MXPA01009373A - Tampon - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention refers to an internal hygienic absorbent, also known as a tampon (1), particularly used for absorbing and holding vaginal exudates, such as menstrual blood and intermenstrual secretions. Tampons (1) are know from the prior art and usually comprise substantially cylindrical body made of an absorbent material (3), suitable for being introduced into the vaginal cavity. A cord (5) is also provided, which projects from one of the ends of the tampon (1) and is intended to enable one to remove said tampon (1) from the vaginal cavity right after its use. During the method of manufacturing the tampon (1), the absorbent body (3) is subjected to a compaction, and the cord (5) might be broken when an inextensible material is used to make it. One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a cord (5) for a tampon (1) that will no be broken or damaged at the time of compacting the absorbent body (3), replacing the cord (5) that has been used at present. This objective is achieved bymeans of a tampon (1), particularly a tampon for holding vaginal exudates, comprising a substantially cylindrical absorbent body (3) having longitudinal grooves (4) in its surface and comprising a cord (5) suitable for handling said tampon (1), associated to the absorbent body (3), the cord (5) being textured. A method is also described for manufacturing said tampon (1) with the respective textured cord (5).

Description

TAMPON The present invention relates to an internal absorbent article, also referred to as a tampon, which is in particular used to absorb and retain vaginal exudates, such as menstrual bleeding and intermenstrual secretions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE In general, tampons are known from the prior art and usually comprise a body made of an absorbent material having a cylindrical shape substantially suitable for introduction into the vaginal cavity. In accordance with some references in the art, a tampon may be cylindrical and curved, and in the context of this invention it should be understood in that sense. Usually, said tampons have a cord that projects from one of its ends, which has the purpose of facilitating the removal of the tampon out of the vaginal cavity after use. As a rule, the absorbent body of tampons is made of absorbent fibers such as cotton fibers and may include a superabsorbent material in order to increase the efficiency of retaining liquids in said absorbent body.

The absorbent body is made from a substantially rectangular net of absorbent fibers, which are first folded in a transverse position and then wound to form a cylindrical piece, even with the same consistency of the absorbent fibers. Prior art tampons may also include a nonwoven fabric film superimposed on one of the surfaces of the absorbent fiber web, in order to encompass the absorbent material and impart greater consistency thereto, by winding said network. Before winding the absorbent net, the cord is interwoven in the fold of the net and remains interwoven with the net, while it is wound, so that it is permanently fixed to the absorbent body. Subsequently, the absorbent body goes through a radial compaction process, by means of which the tampon is formed. The compaction, described in the patent documents of E.U.A. 3,422,496 and EP 422,660, is carried out by means of a press that has a multiple blade (also known as a "jaw"), which are placed in a radial position and apply force to the absorbent body containing the cord, so they compact said body by applying grooves longitudinal in the body and form the buffer. The material that is currently used in the elaboration of the cord, almost always cotton, has low elasticity and can be cut during the compaction process of the absorbent body with the mentioned blades.

That is, the cord can be damaged when compaction of the absorbent material occurs along with said cord, and the force applied by the blades to the mentioned absorbent material is transferred to the cord, which could break or weaken the filaments of this cord, which causes a product failure. Despite the very low probability of this problem occurring, the great disadvantage is that this damage or cut is not detected before needing the use of the cord, ie at the time of removing the tampon from the vaginal cavity.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of this invention is to provide a tampon with an elastic or extensible cord that does not break or damage at the time of compacting the absorbent body, thus replacing the cotton cord that has been used lately. This objective is achieved by a tampon, in particular a tampon for retaining vaginal exudates, which comprises a substantially cylindrical absorbent body, which preferably has longitudinal slits on the surface and comprises a cord related to the absorbent body, which is suitable for maneuvering the tampon, the cord comprises synthetic fibers, preferably textured (curled).

