GB2285428A - Body hygiene package including condom disposal container - Google Patents

Abstract

A body hygiene package for personal cleanliness after sexual intercourse in which a condom has been used comprises a condom disposal container (3) having closure means (5) and a container wall (4) which is non-transparent and substantially watertight and a body wiper (2) formed of an area of moisture absorbent sheet material. The disposal container (3) and wiper (2) may be enclosed in an outer cover (1) which may also contain a condom. The disposal container (3) may itself comprise at least one layer or area of absorbent material so that it can serve as the wiper. Container (3) may be a draw-string bag or a bag closable by tucking in a flap or by means of an adhesive strip. The bag may be of plastics film and/or non-woven fabric and may be gussetted. <IMAGE>

Description

BODY HYGIENE PACKAGE This invention relates to a body hygiene package. It relates particularly to a package for personal use after sexual intercourse to promote bodily hygiene and which includes a container for a disposable contraceptive.

For safe sex, the use of a condom is generally recommended but when the condom has served its purpose and is then removed from the body, a problem arises about what is to be done with the discarded condom. There does not seem to be any standard or normally accepted method of finally disposing of the used condom. Some users would be inclined to place it in the household refuse bin but there is always a risk that it will later come into the view of another member of the household and cause curiosity or embarassment. It therefore becomes necessary to conceal the condom in a wrapper and ensure that this is buried amongst other material in the bin. The chosen wrapper will generally be a makeshift cover, perhaps a scrap of paper, and there is still a risk that this is likely to fall open again especially when placed in an atmosphere of high humidity.

There is also a common tendency for the disposal to be effected by flushing the condom away down the household toilet.

This practice leads to water wastage and causes problems at the sewage disposal plant. Sometimes these problems can lead to pollution of holiday beaches and the adjacent sea areas.

This has led to some condom packets being marked with a clear warning that to dispose of the condom by flushing it down the toilet is not an acceptable disposal method.

The disposal problems are aggravated when one is temporarily away from home, for example staying in an hotel or on a visit abroad.

It should be possible to recommend a disposal method which is compatible with good modern hygiene and environmental care and which is readily available to the condom user. The present invention was devised in an attempt to provide a more satisfactory solution to the disposal problem.

According to the invention, there is provided a body hygiene package comprising a body wiper and a contraceptive disposal container. Conveniently, the package is provided with an impermeable outer cover which encloses the body wiper and container. The package may additionally include a disposable contraceptive.

There are some people who, after sexual intercourse, prefer to separate immediately from their partner in order to wash the body and remove any traces of extraneous body fluid. However, there are also people who consider that it is better not to abruptly interrupt the bodily contact with the partner and the body wiper part of the invention provides means for removing any fluid droplets whilst remaining in physical contact. The prolongation of the body contact is considered by many to be the most satisfactory way of bringing the act to a pleasant conclusion.

The disposal container will preferably be made of an opaque material and it will be provided with a readily secured closure means. When the disposal container is a plastics film bag, the closure means may include a fold-over bag top, a flap to be tucked behind a plastics strip or with a selfadhesive fastener, a fastener of interlocking moulded plastics parts or a draw-string closure.

The body wiper may be an area of an absorbent material such as cotton fabric or a paper having a high wet strength.

In one embodiment, the body wiper is capable of being used firstly as a fluid absorbent medium and then secondly as the disposal container.

In a further embodiment, the body wiper is of a generally rectilinear shape with a draw-string arranged round its periphery so that the wiper, after initial use, may be drawn into a bag-like shape to serve as the disposal container. The wiper may alternatively be polygonal or circular in shape. One side of the wiper may be given a partially or completely waterproof coating so that this side can be arranged as the outside surface of the disposal container which is to be formed.

In order to improve the pleasantness or hygienic benefit of using the body wiper, the material of this may be impregnated with a perfume, a cleansing, antiseptic or spermicidal preparation which will serve to increase its efficacy. Other compounds such as preservatives may be present.

