JPH0638817B2 - tampon - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a feminine sanitary product, and specifically to a sanitary tampon which is inserted into the vagina to absorb menstrual blood.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Although many proposals have been made in the past regarding sanitary tampons, the menstrual blood often leaks to the outside before being sufficiently absorbed by the tampon, which is not always satisfactory for the user. For this reason, a high-absorbency polymer compound was added, the menstrual blood absorption of the raw material fibers was improved, or the tampon was designed by devising the laminated state of the fibrous sheet material as seen in Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-17583. Improvements have been made such as having a density distribution.

However, when the tampon that has been devised as described above is actually used, a large amount of unabsorbed menstrual blood remains, and in some cases, menstrual blood leaks to the outside with an absorption amount of 3 g or less. The fibers used in tampons are generally excellent in absorbing blood, but in actual use, the tampon leaks before it exhibits sufficient absorbency, so the user often changes the tampon. , Or is being forced to use it with a napkin. Further, the conventional tampon is hard and has a great feeling of foreign matter and discomfort during use. In other words, the fact is that the tampon is not very convenient because it is easy to use and does not feel uncomfortable like a napkin.

Conventionally, since the tampon is used by inserting it into the vagina, it has been required that the absorber has a small diameter and is easy to insert, and that the tampon has a large absorption amount and is difficult to leak. In order to meet these requirements, conventional tampon absorbers have been provided to users as a high-density columnar body by compressing a large amount of fibers under strong compression.

Table 1 shows data on tampon of regular size (used by a person with normal blood volume) currently on the market.

As can be seen from Table 1, the conventional tampon absorber is 2.2
˜2.5 g of fibers (rayon or absorbent cotton or a mixture thereof) is compression molded into a columnar product having an average fiber density of 0.4 to 0.7 g / cm ³ . The absorbers of these tampons absorb a very large amount of liquid of 25 g or more, as shown in the absorption amount in Table 1, and a material having good absorbability is used.

However, in actual use, leakage may occur with a fairly small absorption amount of 3 g or less in some cases, and if the fiber is compressed to a high density like the tampon in Table 1, menstrual blood is absorbed easily. It was suggested that it would not be done.

As can be seen from the literature and the like, the vaginal shape of the human body has a flat cross section and is normally in a closed state.
Therefore, if a conventional hard cylindrical absorber is inserted into such a vagina, a gap 8 is created between the inner wall 7 of the vagina and the absorber 1 as shown in FIG. It will result in leakage.

[Means for solving problems]

As a result of diligent research, the present inventors succeeded in developing a tampon in which a gap is unlikely to be formed between the inner wall 7 of the vagina and the absorbent body 1 as shown in FIG. The present invention has been completed.

That is, the present invention relates to a tampon in which an absorbent body obtained by compressing absorbent fibers is contained in a container, the absorbent body being compressed at a pressure of 1 kg / cm ² or less and having an average fiber density of 0.3 g / cm ³ or less. It consists of an aggregate, and the cross-sectional area of the absorbent body 1 minute after the absorbent body is extruded from the housing cylinder is 1.
The present invention relates to a tampon characterized by being 6 times or more.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the tampon of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The tampon of the present invention is manufactured, for example, by the following method. That is, by winding a fibrous web containing water-absorbent fibers into a roll, a diameter of 30 mm and a length as shown in FIG.
A 50 mm fiber aggregate 5 is formed. This is housed in the absorber housing cylinder 2 as shown in FIG. 3 by a compressive pressure of 1 kg / cm ² or less using fingers or the like without relying on strong mechanical compression. In FIG. 3, 3 is an extruding tool, and 4 is a string. Further, the cross-sectional area of the fiber assembly 5 before accommodation is appropriately 1.6 times or more of the internal cross-sectional area of the absorber accommodation cylinder 2.

Another example of the shape of the fiber assembly before being housed in the absorbent container of the absorbent body of the tampon of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 shows a laminate of a plurality of carded fiber webs, and the overall shape of the fiber assembly 5 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped. The fiber laminate shown in FIG. 5 is similar to that shown in FIG. 4, but is characterized in that it is folded in half at the center.

Since it is important for the tampon of the present invention that the absorbent body spreads well in the vagina, the absorbent body is absorbed so that the cross-sectional area of the absorbent body becomes at least 1.6 times or more 1 minute after being pushed out of the absorbent body storage cylinder. It is stored in the body container. In this case, even in the initial stage of use, a gap is less likely to be formed between the absorbent body 1 of the tampon and the inner wall 7 of the vagina as shown in FIG. 1, and leakage is naturally reduced.

Since the fiber assembly 5 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is inserted into the vagina after being housed in the cylindrical absorbent body housing, it is restored in the direction shown by the arrow 6 in the drawings. However, since it tries to spread, it fits well into the flat vagina (see Fig. 1). Of course, since such an absorber has a direction of restoration, it is natural that the absorbent body should be inserted into the vagina so that the direction of the arrow coincides with the lateral direction of the vaginal cross section.

Further, in the case of the tampon of the present invention, the cross-sectional area of the absorbent body at least 1 minute after the absorbent body is pushed out from the absorbent body housing cylinder is at least
It is necessary to increase 1.6 times or more, preferably 2 times or more.

That is, the resilience of the absorber defined by the following formula is 1.6 times or more, preferably 2 times or more.

