GB2357246A - Breast pad - Google Patents

Abstract

An absorbent breast pad (1) in which the inner surface (3) has depressions (5,6) formed therein to permit air flow between the pad and the woman's breast. Preferably, the pad has a central primary depression (5) surrounded by a plurality of secondary elliptical shaped depressions (6) each connected to the primary depression (5) by a channel (7). Also disclosed is a breast pad which has a cut-out section (8) in its upper region to allow the pad to adapt to the shape of the breast without crossing.

Description

i 1 ; 2357246 --,\ -1- BREAST PAD This invention relates to breast pads

for absorbing the lactal exudate from a female breast.

It is a common problem with women following child birth that milk seeps from their breasts between feeds. This can cause embarrassment for the mother if not properly dealt with as her clothes can become soaked with milk leaving unsightly stains. Also, the wet fabric of her clothes or brassiere can chafe her already sore nipples causing excessive discomfort, particularly if they are already sore and cracked.

Paper or fabric pads are known which the mother inserts in her brassiere to soak up the lactated milk. However, these pads suffer from various problems which make them either uncomfortable to wear or difficult to use. For instance, many are planar in shape which means that they have to be folded or pleated to form them into a cone-shape before they can he inserted into her brassiere or around her breasts. These folds or pleats are uncomfortable to wear and mother's tend not to like them as they can be visible through her clothes.

Another problem with known pads is that they are designed for maximum absorbency which means that they quickly become soaked with milk and the soaked pad can then rub against the woman's already sore nipples thereby exacerbating rather than solving her problem.

A further problem with known breast pads is that they tend to contact the woman's breast directly so there is no possibility for air to circulate therebetween which would assist in drying out the soaked pad and reducing irritation.

It is an object of the present invention therefore to provide a breast pad which overcomes or substantially reduces the aforementioned problems.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an absorbent breast pad having at least one moisture absorbent layer with an inner surface which contacts the wearer's breast and has at least one depression formed in the central region thereof to provide, in use, a space between the woman's breast and the inner surface of the pad in which air can circulate, the inner surface and the or each adjacent absorbent layer being compressed to form the or each depression in such a way that only the area around the or each depression can swell as the pad absorbs milk.

Preferably the material of the at least one moisture absorbent layer is compressed to form the or each depression.

Conveniently a primary depression is formed centrally in the pad and surrounded by a plurality of secondary discrete depressions. In the preferred embodiment, the secondary depressions are circumferentially equidistantly spaced from each other around the central primary depression.

Preferably, each secondary depression is connected to the primary depression by means of a channel.

In the preferred embodiment, each secondary depression is elliptical in shape and the central depression is circular.

Preferably, the pad is moulded into a part spherical configuration with a part of the periphery of the pad being removed to provide an arcuate cut-out segment.

Preferably the inner and outer faces of the periphery of the pad are compressed together to form a hard outer edge which contains any moisture within the pad.

The pad preferably comprises a plurality of different layers. In the preferred embodiment, the absorbent layer is a silica gel bonded fabric sold under the Trade Mark OASIS which is sandwiched between a LICONTROL dry weave fabric and a PE backing material which may be coated with a non-woven fabric to provide the exterior surface of the pad.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a rear view of a breast pad of the invention; Figure 2 is a front view of the breast pad shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross section through a pad of the invention along the lines 111-111 showing one form of laminate construction; and Figure 4 is a cross section through a second embodiment of the pad of the invention showing a second laminate construction.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 1 a moulded breast pad 1 of the invention which has substantially circular periphery 4 except that its upper region has a segment 8 removed therefrom to provide an arcuate depression 9. The purpose of this depression 9 is to enable the pad to more closely adapt to the shape of the woman's breast when fitted thereto. The pad 1 has an outer surface 2 and an inner surface 3.

The inner surface 3 is compressed to provide a primary recess 5 which is preferably centrally located in the pad. A series of elliptical or petal shaped depressions 6 are arranged around the primary recess or depression 5 and each one is connected to said central depression 5 by means of a conduit or channel 7. In the illustrated embodiment, five petal shaped depressions 6 are arranged around the central depression 5 but it will be appreciated that any number of depressions 6 can be arranged around the central depression 5 and that the depressions 5 and 6 can be of any shape.

An adhesive strip 16 is provided on the front face 2 of the pad 1 and covered by a pull-off protective strip or paper (not shown). This allows the pad to be attached to the inside of the wearer's brassiere and prevents it moving or becoming dislodged.