By way of example, some particular embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows the complete body hygiene package, Figures 2A, 2B and 2C show a modification in which the body wiper part of the package is arranged to serve subsequently as a disposal container, Figure 3 shows the body wiper when opened out to prepare for the wiping function, Figure 4 shows an embodiment in which an outer wall of the disposal container can be used additionally as the body wiper1 Figures 5A, 5B and SC show a further embodiment in which a disposal container in the shape of an envelope has a closure flap which can be used as a body wiper1 Figure 6 shows an alternative embodiment in which a disposal container as in Figure 5 has a closure flap secured by an adhesive strip, Figures 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D and 7E show a different embodiment where the body hygiene package with body wiper includes a separate compartment for a condom packet, and, Figure 8 shows another embodiment in which the body wiper after use can be converted to act as a disposal container for a condom.

As depicted in Figure 1, the body hygiene package in a basic construction comprises an outer cover 1 which encloses a body wiper 2 and a contraceptive disposal container 3. The outer cover 1 which is formed of a moisture proof paper serves to prevent any contamination of the package contents until these are required to be used. The body wiper 2 is an area of a moisture absorbent material which in this embodiment is a wet laid non-woven fabric.

The disposal container 3 is a plastics film envelope having a container part 4 and a flap 5 which may be folded over and tucked behind a plastics strip 6 in order to seal the envelope. The material of the disposal container is an opaque plastics film so that the envelope contents will not be seen after the envelope has been closed.

In use of the body hygiene package, after sexual intercourse in which a disposable contraceptive has been used, the outer cover 1 is broken open and the contraceptive for disposal is placed in the container 3 which is then closed.

The body wiper 2 is next unfolded and utilised to remove unwanted moisture droplets from the relevant body areas.

The body wiper 2 and disposal container 3 may then be placed on one side until there comes a convenient time for them to be finally disposed of in the household refuse bin. When this has been done, the appearance of these articles is relatively nondescript and they will be of no interest among the other household refuse.

Figure 2A shows a different construction in which the body wiper and disposal container are combined into a single unit. The outer cover 1 thus encloses the combination disposal container 7 which is a draw-string bag (Figure 2B) folded into the shape of a circle sector. The bag is formed with side walls 8 of non-woven fabric and draw-strings 9 which serve to secure the bag after the used contraceptive has been placed therein (Figure 2C).

Figure 3 shows the combination disposal container 7 of Figure 2 with the bag side walls 8 in an opened-out condition.

In this condition, the material of the wall 8 forms a convenient body wiper and after the wiping operation, the bag wall may be shaped into its container format to allow the contraceptive to be placed therein and the container may then be sealed by pulling on the draw strings 9. The resulting closed bag is reasonably elegant in appearance and it will not tend to fall open after the strings 9 have been secured.

In order to improve the disposal container 7, the bag side walls 8 may be provided with an outer layer of a non water-perishable material such as a plastics film. This will remove any tendency for the closed bag to leak moisture and the plastice film might be printed with a decorative pattern or written information.

Figure 4 shows a different embodiment where the disposal container 7 has a box-like shape with a moisture absorbent outer wall 11 and a waterproof inner wall 12. The walls are secured together at three edges leaving one edge open. In use, the condom for disposal is placed within the inner walls 12 and the absorbent outer wall 11 can then be used for the wiping operation. For final disposal, the container 7 is folded in half and two surfaces of the outer wall 11 are secured together by the action of an adhesive strip 13.

The container is thereby formed into a compact wallet shape with the condom sealed inside and it may be placed in a refuse bin with other household rubbish.

Figure 5 shows a further embodiment in which a disposal container is formed of a plastics film envelope 14 having a flap closure 16 of a moisture absorbent material. In use of this disposal container, the flap closure 16 is usable on both sides for wiping the body as necessary and the used condom can be placed in the envelope 14 part either before or after the wiping operation. The flap closure 16 may then be folded to insert it in the envelope, Figures 5B and 5C. A top part of the resulting envelope can be folded over to form a more secure closure.

