US2826200A - Absorbent bandage - Google Patents

Description

` March 1I, 1958 Hc. BRIEN ETAL 2,826,200

ABsoRBENT BANDAGE Filed Feb. 25. 1954 /2 /g y V INVENTQRS:

Hanan 6? Erw@ @az/d E. rfozes 2,826,200 ABsonBENr BANDAGE Huron C. B rien, Neenah, and David D. Jones, Menasha,

Wis., asslgnors, by mesne assignments, to Kimberly- Clark Corporatlon, a corporation of Delaware Application February 2S, 1954, Serial No. 412,566

6 Claims. (Cl. 128290) "lhsinvention relates to an absorbent bandage for surgicaLmaternity and similar uses and is particularly concerned with such a bandage having aan absorbent pad body consisting wholly or partially of nely comminuted y material. The commnuted material may com prise wood pulp fiber randomly disposed in a layer of the desired length, breadth, and thickness to proved the require-d area of coverage and absorption capacity. Such cellulosic fibers are often referred to as tluff, and such llutl': is well adapted to the purpose of making absorbent pads because it is relatively inexpensive and easily disposable, becauseit produces a pad which is soft and 'readily conformable to the body, and because a pad of this 'material has a very high fluid absorbing capacity.

The use of such lluff for making bandages of the chartic'te'r indicated is, however, attended with some difculty because the lluff is very loosely integrated and usually rembodies 'a considerable amount Vof very short length fibers or lines which tend to dust out of the uff layer, that is to say, the fiber, especially the fines, tend to sepafate from the pad and 'to iloat out into the surrounding 'atmosphere and thence settle, or to remain on the body of the wearer of the pad. Such dusting occurs as an ineident to handling of the material during production of thepad and as an vincident to handling of such pads for p'ekag'in'g and other purposes and when applying the pad (as a bandage component) to a persons body, and it is quite objectionable because it makes it very difficult to maintain clean Working conditions and further because dust may enter open Wounds.

vlt would appear to be a very simple matter to enclose 'th'e desired layer of ulf in a pervious retentive Wrapper yto prevent such dust, but practical commercial consideralions in reference to the production of such an enclosed Ailuif layer together with practical considerations relative to preserving the softness and conformability of the layer, Iits disposal after use, and its accessibility to fluid to be labsorbed, present problems which may possibly be solved :in numerous ways with varying degrees of perfection.

:lt is an bbject of the present invention to provide an improved absorbent bandage containing an absorbing inedium made wholly or partially of finely comminuted material, for example, uif, and in which dusting is largely prevented. Other objects of the invention are to provide a bandage of the character indicated which may I'easily formed by high speed, continuously operating mech- "ani`s`rn; to provide a method whereby such a bandage may be manufactured economically and at low cost; to provide it bandage of the character indicated which will embody Athe desired softness and conformability and freedom from chafing effects and which will be readily disposable after irse; and other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specificationand accompanying drawing, wherein:

lFig. y1 is a representation of a series of steps in the pro- "iluctin of a bandage "embodying a selected form of the invention;

atent ICC 2 is a plan view of the improved bandage; and

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 3 being on an enlarged scale relative to Fig. 2 Iand thicknesses of certain sheet material elements being 'exaggerated for illustrative purposes.

The embodiment of the improved bandage selected for illustration, is a hospital matern-ity type of sanitary naprkin which is sterilized and is adaptable for use as a sur- 'gical dressing for wounds. The napkin designated 10 in its entirety, lcomprises an absorbent filler or body 12 of fluff material, which may be wood pulp fluff, cotton fibers, 'synthetic fibers, or combinations thereof, which is col- 'lected in a low density, loosely integrated layer having a 'high capacity for uid absorption, la pervious envelope 14 disposed around the iluff body or ller 12, and in- 'cluding a pair of edge strips 22, and a gauze or other suitable wrapper 16.

The filler 12 may be all fluff material or a sandwich combination of flul and wadding or any other suitable 'absorbent material. For the purpose of this invention the filler 12 must extend to the four edges of the pad so 'as to impar-t the necessary softness to the pad.

