WO2007067110A1

WO2007067110A1 - A pair of disposable pants

Info

Publication number: WO2007067110A1
Application number: PCT/SE2005/001882
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ulla Forsgren Brusk; Chatrine Stridfeldt; Leif WALLSTRÖM
Original assignee: SCA Hygiene Products AB
Current assignee: Essity Hygiene and Health AB
Priority date: 2005-12-09
Filing date: 2005-12-09
Publication date: 2007-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 2008-06-09

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pair of disposable pants comprising an outside, an inside, a waist region, two leg regions, and at least one odour control agent which is used together with an absorbent product. The present invention relates to a pair of disposable pants that is used together with an absorbent product comprising an outside, an inside, a waist region and two leg regions, wherein the disposable pants comprises at least one odour control agent in the leg regions, in the waist region and/or in the total material over the whole disposable pants.

Description

A pair of disposable pants

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a pair of disposable pants comprising an outside, an inside, a waist region, two leg regions, and at least one odour control agent which is used together with an absorbent product.

The present invention relates to a pair of disposable pants that is used together with an absorbent product comprising an outside, an inside, a waist region and two leg regions, wherein the disposable pants comprises at least one odour control agent in the leg regions, in the waist region and/or in the total material over the whole disposable pants.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prevention of odour is an extremely important comfort factor for consumers of e.g. incontinence and/or feminine products. Various kinds of odours easily arise when bodily fluids that are given off from the body of the wearer are stored in an absorbent product. Even if the wearer has an incontinence garment it is usually not enough to prevent the odours from arising and/or spreading, especially spreading to the environment. The wearer need to feel safe when using personal care products not only in respect of leakage but also regarding the odours arising and/or spreading.

For instance, for masking odours, perfumes or deodorising compounds are normally used. For adsorption of odour substances, zeolites, active carbon and/or cyclodextrin can be used. Some of these tend however to be moisture sensitive. For neutralization of acidic and/or alkaline odours, substances like baking soda and/or citric acid can be used. For inhibition of bacteria, copper acetate can be used. Accordingly, different kinds of odour control agents are effective against different kinds of odour sub- stances, and act with different mechanisms. The odour control agents are usually positioned very close to the odour source, i.e. the crotch region.

A problem that is associated with the odour control of absorbent products, is that it is difficult to prevent odours from escaping when the wearer of the product moves. This is due to the fact that a so called "pump-effect" is created when the wearer moves, which basically means that the air that is trapped between the absorbent product and the body of the wearer is pressed or pumped to the edges of the absorbent product during movement, so that it eventually escapes from the absorbent product. Hereby, odours easily escape from the absorbent product.

US 4 224 059 discloses a non disposable panty wherein the crotch panel have an odour absorbent compound applied thereto. The crotch area permits ventilation and at the same time absorbs odours from the ventilation air with the absorbent com- pound. One advantage with a crotch panel with an odour absorbent compound is that the crotch odours passing through the panel can be controlled. However, the crotch panel does not control odours occurring in other places than the crotch area. A high concentration of odour control agents is necessary to effectively reduce the odours passing through the crotch panel.

It would be logical to place the odour control agents as close as possible to the odour source in order to be as effective as possible. Therefore, in prior art the position of the odour control agents is close to the odour source, usually in the crotch region.

Many control agents incorporated within the care of the absorbent articles have the disadvantage that they can only be used once and therefore have a limited life time and a poor utilization ratio. Further, the effectiveness of some odour controlling agents decreases with increased humidity which implicates that absorbing products will not be very effective in controlling odours when wetted. A pair of disposable pants that is not soiled can be used during a longer period of time and at several occasions than an absorbent article. Therefore, the utilization ratio of odour control agents incorporated in a pair of disposable pants is higher than in an absorbent product.

