Underwear abstract
A disposable underwear is formed by laying a front body and a back
body one on top of the other, providing a bonded portion on at least
one of the left and right side edges, and providing leg openings
and a waist opening. The disposable underwear includes a tightening
member in the vicinity of the waist opening. The front and back
bodies further comprise a non-bonded portion formed at the portion
between the tightening member and the bonded portion.
Underwear claims
What is claimed is:
1. A disposable underwear, comprising: a body having front and
back bodies one of which is laid on top of the other; a bonded portion
and a non-bonded portion both of which are provided on at least
one of left and right side edges of the body, the front and back
bodies being bonded to each other at the bonded portion but not
bonded at the non-bonded portion; leg openings formed between the
front body and rear bode for passing a wearer's legs therethrough;
a waist opening formed between the front and back body; and a tightening
member which is provided adjacent the waist opening to be used for
tightening the waist of the wearer, the non-bonded portion being
formed between the tightening member and the bonded portion, the
bonded portion having a peel strength in a range of between 0.5
N and 30 N.
2. A disposable underwear according to claim 1, wherein the bonded
portion is formed on each of the left and right side edges of the
front and back bodies.
3. A disposable underwear according to claim 1, wherein the front
and back bodies are bonded adjacent the center of the leg openings.
4. A disposable underwear according to claim 1, wherein the tightening
member is formed integrally with the front and back bodies, the
tightening member comprises lace members extending substantially
horizontally from a side of the upper edge of the front and back
bodies, and the waist opening is tightened by tying the lace members
opposing to each other.
5. A disposable underwear according to claim 4, wherein the lace
members are provided at right and left sides of each of the front
and back bodies, and a pair of the lace members extending from the
same side are tying with each other.
6. A disposable underwear according to claim 1, wherein the tightening
member comprises a sheath, which is formed by folding downwardly
and bonding an upper edge of a waist portion of the front and back
bodies; and a cord passing through the sheath.
7. A disposable underwear according to claim 1, wherein each of
the front and back bodies is formed of nonwoven fabric of 40 g/m.sup.2
to 100 g/m.sup.2 in METSUKE.
8. A disposable underwear according to claim 1, wherein each of
the front and back bodies is formed of nonwoven fabric having the
total beam transmission efficiency of less than 60 percent.
9. A disposable underwear according to claim 1, wherein the bonded
portion is formed at a position 5 mm to 30 mm inward from the side
edges of the front and back bodies.
10. A disposable underwear, comprising: a body having front and
back bodies one of which is laid on top of the other; first bonded
and non-bonded portions provided on at least one of left and right
side edges of the body, the front and back bodies being bonded to
each other at the first bonded portion but not bonded at the non-bonded
portion; leg openings formed between the front body and rear bode
for passing a wearer's legs therethrough; a second bonded portion
provided between the leg openings, the second bonded portion having
a peel strength that is between 0.5 N and 30 N; a waist opening
formed between the front and back body; and a tightening member
which is provided adjacent the waist opening to be used for tightening
the waist of the wearer, the non-bonded portion being formed between
the tightening member and the first bonded portion.
Underwear description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority of Application No. 2001-011893,
filed Jan. 19, 2001 in Japan, the subject matter of which is incorporated
herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an underwear to be worn by a patient
before surgery in the hospital, and more specifically, to a disposable
underwear for wearing on the lower body.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, there is underwear just like a loincloth called
T-shaped band as disposable underwear to be worn by a patient who
is to be undergone medical procedure such as surgery. The T-shaped
band has a thin cord extending both sides, which is to be tied when
being worn, and loosened by a nurse or a doctor just before surgery.
However, since the T-shaped band as described above looks like
a loincloth or a diaper rather than underwear in appearance, it
gives unpleasant feeling or uneasiness to the patient. There has
been another problem that it took a lot of trouble for nurses or
doctors with loosening a knot before surgery.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide disposable
underwear that can reduce unpleasant feeling or uneasiness of the
patient before surgery by making the appearance thereof look like
everyday-use underwear, and that can easily be taken off by nurses
or doctors.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the present
invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows,
and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon
examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the
invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized
and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations
particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the object described above, a disposable underwear
according to the invention is formed by laying a front body and
a back body one on top of the other, providing a bonded portion
on at least one of the left and right side edges, and providing
leg openings and a waist opening. It also comprises a tightening
member in the vicinity of the waist opening. The front and back
bodies further comprise a non-bonded portion formed at the portion
between the tightening member and the bonded portion.
In the invention constructed as described above, since the overall
shape is similar to that of everyday-use underwear, it advantageously
reduce unpleasant feeling or uneasiness of the patient before surgery.
