Improvements in Sanitary Towels.
Year: 1896

page_text: Improvements in Sanitary Towels.
W ALFRED SOUTHALL and THOMAS BARCLAY and JOHN BARCLAY all of No. 17
Bull Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick Pharmaceutical Chemists
do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in sanitary
towels and have for their object to increase the absorptive power of the said towels;
and our said invention consists of the introduction into the said towels essentially
in the ways hereinafter described of fossil siliceous infusorial earth such for
example as kieselguhr or diatomite. By the use of the said earth the absorptive
power of the towel and consequently its efficiency is largely increased.
We will describe our invention as carried into effect with the infusorial earth
called kieselguhr.
According to one of our improvements we make a sanitary towel of two
pads each of the said pads being made in the following manner. We take an
oblong piece of the fabric known in commerce as cellulose wadding and we spread
on the said piece of wadding a thin layer of finely powdered kieselguhr, the said
layer extending only over about two thirds of the length of the wadding, a margin
of about one inch in breadth being left uncovered by the kieselguhr all round the
wadding. The uncovered parts of the wadding are folded so as to form an oblong
fiat pad. Two of these pads are enclosed in a cover of gauze and this, the partially
made sanitary towel is finished and made antiseptic preferably in the ways
described, represented and claimed in the complete specification of a patent granted
to William Southall, Alfred Southall and Thomas Barclay No. 2193 year 1880.
All the sanitary towels made according to the improvements hereinafter described
are similarly made antiseptic.
According to another of our improvements we make a sanitary towel in the
following manner. We make three flat square pads of absorbent wool containing
kieselguhr the said three pads when placed in a row having approximately the
size and shape of the single pad made according to our first improvement. We
wrap these three square flat pads in a cover of absorbent wool. The compound
pad is enclosed in a cover of gauze and the partially made pad is finished in the
manner already referred to.
Sanitary towels made according to the two improvements described may be
enclosed in seamless tubes of gauze instead of being enclosed in folded gauze and
may have short gauze ends for use with suspenders, or may have ends of gauze
long enough to permit of use without suspenders; or they may be used with a
bandage in place of long or short ends.
According to another of our improvements we make a sanitary towel in the fol-
lowing manner. We take one of the kieselguhr pads made according to our first
improvement and a large sheet of gauze. We place upon the sheet of gauze a
smaller sheet of cellulose wadding and on the said cellulose wadding and near
one end we place the kieselguhr pad. One end of the gauze is folded partly over

page_text: upper face of the kieselguhr pad and the other larger part of the gauze together
with the cellulose wadding is folded over the upper face of the pad to about its
middle and its edge turned back. The layers of gauze and cellulose wadding are
stitched to the upper layer of the cellulose wadding of the kieselguhr pad the
stitches not being made through the pad itself.
According to another of our improvements we take three small pads of the kind
described under our second improvement and we enclose the said pads in absorbent
wool instead of cellulose wadding as described in our second improvement.
According to another of our improvements we employ a layer of absorbent gauze
on which is a layer of absorbent wool and on the latter a stratum of kieselguhr.
The absorbent gauze and absorbent wool are of a length sufficient to permit of their
being folded in the manner described with reference to our third described
improvement.
Instead of using the keiselguhr or other infusorial powder alone we may employ
a mixture of the said powder with cellulose that is wood fibre in a state of fine
division such as the wood wool of commerce or distintegrated cellulose wadding.
When we employ disintegrated cellulose wadding the disintegration of the said
wadding may be effected in a Carter's disintegrator. But we do not limit ourselves
to any particular sources of cellulose or wood fibre.
Dated this tenth day of Santambon 1000
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
We, ALFRED SOUTHALL, and THOMAS BARCLAY and JOHN BARCLAY all of No. 17
Bull Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Pharmaceutical Chemists,
do hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in sanitary
towels and have for their object to increase the absorptive power of the said towels
and to economize their manufacture. Our said invention consists of the introduc-
tion into the said towels essentially in the ways hereinafter described of fossil
siliceous infusorial earth commonly known as kieselguhr or diatomite.
We will describe our invention as carried into effect with white infusorial earth
although as hereinafter explained other kinds of infusorial earth may be employed.
According to one of our improvements we make a sanitary towel of two kieselguhr
pads each of the said pads being made in the following manner. We take an
oblong piece of the fabric known in commerce as cellulose wadding and we spread
on the said piece of wadding a thin layer of finely powdered kieselguhr, the said
layer extending only over about two thirds of the length of the wadding, a marginal
part or part uncovered by the kieselguhr being left all round the wadding. The
uncovered parts of the wadding are folded so as to form an oblong flat pad. Two
of these pads are enclosed face to face in an envelope of thin absorbent wool and
this is enclosed in an outer cover of gauze.
The sanitary towel thus made is preferably made antiseptic in either of the ways
described and claimed in the complete specification of Letters patent granted to
William Southall, Alfred Southall and Thomas Barclay No. 2193 year 1880, or by
the method hereinafter described.

