Source: {"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"}

The loss of the protection expected of a sanitary napkin product may be caused by a lack of close contact with the body of the wearer, as well as a failure to provide adequate coverage over the requisite area of an undergarment. Those skilled in the art of sanitary protection have attempted to overcome these problems by introducing absorbent products having members disposed longitudinally in order to attempt to create raised edge portions adjacent a central absorbent area. These raised edge barriers are intended to act as barriers against lateral leakage. For example, McFarland, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,556; Widlund, et al., EPO 0091412, filed Mar. 17, 1983; and Mokry, EPO 0155515, filed Feb. 2, 1985, and Van Tilburg, U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,876 have made attempts to solve failure problems using such means.
Some of the more recent napkin designs, in order to address further the lateral leakage problem, have included side panels, flaps or wings that extend laterally from the longitudinal sides of the central absorbent. Mattingly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,047, and McNair, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,343. These products were designed to protect undergarments by providing side extensions that wrap around the crotch of an undergarment, such as a panty, to prevent body fluids from seeping over the longitudinal sides and staining the panty. The flaps of these napkins preferably have adhesive disposed on their body fluid impervious surfaces for attaching them to an undergarment. The McNair patent, for example, describes the use of adhesive under the central absorbent which is exposed by removing release paper releasably attached to the adhesive. The napkin is then attached to the crotch portion of the undergarment. The user removes the release paper from the adhesive on each of flaps and attaches the flaps to the underside surface of the undergarment. Attaching the flaps in this fashion, however, is known to be a time-consuming and tedious task. The procedure is, moreover, conducive to misplacement of the product.
Accordingly, a need exists for a sanitary napkin having panty protecting flaps which can be adhered to and removed from the panty more conveniently.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a winged sanitary napkin that is relatively easy to remove after use compared to those of the prior art.
It is another object of this invention to provide a winged sanitary napkin having resilient hinge portions which enable an adhesive-free placement of the flaps around the sides of the crotch portion of a panty.
With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent to one skilled in the art as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination, arrangement of parts and methods substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined in the attached claims.