JP4212464B2 - Sanitary tampons - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sanitary tampon housed in an applicator.

  When an applicator containing a tampon is inserted into the vaginal cavity, it may be difficult to insert the applicator when the skin is dry or the amount of menstrual blood is small. When this happens, it is easy to give the user a mental anxiety that the insertion fails or that the insertion feels painful.

  In order to facilitate the insertion of the applicator, it has been proposed to apply a special resin for reducing the surface friction of the applicator to the surface of the applicator. It has also been proposed to apply a lubricant jelly to the surface of the applicator in advance (see Patent Document 1).

  However, if lubricating jelly is applied in advance, foreign matter or the like is likely to adhere to the surface of the applicator to which the jelly is applied when the applicator is stored, and it cannot be said that it is hygienic. Further, during storage, the jelly may adhere to a part of the applicator where the jelly is not applied, for example, a part to be gripped by hand, and the jelly is likely to adhere to a finger, clothing or the like during use.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-117628

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary tampon that can eliminate the various disadvantages of the above-described prior art.

The present invention is accommodated in the outer cylinder in an applicator provided with an outer cylinder for accommodating a tampon and an inner cylinder for pushing out the tampon from a front end opening of the outer cylinder, and at least the outer cylinder is A sanitary tampon individually packaged with packaging material,
Provided is a sanitary tampon in which a lubricant is held in a sealed state inside the packaging material, and the lubricant is applied to the outer cylinder by releasing the sealed state of the lubricant. The above-mentioned purpose is achieved.

  According to the present invention, since the lubricant and the applicator are isolated until the tampon is used, it is difficult for foreign matter to adhere to the applicator and it is hygienic. Further, since the lubricant does not adhere to the hand gripped part of the applicator, the lubricant does not adhere to the fingers or clothing during use.

  The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. 1A to 1C show schematic views of a first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the sanitary tampon 1 is accommodated in an applicator 4 having an outer cylinder 2 and an inner cylinder 3. The outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 are made of plastic, for example, or made of paperboard coated or laminated with plastic. A sanitary tampon 1 is accommodated inside the outer cylinder 2. The tampon 1 has a drawing string extending from the rear end thereof, and the string extends through the inner cylinder 3 to the outside of the applicator 4.

  The entire applicator 4 including the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 is packaged by a packaging material 5. Specifically, the packaging material 5 is a vertically long bag, and the entire applicator 4 is hermetically stored in the bag. As a result, the applicator 4 (and the tampon 1 housed therein) is individually packaged.

  The outer cylinder 2 in the applicator 4 has a circular cross section, and is composed of a large diameter portion 2A and a small diameter portion 2B connected to the large diameter portion 2A and having a smaller diameter than the large diameter portion 2A. Yes. The large diameter portion 2A side is the front side of the applicator 1, and the small diameter portion 2B side is the rear side. The diameter of the large diameter portion 2A is about 10 to 20 mm. The outer cylinder 2 has a front end opening 6 formed of a radial slit at the front end thereof. . A number of pieces 7 are formed in the front end opening 6 by the slits. The piece 7 is flexible enough to be deformed. When the napkin 1 is inserted into the vaginal cavity, the tampon 1 is pushed from behind by an inner cylinder 3 which will be described later, and the pushed tampon 1 pushes the piece 7 and goes out of the outer cylinder 2.

  The inner cylinder 3 is in the shape of a long and narrow bar and has a circular cross section. The inner cylinder 3 has openings at both front and rear ends. The outer diameter of the inner cylinder 3 matches or is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the small diameter portion 2B of the outer cylinder 2. The inner cylinder 3 is slidably inserted into an opening formed at the rear end of the outer cylinder 2. The inner cylinder 3 can be pushed out from the front end opening 6 of the outer cylinder 3 by pushing the tampon 1 from the rear. The front end side of the inner cylinder 3 is expanded toward the opening to form an expanded portion 8. When the inner cylinder 3 is pulled out from the outer cylinder 2 as shown in FIG. 1A, the expanded portion 8 is engaged with a connecting portion between the large diameter portion 2A and the small diameter portion 2B in the outer cylinder 2. Stopped. This prevents the inner cylinder 3 from being pulled out from the outer cylinder 2.