As used herein an "elastic cord" has a higher or lower degree of property to have the tendency to return quickly to its original dimensions, after removing the force that causes its elastic deformation. An "extensible cord" has the property of extending or lengthening without substantially permanent plastic deformation under the application of a specific force. The cord of the invention can be elastic or extensible without elastic. Another object of this invention is to provide a method for making a tampon using an extensible or elastic cord that will replace the cotton cord currently used. This objective is achieved through a method for making a tampon, in particular a tampon for retaining vaginal exudates, which comprises a substantially cylindrical absorbent body having longitudinal grooves in the surface and comprising a cord suitable for maneuvering said tampon, related to the absorbent body; the method comprises the steps of cutting a substantially rectangular portion of a network of absorbent material, folding the absorbent network, weave the cord at the folded end of the net, winding the net to form an absorbent body, compacting the absorbent body by means of cutting knives. a press, so the cord is textured. Preferably, the method of the present invention encompasses a step for superimposing a non-woven material on a surface of the network of absorbent material after cutting a substantially rectangular portion of said network of absorbent material.

The tampon cord of the present invention preferably comprises textured synthetic fibers. By testing the textured fibers and / or the cord for tensile strength and extension properties, such as standardized test methods ASTM D-2256 and D-3822, they present a multiple phase stress-strain curve which has a point of inflection between a first and a second phase. A typical stress-strain curve is a graph of the amount of stress applied to the material against the amount of deformation experienced by the material. The "effort" is defined as force per original unit area, while "deformation" is the amount of extension over the original length. The slope of the stress-strain curve in the linear region of the graph is a measure of the elasticity of the material. The measurement of the inclination is called "Young's modulus". During the first phase, the fibers are stretched or "stretched," that is, the texture is removed from the fibers. There is a considerable deformation or extension under a relatively low amount of stress, whereby a first value of Young's modulus is provided. The second phase begins after the fibers are fully extended. In the second phase, a much greater amount of force is required to spread the fibers. The material in the second phase will experience a limited amount of extension without permanent (plastic) deformation. Once the yield point is reached, or point where the deformation goes from elastic deformation to plastic deformation, the extension will be permanent and will alter the cross-sectional area of the material. The second phase provides a second Young's module, which is larger than the first Young's module. Synthetic fiber of similar chemical formation in the absence of any texture will almost always have a single-phase stress-strain curve only that substantially corresponds to the second phase, as described above. In this way, an effect of the texture is to allow the material to extend to a much greater degree before going through plastic deformation, to a point of material failure. Preferably, the material used in the elaboration of the cord is polypropylene, polyester or nylon fibers or mixtures thereof, these fibers are subjected to a texturing process. The texturization process is a physicochemical treatment applied to synthetic continuous fiber yarn. This treatment focuses on the modification of the appearance, characteristics and properties of the fibers, which usually makes them more elastic or extensible, due in part or completely to the fixation of bends or curves along the length of the fibers , for example by heat. In other words, the linear capacity of the fibers is altered substantially permanently. Those skilled in the art know how to choose the procedure to obtain the texturing of the fibers. Among the texturing methods known from the prior art, described generically in the literature of textile technology, the following can be pointed out: the continuous process, the false twisting procedure, the modified false twisting procedure, the procedure with a press chamber descending, the "knitting" process, the metal knife process, the "corrugation" process, the stuffing box method, the steric bending process and the air stream method. The fibers used to make the cord of the invention can be made by any of the above methods, the air stream process is the one that is preferred, which is to weave the fibers at a high speed under application of hot or cold air to the fibers, which have been moistened in advance with hot water. The cord of the invention is composed of a set of fibers, preferably a set of twisted fiber cables which, in turn, are joined to form the cord. Preferably, the number of fibers per cable varies between about 30 and about 200. Preferably, the number of cables to form the cord ranges between about 8 and about 25, more preferably about 12.; preferably the twist number of the cables varies between about 50 and about 250, more preferably about 120; preferably, the cables have a dtex that varies between approximately 100 and around 200 (dtex is the weight in grams of 10,000 meters of cable). The cord of the invention has an elastic or non-elastic tensile capacity (which is calculated as the difference between the final length and the initial length divided by 100) greater than about 25%, preferably between about 30% and about 200, and more preferably between about 40% and about 60%. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cord has a partial or total fluid repellent property, for example, by immersing it in a bath of hydrophobic or fluid repellent substance. This feature has the objective of preventing the blood absorbing the plug from contacting the cord, which would cause the user to have a sensation of moisture and an unattractive visual appearance. You can also dye any desired color.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to a mode shown in the drawings. The attached drawings have been intentionally made without exact measurements or proportions, as they are provided only by way of example. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tampon and cord according to the present invention. Figure 2 is a view of a step for making the tampon after a bend of the network. Figure 3 is a view of another step for making the tampon illustrated in Figure 1, before the process of pressing the net, after bending it.