Accordingly, in order to provide a pair of disposable pants having good odour control properties, thereby reducing the risk for undesired escaping of unpleasant odours, and for limiting odours from occurring, several technical problems need to be solved. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to solve these problems and provide a pair of disposable pants which is used together with an absorbent product in order to prevent undesired odours from occurring and/or spreading, especially spreading to the environment. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventors of the present invention have observed that odours take the most easiest way out of a pair of pants i.e. through the leg openings or out through the waist opening. If the material in a disposable pair of pants is breathable the odour may also finally find its way through the pants it self.

Further, when the wearer is using a absorbent product and is moving there can be a "pump-effect", i.e. the air in the hygienic article and/or the air around the body and/or the air in the bottom incision region and the hygienic article in the crotch area is pressed towards the edges of the product and eventually out of the product which usually occurs when the wearer is moving or sits down.

These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by a pair of disposable pants, comprising a waist region and two leg regions, wherein the odour control agents are incorporated in at least the leg regions and/or in the waist region and/or in the total material over the whole disposable pants and is used together with an absorbent product.

DEFINITIONS

As used herein, the term "pump-effect" means when the air inside and/or around the absorbent product and/or the air around the body and the absorbent product in the crotch area is pressed towards the edges of the product and eventually out of the product which usually occurs when the wearer is moving or sits down. Further, the term "pump-effect" also means the "air puffs" which arise in the bottom incision when the wearer is moving.

As used herein, the term "disposable pants" means a pair of disposable pants such as underpants, fixation pants, a panty, a panty brief or a brief.

As used herein, the term "odour" means odours arising from the absorption and storing of bodily fluids from the crotch area from both men and women, particularly persons with incontinence problems and during menstruation. The odour compounds may be present in the bodily fluid or may be developed by chemical reac- tions and/or fluid degradation mechanisms once the bodily fluid is absorbed into the absorbent article. In addition bodily fluids usually contain microorganisms and/or enzymes that can also generate odour by products as a result of degradation mechanisms like putrefactive degradation, acid degradation, proteins degradation, fat degradation and the like.

As used herein, the term "absorbent product" means an absorbent product such as a diaper, incontinence garment, tampon, panty liners, a sanitary napkin, interlabial pads and a string pad. As used herein, the term "waist opening" means the opening in a pair of disposable pants which will be arranged around and close to the wearer's waist.

As used herein, the term "leg openings" means the openings in a pair of disposable pants which will be arranged around and close to the wearer's legs.

As used herein, the term "leg region" means the region in a pair of disposable pants next to the "leg openings". As used herein, the term "waist region" means the region next to the "waist opening" of the disposable pants.

As used herein, the term "leg elastic" means the region closest to the "leg opening" in a pair of disposable pants and can optionally be elastic, stretchable or comprise other means that will keep the disposable pants in place around the legs of the wearer.

As used herein, the term "waist elastic" means the region closest to the "waist opening" and can optionally be elastic, stretchable or comprise other means that will keep the disposable pants in place around the waist of the wearer.

As used herein, the term "crotch region" means the region closest positioned to the wearers crotch region. As used herein, the term "carrier" means a device which comprises the odour control agent and could be designed in any suitable form to Fit on the disposable pants.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic view of a pair of disposable pants with the odour control agent arranged in a carrier in the waist elastic region and in a small pocket comprising the odour control agent in the waist region and odour control agent arranged in the leg elastic region and the leg region according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic view of a pair of disposable pants with the odour control agent incorporated in the waist region and the waist elastic region according to the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic view of a pair of disposable pants with the carrier comprising the odour control agent arranged at different positions, the waist elastic region, the waist region, the leg elastic region, the leg region according to the present invention. Figure 4 is a schematic view of a pair of disposable pants showing the crotch region, waist opening, waist region, leg opening, leg elastic according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is a schematic view of the odour control agent optionally in the form of solved powder/fibres which is enclosed using the disposable pants fabric and a sealing according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a schematic view the odour control agent optionally in the form of solved powder/fibres which is enclosed on the disposable pants fabric using a material for sealing the odour control agent and two sealing points according to the present invention.

