Incontinence protector and a method for its manufacture

An incontinence protector for men including an absorbent layer of substantially rectangular shape which is folded together, and a liquid impermeable casing enclosing the two planar outsides of the absorbent layer, the folding edge and an edge situated close thereto, as well as a method of manufacturing such an incontinence protector.

The present invention relates to an incontinence protector for male users 
and is intended to serve as a container-like closure accommodating the 
penis and scrotum. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing 
such an incontinence protector. 
Incontinence protectors used up to now generally have the form of 
conventional diapers of substantially planar design and, for example, 
rectangular shape. Because of their purpose of absorbing urine as well as 
feces, however, diapers are not useful for individuals needing only a 
urine collecting incontinence protector. In fact, the absorbing portion of 
the diaper must have a certain width and a certain thickness for providing 
a satisfactory absorption capacity. The result is that the diaper will 
occupy a correspondingly large space between the legs, causing thereby an 
unpleasant feeling such as chafing to the wearer of the diaper. 
Furthermore, there is a great risk of urine leaking out at the diaper 
edges when the diaper becomes saturated and is compressed between the legs 
of the user. 
Voluminous, ill-adapted diapers are unacceptable for men suffering from 
incontinence but being otherwise undisabled. In addition to the discomfort 
caused by wearing clumsy diapers, there is also no space allowed therefor 
in normal clothing, which will lead to mental suffering. 
The technique of designing an incontinence protector as a relatively small 
container is known per se, said container serving the purpose of enclosing 
solely the user's penis and consisting of an outer layer of liquid 
impermeable material and an absorbent material disposed inside it. This 
kind of protection, however, fulfills its function only with men whose 
penis is of normal size, enabling it to be placed in the container and 
remaining continually enclosed therein. Such protectors are furthermore 
suitable only for slightly incontinent users, i.e. for individuals leaking 
only insignificant amounts of urine dropwise. 
Moreover, specific problems arise in connection with the design of suitable 
incontinence protectors for elderly men having such a diminished penis 
that it is too small to be placed in a tubular casing. 
As in Swedish Patent Specification No. 426 206, attempts have been made to 
overcome the problem of retaining a container-like protective device on 
users having a small or diminished penis by designing said device for a 
close fit to the body within the region of the penis root, trying in this 
manner to accomplish a more secure retention of the container. 
The protective device according to said publication has a flat tubular 
portion with two pairs of opposed edges. This piece of tube has 
substantially the form of a parallelogram with three closed edges, whereas 
the fourth edge is left open. There is thus obtained at the opening one 
acute and one obtuse corner. During use of the device, the acute corner 
should be turned upwards and the obtuse corner be turned downwards. In 
contrast to other prior art urine collectors having their opening edge 
located at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the container, 
the side eges of the opening in the device according to said publication 
will extend obliquely upwards on the sides of the penis root, this 
arrangement being alleged to afford a fairly safe attachment keeping the 
protective device fixed even in the event of a rather small-sized penis. 
The incontinence protector described above and known from the aforesaid 
publication does not fully satisfy its function and can easily slip away 
from its predetermined position. A serious disadvantage is that these 
protectors are relatively rigid and do not conform to the bodily shape of 
the user. Also, their capacity is sufficient only for dropwise incontinent 
users. 
The latter applies to all prior art incontinence protectors consisting of a 
collector to be utilized for the accommodation of penis alone. For heavily 
incontinent users, such container-like absorption bodies intended to 
accommodate penis alone will fail to serve their purpose. The quantities 
of fluid, amounting sometimes to several deciliters, will demand a high 
absorption capacity involving large collectors which, when applied around 
the penis alone, will appear much too awkward. 
Furthermore, the Swedish Patent Application No. 8303663-2 teaches an 
incontinence protector for men which is bodily adapted and which encloses 
penis as well as scrotum. Said protector has a front portion, a rear 
portion, and a uniting mid-portion which is narrower than said 
interconnected front and rear portions and which serves as the bottom of 
the container-like protector. Since the protector is designed to 
accommodate both penis and scrotum of the user, the rear portion thereof 
is provided with a slit or cut-out extending from the end edge. The wings 
on the rear portion, formed by the slit or cut-out on either slit side, 
are intended to be attached to the body underneath the scrotum. In this 
manner the protector will be more securely retained even if the user's 
penis is small, enabling simultaneously the protector to provide a 
sufficient absorption capacity without being clumsy. 
There is an essential drawback associated with the protector designed in 
accordance with the Swedish Patent Application No. 8303663-2 in that its 
manufacture is complicated. A further drawback is the irregular shape of 
such protectors, which makes them difficult to pack. 
With the present invention, however, there is achieved an incontinence 
protector which is well-adapted to the male body and which simultaneously 
allows manufacturing and packing in a most simple manner. 
An incontinence protector in accordance with the invention is primarily 
distinguished by comprising an absorbent layer of a substantially 
rectangular basic shape and which is applied in a folded condition to 
constitute the protector, as well as a liquid impermeable casing affixed 
to the absorbent layer while enclosing the two planar outer surfaces of 
the folded absorbent layer, the folding edge of the absorbent layer and an 
edge situated close to the folding edge, said casing leaving the two 
remaining edges open into the space between the folded absorbent layer, 
whereby the protector is brought to its state of use by folding the 
shorter one of the two edges sealed by the casing against the other sealed 
edge, the protector in this state forming a more or less conical 
container. 
The invention is an important advance within its field of products. As a 
matter of fact, it is possible according to the invention to create an 
incontinence protector out of a rectangular absorption body such as, for 
example, a conventional rectangular diaper and a plastic film applied to 
one of its surfaces. This is done by merely folding the absorption body 
with the plastic film and sealing it along one side in its folded state. 
When put on, the protector is simply folded to form a bodily conformed 
protection. The adaptation to the body can then be further improved by 
providing the protector along its longest open edge with an elastic member 
applied in a prestretched state and intended to form a softly rounded-off 
opening portion tightly sealing around the penis root during use of the 
protector.

