US2495420A

US2495420A - Apparatus for making intravaginal packs

Info

Publication number: US2495420A
Application number: US618728A
Authority: US
Inventors: Popper Otto; Melvill Gordon Kestell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1944-07-11
Filing date: 1945-09-26
Publication date: 1950-01-24
Anticipated expiration: 1967-01-24

Description

Jan. 24, 1950 o. POPPER ErAl.

APPARATUS PoR MAKING IrmzAvAGImu.` PAcxs Filed Sept. 26, 1945 other directions.

Patented Jan. 24, 1950 APPARATUS FOR MAKING INTRAVAGINAL. PAcKs Otto Popper andGordon Kestell Melvill, J ohan-4 Y nesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa; said l i Melvill assignor to said Popper foriginai application July 11, 1944,.seria1 No. 'y 544,434. Divided and this application September 26, 1945, Serial No. 618,728. In thekUnion of South Africa July 30, 1943 v l 1 claim. (ci. 1s-5) l l I This application is divided out of my co-pending y yapplication Serial No. 544,434, filed on July ll,

1944, now Patent No. 2,444,528.

'I'his invention relates to apparatus for making of absorbent packs for introduction into the f vagina.

Desirable characteristics of such a pack are -small initial volume in order to facilitate its `introduction, and large absorptive capacity; and

to attain them the pack is usually made of compressed cotton wool which is a material having high absorptive capacity relatively to its volume.

The cotton wool is obtained in sheet form, and in the operation of compressing the sheet and moulding it to the usual cylindrical shape of the pack by present methods, much of the original sheet surface becomes enclosed and overlaid. It appears to be the case however that the efficiency and speed of absorption by the compressed material depends a good deal upon the liquid that is to be absorbed having rapid and direct access to the original sheet surface. The present invention provides a compressedvpack in which this availability of the original sheet surface persists in a high degree. 5

A pack according to the invention consists of absorbent sheet material, folded into a series of parallel and successively reversed pleats and compressed transversely to the lines of folding of the pleats. It may be additionally compressed in The pack is desirably of the usual rod shape, longer thanits diameter, with the lines of folding oi the pleats parallel to the length of the pack. The pack is preferably of cylindrical form; to attain which the rectangular cross sectional form that is the direct result of the pleating and the lateral compression of the pleats, is further pressed to circular cross section.

An important effect of the pleated formation is that re-expansion of the pack, due to its absorption of liquid, takes place primarily in the directions transverse to the lines of folding and thus to the length of the pack. This avoids any tendency of the pack to elongate when in use and absorbing moisture; and consequent danger of extrusion from the vagina.

The pleated formation may be produced in various ways. According to a convenient method, the pleating is arrived at by a progressive procedure in which the ilat sheet of material is converted into a corrugated sheet with the corrugations parallel to one another; and the corrugations are closed together until they are converted into the compressed pleats.

This procedure may be carried out by contining the at sheet between a pair of plates covering the cut piece of's'heet above and below and spaced apart by about the thickness of the sheet. One of the edges of the sheet which are to be lengthwise in thelcompleted pack and to which the corrugations are to be parallel, is: lodged against a member that acts as astop to prevent bodily displacement of the sheet.` The opposite parallel edge of the sheet is engaged by a member thatl moves in the directionof the stop. .Such movement causes the flat `sheet to assumeY the form of a corrugatedsheet with theI length of the corrugations perpendicular tothe direction of compression and with the corrugationsmarkedly even and permanent in lthe sense thatfurther compression in the same direction does notl alter the number of the folds ortheirv positions relatively to the sheet material but only causes their pitch to be progressively reduced and the sheet material of which they are composed to become denser. A.

Preferably thepack according to this invention is ofthe hairpin `form comprising two separate or separable legs united at a hairpin head at one end of the pack. This form is known andpossesses certain specific advantages, one of which is that if the withdrawing cord is ,attached to the free end 0f one ofther legs, the soaked pack although swollen in thickness, can lnevertheless be withdrawn by means yof said cord as'continuous strip doubled in length but of half the .thickness it occupied in the vagina. Another advantage is that upon the introduction of 'the pack head rst into the vagina said head becomes the first portion of the pack to receivev moisture;l andthe head being therebylocally expanded, it causes the legs to spring apart to V shape'and thereby anchor the pack vin the vagina. The inclusion. of the pleated structure in this hairpin form of pack, by increasing the tendency of the head to swell rapidly, enhances the spreading of the legs.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, viz.,

Figure I shows the raw material of the pack.

Figures II to V are perspective views showing essential parts of apparatus for making the packs. and illustrating stages in the method of manufacture.