Figure 7 is a schematic view of a pair of disposable pants arranged on a wearer showing the bottom incision region according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pair of disposable pants 7 that is used together with an absorbent product comprising an outer side 18, an inner side 19, a waist re- gion 1 and two leg regions 5, wherein the disposable pants comprises at least one odour control agent 13 in the leg regions 5 and/or in the waist region 2.

A pair of disposable pants

A pair of disposable pants 7 is illustrated in Figure 1. This embodiment illustrates a pair of disposable pants comprising leg openings 4 which could have any form suitable for a pair of disposable pants and a waist opening 6. The leg regions 5 comprises leg elastic regions 3 that optionally could be elastic, stretchable, or comprise other means that will keep the disposable pants in place around the legs of the wearer. The waist region 2, see Figure 2 comprises a waist elastic region 1 that could optionally be elastic, stretchable or comprise other means that will keep the disposable pants in place around the waist of the wearer. The crotch region 11 is defined in Figure 2. A pair of disposable pants could be pants, underpants, a panty, parity brief, brief, fixation pants. Figure 7 illustrates a pair of disposable pants and at the bottom incision region 17 air is gathered and pressed out of the disposable pants.

A pair of disposable pants is preferably used in combination with an absorbent product. A pair of disposable pants has no specific absorption capacity, in the range of a normal pair of pants. The material is nonwoven or any other simple fabrics, preferably nonwoven. In one embodiment the nonwoven material is a flexible nonwoven material to create more comfort.

The odour control agents 13 could be incorporated in the waist region 2, leg regions 5, see Figure 1 and 2 and/or in the total material over the whole disposable pants 7. The odour control agents 13 are preferably incorporated in the waist elastic region 1 and/or in the leg elastic region 3. The odour control agents could be positioned on the inside 19, see Figure 3, i.e. towards the wearer and/or on the outside 18 of the leg region 5, completely around the waist region 2 and/or the leg region 5, at different positions. The odour control agents and the fibers can be used in several ways, such as treating the fibers with the odour control agents, applying the odour control agents in the fibers and/or impregnating the fibers with the odour control agents. Perfumes/scents can be incorporated with the fibers and the odour control agents.

The amount of the odour control agents that is incorporated in the disposable pants should be selected so that odours originating from the disposable pants become re- duced to levels undetectable by the human olfactory sense.

A pair of disposable pants can be used several times until wetted or up to about 7 days, preferably 1-3 days. However the life time of a disposable pair of disposable pants will depend on factors such as, material, quality, type of product, the wearer, the absorbent product and amount of odour control agent.

The odour control agent could be incorporated in a pair of disposable pants using several different methods known to the skilled person in the field. Suitable methods are described in for example, US 04/0116018, 05/0053784, US-A-6479150, EP-A- 1053732 and WO 05/005696.

Odour control agents

Odour control agents can be used in different ways for reducing odours. Examples of odour control agents which can be used in the present invention are natural zeo- lites, synthetic zeolites, such as, for example, aluminosilicate molecular sieve powders, activated carbon, starches, cellulose based odour inhibitors like different types of polysaccharides like chitosan, chitin, alginates, esters such as L-methylacetate, pentitol such as xylitol, cyclodextrin, clays such as bentonite, cellulosed based structures with large specific area, diatomaceous earth, polystyrene derivates, polymeric resin materials, ion exchange resins, peat moss, hydrophobic compounds such as paraffin, vaseline, olive oil, waxes. Further examples of odour inhibitors are, organic or inorganic acids such as adipic acid, ascorbic acid, benzoic acid, stearic acid, boric acid, citric acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, maleic acid polymers, malonic acid, maleic acid and monopotassium phosphate. Also buffers made from said acids with corresponding salts can be used. Further, baking sod, scents, perfumes, naturals, camomile and Aloe vera. Basic compounds such as inorganic salts of carbonates, bicarbonates, phosphates, biphosphate, sulphate, bisulphate and mixtures thereof, or as the combination of boric acid and sodium tetraborate described in WO 94/25077. Particles of Zn, metal alloys described in US 05/0053784 and surfactants such as anionic, cationic, amphoteric and silicone based polymers can be used.

