MXPA98000211A

MXPA98000211A - Tampon applicator tub that has brake with openings for those of

Info

Publication number: MXPA98000211A
Application number: MXPA/A/1998/000211A
Authority: MX
Inventors: j hagerty Andrew
Original assignee: Mcneilppc Inc
Priority date: 1995-06-28
Filing date: 1998-01-07
Publication date: 1998-10-23

Abstract

The present invention relates to an insertion device formed of a tubular element capable of substantially containing an insertable element, the tubular element having an insertion end and a clamping end, the clamping end having a plurality of finger acceptor openings These openings are sized to accept a portion of a user's finger, this device is particularly useful in a tampon applicator tube having an exterior surface with a high degree of brightness.

Description

TAMPON APPLICATOR TUB THAT HAS BRAKE WITH OPENINGS FOR THE FINGERS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to tubular insertion devices having an aperture for the fingers, to improve the ability of a user to maintain a secure hold on the applicator tube during use. In particular, the insertion devices have a plurality of finger receiving apertures in the clamping end of the tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Tubular insertion devices, such as tampon applicators, are usually constructed of one or two basic materials: plastic and cardboard. These devices, either cardboard or plastic, generally incorporate surface features at the trailing end or fastener to allow the user to hold the applicator more or less securely during the following activities: insertion of the device, expulsion of an element substantially locked in a device and removal of the device. Attempts have been made to add surface treatments to the clipped end of applicator tubes in plastic / cardboard devices. For example, iegner et al., Patent of E.U.A. No. 4,412,833, teaches a slightly grooved fastener; Bestall et al., Patent of E.U.A. No. 5,087,239, teaches a series of more pronounced groove forming rings at the clamping end; Hinzmann, Patent of E.U.A. No. 4,755,164, discloses a clamping area having a reduced diameter and surface indentations; Whitehead, Patent of E.U.A. No. 4,508,531 and Huffman, Patent of E.U.A. No. 4,573,964, teach areas of grip for the fingers, which have reduced essential diameter. The finger holders described in this prior art generally have a limited capacity to prevent finger slippage during insertion of the applicator and the expulsion of the tapping. In those finger holders that have some improvement in their ability to prevent finger slippage, production requires severe manipulation of applicator material to provide sufficient height of the finger holder. In addition, other applicators have features located in or near the fastener end to meet other objectives. For example, Fourness, patent of E.U.A. No. 2,587,717, discloses the use of a safety ear bent inward to prevent accidental displacement of the expulsion tube of the outer tube. However, Fourness teaches how to use the rough surface perforated outward to provide the finger holder. In addition, Bletzinger and others, in the patent of E.J.A. No. 3,196,873, describe the use of a relatively small single aperture or some other tactile or visual indicator means, which allow the user to orient the applicator carefully. This is decisive for the Bletzinger product, since the orientation of the buffer must be carefully controlled to provide the benefit described. Sheldon, Patent of E.U.A. No. 4,573,963, teaches a finger clamping section formed by a series of circumferentially disposed grooves together with ribs bent inwardly. The ribs projecting inward reduce the effective internal diameter of the outer tube. In this way, the plunger used together with this outer tube must have a diameter that is substantially smaller than the outer tube. In addition, tampon applicators on the market are tending to use higher gloss surfaces that are more slippery than cardboard applicator tubes. Therefore, attempts have been made to provide holding projections for the steeper fingers. For example, Ca pion et al., Patent of E.U.A. No. 5,346,468, discloses a tampon applicator made of plastic having a polymeric coating on the outer tube and finger holding rings that have a height of at least 0.0254 cm. This applicator requires an even more violent manipulation of the applicator tube material. In view of the inconveniences of the prior art, what is needed is a tampon applicator that has substantial resistance to slippage of fingers while inserting the device, ejecting a substantially enclosed element from the device, and removing the device without requiring severe handling of the device material during fabrication which may result in damage to this material or which may not provide sufficient projection to prevent slippage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an insertion device formed of a tubular element capable of substantially containing an insertable element. The tubular element has an insertion end and a clamping end. The clamping end has a plurality of finger receiving apertures in the surface thereof. These openings are sized to receive a portion of a user's finger. For example, they may be arranged and configured to allow a user's skin to project into the openings. This insertion device is particularly useful in a device that has a very bright external surface. The insertion devices of the present invention can be used as tampon applicators for feminine hygiene. Another configuration of the insertion device may be for the vaginal or rectal assortment of prophylactic compositions and / or medicaments. The invention also relates to a method for forming an insertion device. Therefore, a tubular element capable of substantially containing an insertable element and having an insertion end and a holding end is formed. A plurality of finger receiving openings are formed in the clamping end. The finger receiving apertures are dimensioned to receive a portion of a user's finger. The finger receiving apertures may be formed before or after the tube-forming material is manipulated within the tubular member. As used in the specification and claims, the term "opening" and variants thereof, mean an opening in the surface of the tubular insertion device that forms a discontinuity in the tube forming material at the edges of the opening, at least at the front and back edges thereof. This opening thus provides relatively rough finger-receiving edges to resist frictionally the movement of a user's finger in response to longitudinal forces on the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tampon applicator tube in accordance with the present invention. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along line 2-2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the holding end of the tampon applicator tube of Figure 1 during use. Figures 4A-4G are side elevational views of tampon applicator tubes illustrating various finger receiving apertures contemplated by the present invention. Figure 5 is a perspective view of a tampon applicator incorporating the is a perspective view of a tampon applicator tube of Figure 1. Figure 6 is a side elevational view of a plunger tube that can be use in the present invention. Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the securing end of an alternative embodiment of the present invention incorporating indented surfaces adjacent a pair of finger receiving apertures. Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the securing end of an alternative embodiment of the present invention incorporating projections adjacent to a pair of finger receiving openings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to Figures 1-3, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a tampon applicator tube 10 formed of a tubular element 12 having an insertion end 14 and a clamping end 16. The clamping end 16 it has a plurality of finger receiving apertures 18. The insertion end 14 may have a plurality of petals 20 curved inwards which form a substantially closed dome 22. The finger receiving openings 18 of the clamping end 16 are sized to receive a portion 24 of a user's finger 26. Experimentation has shown that a useful longitudinal dimension of the openings 18 can vary from 1 mm or less to more than 10 mm. Useful circumferential dimensions of the openings 18 may vary from about 1 mm to more than 20 mm. Preferably, the longitudinal dimension is from about 1 mm to about 10 mm, and most preferably from about 6 mm to about 8 mm. Preferably, the circumferential dimension is from about 3 mm to about 20 mm, and most preferably from about 8 mm to about 16 mm. If the dimensions of the openings are too large, the tube may lose stability necessary for processing and handling and the user's finger may project too far into the tube and secure a telescopically enclosed piston. If the dimensions of the openings are too small, the user's finger will not penetrate the opening sufficiently to increase hold by the user. The finger receiving openings 18 are preferably arranged circumferentially around the clamping end 16. These openings 18 can be arranged in a single circumferential arrangement as illustrated in Figures 1, 3, 4A-4F, or they can be arranged in multiple circumferential as illustrated in Figure 4G. The openings 18 may be spaced apart in the circumferential direction from about 3 mm to about 20 mm, preferably from about 4 mm to about 16 mm. Adjacent circumferential arrangements may be spaced apart in the longitudinal direction from about 3 mm to about 15 mm, preferably from about 3 mm to about 6 mm. The openings 18 can adopt essentially any desired shape including circles, ovals, hearts, lines, alpha-numeric symbols and some other geometrical patterns. Representative, non-limiting examples of some of these openings are illustrated in Figures 4A-4G. The preferred openings have at least one main axis that is in the circumferential direction. The openings 18 can be arranged to provide a plurality of openings 18 in each circumferential arrangement, and most preferably, two openings almost co-ordinately disposed around the circumference. This most preferred arrangement allows a user to hold the applicator sleeve 10, generally between a finger 26a and a flea 26b, on opposite portions of the fastening end 16. A tampon applicator 50 is illustrated in Figure 5. This applicator 50 includes an outer tubular member 52 having a pair of Ge finger 53 receiving openings and an internal tubular member 54. Although the outer outer element 52 of Figure 5 is similar to that described above with reference to Figures 1-3 , it can also be configured as those of the tubular elements illustrated in Figures 4A-4G. The inner tubular member 54, or plunger, is used to eject a tampon 56 from the outer tubular member 52. In this manner, an anterior end 58 of the plunger 54 bears against the tampon 56 when a user's finger pushes the posterior end 60 of the piston 54. Referring to FIG. 6, the plunger 54 has at least one projection 62 proximate the front end 58 that is engageable with at least one of the finger receiving openings 53. This projection 62 may also be sized to be engageable with one or more of the raised or indented fastening features described below. The buffer applicator tubes of the present invention may be made of materials generally known to those skilled in the art. The applicators may be of conventional plastic, such as injection moldable or blow moldable plastic, biodegradable plastic, such as those described in the commonly assigned application. Dabi et al., E.U.A. Series No. 08 / 006,013, filed on January 15, 1993; incorporated herein by reference), or cardboard. The cardboard used in tampon applicators can be a single layer of cardboard material, or it can be a plurality of laminated layers to provide multiple benefits related to the various layers. The cardboard raterial useful for forming the tuoular elements include, without limitation, paperboard, cardboard, material for cups, paper and the like. The laminated board material may include a surface layer or coating of plastic, wax, silicone and the like, which may be useful to increase comfort for the user during insertion and removal. The plastic coating may include, without limitation, polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, polycaprolactone, polyvinyl alcohol, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers, cellophane and the like. Preferred tubular element materials include laminated boards. Preferred laminate boards include plastic-coated or plastic-coated cardboard materials. These