Figure 4 is a simplified representation of the press used to compact the absorbent body when the compaction blades are opened. Figure 5 is a simplified representation of the press used to compact the absorbent body when the compaction blades are closed. Figure 6 is a view of the network of the tampon illustrated in Figure 1, opened after the pressure; and Figure 7 is a graph of the behavior of materials subjected to deformation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS As can be seen in Figure 1, the tampon 1 comprises a substantially cylindrical absorbent body 3 having longitudinal grooves 4 on the surfaces and comprising a bead 5. The end 2 is substantially round or with a warhead shape. As is known from the prior art, the absorbent body 3 is made of a network of absorbent material, for example, mixed cotton fibers with cut rayon fibers with dimensions of approximately 235 mm long and 50 mm wide, forming one absorbent network 10.

A film of nonwoven material 11 is superimposed on one of the surfaces of the net 10, as can be seen in Figures 2 and 3. The film 11 is larger than the length of the absorbent body 3. During the process for making the network 10, this bends asymmetrically on itself, as seen in Figure 2. The cord 5 is interwoven in the fold D of the net 10, and the ends of this cord are fixed with a knot 6. Then, the net 10 is wound to form an absorbent body 3, as illustrated in figure 3. The part of the film 11 larger than the length of the absorbent body 3 is used to overlap the outer surface of the body 3, keeping the net 10 rolled up . The absorbent body 3 then passes through a press 40 and is compressed in order to mold the material into a cylindrical warhead shape. Preferably, the end 2 of the tampon 1 is molded as a warhead, so that the tampon will have a rounded end, which facilitates its introduction into the vaginal cavity. The cord 5 projects from the opposite end of the tampon 1, as illustrated in figure 1. The absorbent body 3 together with the cord 5 is then subjected to compaction. As illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, the press 40 has a plurality of blades 41 moving radially towards the center of the press 40 (see Figure 5), thus compressing the surface of the absorbent body 3, which remains with slits 4 placed in longitudinal position at the site where the blades 41 make contact with the absorbent body 3. Accordingly, the cord 5 used now could be damaged or even broken, in which case the tampon would be defective. As illustrated in Figure 6, where it is observed that the tampon 1 has been unfolded after the pressure step, the cord 5 has the capacity to receive greater pressures, extending at the points 20, that is, in the regions where the blades 41 of the press 40 penetrate deeper. Thus, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cord 5 used now is made with a textured fiber that supports, without breaking, forces (stresses) applied to the absorbent body 3 coming from said blades 41 of the press 40. The use of a textured fiber in the preparation of the cord 5 prevents it from breaking during the pressure process of the absorbent body 3, since said material allows the cord 5 to be extended and molded in accordance with the deformation caused in the body 3 by the blades 41 of the press 40. In FIG. 7, a stress-strain curve of a cord is illustrated. the present invention. An introductory phase, a first phase and a second phase are separated in close proximity to the points P1 and P2, respectively. The first phase produces a considerable extension with a limited amount of applied stress, so it presents a relatively short first module of Young E1. The second phase has a more inclined linear scale that provides a second Young's modulus E2, which is greater than E1. The first phase predominantly alters the material eliminating the texture of it. Therefore, the material that does not have that texture would present only a single-phase stress-strain curve similar to that in curve "1" having a Young's modulus, corresponding substantially to E2. This cord would have a smaller amount of extension before the material failed. A preferred embodiment of the invention was described, and it is to be understood that the scope of this invention encompasses all possible variations and is limited only by the content of the claims, which include possible equivalents.

