WO1996032912A1

WO1996032912A1 - A diaper system

Info

Publication number: WO1996032912A1
Application number: PCT/DK1996/000180
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert Neubert
Original assignee: Robert Neubert
Priority date: 1995-04-21
Filing date: 1996-04-22
Publication date: 1996-10-24
Also published as: AU5396996A

Abstract

In contrast to the extensively used disposable diapers, which are expensive and give rise to waste problems, it is already known to make use of washable textile diapers in connection with absorbent inlay pads which are flushable in the WC, this being very advantageous. It is necessary, however, to adopt an advantageous feature of the disposable diapers, viz. their coverage of the absorbent pads with a liquid permeable, non-absorbing fabric which makes the diaper feel 'dry'. In the known washable diaper, this fabric is mounted affixed to the textile body so that the latter should be washed after every use. According to the invention, the said fabric is used as a separate part, either as a reusable diaper auxiliary of a high quality or as a cheaper casing on the pads themselves, whereby it is not required to wash the textile body after minor incidents in the diaper. The permeable fabric may be washed and dried separately with a minimum of energy consumption, or the inlay pads may render a washing superfluous in being disposed of, whether by flushing or by disposal as rigid waste after flushing of the absorbent material.

Description

A DIAPER SYSTEM

The present invention relates to a diaper system of the type disclosed in WO 94/15563, i.e. a diaper system in which there is made use of reusable, washable textile diapers or wrappers and diaper inserts in the form of absorbent dispos¬ able units made so as to be flushable in the toilet.

In this previously known diaper system the washable dia¬ per is made with a pocket or folding flap for encasing a pa- per wrapped diaper insert pad in such a manner that the pad will then be separated from the skin by one or more layers of a liquid permeable, but non-absorbing material, whereby it is achieved, as well known per se, that the absorbent material may be or become wet without being felt wet against the skin. This system is advantageous over the otherwise predomi¬ nantly used disposable diapers in that the current consump¬ tion can be limited to the insert pads and in that the public waste systems will be loaded to a reduced degree, while also the textile diapers are more user friendly than the dispos- able plastic diapers. It remains as a drawback that the tex¬ tile diapers should be washed, but this has been found ac¬ ceptable in view of the advantages.

However, with the present invention it has been realized that it is possible to achieve further and considerable ad- vantages in arranging for the liquid permeable, but non-ab¬ sorbing fabric to be an element which is not coherent with the textile diaper, viz. either as a high quality element, which is usable as an independent wrapping member for the in¬ sert pads, or as a lower qualified, i.e. cheaper, but still efficient wrapping member associated with each of the indi¬ vidual consumption products as constituted by the absorbing pads. In both instances it is achievable that the textile diapers can be manufactured without the said pocket or flap and that they will not need to be washed as often as other- wise envisaged, this here being explained in more detail for each of the two instances: 1) . With the use of one or more wrapping pieces of a liq¬ uid permeable, non-absorbing fabric of reuse quality, belong¬ ing to the individual textile diapers, it is achievable that in case of 'minor incidents' in the diaper it will be suffi- cient to empty out faeces and the absorbent pad itself into the toilet and then to wash the wrapping piece itself, with¬ out washing the textile diaper. This washing can easily be accomplished with a minimum of energy consumption, because the non-absorbing fabric is easy to be both cleaned and dried. In practice, the said 'minor incidents' occur so often that in general it is possible to anticipate no less than a halving of the washing requirements of the textile diapers themselves, whereby the customer's procuring of these more expensive parts of the diaper system can be noticeably re- duced.

2) . With the use of cheaper, but still highly qualified textile diapers, now without associated fabric wrapper pieces for the absorbing consumption units, a similar main effect is achievable when these units are packed as a standard with a wrapping of a cheap material which, perhaps without being ex¬ traordinarily pleasant, still fulfils the condition of being liquid permeable and non-absorbing. This is achievable with the use of very cheap and thin web materials, which may not be especially soft or top skin friendly, but are fully suited to create an acceptable dry matter barrier between the skin and the absorbing pad element. Such a casing about a pad ele¬ ment may typically weigh but a single gram. In connection with the invention it could be acceptable that such a casing be flushed in the toilet, but it may be prescribed that it should be dropped in a waste container such as a waste bin or bag next to the closet. Hereby the casing is transferred to the waste system for solid household waste, but only by an amount of some one gram per unit, this being much less than for conventional disposable diapers. Besides, it is relevant to mention that the casing material here considered may be identical with the material typically used for the innermost layer in disposable diapers, i.e. in advance a fully accept¬ able material.