plastic laminated paperboard materials may include additional layers such as adhesive layers, tie layers and the like. Typical dimensions for tubular elements useful in tampon applicators include a length of about 5 to 8 cm, a diameter of about 8 to 16 mm and thicknesses of about 0.4 to 0.6 mm. Preferably, the diameter of the inner tubular member is smaller than the diameter of the outer tubular member to allow a telescopic arrangement of the inner tubular member within the outer tubular member as shown in FIG. 5. Although the use of receiving openings is considered to be The finger on the clamping end provides sufficient resistance to slippage of the finger while the applicator is inserted, the ejection of the tampon from the applicator, and removal of the applicator, as the case may be, it may be desirable to add additional clamping features to the tip of the applicator. securing the external tubular element in a tampon applicator. Possible features of increased clamping include, without limitation, raised or indented surfaces, projections and the like. Preferably, these additional increased clamping features are used in close proximity to the finger receiving openings to provide more effective resistance to finger slippage and to guide a user to the correct placement of the finger. The raised or indented surfaces may take the form of dots, slots and the like. An example of the use of an embossed surface together with finger receiving apertures is illustrated in FIG. 7. In this embodiment, the embossed surfaces 70 are placed in proximity with a finger receiving aperture 72 in the clamping end 74 of an element. external tubular 76 of a tampon applicator. The projection characteristics may take the bulging, pyramid and the like. An example of the use of a projection ring together with finger receiving apertures is illustrated in Figure 8. In this embodiment, a first raised ring 80 is positioned adjacent a trailing edge 82 of a finger receiving aperture 84 at the end of the finger. fastening 86 of the outer tubular element 88 of a tampon applicator, and a second raised ring 90 is positioned adjacent a leading edge 92 of an opening. The tubular elements of the present invention can be made of plastic or cardboard materials. When plastic is used in the practice of this invention, the tubular elements can be formed by injection molding, blow molding, laminated sheets and the like. The finger receiving openings of the clamping end can be formed by means recognized by those skilled in the art. For example, the finger receiving apertures may be formed during the molding of the tubular element or may be formed after the tubular member ("post-formed") has been formed. If the finger receiving openings are post-formed, the openings can be obtained by die cutting, laser cutting, water jet cutting, thermoforming, grinding and the like. The additional clamping incrementing characteristics can also be formed during the molding of the tubular plastic elements or they can be post-fo.-sea. The tubular plastic elements formed of laminated sheets can be formed as described below for cardboard material. Tubular cardboard elements can be formed in various ways currently known to those skilled in the art. The cardboard tubes can be formed as a continuous spiral wound tube and subsequent cutting to form the tubular elements. On the other hand, rectangular cardboard ribbons can be rolled up to make individual tubular elements or shorter tubes having longitudinal seams. The shorter tubes can be cut to form a small number of tubular elements, similar to spirally wound continuous tubes. When a continuous tube is used, the finger receiving openings and other optional clamping incrementing characteristics will generally be post-formed. When shorter tubes having longitudinal seams are used, the finger receiving openings can be formed in the rectangular cardboard preforms, or they can be post-formed as described above. Again, the openings can be obtained by die cutting, laser cutting, water jet cutting, thermoforming, grinding and the like. The openings can be formed on the surface of the tubular element by grinding only the outer surface of the tubular element, laminating one or more layers with a portion of the layer removed in the shape of the opening to one or more layers without a portion corresponding to the opening Removed, ranu the front and rear edges of the opening through the tubular element and pressing the material of the tubular element radially inward, and deeply enhancing an edge opening agudc into the interior of the tubular material. Other useful methods of forming openings will generally be known to those skilled in the art. The openings that exist on the surface of the tubular material can therefore be opaque, or with an appropriate choice of material, they can be transparent. The bottom of the surface openings can be treated with a contrast color to assist the user in locating these finger receiving openings. The finger receiving apertures that are formed through the tubular element at the clamping end of the applicator tube also allow the use of contrast color at the leading end of the internal plunger to indicate the location of the openings. This color may also be useful in compact tampon applicators that require the plunger to be partially removed before ejecting a tampon. Generic compact tampon applicators are known to those skilled in the art. The plunger may have an indicator color at its front end to indicate to the user when the plunger is sufficiently withdrawn to allow the front end of the plunger to bear against the back of a tampon contained within the applicator. Although the detailed description above specifically refers to a tampon applicator, one skilled in the art will readily recognize that the same device can be used for vaginal or rectal assortment of prophylactic compositions, such as spermicides and / or drugs, such as fungicides. These compositions and / or medicaments may be in the form of solids, creams, foams, gels and the like. The descriptive memory and the foregoing embodiments are presented to assist in the complete and non-limiting understanding of the invention described herein. Since many variations and embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, the invention resides in the appended claims.