Figure 6 shows an alternative arrangement in which the flap closure 16 carries an adhesive strip 17 and this may be folded over externally of the envelope 14 and thereby be secured against a corresponding strip 18 on the envelope outer surface.

Figure 7 depicts another embodiment where the hygiene package outer cover 1 is constructed mainly of card with a tear off lid 19 (Figure 7A). The container which remains has a pocket 21 (Figure 7B) for a condom packet 20, a compartment 22 for a body wiper (not shown) and a flap closure 23. Between the pocket 21 and the compartment 22 a breakable seal 24 (Figure 7C) is located so that the hygiene package may be expanded (Figure 7D) after use of the contents to permit the used body wiper and condom to be inserted before the closure is effected. The closing operation (Figure 7D) is facilitated by an adhesive strip 26 on the flap closure 23 which enables the closure to be sealed after it has been folded over the open top of the cover 1. The resulting sealed disposal container (Figure 7E) is then able to be disposed of conveniently and satisfactorily in a household refuse bin.

Figure 8 shows a further embodiment where the body wiper can be converted to act as the disposal container. In this instance, the disposal container 3 is formed as a rectangular bag which is made of a wet laid non-woven fabric that is laminated to a plastics film material. The plastics film which in this embodiment is a polyethylene compound thus forms an inner wall of the bag. The polyethylene film is in a micro embossed state which has been found to have a sensitive feel, to be waterproof and it does not tend to resonate (crackle) when handled. The film can also be printed on, if this effect is required, to decorate or disguise the appearance of the final closed disposal container.

The disposal container 3 additionally includes a draw string 9 which is located in a tunnel formed at a top opening edge of the rectangular bag.

In use of the body wiper of Figure 8, the rectangular bag is of such a size that several fingers or a hand can be placed within the open end of the bag so that it can be used somewhat like a glove having surfaces of absorbent material on both sides. Upon completion of the wiping operation, the bag is removed from the hand and it is then turned inside out so that the outside of the bag is replaced by the clean plastics surface that was formerly inside. By turning the bag inside out, the body wiper becomes converted to its disposal container form and the discarded condom may be placed within this container. The container is then closed by pulling on the draw string 9 so that the condom becomes securely retained in the container and then this may be disposed of safely in the household refuse bin.

The body hygiene package of the invention has been found to be a convenient accessory for the condom user since it provides means for finally disposing of the used condom in an aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly manner. The package may include its own condom packet, if required, and it has the potential for becoming a standard package in which a disposable contraceptive is sold. It is an article that could be sold conveniently from an automatic coin operated machine.

The body hygiene package can thus serve to encourage users to take a responsible attitude towards the disposal of used contraceptives and ensure that these are always discarded in a relatively unnoticeable outer container.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been given by way of example only and a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

For instance, where the body wiper part of the hygiene package is a towellette which has been pre-moistened with a suitable water based solution to improve the wiping qualities, the wiper may be provided with its own waterproof cover so that there will be a reduced tendency for the moisture to dry out during the storage life of the package.

Claims (10)

1 A body hygiene package comprising an outer cover within which is enclosed a condom disposal container having closure means and a container wall which is non-transparent and substantially watertight, the cover additionally enclosing a body wiper formed of an area of moisture absorbent sheet material.

2 A package as claimed in Claim 1, in which the cover further encloses a condom.

3 A package as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, in which the condom disposal container includes an area of a moisture absorbent sheet material arranged such that it may be used as the body wiper.

4 A package as claimed in Claim 3, in which the body wiper material is attached to the condom disposal container by a breakable joint whereby the wiper material may be detached from the container to facilitate its use as a wiper.

5 A package as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, in which the said body wiper is housed in its own sealed wrapper within the hygiene package.

6 A package as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the disposal container is formed as a bag from a plastics film material.

7 A package as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the disposal container is formed as a bag from a non-woven fabric material.

8 A package as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, in which the disposal container is formed as a bag from a plastics film material laminated to a fabric material.

9 A package as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, in which the closure means is a draw-string closure.

10 A body hygiene package substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying draw rigs.