With the invention there is no superior requirement as to any special design of the textile diaper, though the latter may suitably be provided with a receiver compartment for the said insert pads, preferably limited between projecting ^■crutch barrier strips' at the sides and short front and rear holding flaps for the pad ends. Such a product will be co - prised by the invention, preferably also including a moisture barrier layer of such a known material which allows for 'breathing' through the layer, but no moisture penetration. However, another option is that the pads can be used with quite simple textile wrappings, so there is good reason to focus on the articles of trade as constituted by the dis¬ cussed insert pads:

The pads identified above under 2) should be made in such a manner that the casing for the absorbing material has a gripping end portion, which can be used for pulling out the pad from the receiver area of the textile diaper for enabling the user to hold the pad in a hanging position above a closet bowl, e.g. held in a carrier string. The opposite end of the casing should be easily openable, if closed at all, e.g. in that the casing at this end is closed only by a short folding over, such that the interior absorption material, now heavy by absorbed liquid, can freely fall out of the casing and down into the closet bowl. The user may then, by simple move¬ ments, move the hanging, emptied casing to be dropped into an ordinary waste bin or bag next to the closet bowl. The user may even - though not directly recommended - choose to drop the casing directly into the closet bowl. In both cases it is important that the absorbing material of the pad may exist as a fully loose fibre material, optionally co¬ herent only in being deposited on a carrier web corresponding to toilet paper, such that the fibre filling will almost in¬ stantly be disintegrated in the closet bowl water and thus be ready for easy flushing out without any kind of clogging problems. It will make no noticeable difference if there is added to the water a separate casing portion weighing about one gram, while it would make an important difference if the dropped fibre material was enclosed in this casing, as the package could then clog the outlet. The same may apply to women's sanitary towels or insert pads, so the invention may also comprise products of that type.

The pads identified above under 1) should, as articles of sale, not be surrounded by any casing, as the latter will be constituted by the washable and reusable wrapping fabric pieces. For such a system of use it is sufficient to manufac¬ ture pad members only consisting of scantily coherent fibre plates or flat pads, e.g. having only a single layer of toi¬ let paper material at both sides and no coverage along the edge sides, i.e. without the fibre pads being fully enclosed. It will be quite apparent that such sales units will be dis¬ tinctly adapted to be enclosed in a wrapping of a non-absorb¬ ing type, and in principle this will apply whether the sales units are intended for use as diaper pads for babies or as sanitary elements for women.

In the following the invention is described in more de¬ tail with reference to the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a folded out diaper wrap¬ ping according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a corresponding view of an insert pad usable therein;

Fig. 3 is a corresponding view of a modified insert; and Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of loose insert units. Fig. 1 shows a diaper wrapping 2, which, in principle, may be any arbitrary piece of textile, yet preferably made as a fashioned diaper unit with broad front and rear ends 4,6 and an intermediate, narrower crutch portion 8, along which the diaper is provided sewn on, upright crutch barrier strips 10 at the sides, while at the ends of these strips there are secured end pocket flaps 12. In a preferred embodiment the diaper 2 comprises two soft textile layers 14 and 16 with an intermediate layer 18 of a known, watertight material capable of breathing.

The parts 10 and 12 delimit a receiver area 20 for an ab- sorbing insert pad 22, e.g. as shown in Fig. 4, which can be mounted loosely between the barrier strips with its opposite ends laid under the pocket flaps 12.

As mentioned, these pads 22 may be produced in different manners, simplest as shown in Fig. 2 which shows a sales ar- tide 23 in the form of a plate element 24 of loose fibre ma¬ terial covered by layers 26 of toilet paper on its flat sides. In principle, the pad article could consist solely of the absorbing fibre plate 24, if the fibres are just weakly bonded, but with the use of the cheap cover layers 26 the product can be made with an extremely low degree of fibre bonding, such that it will be very readily disintegratable when later on thrown into the closet.