The ller 12 is preferably wrapped to form continuous length batt 18 as shown in Fig. l. The batt 18 is made by depositing the fluifin a layer along the longitudinal "intermediate portion of a sheet 19 of one or more plies 'of pervious material, such las cellulose wadding, more 'specically, very porous and iluid permeable creped tis- 'sue paper. The sheet 19 is considerably wider than the ltiuif layer 12 which is deposited on the sheet, and the longitudinal marginal side portions of the creped wadding sheet are folded around the sides and over the top of said fluff layer. As shown in Fig. l, the sheet 19 is of such width that when its side margins are folded over as above mentioned, they overlap on the top face of the ilui layer, the area of overlap being disposed more or less centrally of the Width of the batt but preferably somewhat nearer to one side than to the other. The sheet 19 thus forms a longitudinally continuous jacket 21 around 'the fluff layer. The batt 18 is made so that its width corre spends to the required length of the absorbent pad for the bandage being made. The lines of creping in the sheet 19 extend, transversely of the length of the batt as indicated at 19a, so that said lines of creping will extend lengthwise of individual ller pads cut from the end of the batt.

The batt 13 is severed transversely at successive spaced intervals to form absorbent filler pads 20 of the desired width for the individual bandages. This method of forming the individual pads 2b is readily adaptable to high speed forming operations, and results in a pad of the desired size having an open ended tubular sleeve or jacket which covers both faces land one pair of edges of the absorbent fluff component. In the specific embodiment, the jacket 21 encircles the length of the pad, so that the open ends of the jacket are at the longitudinal sides of the pad. Furthermore, the jacket 21 is applied to the filler in close relationship thereto, so as to dimension the latter and confine the filler to a predetermined area during the normal handling and use of the pad.

ln order to substantially eliminate dusting from the pad, a pair of side strips 22 are placed along the sides of the filler pad 20. These edge strips 22 may also be made of pervious crepe tissue, they may be made of material which is formed or treated so as to be less pervious than the sleeve material, they may be made fluid resistant or repellent by sizing or other treatment, although this is not necessary, or they may be made even more pervious than the jacket 21. These strips 22 preferably extend substantially the entire length of the pad and are wide enough so that longitudinal margins of said strips may overlap the margins of the jacket or sleeve along both faces of the pad, as shown at 23 in Fig. 3. These stiips 22, which should adhere to the jacket 21, cooperate with said jacket to completely enclose the fluff layer so that dusting is effectively prevented. In addition, the side strips 22 serve to further dimension the tille-r 12 in each pad. As a practical matter, said strips 22 may terminate short of the ends of the pad, say about 1A; inch from said ends. This will avoid a tendency, which may occur with the use of some types of filling material and for other reasons, for undesirable bulges or wrinkles to form in the end portions of said end strips incident to flattening or thinning of the ends of the fluff layer. Such attening or thinning tends to occur as an incident to the folding of the sheet 19 around the iluti layer and perhaps from other causes. When such thinning occurs the edges of the face covering portions of the sleeve are brought so closely together at the pad ends that any opening which remains at the ends of the pad sides is but an insignificant source of fluff leakage and dusting When said edge strips 22 are made of creped wadding, they are so made that the lines of creping extend transversely of the pad edges, although they may be made with the crepe lengthwise of the pad.

The outer wrapper 16 is wrapped around the pad 20 and serves to hold the jacket 21 and the edge strips 22 in place around the insert 12. The wrapper is preferably longer than the pad in order to provide the usual attaching tab end portions 24, and said wrapper is folded around the pad so as to effect overlapping of margins of the wrapper, as shown at 25 (Fig. 3) on the face of the pad on which the ends of the jacket sheet 19 are lapped. Hence, the opposite face of the pad, which is the preferred body-engaging face of the bandage, has but a single thickness of jacket and wrapper material over the absorbent utf. Hence, on this face of the pad there is a minimum obstruction to the passage of uid into the absorbent fluff layer. However, the pad may be worn with either face next to the body with satisfactory results, the permeability of the wrapper and jacket material being such that the overlapped portions thereof do not produce an objectionable baffling effect.

The overlapped wrapper margins 25 may be suitably sealed together, for example, by means of an adhesive bearing thread 26 interposed between said margins. Such a seal is sufficient to hold the Wrapper in place, 'but is easy to break when it is desired to open the wrapper in the course of disposing of the pad or for other purposes. The described bandage construction affords all of the advantages of a llutf ller, i. e., high absorption capacity, softness and conformability, and ready disposability, while also substantially eliminating dusting of the fluff fibers. Furthermore, the described construction is Very simple and is capable of automatic manufacture at high production rates.