  The packaging material 5 is formed of a vertically long bag as described above, and has a front end portion 5a and a rear end portion 5b at front and rear ends in the longitudinal direction. The packaging material 5 has a sealed space at its front end 5a. The lubricant 10 is held in a sealed state in the sealed space. That is, the lubricant 10 is hermetically held by the front end 5 a that is the end of the packaging material 5 that faces the front end opening 6 of the outer cylinder 2.

  The sealed space in which the lubricant 10 is held is formed by providing the separating means 9 at the front end portion 5 a of the packaging material 5. The separating means 9 is formed, for example, by sealing the packaging material 5 in the width direction by an adhesive or fusion. Or it forms by sticking the sheet | seat material different from the packaging material 5 on the inner surface of the front-end part 5a so that sealed space may be formed in the front-end part 5a.

  The tampon of this embodiment is stored in the state shown in FIG. In this state, since the lubricant 10 and the applicator 4 are separated, the applicator 4 (and the tampon 1) can be stored in a sanitary manner. In addition, since the lubricant 10 does not adhere to the applicator 4 during storage (particularly, the lubricant does not adhere to the inner cylinder 3 that is a part to be gripped by hand), it can be applied to fingers or clothing during use. Lubricant does not adhere.

  When using the tampon of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1B, the applicator 4 is placed in the packaging material 5 while the applicator 4 is held in the front end 5 a of the packaging material 5. Push it out to the side. By this extrusion, the separating means 9 formed on the packaging material 5 is broken, and the sealing state of the lubricant 10 is released. The front end portion of the outer cylinder 2 enters the lubricant 10 due to the destruction of the separating means 9. As a result, the lubricant 10 is applied to the surface of the outer cylinder 2. After the lubricant 10 is sufficiently applied to the surface of the outer cylinder 2, the applicator 4 is taken out from the packaging material 5 as shown in FIG. In this state, since the lubricant 10 is sufficiently applied to the surface of the outer cylinder 2, the applicator 4 can be smoothly inserted into the vaginal cavity. Moreover, since the lubricant 10 is applied to the outer cylinder 2 immediately before use, it is difficult for foreign matter to adhere to the outer cylinder 2 and the applicator 4 can be inserted in a very hygienic manner.

  As the lubricant 10, the same lubricant as that conventionally used for imparting lubricity to the vaginal cavity can be used. Examples thereof include those containing polyacrylic acid and propylene glycol as main components and those containing carboxyvinyl, polyacrylic acid and sodium hydroxide as main components.

  Next, second and third embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. For the points that are not particularly described with respect to these embodiments, the description in detail regarding the first embodiment is applied as appropriate. 2 and 3, the same members as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c), the applicator 4 is individually packaged by a packaging material 5 made of a vertically long bag, as in the first embodiment. The packaging material 5 is formed of a single-layer bag as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIG.2 (c), the site | part corresponding to the longitudinal direction approximate center part vicinity of the outer cylinder 2 in the packaging material 5 has a double structure. This dual structure part forms a sealed space. The lubricant 10 is held in a sealed state in the sealed space. In the case of this embodiment, the material located inside acts as the isolation | separation means 9 among the site | parts of the double structure in the packaging material 5, as shown in FIG.2 (c). That is, the lubricant and the applicator 4 are isolated by the isolation means 9.

  The tampon of this embodiment is stored in the state shown in FIG. When the tampon is used, the dual structure is broken by firmly grasping the dual structure portion of the packaging material 5 by hand while the applicator 4 is housed in the packaging material 5. As a result, the sealed state of the lubricant 10 is released, and the lubricant is applied to the surface of the outer cylinder 2. Next, as shown in FIG. 2D, the applicator 4 is pulled out from the rear end portion 5b side of the packaging material 5 to the outside. By this operation, the lubricant 10 is applied to a portion from the vicinity of the substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction of the outer cylinder 2 to the front end opening 6. At this time, by appropriately repeating the pulling / pushing-in operation of the applicator 4, the amount of the lubricant 10 attached to the outer cylinder 2 can be arbitrarily increased or decreased according to the user's preference.