An odour control agent efficiency depends on the used agent it self especially since different agents have different mechanisms in wet and dry environment. An odour control agent in the crotch area will most likely be exposed to liquid. One advantage with arranging the odour control agent in a pair of disposable pants in accordance with the invention is to protect the odour control agent from being in direct contact with any liquid. The odour control agents are preferably arranged around the waist region and around the leg region thus likely avoiding any contact with any liquid. The purpose with an absorbent product is to prevent the liquid from leaving the crotch region. A standard absorbent product does not itself prevent undesired odours from occurring and/or spreading. The odours will likely take the easiest way out from the absorbent product surrounding the crotch region which will most likely be in any direction from the sides of the absorbent product. The main amount of the odours will not escape through the crotch area if an absorbent product with a breathable back sheet is used. Thus, odour control agent arranged only in the crotch area in a pair of disposable pants will be less effective to adsorb or absorb the main amount of undesired odours escaping from the disposable pants in the leg region and the waist region. Further, there is a need to adsorb or absorb odours that could arise due to the fact that an absorbent product itself has absorbed the liquid. Several absorbent products on the market today distribute the liquid over the entire absorbent product to be as effective as possible. Consequently, the odours does not only arise in the crotch area.

Further, the odours escaping when the wearer is moving especially the "pump- effect" will not be absorbed if the odour control agent is positioned in the crotch region. However, if the odour control agent is positioned according to the present in- vention, i.e. in the leg region and the waist region it is possible to adsorb or absorb even these odours.

If an odour control agent only is arranged in the crotch region in a pair of disposable pants the odour reducing effect would be less since there are several other regions that the odours would escape from.

Another advantage with the present invention is that it is possible to select between several different types of odour control agents since they will function in an essential dry environment. It is possible to use different odour control agents in the waist region and the leg region. It is also possible only to use odour control agents in one region i.e. the waist region or the leg region.

In one embodiment the odour control agent 13 is incorporated in the waist region 2 and/or the leg region 5.

In another embodiment the odour control agent is directly incorporated in the total material over the whole disposable pants 7. Preferably, the odour control agent 13 is incorporated when manufacturing the disposable pants. In another embodiment the odour control agent 13 is incorporated in the waist region 2 and/or the leg region 5 and/or in the total material over the whole disposable pants 7. In another embodiment the odour control agent 13 is incorporated as fibers coated with the odour control agents.

In another embodiment the odour control agent 13 is incorporated in the fiber material in the disposable pants.

In another embodiment the odour control agent 13 is incorporated in the waist elastic region 1 and/or the leg elastic region 3.

In one embodiment the odour control agent is incorporated in a carrier 8. The carrier 8 is positioned in the waist region 2 and/or the leg region 5. Preferably, the carrier 8 is positioned in the waist elastic region 1 and/or the leg elastic region 3.

In another embodiment the odour control agent 13 is incorporated in the disposable pants fabric 15 in the waist region 2 next to the waist opening 6 in such a way that the disposable pants fabric 15 is folded over and sealed 14 with the odour control agent enclosed 13, see Figure 5.

In yet another embodiment the odour control agent is incorporated in a material such as foamed material and preferably in the open cells in the foam material. Further, a material such as tissue, film, airlaid or similar is coated with the odour control agent or the odour control agent is mixed and bound in a porous structure such as airlaid. The material is preferably arranged in the waist region 2 and/or the leg region 5 and more preferably arranged in the waist elastic region 1 and/or leg elastic region 3. In yet another embodiment a carrier 8 designed in a suitable form comprising the odour control agent is positioned in the waist region 2 and/or leg region 5. The carrier 8 is positioned on the inside 19 of the disposable pants 7 i.e. the side towards the wearer and/or the outside 18, see Figure 3.

