The present invention relates to application of a waist belt for an absorbent garment. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing instructions to a user on how to apply the waist belt.
Garments in the form of disposable diapers are generally known in which the diaper is provided with a fastening system including a pair of fastening tabs secured to both sides of one end region of the diaper. The fastening tabs are intended to engage receiving means located on the other end region of the diaper. Such a diaper is generally placed on the wearer when the wearer is lying down. While the above-described fastening arrangement is satisfactory when applying diapers to a young child or baby, problems can arise when trying to fit an incontinence diaper to an adult wearer. This is particularly true for wearers who wish to apply the diaper to themselves, or for caregivers who receive a significant benefit from applying the diaper when the wearer is in a standing position.
To address this issue, a belted garment has been developed, which allows a wearer or caregiver to apply the diaper in a standing position. An example of such a belted garment is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,342,050, which is incorporated herein by reference. Typically, the garment has a belt attached integrally with the absorbent garment. The belt may have two belt portions extending on either side of the rear end of the absorbent section. The two belt portions are intended to be fastened around the waist of the wearer while the front end of the absorbent section hangs down between the legs of the wearer. Once the belt portions have been joined together, the wearer can reach between his or her legs to draw up the absorbent section between the legs and to attach the free end of the absorbent section to the belt portion.
Similarly, the garment can be made so that the belt is fastened to the front portion of the product and is secured around the back of the wearer. In this case, the absorption product will be hanging down in the front and will be secured to the belt in the back. This type of product is particularly useful for caregivers who care for patients that may have dementia or the like. It should be noted that this type of configuration is not ideal for wearers who wish to apply the garment themselves.
Where the problem of incontinence is involved, it will be appreciated that persons suffering from this problem are often old and have physical handicaps of various types. As a consequence, they may have more difficulty fastening the belt by themselves and often require the assistance of personnel for fitting the garments. However, it has been discovered that both caregivers and users have difficulty understanding how the product should be applied. With regard to belted garments, the most important part of application is that the belt is attached first. Although directions of application may be included with the garment packaging, the instructions are often ignored or thrown away. Therefore, the user becomes frustrated with the product.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide quick and easy instructions to a user or caregiver on how to apply a belted garment for absorption.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a method of producing an absorbent article includes providing a garment including an absorbent section, the absorbent section having a first and second end, a waist belt attached to the absorbent section, the waist belt having first and second belt portions extending on each side of the first end of the absorbent section for securing to each other around a wearer of the garment, the second end of the absorbent section including a fastening device for securing the second end of the absorbent section to the waist belt; and affixing instructions of application of the garment onto the garment.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a garment includes an absorbent section, the absorbent section having first and second ends, a waist belt attached to the absorbent section, the waist belt having first and second belt portions extending on each side of the first end of the absorbent section for securing to each other around a wearer of the garment, the second end of the absorbent section including a fastening device for securing the second end of the absorbent section to the waist belt, and instructions provided on the garment for describing how the garment should be applied.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, an absorbent article includes an absorbent section, the absorbent section having a first and second end, a fastening device attached to the absorbent section for securing the first end of the absorbent section to the second end of the absorbent section, and instructions provided on the article for describing how the article should be applied.
Before describing the instructions in detail, farther details of the belted garment 1 are provided according to features of the preferred embodiment. In particular, disposed at one end of belt portion 7 of the belt 3, there is provided a flexible strip 6 of hook elements, of the hook and loop type of fastening devices, which can either be secured to the belt part 8 or to a loop strip arranged on the belt part 8. However, it should be understood that other types of fastening devices are possible, including but not limited to, adhesive, pressure buttons, buttons and button holes, knots, and strings. In addition, while the belt 3 is preferably substantially rectangular in shape and includes two laterally spaced longitudinal edges 9 and 10, between which the strip 6 will be attached, other shapes are conceivable.
In the preferred embodiment, instructions relate to applying a belted garment having two separate belt portions 7 and 8. However, it should be understood that different instructions may be given, depending on the particular characteristics of the garment. In addition, it should be understood that the present invention could be used in connection with other incontinence guards or diapers.
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As described above, other types of instructions are possible, such as written instructions alone or written instructions together with pictorial instructions. In addition, the instructions may change depending on the particular structure and application of the garment. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the pictorial instructions described in the preferred embodiment. In addition, the instructions may be more or less detailed, or related to disposal of the product.
The instructions may be placed on the garment 1 in various places. Preferably, the instructions are placed near a waist edge of the product and should be visible before unfolding the product. However, it should be understood that instructions may be placed at any location on the garment or diaper, so long as it is relatively visible to the wearer or caregiver.
With reference to
In the preferred embodiment, the information is repeated, as shown in
The instructions 20 may also be placed on the inside of the waist edge along the front portion 5 of the absorbent section 2, as shown, for example, in
The instructions may be placed on the product in various ways. In particular, the instructions 20 may be directly printed on the product 1, as shown for example with respect to
In addition, the actual print of the instructions may be made of a substance that changes state when wet, such as by dissolving, smearing or changing colors, thereby discreetly removing the print. As such, the print of the instructions could also act as a wetness indicator, which is well known in the art. For example, the instructions may be placed on the inside of the product. When the print dissolves, this will indicate that the absorbent product is wetted. Alternatively, the print may change, thereby indicating that the absorbent product is wetted. For example, the print of the instructions may dissolve and be replaced by an indicator advising that the product is wetted. Wetness indication systems described above are well known in the art as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,654 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,211, said patents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
It should be noted that, while the term “absorbent garment” has been used particularly in conjunction with incontinence, and particularly adult incontinence, the invention is not limited to this particular use or any particular size or type of absorbent garment implied thereby. The above-described product and method could be used with baby's or children's diapers.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments thereof it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that additions, deletions, modifications, and substitutions not specifically described may be made without department from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.