SANITARY ABSORBENT ARTICLE ASSEMBLY INCLUDING AN INTEGRATED DISPOSAL SHEET
The present invention relates to sanitary absorbent articles and in particular to a sanitary absorbent article assembly including an integrated disposal sheet for disposal of a soiled absorbent article.
The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/957,864, filed Dec. 17, 2007, priority of which is hereby claimed.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to sanitary absorbent articles and in particular to a sanitary absorbent article assembly including an integrated disposal sheet for disposal of a soiled absorbent article.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONWomen often experience difficulty in deciding how to dispose of a soiled sanitary article such as a sanitary napkin. In general, there are two commonly used methods to dispose of a soiled sanitary article. One method involves the disposal of the soiled sanitary article in the toilet. The other commonly used method involves wrapping the used article, usually in toilet paper, and placing the wrapped article in the trash. Both methods can be problematic and may result in plumbing problems with the former method or the presence of odor in the trash with the latter method.
Various proposed solutions have been disclosed in the prior art for solving the above described problem. However, such proposed solutions are generally characterized by two shortcomings Either the proposed solutions are complex in use requiring extensive manipulation of the either the soiled sanitary napkin or the disposal means (e.g. such as a disposal bag) or in the alternative the disposal means is not easily accessible by the user at the time of disposal.
In view of the foregoing the inventors of the present disclose herein a sanitary napkin assembly that includes an integrated disposal sheet that is easy to use and is easily accessible at the time of disposal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a sanitary article assembly including a sanitary article having a garment facing surface and an adhesive arranged on the garment facing surface for securing the sanitary article to an undergarment during use, the sanitary article having a trifolded configuration prior to use, the trifolded configuration defining a first end portion of the sanitary article, a second end portion of the sanitary article and an intermediate portion arranged between the first end portion and the second end portion, a disposal sheet having a folded configuration wherein the disposal sheet is attached to the garment facing surface and the disposal sheet extends over only a portion of the adhesive thereby permitting attachment of the sanitary article to an undergarment while the disposal sheet is simultaneously attached to the garment facing surface of said sanitary article, the disposal sheet further having a unfolded configuration, wherein the disposal sheet in the unfolded configuration includes a first wall and a second wall arranged in opposed relationship to the first wall, and the disposal sheet includes a first portion that corresponds in location to the first end portion of the sanitary article, a second portion that corresponds in location to the second end portion of the sanitary article, and a third portion that corresponds in location with the intermediate portion of the sanitary article, the second wall being arranged in the first portion and having a length that does not extend beyond the first portion, the first wall and second wall cooperating to define a pocket therebetween, wherein the disposal sheet is structured and arranged so that is foldable so that the first and second portions can be arranged in overlapping relationship relative to the third portion of the disposal sheet while the corresponding portions of the sanitary article are attached thereto such that the first and second end portions of the sanitary article are arranged in overlapping relationship relative to the intermediate portion of the sanitary article, wherein the pocket is structured and arranged such that it can be inverted to thereby receive the sanitary article within the pocket while said first and second end portions are arranged in said overlapping relationship
Examples of embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, in which:
Referring to
As best seen in
The closed configuration of the overwrap shown in
As shown in
Once a user is ready to the use the napkin 14 the user may manually open the overwrap 12 from the closed configuration shown in
As discussed above, the sanitary napkin 14 is arranged in a trifolded configuration in the overwrap 12 prior to use. Due to the trifolded configuration of the sanitary napkin 14 prior to use, the sanitary napkin 14 is generally divided into three portions. In particular as shown in
As shown in
During use of the napkin 14, as shown in
After the napkin 14 has been attached to the undergarment 45 and used as desired, the soiled napkin 14 may be removed from the undergarment 45. As shown in
In the unfolded configuration the disposal sheet 16 includes a first wall 70 having an inner surface 72 and an outer surface 74. When in the unfolded configuration the inner surface 72 of the first wall 70 is arranged in surface to surface contact with the garment facing surface 44 of the sanitary napkin 14. As best seen in
As discussed in further detail below, and shown in
A method of using the absorbent article assembly 10 according to the present invention will now be described with reference to
It has been recognized by the present inventors that a soiled sanitary napkin often has a volume that is sufficiently greater than the volume of the same napkin in the dry state. Accordingly, it is preferable that the second wall 76 of the disposal sheet 16 be dimensioned such that the pocket 78 defined between the first wall 70 and second wall 76 has a volume sufficient to receive a sanitary napkin having a volume of about 1.5 times to about 5 times a volume of the sanitary napkin 14 in a dry condition.
In view of the above the inventors of the present invention have provided a sanitary article assembly that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art. In particular the inventors have provided a sanitary article assembly that includes an integrated disposal sheet that is easy to use and is also easily accessible at the time of disposal of the sanitary article.
Claims
1. A sanitary article assembly comprising:
- a sanitary article having a garment facing surface and an adhesive arranged on the garment facing surface for securing the sanitary article to an undergarment during use, the sanitary article having a trifolded configuration prior to use, the trifolded configuration defining a first end portion of the sanitary article, a second end portion of the sanitary article and an intermediate portion arranged between the first end portion and the second end portion;
- a disposal sheet having a folded configuration wherein the disposal sheet is attached to the garment facing surface and the disposal sheet extends over only a portion of the adhesive thereby permitting attachment of the sanitary article to an undergarment while the disposal sheet is simultaneously attached to the garment facing surface of said sanitary article, the disposal sheet further having a unfolded configuration;
- wherein the disposal sheet in the unfolded configuration includes a first wall and a second wall arranged in opposed relationship to the first wall, and the disposal sheet includes a first portion that corresponds in location to the first end portion of the sanitary article, a second portion that corresponds in location to the second end portion of the sanitary article, and a third portion that corresponds in location with the intermediate portion of the sanitary article, the second wall being arranged in the first portion and having a length that does not extend beyond the first portion, the first wall and second wall cooperating to define a pocket therebetween;
- wherein the disposal sheet is structured and arranged so that is foldable so that the first and second portions can be arranged in overlapping relationship relative to the third portion of the disposal sheet while the corresponding portions of the sanitary article are attached thereto such that the first and second end portions of the sanitary article are arranged in overlapping relationship relative to the intermediate portion of the sanitary article; and
- wherein the pocket is structured and arranged such that it can be inverted to thereby receive the sanitary article within the pocket while said first and second end portions are arranged in said overlapping relationship.
2. The sanitary article assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first wall has an inner surface and an outer surface and the second wall is arranged in opposed relationship to the outer surface of the first wall.
3. The sanitary article assembly according to claim 1, wherein the disposal sheet in the folded configuration covers from about 1% to about 20% of the adhesive.
4. The sanitary article according to claim 1, wherein the pocket has a sufficient volume to entirely receive the sanitary article within the pocket.
5. The sanitary article according to claim 1, wherein the pocket has a sufficient volume to receive a sanitary article having a volume of about 1.5 times to about 5 times a volume of the sanitary article in a dry condition.
Type: Application
Filed: May 3, 2011
Publication Date: Aug 25, 2011
Inventors: Annie Chicoine (Montreal), Christian Tremblay (Repentigny)
Application Number: 13/099,579
International Classification: A61F 13/551 (20060101);