To the diaper 2 may belong one or more loose wrapping sheets 28, Fig. 3, consisting of a non-absorbing, liquid per- meable fabric for use, by the user, as a wrapping for the in¬ sert pad according to Fig. 2 prior to placing the same in the receiver area 20. The fabric pieces 28 are suitably provided with a string or tape 30, which can later on be used for pulling out the wrapped unit from the diaper pocket and for hangingly carrying of the unit above a closet bowl. The fab¬ ric piece 28 should only be loosely wrapped about the pad member 23, e.g. by simple folding at the ends, whereby, after removal from the diaper, the liquid soaked pad member may easily make its way downwards from the package hanging in the string 30, for delivery to the closet bowl.

Thereafter, the emptied fabric piece 28 can be laid to be washed, if required together with the diaper 2, but as men¬ tioned it will quite often be sufficient to wash the fabric piece 28 which, due to its non-absorbing character, is very easy to wash and dry.

It is possible to avoid the wrapper fabric pieces 28 en¬ tirely and instead use commercially produced pad elements which, as shown in Fig. 5, may consist of a fibre pad accord- ing to Fig. 2, enclosed in a casing 32 of a thinwalled, cheap material with the same basic properties as the wrapper pieces 28 and having at one end a pull string 30, while at the other end being open or just closed by a simple over-folding 34. Once this element has been exposed to liquid in the dia¬ per 2, it can be lifted out for an easy fall down of the fi¬ bre core in the closet while small faeces, if any, at the outside can be brushed the same way. Thereafter the gram light casing 32 may be dropped into a waste bin next to the closet bowl. The textile diaper will need to be washed only if it, itself, has been exposed to the faeces.

In the embodiment of the insert pad shown in Fig. 5 the cover layers 26 of Fig. 2 could be entirely avoided. This embodiment will or may present the advantage that the outer layer 32 is already in fixed engagement with the inner pad member, such that in general there will be no separated transfer areas in which liquid from the outside can pearl on the wrapping 28 without being sucked into the pad member. It should be noted that the invention is of course not directly limited to the diaper body being washable; even if disposable diaper bodies are used, it will still be advanta¬ geous that the pad elements loosely mounted between the crutch barrier strips may be taken out for flushing in a sim¬ ple manner, while the remaining diaper is transferred to the solid waste.

It is not either a condition that the permeable skin contact fabric 28 be entirely disconnected from the diaper body 2, when it is only separable therefrom; by way of example, it may be secured to the diaper body by a burr tape connection.

With the invention it will be possible for the user to make intelligent choices with respect to the pads, inasfar as these cheap and non-bulky articles of sale, represented by the flat pads of Figs. 2 and 5, can easily be manufactured and marketed in two different sizes including still cheaper sizes with lower capacity, whereby the total consumption may be minimised when adapted to the factual needs during the different periods of use throughout the day/night cycle.

Claims

C A I M S :

1. A diaper system of the type comprising a preferably washable and reusable diaper body, a liquid absorbing and toilet flushable insert member, and a skin contact sheet mem- ber of a liquid permeable and non-absorbing material, characterized in that the skin contact sheet is present in free condition or in easily releasable connection with the diaper body, either as a reusable, independently washable wrapper sheet for said insert member or as an integrated sur- face portion of disposable insert members.

2. A diaper system according to claim 1, in which the re¬ usable wrapper sheet is provided with a projecting carrier string or strip.

3. A diaper system according to claim 1, in which the re¬ usable wrapper sheet is dimensioned so as to be windable at least one and a half times around the diaper insert members and with such an overlength relatively thereto that at least at one end the wrapped sheet can be closed by folding over the end portion thereof.

4. A diaper system according to claim 3, in which the diaper insert members are made as flat pad members of an ab- sorbing fibre material, with at least the surfaces of the flat sides stabilised by fibre bonding or by a coating of a material similar to toilet paper.

5. A diaper system according to claim 1, in which the diaper insert members with integrated wrapper sheet are made with a carrier string or strip connected with the wrapper sheet at one end of the insert member, while at the other end it is closed by an easily openable closure such as a simple folding.

6. As separate article of sale, a diaper insert member for a diaper system according to claim 1, comprising an ab- sorbing flat pad unit, the insert member consisting solely of this pad unit, either as a fibre pack with stabilised sur¬ faces or provided at least at one flat side with a coating of a liquid permeable and non-absorbing material.