Claims (22)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A tampon having a removal cord comprising synthetic fibers, characterized in that the removal cord has an extension capacity greater than about 25%.

2. The tampon according to claim 1, further characterized in that the extension capacity of the cord is from about 30 to about 200%.

3. The tampon according to claim 2, further characterized in that the extension capacity of the cord is from about 40 to about 6200%.

4. The tampon according to claim 1, further characterized in that the synthetic fibers are textured.

5. The tampon according to claim 4, further characterized in that the texture is helical.

6. The tampon according to claim 4, further characterized in that the texture is zigzag.

7. The tampon according to claim 1, further characterized in that the removal cord comprises from about 8 to about 25 cables.

8. - The tampon according to claim 7, further characterized in that each cable comprises from about 30 to about 200 fibers.

9. The tampon according to claim 1, further characterized in that the synthetic fibers are nylon.

10. A tampon having a removal cord comprising textured synthetic fibers.

11. The tampon according to claim 10, further characterized in that the texture is helical.

12. The tampon according to claim 10, further characterized in that the texture is zigzag.

13. The tampon according to claim 10, further characterized in that the synthetic fibers are nylon.

14. The tampon having a removal cord comprising synthetic fibers, further characterized in that the removal cord has a stress-deformation curve of two phases, which has a point of inflection between a first and a second phase.

15. The buffer according to claim 14, further characterized in that the first phase has a first Young's modulus and the second phase has a second Young's modulus.

16. The buffer according to claim 15, further characterized in that the second Young's modulus is greater than the first Young's modulus.

17. - The tampon according to claim 14, further characterized in that the synthetic fibers are texturized and the stress in the first phase extends the synthetic fibers enough to remove the texture.

18. The tampon according to claim 17, further characterized in that the texture is helical.

19. The tampon according to claim 17, further characterized in that the texture is zigzag.

20. The tampon according to claim 14, further characterized in that the deformation of the synthetic fibers in the first phase is limited to the elastic deformation.

21. The tampon according to claim 14, further characterized in that the stress in the second phase is sufficient to impart plastic deformation of the synthetic fibers.

22. The tampon according to claim 14, further characterized in that the synthetic fibers undergo plastic deformation in the second phase. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a hygienic absorbent article, also called tampon 1, in particular used to absorb and retain vaginal exudates, such as sacred menstrual and intermenstrual secretions; the tampons 1 are known from the prior art and usually comprise a cylindrical body substantially made of an absorbent material 3, suitable to be introduced into the vaginal cavity; a cord 5 is also provided, which projects from one end of the tampon 1 and is intended to allow the removal of said tampon 1 from the vaginal cavity just after use; during the method of manufacturing the tampon 1, the absorbent body 3 is subjected to a compaction, and the cord 5 could be broken by using a non-extensible material to make it; one of the objectives of this invention is to provide a cord 5 for a tampon 1 that does not break or damage at the moment of compacting the absorbent body 3, replacing the cord 5 that has been used up to now; this objective is achieved by means of a tampon 1, in particular a tampon for retaining vaginal exudates, comprising a substantially cylindrical absorbent body 3 having longitudinal slits 4 on the surface and comprising a cord 5 suitable for maneuvering the tampon 1, related to the absorbent body 3, where the cord 5 is textured; Also described is a method for making said tampon 1 with the respective textured cord 5. IM / osu * tpr * igp P01 / 1359F