The cross-sectional area of the absorber when the absorber is inside the absorber containing cylinder can be approximated to the internal cross-sectional area of the absorber containing cylinder, so the internal cross-sectional area of the absorber containing cylinder can be used for the calculation.

Speaking about the fiber density of the absorbent body of the tampon of the present invention, the average fiber density in the fiber assembly before being housed in the absorbent body housing container is preferably 0.02 to 0.10 g / cm ³ , and this was loaded into the absorbent body housing container. In this case, the average fiber density is 0.3 g / cm ³ or less. Further, the average fiber density when the absorbent body is extruded from the absorbent body housing cylinder is 0.25 g / cm ³ or less, and the fiber weight itself is at most 1.5 g. Comparing these values with the values for the conventional tampon (Table 1), all have low values. As mentioned above, the absorption capacity of tampon is
At a practical level, the tampon of the present invention has excellent absorption performance because it does not depend on the weight of the fibers constituting the absorbent but how it fits the vaginal shape.

Further, the tampon of the present invention is characterized in that it does not easily leak during actual use, so that the withdrawal string 4 is treated to be water repellent so that menstrual blood does not leak through the withdrawal string. Those that are preferable. For example, a cotton yarn or a rayon yarn which is treated to be water repellent with an alkyl ketene dimer or a rosin-based sizing agent is suitable.

Further, the fiber assembly constituting the absorbent body of the tampon of the present invention includes: a fiber wrapped with a non-woven fabric; a heat-treated mixture of water-absorbent fibers and a heat-adhesive fiber; It may be a laminate of non-woven fabrics or a roll. The use of the fiber aggregate as in the above example has an advantage that the fibers are less likely to fall off from the absorbent body, that is, the fibers are less likely to remain in the vagina.

As described above, the tampon of the present invention has an increased cross-sectional area when it is pushed out from the absorbent container, and the existence of the absorbent container is essential. Such a configuration makes insertion into the vagina very easy.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the tampon of the present invention, the absorber is formed without depending on the strong compression, and when the tampon is inserted into the vagina, the tampon immediately fits to the vaginal shape, so that there is little leakage. In addition, unlike the conventional tampon absorber, it is not hard, so there is little foreign material feeling, discomfort, and feeling during use, and you can comfortably spend your period.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples.

Examples 1 to 7 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 Fiber aggregates made of various materials as shown in Table ² were compressed into a columnar shape at a pressure of 1 kg / cm ² or less, and then housed in an absorber housing cylinder. Then, the tampon of the present invention was manufactured. The inner diameter of the absorber housing cylinder in the example was 11 mm, and the length of the absorber was about 50 mm. Table 2 also shows a comparative example in which a commercial product and rayon were compression-molded at a very high pressure into a cylindrical body having a diameter of 10 mm.

The obtained tampon is pushed out by pushing out the tampon pushing tool to the flat vaginal model 9 made of silicone rubber as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b), and as shown in FIG. 7 (c). The absorbent body 1 was set in and the test solution (horse defibrinated blood) was injected using the microtube 10. When the test liquid leaked from the string side, the injection was stopped, and the weight of the test liquid absorbed by the absorber was measured and defined as the absorption amount. The results are shown in Table 3.

As is clear from Table 3, the absorbent body of the tampon of the present invention has a large restoring force when it is inserted into the vagina, has an increased cross-sectional area of the absorbent body, and fits well to the shape of the vagina. It rarely leaks. On the other hand, the conventional tampon generally compresses a large amount of fibers into a small cylindrical shape, and in order to impart shape stability to the absorber, it is generally 10 kg / c.
Since it is compressed at a pressure of m ² or more, the restoring force of the absorber itself is small. Therefore, the absorber and vaginal inner wall (vaginal model inner wall)
There is a gap between and, and it is easy to leak and the amount of absorption is small.

In addition, the tampon of the present invention has a large absorption amount value even though the weight of the absorber is small, and further, the absorption amount converted per unit weight of the absorber (for example, 1 g of the absorber), that is, the absorption efficiency is a comparative example. It is much larger than that. This experiment supports the idea that a tampon that is inserted into the vagina and absorbs menstrual blood should be one in which a large amount of fiber is strongly compressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the absorbent body of the tampon of the present invention is inserted into the vagina, and FIGS. 2, 4, and 5 are fiber assemblies used in the absorbent body of the tampon of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a body, Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the tampon of the present invention, and Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a state in which an absorbent body of a conventional tampon is inserted into the vagina. FIG. 4 is a drawing explaining a vaginal model used in an experiment, (a) is a perspective view of the vaginal model, (b) is a plan view thereof, and (c) is a view showing a state in which an absorber is set in the vaginal model. . 1 ... Absorber 2 ... Absorber housing cylinder 3 ... Extruder 4 ... String 5 ... Fiber assembly 6 ... Arrow indicating the direction of swelling 7 ... Vaginal inner wall 8 ... Gap 9 ... Vaginal model 10 ... Micro tube

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tampon in which an absorbent body obtained by compressing absorbent fibers is contained in a container, the absorbent body being compressed at a pressure of 1 kg / cm ² or less and having an average fiber density of 0.3 g / cm ³ or less. It consists of an aggregate, and the cross-sectional area of the absorbent body one minute after the absorbent body is extruded from the storage cylinder is 1.6 of the cross-sectional area of the absorbent body before extruding.
A tampon that is more than doubled.