Feminine urinary device

A feminine urinary device which permits women, both adults and children, to urinate in a standing position. The urinary device is a disposable substantially flat flexible pad having a hingedly attached flap with expandable side walls to permit the flap to move from a collapsed flat configuration downwardly to an open expanded configuration, forming a conduit for the passing of urine when the pad is held firmly in place by the user and the conduit is aligned with the opening of the urethra. The urinary device can also be constructed by forming an aperture in the pad and attaching thereto an expandable spout to form the conduit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to a urinary device and, more specifically 
to an improved disposable feminine urine conducting device which permits a 
female to urinate comfortably and hygienically from a standing position. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The female anatomy creates a particularly annoying problem for women of all 
ages when travelling or enjoying outdoor activities such as camping, 
hiking, and cross-country skiing, and that is--where to urinate. Public 
facilities are most often unsanitary and finding a place to squat 
discreetly outdoors is usually impossible. The fear of becoming infected 
with the AIDS virus, Herpes, Chlamydia, and other somewhat less 
devastating microorganisms has altered our sexual and personal hygiene 
habits more in recent years than ever before. Whether these organisms 
remain viable and infectious in the environs of the public toilet is 
debatable, however, women should not have to take unnecessary chances. 
This dilemma, unique to the female, has been recognized by others and 
various attempts have been made to provide a urinary device for women. 
None of these urinary devices, however, have solved the problem of 
providing a sanitary, disposable urinary conduit that is convenient and 
comfortable to use, easy to carry, and inexpensive to manufacture. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
As discussed above, a major objective of the present invention is to 
provide a urinary device that will protect females, adults and children, 
from exposure to the unsanitary conditions found in public facilities and 
therefore prevent the spread of contagious diseases. 
It is also a major objective of the present invention to provide a 
disposable urinary device for women that is compact and easy to carry. 
Another major objective is to provide a urinary device that is comfortable 
and hygienic to use. 
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a urinary conduit 
that can be used by women comfortably, while standing, without soiling 
their clothes. 
Another objective is to provide a disposable urinary conduit which is 
biodegradable. 
And yet another objective is to provide a disposable urinary conduit which 
is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. 
An additional objective of the present invention is to provide a disposable 
urinary device which has a pad of absorbent material for wiping any 
residual urine from the genitalia, thus eliminating the need for toilet 
paper. 
The above and other objectives have been met by the disposable urinary 
device of the present invention described briefly as follows. 
The urinary device is a flat elongate flexible pad having a top and bottom 
surface. A longitudinally extending flap is cut into the pad. The flap is 
hingedly secured at one end while the opposite end is free. The side edges 
of the flap have expandable side portions which connect with the bottom 
surface of the pad to permit the flap to go from a collapsed folded 
configuration to an expanded open configuration to form a urinary conduit 
when the pad is aligned with the urethra of the female user. The side 
portions of the flap may be of smooth or accordion-type construction. The 
top surface of the pad may be provided with a sealing ring extending 
around the periphery of the opening in the pad. Also, an additional piece 
of absorbent material may be placed on the top surface of the pad for 
wiping away residual urine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
FIG. 1 illustrates the urinary device 10 of the present invention in its 
collapsed or folded configuration. As shown in FIG. 1, the device is a 
flat flexible pad 12 having a top surface 14 and a bottom surface 16. The 
ends 18 of pad 12 are preferably constructed having curvilinear 
configuration to facilitate forming a seal when held firmly in position 
for use. Also, to this end, pad 12 may have an absorbent sealing gasket 20 
positioned on top surface 14 as shown in FIG. 1A. 
An elongate substantially U-shaped flap 22 is centrally and longitudinally 
formed in pad 12. FIG. 2 illustrates device 10 in its expanded 
configuration where it can readily be seen that flap 22 is hingedly 
secured to pad 12 at one end 24, while the other end 26 is free and 
unattached. Expandable side portions or walls 28 extend between pad 12 and 
side edges 30 of the flap 22. When flap 22 is in its expanded 
configuration, conduit 32 is formed which is defined by flap 22 and side 
walls 28. Side walls 28 may be constructed of any suitable water repellent 
material such as plastic or a wax-coated paper. 
It is desirable to construct urinary device 10 as a disposable product, 
therefore, it is preferably made of biodegradable materials that will not 
create problems should the device be flushed down the toilet after use. 
Also, because the urinary device is disposable, it should be constructed 
of compact materials to enable a convenient number of devices to be 
packaged in a single box. The devices could also be stored in dispensing 
machines placed in public toilets. Streamlined construction is also 
important because the urinary devices should fit easily into a purse or 
pocket. The desired thickness of the folded device 10 should be no more 
than approximately 1/16 inch. 
Urinary device 10 may be constructed having an absorbent pad 34 built into 
the rearward top surface 14 of pad 13 for wiping away any excess urine 
from the user. This is particularly desirable when device 10 is being used 
outdoors where toilet paper is not readily available. 
In actual use, as illustrated in FIG. 2, pad 12 is positioned against the 
perineum and held in place conveniently by hand. This is done by placing 
thumb 36 forwardly on bottom surface 16 and fingers 38 rearwardly on 
bottom surface 16 and pressing upwardly deforming pad 12 to the contour of 
the perineum. When pad 12 is deformed as illustrated, flap 22 extends 
downwardly in its expanded position to form conduit 32. Conduit 32 is 
aligned with the urethra, thus enabling the female user to void urine in a 
comfortable hygienic position. Index finger 40 may be used to ensure the 
correct positioning of conduit 32. The other hand is free to hold clothing 
out of the path of the urinary stream. 
After voiding has been completed, the user slides the device forward, and 
if device 10 has been provided with absorbent pad 34, pad 34 absorbs any 
excess urine present on the user is absorbed thereon. The urinary device 
10 can then be discarded, either in trash receptacles or wherever 
convenient, or flushed away down the toilet. 
Urinary device 10 is economical to manufacture, the flexible pad 12 and 
flap 22 being constructed from a single piece of absorbent material lined 
on bottom surface 16 with a sheet of plasticized material. The same 
plasticized material can be used to make expandable side portions 28 by 
heat sealing a triangular shaped piece of material between each side edge 
30 of flap 22 and bottom surface 16 of pad 12. Side portions 28 can be 
either a smooth construction as shown in FIG. 2 or an accordion-type 
construction 42 shown in FIG. 3. The rigidity of the accordian type side 
portions 42 is sufficient to maintain the flap 22 in its expanded 
configuration. 
It will be understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrative 
of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the appended 
claims.