  In the third embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the applicator 4 is double-wrapped by two types of packaging materials 51 and 52. The packaging material 51 is an inner packaging material and includes a bottomed cylindrical body that covers the outer cylinder 2. The packaging material 52 is an outer packaging material and has a vertically long bag shape. The outer packaging material 52 individually wraps the entire applicator 4 covered with the inner packaging material 51.

  The packaging material 51 which consists of a bottomed cylindrical body has hold | maintained the lubricant 10 in the back part. The lubricant 10 is isolated from the applicator 4 by the isolation means 9. In other words, the isolation means 9 forms a sealed space in the back of the packaging material, and the lubricant is hermetically held in the sealed space. There is no restriction | limiting in particular in the formation method of the isolation | separation means 9, The isolation | separation means 9 should just be formed so that the isolation | separation means 9 can be destroyed by the method mentioned later.

  The tampon of the present embodiment is stored in the state shown in FIG. When using the tampon, the applicator 4 is held in the outer packaging material 52 and the inner packaging material 51 is gripped by one hand and the applicator 4 is gripped by the other hand. . Then, the applicator 4 is pushed out toward the back of the packaging material 51. By this extrusion, the separating means 9 formed in the packaging material 51 is broken, and the sealing state of the lubricant 10 is released. The front end portion of the outer cylinder 2 enters the lubricant 10 due to the destruction of the separating means 9. As a result, the lubricant 10 is applied to the surface of the outer cylinder 2. After the lubricant 10 is sufficiently applied to the surface of the outer cylinder 2, the applicator 4 is pulled out from the inner packaging material 51 and taken out from the outer packaging material 52. At this time, it is possible to arbitrarily increase / decrease the amount of the lubricant 10 adhered to the outer cylinder 2 according to the user's preference by appropriately repeating the operation of bringing the outer cylinder 2 into the lubricant 10 and the operation of pulling it out. it can.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment. For example, the holding position of the lubricant in the packaging material may be any position as long as the lubricant is applied to the applicator. The same applies to the method of holding the lubricant and the method of forming the separating means.

Fig.1 (a) is a schematic diagram which shows the state at the time of the preservation | save of the sanitary tampon of the 1st Embodiment of this invention, FIG.1 (b) is when using the tampon shown to Fig.1 (a). FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram showing a state after the tampon shown in FIG. 1A is taken out from the packaging material. Fig.2 (a) is a schematic diagram which shows the state at the time of the preservation | save of the sanitary tampon of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, FIG.2 (b) and (c) are respectively b- in FIG.2 (a). FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line b and a cross-sectional view taken along the line cc, and FIG. 2D is a schematic view illustrating a state when the tampon illustrated in FIG. FIG. 3A is a schematic view showing a state of the sanitary tampon according to the first embodiment of the present invention during storage, and FIG. 3B is a view when the tampon shown in FIG. 3A is used. It is a schematic diagram which shows this state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sanitary tampon 2 Outer cylinder 3 Inner cylinder 4 Applicator 5 Packaging material 6 Front end opening part 7 Piece part 8 Expansion part 9 Isolation means 10 Lubricant

Claims (1)

An outer cylinder for accommodating a tampon and an applicator provided with an inner cylinder for pushing out the tampon from the front end opening of the outer cylinder are accommodated in the outer cylinder, and at least the outer cylinder is individually separated by a packaging material. A sanitary tampon packaged,
The packaging material is formed in a bag shape, and a double-structured sealed space is formed in a portion of the packaging material corresponding to the vicinity of the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the outer cylinder, and the lubricant is sealed in the sealed space. A sanitary tampon that is held in a state and is configured to apply the lubricant to the outer cylinder by releasing the sealing state of the lubricant.

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