SANITARY NAPKIN

Abstract: A sanitary napkin consisting of an absorbent body (1) enclosed in a casing (2). According to the invention, the casing includes laterally projecting flaps (4, 5) extending beyond at least one end of the absorbent body (1), the extension of said flaps being adapted to render the flaps foldable over the edge of a panty. There is accomplished with the invention a readily appliable and adjustable sanitary napkin which is in addition foldable into a self-containing package.

Description: SANITARY NAPKIN The present invention relates to a sanitary napkin consisting of an absorbent body and a casing surrounding it. Leakage arising from sanitary napkins or pantiliners are in most cases caused by improper positioning of the napkin already on its application in a panty, or by the absorbent body being at least partially displaced from its initial position. Sanitary napkins having flaps projecting laterally from the center of the absorbent body, which primarily serve to protect the crotch portion of the panty from discolora¬ tion, are previously known. Although preventing to a certain degree lateral displacement of the sanitary napkin in the crotch portion, such flaps do not support the absorbent body at its ends. The object of the invention is to improve a napkin of this type so as to reduce the risk of leakage associated with sanitary napkins. This object is achieved with a sanitary napkin having the distinguishing features set forth in the appended Claim 1. By the flaps being located at the front edge of the napkin they will be more readily accessible, enabling them in this manner to be secured to the outside of the panty after putting it on. Also, the inventive napkin is more easily fitted into its proper position since adjustment can be done at the end instead of at the center of the napkin. " •-",. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the side flaps extend in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent body from the end of the napkin intended to be placed in front, and up to at least the center of the absorbent body. Furthermore, the side flaps are made tapering from said front end of the napkin. The inventive design of the flaps will enable the napkin to be folded into packages prior to as well as subsequent to usage, which is a great advantage from the user's aspect. These and other features and advantages will be disclosed in more detail in the following description of an embodiment of the inventive sanitary napkin with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which Fig. 1 shows a sanitary napkin according to the invention with the side intended for attachment inside a panty facing the viewer; Fig. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the sanitary napkin according to Fig. 1 ; and Figs. 3a - 3d show the various steps of folding the sanitary napkin according to Claim 1 into a package. The sanitary napkin illustrated by the figures comprises an absorbent body 1 encapsulated in a casing which is composed of two interconnected surface layers 2, 3. The surface layer 2, which is a liquid impermeable layer facing the panty during use of the napkin and therefore constitutes the so-called outside of the casing, is secured at spaced points to the panty as will be explained later on, whereas the surface layer 3 is a liquid permeable layer facing the wearer's body during use and constituting there¬ fore the so-called inside of the casing. As can be seen from the figures, at least one end of the casing has lateral extensions forming side flaps 4, 5. In Fig. 1 the side flaps extend from one end of the napkin to the other end thereof and are made tapering from the upper end as seen in the figure, which end is to be forwardly placed within a panty for which reason it is- referred to in the following as the front end of the napkin. The casing is provided on its outside with adhesive layers 6, 7 located at the forward ends of the side flaps, as well as an adhesive layer 8 disposed at the rearward end on the outside of the casing, said adhesive layers serving as attachment means for the napkin inside the panty. Application of the sanitary napkin takes place in the following manner. The napkin is placed inside a partially pulled down panty which is then pulled up. If the napkin is properly positioned, which is easily ascertained when the panty is put on, the laterally projecting flaps 4, 5 are folded around the edge of the panty and the adhesive layers 6, 7 are affixed to the outside of the panty. In case of backward or sideward misplacement of the napkin, readjustment can be accomplished with the aid of the side flaps which are accessible from without. If however the napkin is initially placed too far up front in the panty and has to be pulled backwards, the panty must be loosened to permit such rearrangement. It should be understood that after some time the wearer will learn to avoid placement of the napkin so that the front end has to be moved downwards , and therefore readjustments requiring loosening of the panty will be rarely occurring incidents. The inventive napkin is thus simpler to fit into position than prior art sanitary napkins. There is no need to provide the rear end of the napkin with any adhesive layer. In many cases a friction liner could suffice as a safeguard against displacement of the rear end of the napkin in relation to the panty. Moreover, by replacing the rear adhesive layer of the napkin with a friction liner, readjustment of the napkin in the panty is facilitated. in order to further stabilize the position of the napkin in the panty, elastic members such as elastic threads, for example, may be disposed longitudinally along the side edges of the flaps which would reduce to a high degree the risk of the absorbent body moving sidewards relative to the panty and away from its initial position. To achieve this performance, the rear end of the napkin should be provided with an adhesive layer 8 serving to prevent the napkin from contraction caused by the force of the elastic members. According to Fig. 2, wherein like reference numerals refer to the same elements as in Fig. 1, the sanitary napkin differs from the one shown in Fig. 1 in that the side flaps 4, 5 have a shorter extension in their longitudinal direction, creating in this manner folding indications, and in that the napkin of Fig. 2 also includes longitudinal and transverse elastic members 9, 10. The transverse elastic members 10 are intended to give the absorbent body a tendency of curving inwards for preventing gap formation between napkin and outer genitals should the panty with its associated napkin be