In yet another embodiment the odour control agent optionally in the form of particulate powder/fibres is enclosed using the disposable pants fabric 15 and a sealing 14, see Figure 5. The sealing 14 can be made using standard methods known by the skilled person.

In yet another embodiment the odour control agent optionally in the form of particulate powder/fibres is enclosed on the disposable pants fabric 15 using a sealing material 16 which could be any type of fabric known by the skilled person and a sealing 14 at two positions, see Figure 6.

Claims

1. A pair of disposable pants (7) that is used together with an absorbent product comprising an outside (18), an inside (19), a waist region (2) and two leg regions (5), wherein the disposable pants (7) comprises at least one odour control agent (13) in the leg regions (5), in the waist region (2) and/or in the total material over the whole disposable pants (7).

2. A pair of disposable pants according to claim 1 wherein the disposable pants (7) comprises at least one odour control agent (13) in the leg elastic region (3) and/or in the waist elastic region (1).

3. A pair of disposable pants according to claim 1 wherein the odour control agent (13) is incorporated as fibers coated with the odour control agents.

4. A pair of disposable pants according to claim 1 wherein the odour control agent is incorporated in the fiber material in the disposable pants.

5. A pair of disposable pants according to claim 1 wherein the odour control agent is incorporated in the disposable pants as a carrier (8) comprising said odour control agent.

6. A pair of disposable pants according to claim 1 wherein the odour control agent is incorporated in the disposable pants in at least a small pocket (9) containing the odour control agent.

7. A pair of disposable pants according to any of the preceding claims wherein a moisture-sensitive odour control agent (21) is incorporated in the waist region (2) and a moisture-insensitive odour control agent (22) is incorporated in the leg regions.

8. A pair of disposable pants according to any of the preceding claims wherein the odour control agent optionally in the form of solved powder/fibres is enclosed using the disposable pants fabric (15) and a sealing (14).

9. A pair of disposable pants according to any of the preceding claims wherein the odour control agent optionally in the form of particulate powder/fibres is enclosed on the disposable pants fabric (15) using a sealing material (16) and two sealings (14).

10. A pair of disposable pants according to any of the preceding claims wherein the odour control agent is incorporated in a material such as a foamed material in the leg regions (5) and/or in the waist region (2) and/or in the total material over the whole disposable pants (7).

11. A pair of disposable pants according to claim 10 wherein the odour control agent is incorporated in the open cells in the foam material.

12. A pair of disposable pants according to any of the preceding claims wherein the odour control agent is chosen from: natural zeolites, synthetic zeolites, such as, alu- minosilicate molecular sieve powders, activated carbon, starches, cellulose based odour inhibitors like different types of polysaccharides like chitosan, chitin, alginates, esters such as L-methylacetate, pentitol such as xylitol, cyclodextrin, clays such as bentonite, cellulosed based structures with large specific area, diatomaceous earth, polystyrene derivates, polymeric resin materials, ion exchange resins, peat moss, hydrophobic compounds such as paraffin, vaseline, olive oil, waxes, organic or inorganic acids such as adipic acid, ascorbic acid, benzoic acid, stearic acid, boric acid, citric acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, maleic acid polymers, malonic acid, maleic acid and monopotassium phosphate, buffers made from said acids with corresponding salts, baking sod, scents, perfumes, naturals, camomile and Aloe vera, basic compounds such as inorganic salts of carbonates, bicarbonates, phosphates, biphos- phate, sulphate, bisulphate and mixtures thereof, or as the combination of boric acid and sodium tetraborate, particles of Zn, metal alloys, surfactants such as anionic, cationic, amphoteric and silicone based polymers.

13. Use of a pair of disposable pants according to claim 1.