This invention relates to a sanitary napkin usable by women for absorbing blood and other secretions that are discharged from the uterus during menstruation periods. Such menstruation periods reoccur on an approximately monthly basis according to the menstrual cycle.
Conventional sanitary napkins comprise a pad formed out of a coherent mass of cotton batting, said pad usually having a length of about eight inches, a width of about two and one half inches, and a thickness of about three fourth inch. The pad is positioned against the woman's skin, with a portion thereof extending between the woman's thighs and another portion extending upwardly along her abdomen. Menstrual blood is discharged from the woman's vagina into the pad, which absorbs and distributes the blood along the pad width and length dimension, up to the saturation point of the pad material.
The major surface of the cotton pad not in contact with the woman's skin is covered by a thin sheet of plastic for preventing flow of blood out of the pad interior space; the plastic sheet keeps the blood flow within the pad.
The entire surface of the pad is encapsulated within a porous gauze cloth, whose purpose is to prevent the liquid soaked pad from deteriorating or fragmenting. The cloth also at least partially prevents the blood-soaked cotton from contacting the woman's skin or pubic hairs so as to form undesired deposits of blood or cotton on the skin surface.
One problem with conventional sanitary napkins is that the gauze cloth covering may not always be fully effective for its intended purpose, such that blood and secretions can be deposited on the skin surface, with consequent possibility for infection.
Another problem with the conventional sanitary napkin is that the pad is too wide to properly fit between the woman's thighs, such that the pad is often uncomfortable.
The present invention relates to a sanitary napkin wherein the pad portion of the napkin is completely encapsulated within a thin sheet of liquid impermeable material, whereby menstrual blood and other secretions are fully retained within the pad material; the menstrual liquids are prevented from contacting the woman's skin, thereby minimizing the risks of infection.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the napkin comprises an elongated absorbent pad having a narrow section adopted for placement between a woman's thighs and a wide section adopted for placement against the woman's abdomen. The narrow section can have a transverse width of about one inch, whereas the wide section can have a transverse width of about two and one half inch. The shape of the pad is such that the pad is quite comfortable while it is being worn; the narrow section of the pad conforms to the woman's anatomy, without binding or rubbing against the woman's skin. The wide section of the pad lying against the woman's abdomen provides an adequately sized reservoir for menstrual blood and other secretations.
As an important feature of the invention, the sanitary napkin comprises a liquid absorbent plug extending right angularly from the narrow section of the pad for insertion into the woman's vagina. The plug is contiguous with the pad, whereby menstrual blood can flow through the plug into the pad for collection and distribution to other parts of the pad not in direct contact with the plug.
The aforementioned thin sheet of liquid impermeable material extends entirely around the porous pad, but not around the plug, so that menstrual fluids are prevented from leaking outwardly through the pad surface. Since the plug is located within the woman's vagina, there is a relatively unobstructed path for liquid flow through the plug into the porous pad.
A major feature of the invention is the complete containment of the menstrual liquids, with no possibility for the depositing of such liquids on the woman's skin. The pad can be designed to have a relatively large total volume, to provide an adequately sized reservoir for the collecting liquids.