somewhat displaced in relation thereto such as, for example, at shuffling movements in a cinema chair. In other words, the napkin may so to say be spring loaded towards an inwardly bent shape. The transverse elastic members 10 are thereby arranged in the surface layer 2 and preferably on the side thereof facing the absorbent body 1. It has been found advantageous to design a napkin according to Fig. 1 with only one transverse thread in the proximity of the upper edge of the napkin. Due to the inventive design including side flaps, the napkin can be folded to form its own hygienic package. The advantage gained is that single, unused napkins can be hygienically brought along in a handbag, for example, enabling simultaneously a used napkin to be folded into a hygienic and discretely disposable item. Fig. 3 illustrates the method of folding a used napkin according to Fig. 1 into the form of a package. Folding axes are indicated by dash-dotted lines, and folding directions with, arrows in the figure. The napkin according to Fig. 1 is thus folded about its center so that the rear end is bent in over the front end to lie flush therewith, the folding direction being such that the liquid impermeable surface layer 2 is turned outwards (see Fig. 3a) . Next, the portions of the side flaps lying beyond the adhesive layers 6, 7 are folded in over the inside of the casing along folding lines extending parallel with the longitudinal direction of an unfolded napkin (see Fig. 3b) . Finally, the free casing portions are folded in over the absorbent body along folding axes extending parallel with the longitudinal direction of an unfolded napkin so that the casing edges folded over to lie flush with the outer limit of the adhesive layers will come close together without leaving any gap between the adhesive layers 6 and 7 (Fig. 3c) . The napkin thus folded into a package is then sealed with the aid of a foil strip 11 treated with release agent and covering the juxtaposed adhesive layers 6, 7 (Fig. 3) . The folding process described above may in principle be applied also in connection with packing unused napkins. in order to minimize the requirement of space, these napkins should however be folded into three sections before folding in the flaps. It should be emphasized in this context that in the manufacture of the inventive napkin, the adhesive layers 6, 7 could suitably be applied after the napkin has reached its finally folded state. The folding procedure could be further simplified by giving the flaps some other configura¬ tion, for example by cutting off the triangular flap portions situated beyond the adhesive layers and which are located in Fig. 3b beyond the folding axes. The methods of folding described above are only given as non-limiting illustrative examples on how to fold a napkin having flaps according to Fig. 1 into a package. Other folding processes could be utilized for example when folding napkins with alternatively shaped flaps. According to the present invention there is thus achieved a sanitary napkin which is easily fixed in its proper position inside the panty and which permits adjust¬ ment of the napkin after the panty is put on. Furthermore, the napkin is held firmly and securely fixed in the panty during use, and finally the side flaps will permit the napkin to be folded into a hygienic single-piece package prior to as well as subsequent to use, the invention thereby eliminating to a high degree the problem of bringing along and dispose of separate napkins. A plurality of modifications are of course conceiv¬ able within the scope of the inventive idea, particularly with regard to the shape of the absorbent body and the casing flaps. The invention should therefore be restricted solely by the contents of the following patent claims.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A sanitary napkin consisting of an absorbent body (1) surrounded by a casing (2,3) , characterized in that the casing includes laterally projecting flaps (4,5) extending beyond the absorbent body at least at one end part thereof, and in that the extension of the flaps is adapted to make the flaps foldable around the edge of a panty. 2. A sanitary napkin according to Claim 1, characterized in that adhesive layers (6,7) are applied to the flaps (4,5) close to their front edges on the portions intended to be folded over the edge of the panty. 3. A sanitary napkin according to Claim 2, characterized in that the side flaps (4,5) extend in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent body from the end of the napkin intended to be placed in front and up to at least the midpoint of the absorbent body. 4. A sanitary napkin according to Claim 3, characterized in that the side flaps are made to taper from said front end of the napkin. 5. A sanitary napkin according to Claim 3, characterized in that an adhesive layer (8) or the like is applied to the side of the rear end of the casing intended to face the panty during use. '* - " .• 6. A sanitary napkin according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that elastic members (9) are disposed along the lateral edges of the side flaps (4,5). 7. A sanitary napkin according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the casing is composed of two surface layers (2,3) , and that transverse elastic members (10) are disposed in the outwardly faced surface layer (2) of the casing. 8. A sanitary napkin according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by being foldable into the shape of a self-containing package. 9. A sanitary napkin according to Claim 7, characterized by being folded one or more times about transverse folding axes so that fluid pervious portions (3) of the casing are folded towards one another and/or towards previously folded portions, the side flaps (4,5) from the folded state of the napkin furthermore being bent in over the portion of the casing containing the absorbent body (1) so that the outside of the packed napkin solely consists of fluid impervious portions (2) of the casing. 10. A sanitary napkin according to Claim 8, characterized in that the edges of the side flaps (4,5) bent in from the folded state of the napkin over the casing portion containing the absorbent body are lying edge to edge, and that the package formed is sealed with the aid of a protective foil strip (11) extending over the adhesive layers (6,7) which adjoin one another when the napkin is folded into its packed state.

Inventors: HANSSON ROY, TERNSTROEM MAJ INGELA, HANSSON, ROY, TERNSTROEM, MAJ, INGELA
Applicants: MOELNLYCKE AB
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A61F13
IPC codes: A61F13