FIG. 1 illustrates a rectangular diaper 1 consisting of a cellulose 
absorption body surrounded by a wrap made of fiber fabric. The absorption 
body is applied at the center of a plastic film 2 with side edge portions 
3,4 extending laterally beyond the absorption body and with its 
mid-portion suitably glued to the absorption body by means of hot melt. 
For creating the incontinence protector, the edge portion 3 is first bent 
in over the absorption body and is glued thereto, whereafter the 
absorption body and the plastic film are folded together. The 
bent-together, overlapping parts of the edge portion 4 are united by 
gluing or welding, whereafter these united parts are bent around the edge 
portion of the folded absorption body and are fixed by gluing in this 
position. The incontinence protector thus obtained is illustrated in FIGS. 
2 and 3. 
In its condition shown in FIG. 2 the protector has uniform thickness, 
enabling in this manner a number of protectors to be piled on top of one 
another for producing a multi-piece package. 
The incontinence protector according to FIG. 2 is easily brought to its 
state of use by pressing in the folding edge 5 against the other closed 
edge 6. In this manner the incontinence protector will be opened to its 
state of use as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom portion of the folded product 
thereby forming a more or less conical container 7 and the top portion 
forming a splash guard 8. 
The more or less conical bottom portion may extend into the user's crotch 
without the risk of chafing, whereas the splash guard 8 extends up over 
the abdomen. Due to the design of the incontinence protector, the 
incorporated absorption body can have very thick dimensions without 
becoming voluminous and uncomfortable to wear. 
As illustrated in FIG. 5 showing another embodiment of a protector made in 
accordance with the invention, a softly rounded-off opening portion 10 is 
obtained if a prestretched elastic thread or elastic band 9 is affixed to 
the one longitudinally extending side edge portion 3 running beyond the 
absorption body, which portion is then folded in over said thread or band 
in order to form the opening edge facing the penis root during use of the 
protector. 
With regard to the choice of rectangular size and length in relation to the 
width of the absorption body and the plastic film, the size and extent of 
the more or less conical container and the splash guard can be arbitrarily 
selected. 
For users having a diminished penis it is particularly vital that the 
splash guard 8 is lengthy while extending well up over the abdomen. 
The inventive incontinence protector is preferably combined with an elastic 
pant keeping the protector fixed in position. 
The invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above, but a 
plurality of modifications are conceivable within the scope of the 
following claims. 
The absorption body material need not necessarily be fluff pulp but could 
as well be some other material. If a thin protector is desired, the 
absorption body could be made of a material bonded in sheet form for 
example, possibly including a highly absorbent material bonded therein. 
If desired, the point of the conical container can be made less sharp by 
folding the absorption body somewhat obliquely. 
The protector described and illustrated above comprises a rectangular 
absorption body and a corresponding plastic layer. If desired, the more or 
less conical container can be made broader at the top in relation to the 
dimensions of the splash guard by letting portions of the oblong 
absorption body project laterally in one direction from the purely 
rectangular shape at or in the vicinity of the oblong blank center, the 
folded blank thus having its greatest width in an area close to the 
folding line.