page_text: All the sanitary towels hereinafter described may be similarly rendered
antiseptic.
Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying Drawings illustrate the method of
making a sanitary towel according to this part of our invention.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawings.
In making the kieselguhr pads we take a piece of cellulose wadding a, a', a
(Figure 1) and spread on the part a, except near the ends of the said part, a thin
layer of kieselguhr & in fine powder. We fold the part a' of the cellulose wadding
on the upper surface of the kieselguhr 7, and afterwards fold the part a² of the said
cellulose wadding on the upper surface of the said kieselguhr, the edge of the
part overlapping the edge of the part already folded. Two of the kieselguhr
pads thus made are laid on one another face to face and are placed at or about
the middle of a thin layer of absorbent wool on a strip of gauze as is represented
in Figure 2 where the kieselguhr pads are marked b, the absorbent wool c and the
gauze d. The towel is made by first folding the side A of absorbent wool and
gauze upon the pair of kieselguhr pads band afterwards folding the part B of
the gauze, at the other side, on the absorbent wool c the said wool and gauze being
then folded on the pair of kieselguhr pads and secured to the already folded part A.
by sewing as will be understood by reference to the elevation of the finished towel
Figure 3 and cross section of the same represented in Figure 4.
The looped ends of the towel are made in the ordinary way from the ends of the
strip of gauze unoccupied by the absorbent wool.
We have represented the sanitary towel Figure 3 with short gauze ends or loops
for use with suspenders but we wish it to be understood that the said towel as well
as those hereinafter described may be made with either short or long loops or ends
or without loops or ends, the said towels in the latter case being kept in place
when worn by means of a bandage or the like.
Further, we wish it to be understood that the kieselguhr pads may be enclosed
in absorbent wool and then drawn into a tubular sheath of gauze instead of being
wrapped in a sheet of the said gauze as hereinbefore described and represented.
Although we have described and prefer to use a pair of kieselguhr pads in each
of the said towels yet one kieselguhr pad only may be employed."
According to another of our improvements we make a sanitary towel in the fol-
lowing manner. We make three flat square kieselguhr pads by wrapping in
cellulose wadding in the way described with respect to each of the kieselguhr pads
employed in the sanitary towel Figure 3 the said three pads being placed in a row
the said row of pads having approximately the size and shape of one of the pair
of kieselguhr pads in the sanitary towel Figure 3. We wrap the said row of square
pads in absorbent wool and the compound pad thus made is enclosed in a cover of
gauze. The sanitary towel thus practically made is finished in the manner already
referred to.
A sanitary towel made according to this part of our invention is represented in
elevation in Figure 5 and longitudinal section in Figure 6, the three kieselguhr
pads being marked respectively b₁, b, b
According to another of our improvements we make a sanitary towel in the
following manner. We take one of the kieselguhr pads made according to our
first improvement and a large sheet of gauze. We place upon the sheet of gauze
a smaller sheet of cellulose wadding and on the said cellulose wadding and near one
side we place the kieselguhr pad. The shorter side of the gauze and cellulose
wadding is folded partly over the upper face of the kieselguhr pad, and the other
longer side of the gauze, together with the cellulose wadding of that side, is folded
over the upper face of the pad to about its middle, and the double edge turned back.
The fold of gauze and cellulose wadding so produced is stitched to the upper layer
of the cellulose wadding covering the kieselguhr pad, the stitches not being made
through the pad itself.
According to another of our improvements we employ a large sheet of absorbent