Referring now to Figure 3, the laminate construction of the breast pad can be seen in more detail to comprise a super absorbent middle layer 11 sandwiched between an inner dry weave layer 10 and an outer barrier layer 12. The inner dry weave layer 10 is preferably made of a soft non, woven material such as LICONIROL. The middle layer 11 can be made from any suitable super absorbent material such as fibre coated with silica gel, a cross-linked acrylate copolymer in fibre form. The super absorbent material sold under the Trade Mark OASIS and produced by Technical Absorbents Limited has been found to be particularly suitable.

The outer layer 12 is preferably made of a liquid impervious plastics material such as polyethylene to stop any liquid absorbed by the layers and 11 permeating through to the outside of the pad.

Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment in which an extra layer 10a made, for instance, of paper pulp has been added for increased softness and a further layer 13 made, for instance, of one-way paper are sandwiched between the inner layer 10 and the absorbent layer 11. The polyethylene barrier layer 12 is optionally covered with a non-woven outer layer 15 to render the pad "rustle-free" and "anti-slip".

The central primary depression 5 and the petal shaped depressions 6 surrounding it are formed by compressing the material of all the layers.

The flat peripheral edge 4 is formed in the same way. As a result of this construction, when lactated milk contacts the inner surface 3, it is absorbed into it and the inner surface 3 swells and expands and increases in height. The bottom of the petal shaped depressions 6 and the central depression 5 however cannot expand as all the fibres thereof are heavily compressed together. As a result, the depth of the depressions 5 and 6 increases as the surrounding inner surface area 3 swells as it absorbs milk and a network of air pockets made up of depressions 6 connected by channels 7 to the central depression 5 is formed between the woman's breast and the interior surface 3 of the breast pad 1 in which air can circulate. This aeration of the areola region of the woman's breast enhances the comfort of wearing the pad. This is further assisted by the cut-out 9 formed in the top edge of the pad which enables the pad to more closely fit to the woman's breast without any creases or folds therein.

The super absorbent layer 11 preferably has a minimum absorbency of 45mI making it more absorbent than any known prior art pads.

The pad can be impregnated with any suitable anti-bacterial agent for odour suppression such as MICROBAN made and sold by Microban Products Co of North Carolina, USA or the agent sold under the trade name IRGASAN DP 300.

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Claims (22)

Claims

1. An absorbent breast pad having at least one moisture absorbent layer with an inner surface which contacts the wearer's breast and has at least one depression formed in the central region thereof to provide, im use, a space between the woman's breast and the inner surface of the pad in which air can circulate, the inner surface and the or each adjacent absorbent layer being compressed to form the or each depression in such a way that only the area around the or each depression can swell as the pad absorbs milk.

2. A pad as claimed in claim 1 wherein a primary depression is formed centrally in the pad.

3. A pad as claimed in claim 2 wherein the primary depression is surrounded by a plurality of secondary depressions.

4. A pad as claimed in claim 3 wherein the secondary depressions are circumferentially equidistantly spaced from each other.

5. A pad as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 wherein each secondary depression is connected to the primary depression by a channel.

6. A pad as claimed in claim any of claims 3-5 wherein each secondary depression is elliptical in shape.

7. A pad as claimed in claim 2 wherein the central depression is circular.

8. A pad as claimed in any preceding claim which is generally disc shaped.

9. A pad as claimed in claim 8 wherein the pad is part spherical in shape.

10. A pad as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 wherein a part of the periphery of the pad has an arcuate segment removed therefrom.

11. A pad as claim in any preceding claim wherein the inner and outer faces of the periphery of the pad are compressed together to form a hard outer edge region which contains any moisture within the pad.

12. A pad as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the or at least one moisture absorbent layer is a super absorbent middle layer sandwiched between a dry weave inner layer and a waterproof outer layer.

13. A pad as claimed in claim 12 wherein the inner layer is made of soft non-woven material.

14. A pad as claimed in claim 12 or claim 13 wherein the super absorbent middle layer is made of a cross-linked acrylate copolymer fibre.

15. A pad as claimed in any of claims 12-14 wherein the outer layer is made of polyethylene.

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16. A pad as claimed in any of claims 12-14 wherein a paper pulp layer is interposed between the inner layer and the absorbent middle layer.

17. A pad as claimed in claim 16 wherein a one-way paper layer is interposed between the paper pulp layer and the absorbent middle layer.

18. A pad as claimed in any of claims 12-17 wherein the waterproof outer layer is covered with a non-woven layer.

19. An absorbent breast pad substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

20. An. absorbent breast pad having a cut-out section in its upper peripheral region which allows the pad to adapt to the shape of the woman's breast without creasing.

21. A pad as claimed in claim 20 wherein the periphery of the pad is substantially circular and the cut-out section is an arcuate segment removed therefrom.

22. A pad as claimed in claim 20 or claim 21 wherein the pad is part spherical in shape.