By having the lines of creping in the jacket 21 extend lengthwise of the napkin pad as aforesaid, there is provided an important fluid distributing effect, i. e., uid applied to a face of the banda-ge in a localized area will tend to be distributed lengthwise of the bandage by the crepe wadding jacket 21, and thus transmitted along the length of the absorbent layer 12 for absorption thereby, instead of being more or less confined to said localized area. Hence, more of the absorption capacity of the pad will be utilized and uid will be fairly uniformly absorbed throughout the length of the pad.

The side strips 22, even though not made of fluid repellent material, have a tendency to prevent fluid absorbed by the iluf from flowing out of the side edges of the pad, and this function may be somewhat improved by making the strips fluid repellent. However, for some purposes the addition of certain types of moisture-proofing agents is undesirable. These side strips also present soft and smooth surfaces along the edges of the pad and cover the cut edges of the jacket 21, and thereby prevent chating or irritation of the portion of the body which may be contacted by the side edges of the pad.

It is important that the side strips 22 adhere closely to the side edges of the jacket 21, to form an enclosure Itherewith which prevents the aforementioned dusting and to prevent displacement of the edge portions 22 during use of the pad. Preferably, the strips 22 are disposed in marginal overlapping relation to the edges of the jacket to further insure a close tit between the two. If desired, these two portions might be sealed together by an adhesive or the like, although such is not necessary when material such as creped wadding is used wherein the materials tend to adhere to each other Without the use of an adhesive.

The enclosing of the iluf material in the described manner not only prevents dusting during the necessary handling in manufacturing, sterlizing, shipment, and the subsequent functional use. The dusting problem is particularly troublesome in hospitals where there is considerable handling of the pads, as during sterilization, with little or no means for controlling the dust The enclosing of the insert is also an important factor in the efficiency of the bandage and its comfort characteristics.

It is advantageous that the ends and that one of the faces of the pad be covered by single thicknesses of jacketing material, and further that the jacket 21 be formed of a continuous sheet of material with its ends overlapped on a face of the pad adjacent the longitudinal center of the pad. In this way, there are no hard or sharp, cut wadding end edges or end seams, and also, there are no open ends or end seams. Moreover, the wrapping of the jacket 2l endwise of the pad provides additional material at the ends of the pad for impeding the passage of fluids from the absorbent filler.

The disposition of the side strips 22 in the overlapping relation to the margins of the longitudinal edges of the pad on its opposite faces present a pair of laterally spaced elongated areas of crepe wadding adjacent each edge of the pad on each face thereof, which are of double thickness and, consequently, somewhat less pervious than the intermediate portion of the jacket material. Lateral flow of duid along the surface of the pads toward its side edges is somewhat impeded by these areas of double thickness and there is less likelihood of surface fluid reaching the side edges of the pad before it is absorbed by the fluff filler.

in one satisfactory maternity pad made as described, the jacket 2l and the edge strips 22 were made of four-ply crepe tissue paper but this is not a critical detail. The extent of overlap of the ends of the sheet which forms said jacket may be greatly varied, and in some instances said overlap may be reduced or eliminated, as wherein the ends abut each other. The wrapper material was gauze but other wrapper materials, for example, non-woven fabrics and thread reinforced pervious webs, may be employed. Also, the length and width of the pad may be varied considerably from the proportions shown.

lt should be understood that for surgical dressings the tab ends 2d of the wrapper 16 could be eliminated. Furthermore, if the edge strips 22 are adequately secured to the jacket 21 to insure the prevention of dusting or the escape of foreign particles from the pad, the wrapper 16 may be entirely eliminated from such dressings.

Although described with respect to the use of wood pulp fluff as the absorbing medium for the pad, it should be understood that such use is merely illustrative of one example, wherein it is important that finely divided particles be effectively confined within an absorbent body. Other instances of the use of comminuted material within a surgical dressing or sanitary napkin or like bandage Will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, as will be the application of the present invention. For example, it has been proposed to place discrete particles of deodorant material in the absorbent fillers of sanitary napkins. lin either case, the principles of the present inaaaaaoo vention to which the appended claims are directed, can be advantageously employed in order to retain such discrete particles in the filler.

