All manner and variety of absorbent articles configured for the absorption of body fluids such as menses, urine and feces are, of course, well known. With respect to feminine protection devices, the art has offered two basic types; sanitary napkins have been developed for external wear about the pudendal region while tampons have been developed for internal wear within the vaginal cavity for interruption of menstrual flow therefrom. Such tampon devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,833, entitled "Tampon Applicator", issued to Weigner, et al. on Nov. 1, 1983, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,986, entitled "Tampon Assembly With Means For Sterile Insertion", issued to Jacobs on Nov. 8, 1983.
Hybrid devices which attempt to merge the structural features of the sanitary napkins and the tampons into a single device have also been proposed. Such hybrid devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,092,346, entitled "Catamenial Pad", issued to Arone on Sep. 7, 1937, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,372, entitled "Feminine Hygiene Protective Shield", issued to Denkinger on Sep. 16, 1975. Other less intrusive hybrid devices are known as labial or interlabial sanitary napkins and are characterized by having a portion which at least partially resides within the wearer's vestibule and a portion which at least partially resides external of the wearer's vestibule. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,527, entitled "Sanitary Pad", issued to Jacks on Dec. 15, 1953, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,062, entitled "Labial Sanitary Pad", issued to Lassen, et al. on Dec. 23, 1986.
Interlabial pads have the potential to provide even greater freedom from inconvenience because of their small size and reduced risk of leakage. Numerous attempts have been made in the past to produce an interlabial pad which would combine the best features of tampons and sanitary napkins while avoiding at least some of the disadvantages associated with each of these types of devices. Examples of such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,049 issued to Delaney on Dec. 15, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,235 issued to Harmon on Jan. 7, 1969, U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,392 issued to Johnson, et al. on Jun. 17, 1986, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,429 issued to Vukos, et al. on Jan. 16, 1996. A commercially available interlabial device is the FRESH 'N FIT PADETTE.RTM. which is marketed by Athena Medical Corp. of Portland, Oreg. and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,983,873 and 4,175,561 issued to Hirschman on Oct. 5, 1976 and Nov. 27, 1979, respectively.
Many of these interlabial devices have not met with great commercial success, however. There are drawbacks associated with performance, comfort, or both with respect to the above products. For example, the device described in the Delaney patent does not appear to be capable of an easy and comfortable insertion, due to the possibility of the layers of absorbent material opening up during insertion. The commercially available PADETTES suffer from the disadvantage that they may not provide sufficient capacity for catamenial protection during heavier flow times. The device described in the Vukos et al. patent requires an external storage module to achieve the capacity described and may have comfort drawbacks in comparison to the absorbent interlabial device of the present invention.
Thus, a need exists for an interlabial device that is small in size and that can be easily inserted and that provides protection against incontinence, menstrual discharges, and discharges of bodily exudates throughout a great range of wearer motions and under a broad range of flow conditions. A need also exists for an interlabial device with an improved acquisition rate especially with respect to more viscous discharges. Ideally, an interlabial device should be highly comfortable, have a high capacity, be easy to insert and remove, and be toilet-disposable. A need also exists for an interlabial device which fulfills these needs and which also may be readily manufactured using current web handling technology.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a high capacity, comfortable absorbent interlabial device which is small in size and is easy to insert.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device capable of rapid acquisition of fluid, especially more viscous fluid.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device that consistently blocks the urethra and the orifice of the vagina so that it provides protection against incontinence, menstrual discharges, and discharges of bodily exudates throughout a great range of wearer motions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device that can be inserted interlabially without the wearer's hand touching the inner surfaces of the labia.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device that will reliably be expelled when the wearer urinates so that the wearer does not have to touch the soiled product.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device that may optionally be removed with the fingers without the wearer's hand touching the inner surfaces of the labia.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device which maintains sufficient integrity while it is worn such that it does not disintegrate or tear in use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device which may be easily disposed of in a conventional toilet.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent interlabial device which meets the above described objects and which may be conveniently manufactured using current web handling technology.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.