page_text: gauza on which is a layer of absorbent wool and on the latter a stratum of
kieselguhr, the absorbent gauze and absorbent wool being of a length sufficient to
permit of their being folded in the manner described with reference to our last
named improvement.
This part of our invention is represented in Figures 7, 8 and 9.
In Figure 7, d represents the large sheet of gauze on which is the layer of
absorbent wool c having on it and near one side the layer of kieselguhr b. The
side A of the absorbent wool and gauze is first folded on the kieselguhr and the
side B of the gauze being folded on the absorbent wool the said wool and gauze
are folded on the kieselguhr as is represented in the cross section Figure 8. The
double edge e of gauze, having a thin layer of absorbent wool between it is then
turned back at or about the middle of the towel as is represented in Figure 9. The
middle fold of gauze and absorbent wool so produced is stitched to the layer of
absorbent wool covering the kieselguhr, the stitches preferably not passing through
the kieselguhr.
We wish it to be understood that where, in the making of the sanitary towels
herein before described, we have referred to the use of cellulose wadding the said
cellulose wadding may be replaced by absorbent cotton wool.
Instead of using in the sanitary towels hereinbefore described, kieselguhr or
other infusorial earth alone we may employ a mixture of the said earth with
disintegrated cellulose, made preferably from the material known in commerce as
sulphite pulp. When we employ disintegrated cellulose the disintegration of the
sulphite pulp may be effected in a Carter's disintegrator, but we do not limit our-
selves to any particular source of cellulose or to any particular method of effecting
its disintegration. The proportion of kieselguhr to disintegrated cellulose is pre-
ferably that of one of the former to three of the latter but we do not limit ourselves
to any particular proportion.
When in the making of sanitary towels, we employ a mixture of kieselguhr and
disintegrated cellulose we prefer to make each of the said towels in the following
manner. We take a thin sheet or layer of absorbent wool and arrange it upon a
sheet of gauze in the way represented in Figure 2. We substitute for the pair of
kieselguhr pads 6 represented in the said Figure 2 a layer of the mixed kieselguhr
and disintegrated cellulose and proceed to fold the sides of wool and gauze in the
manner hereinbefore described with respect to the said Figure 2 the finished towel
having in cross section the form represented in Figure 4.
b
Although we prefer in carrying our invention into effect to employ white
infusorial earth yet inferior kinds of infusorial earth containing organic and
inorganic impurities may be employed the said inferior infusorial earth being more
or less purified either by heat or by other well known processes of purification.
In addition to the methods already referred to for rendering sanitary towels
antiseptic, we make use of the following processes.
According to one process we make a concentrated solution of perchloride of
mercury in water and by spraying or otherwise mix such an amount of the said
solution with the infusorial earth or kieselguhr that the resulting mixture contains,
say, one part by weight of perchloride of mercury to ten thousand parts by weight,
or more or less, of kieselguhr as may be desired. In order to thoroughly distribute
the perchloride of mercury solution through the infusorial earth, the liquid may be
sprayed on to the latter before it is ground; after which the impregnated material
is passed through a disintegrator fitted with fine screens. By this means a thorough
and uniform distribution of the perchloride of mercury is obtained. Where we use,
in place of kieselguhr alone, a mixture of kieselguhr and cellulose we add so much
of the antiseptic agent to the infusorial earth as will produce, after the latter has
been passed through a disintegrator with the cellulose, a mixture containing the
desired proportion of the said antiseptic agent.
According to another process for rendering sanitary towels antiseptic we use as
the antiseptic agent boric or boracic acid the said boric or boracic acid being mixed
with the kieselguhr or the mixture of kieselguhr and cellulose either in the solid

page_text: or liquid state. The boric or boracic acid and kieselughr or mixture of kieselguhr
and cellulose are preferably employed in the proportion of one part by weight of
boric or boracic acid to seven hundred parts by weight of kieselguhr or mixture of
kieselguhr and cellulose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention.
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we claim as our
invention of "Improvements in sanitary towels":
Introducing fossil siliceous infusorial earth commonly known as kieselguhr or
diatomite into sanitary towels, the said infusorial earth either alone or mixed with
disintegrated cellulose being preferably treated with an antiseptic, the said
infusorial earth or mixture of infusorial earth and disintegrated cellulose being
spread upon and folded in cellulose wadding or absorbent wool so as to form a pad
or pads which pad or pads are afterwards enclosed in a casing of gauze substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Dated the First day of June 1897
ALFRED SOUTHALL.
THOMAS BARCLAY.
JOHN BARCLAY.