We claim:

1. A bandage comprising an elongated absorbent pad body having comminuted particles therein, a pervious sheath covering said body, said pervious sheath having a main elongated sheet portion extending lengthwise around said body and having its ends joined at a position intermediate the ends of the pad on a face thereof, and a pair of elongated strips of fluid permeable sheet material disposed lengthwise along the pad in covering relation to the side edges thereof, and a permeable wrapper encasing said sheath-covered pad body, said Wrapper being folded into open ended tubular form about said pad body and being folded around said strip-covered edges of said body so as to hold said strips in place.

2. A bandage comprising an elongated absorbent pad body having comminuted particles therein, a pervious sheath covering said body, said pervious sheath having a main elongated sheet portion extending lengthwise around said body and having its ends joined at a position intermediate the ends of the pad on a face thereof, and a pair of elongated strips of fluid permeable sheet material disposed lengthwise along the pad in covering relation to the side edges thereof, a permeable wrapper encasing said sheath-covered pad body, said wrapper being folded into open ended tubular form about said pad body and being folded around said strip-covered edges of said body so as to hold said strips in place, said wrapper also being so folded as to cause marginal portions thereof to be lapped one over the other on the face of said pad on which said sheath ends are disposed.

3, A bandage comprising an elongated absorbent pad body having comminuted particles therein, a uid pervious sheath of creped cellulosic material covering said body, said pervious sheath having a main elongated sheet portion extending lengthwise around said body and having end portions in mutually lapping relationship intermediate the ends of the pad on a face thereof with the lines of creping extending generally longitudinally of said `elongated pad body, and a pair of elongated strips of fluid permeable, cellulosic sheet material disposed length- Wise along the pad in covering relation to the side edges thereof, said side strips comprising creped material having the lines of creping extending generally longitudinally of said pad body, and a permeable Wrapper encasing said sheath-covered pad body.

4. A bandage comprising an elongated absorbent pad body having comminuted particles therein, a pervious sheath covering said body, said pervious sheath having a main elongated sheet portion extending lengthwise around said body to present an open-sided tubular covering and having its end portions in mutually lapping relationship intermediate the ends of the pad on a face thereof, and a pair of elongated strips of sheet material disposed lengthwise along the pad in covering relation to the side edges thereof, said main elongated sheet portion and said strips comprising creped cellulosic material arranged so that the crepe lines therein extend generally longitudinally of said elongated pad body, and a permeable Wrapper encasing said sheath-covered pad body, said wrapper being folded into open ended tubular form about said pad body and being folded around said strip-covered edges of said body so as to hold said strips in place, said wrapper also being so folded as to cause marginal portions thereof to be lapped one over the other on the face of said pad on which said sheath end portions are overlapped.

5. A bandage comprising an elongated absorbent pad body having comminuted particles therein, a uid pervious sheath covering said body, said fluid pervious sheath having a main elongated sheet portion extending lengthwise around said body and having its ends joined at a position intermediate the ends of the pad on a face thereof to present an open-sided tubular covering, and a pair of elongated strips of sheet material disposed lengthwise along the pad in covering relation to the open side edges thereof, said strips having margins folded over the adjacent margins of said main sheet portion on both faces of the pad, and a fluid permeable outer Wrapper encasing said sheath-covered body.

6. A bandage comprising an absorbent pad body having comminuted particles therein, a iluid pervious sheathing covering said body, said pervious sheath having a. main elongated sheet portion extending around said body in one direction and having its ends joined at a position on one face of the pad to thereby present an open-sided tubular covering for the pad, a pair of strips of sheet material disposed along the open side edges of the pad in covering relation thereto, and a permeable wrapper encasing said sheath-covered pad body, said wrapper being folded into open ended tubular form about said pad body and being folded around the strip-covered edges of said body so as to hold said strips in place.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,123,314 Kojima Jan. 5, 1915 1,169,490 Joseph Jan. 25, 1916 2,296,341 Fourness Sept. 22, 1942 2,548,341 Bricmont Apr. 10, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 542,869 Great Britain Jan. 29, 1942

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