall having a double fold structure. This inner wall separates the skin of the wearer from the inner pocket wall. Such a wall may be made of a liquid-permeable fabric. An advantage of this is that by use of a double fold structure the resulting garment is more comfortable.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a pocket inner wall may itself be formed by material having a folded structure which provides two flaps strengthened at their edge regions by a double thickness of material, and which can be separated for insertion of an absorbent pad, while# only needing two seaming operations during manufacture.

Further features of the invention will be better understood from the following non-limiting description of examples thereof given with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:~ Figure 1 is a front view of a pair of pants in accordance with one example of the invention; Figure 2 is a sketch showing the shape of two liquid impermeable panels which may be used to define a pocket for receiving an absorbent pad in the pants of Figure 1; and Figure 3 illustrates in cross section a double fold structure usable in pants or briefs according to the invention.

In the drawings, like numerals represent like parts.

The invention aims to provide versatile pants especially suitable for wear by active persons who suffer mild incontinence. Moreover, it is an advantage of the arrangements disclosed herein that the pants approximate as closely as possible to currently available styles and fashions intended for those not incontinent. This is important for user acceptability.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the illustrated briefs 10 have front and rear panels 12, 14 of conventional elasticated fabric, a waist band 16 and a crotch portion 18. The crotch portion has a pocket therein defined by an outer wall 20 and inner walls 22, 24 of liquid impermeable material which may be a liquid impermeable sheet or fabric. The outer wall 20 is located within but closely adjacent to and parallel to the fabric of the crotch portion of the briefs. The inner walls 22,24 define a shaped hole 26 (Figure 2) therein which during wear is the path for any expelled urine to reach an absorbent pad (not shown for clarity of illustration). The pad is located in a "pouch" formed between the outer wall 20 and the inner walls 22, 24.The hole 26 has its boundary defined by the edges 28,30 of the respective walls 22,24 and these edges are preferably elasticated.

They may be provided with a suitable binding. The hole 26 is illustrated as substantially oval but may be of any convenient shape.

The two walls or panels 20,22, 24 are held in place in part by seams 32 which are near to the rim seams 34 of the leg holes and in part by a cross-seam 36 which connects the rear panel 14 to the ends 38,40 of the walls 20,22,24. At the front of the garment, a cross seam 42 connects the end 44 (Figure 2) of the wall or panel 20 to the front fabric panel 12. The corresponding ends 46 and 48 of the respective inner walls 22,24 are seamed to the front panel 12 by the seam 42 but the walls 22,24 overlap and are not sewn together at their edges to provide a gap between the panels. This gap is at the top front end of the pocket and serves to facilitate insertion and removal of an absorbent pad (not shown).

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 3, which is a cross section taken in a substantially horizontal plane at a location in the pants corresponding to A-A in Figure 1. However, it is to be noted that the structure shown in Figure 3 is not that employed in Figures 1 and 2, but is an alternative employing an extra panel having a double fold structure.

In Figure 3, the conventional outer fabric of the crotch portion is shown at 118 and a pocket formed by liquid impermeable panels 120 and 122 contains an absorbent pad indicated at 123. The side seams of the pocket are indicated diagrammatically at 146 and 148. There is a hole 124 in the inner panel 122 for the same purpose as the hole 24 in the pants of Figures 1 and 2. A liquid-permeable fabric 149 is arranged in a double fold structure and held in place overthe hole 124 by the seams diagrammatically indicated by numerals 146, 148. The presence of this extra wall of fabric has been found to give improved comfort to some wearers.

It will be seen that there have been particularly described and illustrated herein pants for female wear which can accommodate an absorbent pad, which are comfortable to wear, which are of a modern fashionable design, and in which the pad can readily be removed and replaced with the minimum of awkward manipulation by the wearer.

Claims

1. A pair of briefs or pants for wear by a female includes a pocket in the crotch region of which an innerwall and an outer wall are of liquid impermeable material such as thin rubber or rubberised cloth, the pocket being open at a region facing towards the vagina when the briefs or pants are being worn by a wearer, the edges of the opening being partly or wholly elasticated.

2. A pair of pants or briefs for female wear including a pocket located in the crotch region and defined by an outer wall of a liquid-impermeable material which is longer than it is wide and an inner wall of like material whose edges define a substantially oval hole, these edges being crossed over one another at one end of the pocket.

3. A pair of pants or briefs for female wear includes a pocket which can receive an absorbent pad, the pocket having an inner cover formed by a fabric wall having a double fold structure, the inner wall being arranged to separate the skin of the wearer from the inner pocket wall when the pants or briefs are being worn.

4. A pair of pants or briefs for incontinent females having a pocketforcontaining an absorbent pad, the pocket being substantially defined by inner and outer walls, the pocket inner wall may itself be formed by material having a folded structure which provides two flaps strengthened at their edge regions by a double thickness of material, and which can be separated for insertion of an absorbent pad, while only needing two seaming operations during manufacture.

5. A pair of pants or briefs substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

6. Any novel combination or sub-combination disclosed and/or illustrated herein.