Figure VI is a perspective View of the flnished pack, drawn to a larger scale.

Referring to the drawings, Figure I shows the rectangular sheet l0 of cotton wool from which the pack is made. The length L of the sheet is about twice the intended length of the completed pack Il, Figure VI; whilst its width W is according to the intended density of the pack. Apparatus suitable for making the pack comprises a pair of parallel plates I2, I3 of such length and breadth as t receive the at ,sheet le .between them. faid parallel plates are spaced lapart by about the thickness of the sheet Ill. The upper plate I2 can be swung back about a pivot .I4 to enable the sheet I0 to be laid upon the lower plate I3, and then replaced.

Spaced away from the end I5 of the pair of plates is a member I6, in whichgis-xed la 'die I1 having a bore I8 of cylindrical form to lshape the pack to its nal cylindrical form.

Between said end I5 of the plates and s aid die I'I is a member I9 providing ,the funnel shaped passage 20. The function ,o f said passage .is to mould the pack material, as the 4latter is pushed through it, from the form which said material has when it enters said passage VEIL-to the nal cylindrical form of the die bore I8. With tthis object .the cross sectional shape of said passage at its end 2| is Athat ofa iiat rectangle of the same `width as the gap between the plates I2, i3 and the cross section .changes progressively to the aforesaid `iinal cylindrical form at `the end 22.

23 is a blade Apositioned with its length extending inthe direction A in which the sheet i9 is to be compressed and -in which it is thereafter to be driven through the passage 20. The blade is also positioned with its width W, or greatest crosssectional dimension, transverse to the confining plates I2, I3. Said blade `can be moved in the direction of its length.

' jIn making `use of this apparatus, the sheet It is inserted into the casing as shown in Figure II,

whereupon the blade 23 is applied to the centre of length of the edge 24 of the sheet that is distan-t Yfrom the funnel member I9, and is pushed forward in the direction of the arrow A. It thus drives the edge L24 of the sheet towards the opposite edge 25. Said edge 25 is held for a time substantially stationary by the end face 26 of the member I9. This action causes a series of even and. parallel corrugations, lindicated by 2i Figure II to appear in the sheet; and as theblade 23 continues to move forward, the corrugations are pressed together and thereby progressively assume the form of pleats.

At the same time the leading edge -25 of -the sheet I0 begins to bulge into the passage 2t as shown in ,Figure III. There `the converging Walls 28 pffer dragging resistance to `the advance of the outer parts of the edge 25; Aso that the pleated sheet now progressively assumes a more rod-like `form, and by `bending vat its centre where the blade pressureon it is concentrated, begins the lormation o f the two legs 29 turned back along the sides of the blade. Further blade advance,

Figure IV, finally drives the doubled rod into the bore I8 which shapes it to cylindrical form. Since, in this operation, the thrust of the blade elongates the blank to .Some vextent due allowance for such elongation vis made iin determining the length L of the sheet I0.

The blade 23 is then retracted but the shaped pack may be left in the bore I8 for a time in order to set; and its setting may be assisted by such treatment as heating. The member I6 having been moved -to another position, the completed pack is ejected from the bore I8 by a plunger i30, Figure V.

In order to facilitate the pushing forward of the pack material; to prevent said material being cut -through by `the blade; and to ensure that the pack is not `,retracted from the bore I8 when the blade is withdrawn, the blade is formed in steps 3| progressively diminishing in thickness towards the free end of the blade and providing the narrower thrusting shoulders 52.- Also in order further to combat the tendency of the blade to retract the pack from the bore I8, the latter is formed with a number of annular grooves 33 providing ythe forwardly Adirected acute edges 34 that are effective to resist movement of the pack in the backward direction.

A Ywithdrawing cord `35 is sewn to the free original sheet II) inthe proper position to appear at the end of one of the legs v29.

We claim:

Apparatus for producing a vaginal pack from compressible absorbent sheet material, comprising a chamber defined by twoparallel walls that confine a piece of such material in the direction of its thickness, la funnel at one end of the chamber with its larger end of about'the same width as the spacing of the chamber Walls and its smaller end circular, and a `blade movable through the chamber from the open end thereof and into the funnel to press the sheet material from the chamber and through the funnel, the blade surfaces and the surface of Athe small end of the funnel being provided with formations to resist retraction of the pack from the small end of the funnel by retractive movement of the blade.

OTTO POPPER. GORDON KESTELL MELVLL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date n 2,076,389 VVoss Apr. 6, 1937 2,263,909 Webb Nov. 25, 1941 2,286,817