Patent Application
20130317467
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a female incontinence pad adapted to be positioned in a garment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Urinary incontinence, the once-taboo topic of involuntary urine leakage, has become more well known in recent years. But while many are now aware that incontinence affects a large proportion of older people, few realize that it is also a significant problem for active women of all ages. That is, women of all ages can experience involuntary urine leakage during exercising and athletics (also known as athletic incontinence). These women often think that athletic incontinence is a normal part of aging or childbearing, and that they simply have to learn to live with this problem.
Some women who leak during sports or other activities will wear sanitary pads during exercise. Others wear incontinence pads designed for the elderly. Some stop exercising entirely. As sanitary pads are not designed to absorb urine, they often do not fully address the needs of the active women with athletic incontinence. Incontinence pads designed for the elderly tend to be bulky; therefore, many women will not wear them and will avoid exercising, or they will wear bulky clothing not suitable for the activity they are engaging in. Avoiding exercise can lead to future health issues.
A female incontinence pad is proposed that is adapted to be positioned in a garment with the portion of the pad that is proximate to the urethra being bigger and more absorbent than the portion of the pad spaced apart from the urethra, thereby allowing the incontinence pad to have a lower profile when worn with athletic apparel. By having a lower profile, the incontinence pad can be worn inside athletic (or other tight fitting) clothing without being visually detectable by others. This technology allows a user to control their athletic incontinence without curtailing athletics or limiting the clothes that can be worn as other people will not know that the user is wearing an incontinence pad.
One embodiment of the pad comprises a body that includes a front section, a middle section and a back section. The front section is adapted to cover the urethra of a user, and is wider and thicker than the back section so as to be able to absorb more liquid than the back section. The middle section has a width and thickness that tapers from the width and thickness of the front section to the width and thickness of the back section. The pad may include one or more adhesive patches.
In some embodiments, body 102 can comprise one material throughout. For example, the entire body 102 (or a majority of body 102) can be made of one or more cellulose materials.
In one embodiment, the body may also include a layer of wicking material on the inner surface of the body (proximate to, replacing or comprising) the inner layer of non-woven moisture permeable), to be in contact with the skin of the person wearing the pad 100. In one embodiment, surface 110 can be the wicking material and/or inner layer of non/woven moisture permeable material discussed above.
In one embodiment, body 102 includes a front section 104, a middle section 106, and a back section 108. As depicted in
In some embodiments, body 102 will also include a set of wings. In one example, as depicted in
Adhesive patch 136 is positioned on the bottom surface of wing 116, adhesive 138 is positioned on the bottom surface of wing 118, adhesive patch 140 is positioned on the bottom surface of wing 120, and adhesive patch 142 is positioned on the bottom surface of wing 122. In one embodiment, the adhesive patches are all initially manufactured with a cover on them such that the user will peel off the cover in order to stick the adhesive patches to the user's garment in order to secure female incontinence pad 100 to the user's garment. In some embodiments, less than five adhesive patches will be used. In some embodiments, there will be adhesive patches 136, 138, 140, and 142 on the wings but no adhesive patch 132 on the bottom surface 130. In other embodiments, pad 100 will include adhesive patch 132 but not adhesive patches 136-142. Other embodiments will include a subset of adhesive patches 136, 138, 140, and 142. In various alternatives, one or more adhesive patches can be in different locations than as depicted in
In other embodiments, female incontinence pad 100 can be designed to fit in a pouch sewn into the user's garment. In some cases, female incontinence pad 100 can also be loosely placed in the user's underwear such that the shape of female incontinence pad 100 and the shape of the user's body will cause the pad 100 to remain in place.
In some embodiments, back section 108 has a widest width that is less than half the widest width of front section 104, and front section 104 is at least twice as thick as back section 108. In some embodiments, front section 104 is more than twice as thick as back section 108. In some embodiments, all of the portions of body 102 other than front section 104 are thinner (in thickness) and narrower (in width) than front section 104.
In some embodiments, the portions of body 102 other than front section 104 have a smaller profile and can absorb less liquid than front section 104. These other sections have a smaller profile because they are thinner and/or narrower; therefore, there is less material and they are less bulky. These other sections absorb less liquid than front section 104 because there is less material to absorb.
Note that the dimensions depicted in
In one embodiment, front section 104 is designed to cover the urethra of the wearer in order to receive maximum amount of leaked urine. Back section 108 is designed to be underneath the torso of the wearer and, in some cases, behind the wearer's torso (depending on the size and shape of the wearer). The design of
In step 306, odor-absorbing material is added to body 102. This odor-absorbing material will be added to front section 104, middle section 106, and back section 108. In step 308, a first wing is connected to back section 108 and proximate to middle section 106. In step 310, a second wing is connected to back section 108 and proximate to middle section 106. In step 312, a third wing is connected to back section 108 and spaced apart from middle section 106. In step 314, a fourth wing is connected to back section 108 and spaced apart from middle section 106. In one embodiment, first wing is wing 116, second wing is wing 118, third wing 120, and fourth wing is wing 122. In other embodiments, the wings can be added in different orders and in some cases multiple wings are added at the same time (i.e. when multiple wings are one piece).
In step 316, the first adhesive patch (e.g., adhesive patch 136) is positioned on bottom surface of the first wing (e.g., wing 116). In step 318, a second adhesive patch (e.g., adhesive patch 138) is positioned on the bottom surface of the second wing (e.g. wing 118). In step 320, a third adhesive patch (e.g., adhesive patch 140) is positioned on the bottom surface of the third wing (e.g., wing 120). In step 322, a fourth adhesive patch (e.g., adhesive patch 142) is positioned on the bottom surface of the fourth wing (e.g., wing 122).
In step 324, a fifth adhesive patch is positioned along front section 104, middle section 106, and back section 108. For example, adhesive patch 132 can be positioned on bottom surface 130 of body 102. In some embodiments, multiple adhesive patches can be positioned on bottom surface 130 along front section 104, middle section 106, and back section 108 in step 324.
In some embodiments, female incontinence pad 100 can be manufactured in different colors so that a user can choose a color to match the garment being worn. In some implementations, female incontinence pad 100 can be a disposable device for one-time use. In other embodiments, it can be designed for multiple uses.
One embodiment includes a female incontinence pad adapted to be positioned in a garment. The female incontinence pad comprises a body and a first adhesive patch. The body includes a front section adapted to cover a urethra of a user and a back section. The front section is wider and thicker than the back section so as to be able to absorb more liquid than the back section. The body further comprises a middle section connected to and between the front section and the back section. The middle section has a width that tapers from a width of the front section to a width of the back section. The first adhesive patch is connected to the body and is adapted to adhere the incontinence pad to the garment.
One embodiment includes a female incontinence pad adapted to be positioned in a garment. The female incontinence pad comprises a front section and a back section. The front section has a first average width and a first average thickness. The back section has a second average width and a second average thickness. The first average width is greater than the second average width and the first average thickness is greater than the second average thickness such that the front section is capable to absorbing more moisture than the back section. In one set of implementations, the front section and back section form a body that also includes a middle section having a width and thickness that tapers from the front section to the back section.
One embodiment includes a method of fabricating a female incontinence pad. The method comprises fabricating a body that includes a front section and a back section. The front section has a first average width and a first average thickness. The back section has a second average width and a second average thickness. The first average width is greater than the second average width and the first average thickness is greater than the second average thickness such that the front section is capable to absorbing more moisture than the back section.
The foregoing detailed description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The described embodiments were chosen in order to best explain the principles of the disclosed technology and its practical application to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the technology in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope be defined by the claims appended hereto.