Claims

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - An insertion device (10; 50) comprising a tubular element (12; 52) capable of substantially containing an insertable element (56), the tubular element (12; 52) having an outer surface, an insertion end (14; ) and a clamping end (16), the clamping end (16) having a plurality of finger receiving openings (18; 53) on the outer surface, the openings (18; 53) having leading and trailing edges corresponding to the insertion and clamping ends of the tubular element (12; 52), respectively, the openings (18; 53) being dimensioned to receive a portion (24) of a user's finger (26) and at least anterior edges and of the openings (18; 53) providing relatively rough finger receiving edges, to resist frictionally the movement of a user's finger (26) in response to longitudinal forces on the insertion device (10; 50).

2. The insertion device (10; 50) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the tubular element (12; 52) has an outer surface of high gloss.

3. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 2, further characterized in that the high gloss exterior surface is a polymeric surface.

4. The insertion device (12, 52) according to claim 3, further characterized in that the polymer surface is formed of a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, polycaprolactone, polyvinyl alcohol, ethylene copolymers - vinyl acetate and cellophane.

5. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 2, further characterized in that the high gloss exterior surface is a surface treated with silicone.

6. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the tubular element (12; 52) comprises a cellulosic material.

7. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the cellulosic material is paperboard or cardboard.

8. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the tubular element (12; 52) is plastic.

9. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the tubular element (12; 52) has a circumference and the plurality of finger receiving openings (18; 53) are almost opposite. arranged around the circumference.

10. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the plurality of openings of the fingers. (18; 53) are disposed at the outset in a circumferential provision.

11. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the plurality of finger receiving openings (18; 53) are arranged and configured to allow the skin of a user's finger ( 26) project into the opening (18; 53).

12. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the plurality of finger receiving openings (18; 53) has a main axis substantially aligned in a circumferential direction.

13. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the clamping end (16) has at least one indented surface (70) proximate to the plurality of finger receiving openings ( 18; 53; 72).

14. The insertion device (12; 52) according to claim 1, further characterized in that the clamping end (16) has at least one raised projection (80) proximate to the plurality of finger receiving openings (14). 18; 53; 84).

15. A tampon applicator (50) comprising an external tubular element (12)52) according to any one of claims 1-14 and an internal tubular element (54) telescopically inserted into the outer tubular element (12; 52) and having an anterior (58) and posterior (60) end corresponding to the insertion ends (14) and fastening (16), respectively, of the external tubular element (12; 52), the internal tubular element (54) having at least one projection (62) proximate the anterior end (58) which is engageable with a portion of the outer tubular element (12; 52) to substantially prevent removal of the inner tubular element (54) from the outer tubular element (121; 52).

16. The tampon applicator (50) according to claim 15, further characterized in that at least one projection (62) of the internal tubular element (54) is engageable with at least one of the finger receiving openings (18). 53) of the external tubular element (12; 52) to substantially prevent the removal of the inner tubular element (54) from the outer tubular element (121; 52). 17.-. A method for forming an insertion device (12; 52), further characterized in that it comprises the steps of forming a tubular element (12; 52) capable of substantially containing an insert (56) having an insertion end (14) and a holding end (16); and forming a plurality of finger receiving openings (18; 53) at the holding end (16); wherein the finger receiving apertures (18; 53) are dimensioned to receive a portion of a finger of the user (26). 18. The method according to claim 17, further characterized in that the opening forming step is carried out on the tube forming material prior to the formation of the tubular element (12; 52) of the tube forming material. 19. The method according to claim 17, further characterized in that the step of forming an opening is carried out after the step of forming the tube. 20.- The method according to the claim 17, further characterized in that it comprises the step of forming at least one raised projection (80) on the tubular element (12; 52; 88) proximate to the plurality of fingers receiving extensions (18; 53; 84). 21. The method according to the claim 17, further characterized in that it comprises the step of forming at least one indented surface (70) in the tubular element (12; 52; 76) proximate to the plurality of finger receiving openings (18; 53; 72). JJ P97 / 1471F