In addition, when the nurse or the doctor takes his/her underwear
off immediately before surgery, he/she can insert his/her finger
into the non-bonded portion and tear it easily, whereby it can save
his/her work to take the patient's underwear off.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of disposable
underpants according to a first embodiment of the present invention,
when viewed from the front;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the construction of disposable
underpants according to the first embodiment of the present invention,
when viewed from the back;
FIG. 3 is a plan view (front view) of the disposable underpants
shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 showing the positions of bonded lines;
FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory drawings showing the construction
of the principal portion of the disposable underpants according
to the first embodiment; and
FIG. 5 is an exploded front view showing the construction of disposable
underpants according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments,
reference is made to the accompanying drawings which forma part
hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific preferred
embodiments in which the inventions may be practiced. These embodiments
are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the
art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other
embodiments may be utilized and that logical, mechanical and electrical
changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope
of the present inventions. The following detailed description is,
therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and scope of the
present inventions is defined only by the appended claims.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are perspective views showing the construction
of disposable underpants according to a first embodiment of the
present invention, when viewed from the front and from the back
respectively. FIG. 3 is a plan view (front view) of the disposable
underpants in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 showing the positions of bonded
lines. FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory drawings showing the construction
of principal portions of the same disposable underpants.
The disposable underpants of the first embodiment includes a front
body 10 and a back body 12 formed of nonwoven fabric, and a tightening
cord 14 to be disposed around the waist. The front body 10 and the
back body 12 being formed of nonwoven fabric of the same configuration
are laid one on top of the other, and then are bonded with each
other at the side bonded portions 26R, 26L and the bonded portion
between leg openings 30. It is also possible to employ a continuous
sheet (nonwoven fabric) for the front body and the back body, fold
it at the center thereof and then bond the edges. In this case,
the side bonded portion is formed only on one side.
The bonded portion 30 is formed in the shape of inverted U, and
the inner side thereof is formed with a notch 24. The side bonded
portions 26R and 26L are formed only at the portions near the centers
of the side edges of the front and back bodies. In other words,
there are formed non-bonded portions 22R and 22L that are not to
be bonded with each other between the upper ends of the bonded portions
26R and 26L and the upper edges of the front and back bodies 10
and 12. The non-bonded portions 22R and 22L are constructed so that
one can insert his/her finger or fingers to rupture (separate) the
bonded portions 26R and 26L before surgery.
The upper ends of the front and back bodies 10 and 12 are formed
with sheaths (folded portion) 20 by folding them toward outsides
thereof. The sheaths 20 are used for passing a cord 14 therethrough.
At the position near the center of the sheath 20 of the front body
10, there is provided an opening 21 for guiding the left and right
ends of the cord 14 out of the sheath. At the position near the
center of the sheath 20 of the back body 12, there is provided an
opening 34 for joining the cord 14 to the back body 12, and the
cord 14 passing across the opening 34 is bonded to the back body
12 to form a bonded portion 32. The construction in which the back
body 12 does not have a sheath 20, and the cords 14 extend from
the upper side edges of the back body 12 and are passed through
the sheath 20 of the front body 10 (not shown).
The bonded portions 26R, 26L and 30 may be formed by bonding the
front body 10 and the back body 12 one on top of the other, or by
butt-seaming. When forming the these bonded portions 26R, 26L and
30, for example, fusion welding such as a thermal sealing process
or a sonic sealing process using ultrasonic wave may be employed.
They may be bonded by adhesive agent such as hot melt adhesives.
The bonding pattern at the bonded portions 26R, 26L and 30 may be
either continuous or discontinuous.
When forming the bonded portions 26R, 26L and 30 by fusion welding,
the width of the welded line is preferably between 0.1 mm and 15
mm, and more preferably, between 0.5 mm and 10 mm. When the width
of the welded line is less than 0.1 mm, a line pressure exerted
in the direction orthogonal to the direction of the flow of the
sheet increases, which may results in rupture of the fusion-welded
portion. On the other hand, when the width of the welded line is
more than 15 mm, the wearers may have uncomfortable feeling. It
is because the welded portion is higher in rigidity in comparison
with the non-welded portion. The pattern of the welded portion that
may be employed includes linear, wavelike, zigzag, or grillwork.
It is also possible to use dotted pattern in combination to adjust
the line pressure in the direction orthogonal to the direction of
the flow of the sheet.
When forming the bonded portions 26R, 26L and 30 by the use of
adhesive agent, bonding by means of hot melt adhesives is preferable.
As a measure to apply hot melt materials that may be employed includes
solid pattern or stripe pattern by coater dyeing, a netted pattern
or dotted pattern by gravure coating, linear pattern by bead application,
and spiral pattern, wavelike pattern, or zigzag pattern adjusted
by air.
In the case of bonding by the use of adhesive agent, the width
of the adhered portion is preferably between 1 mm and 15 mm. When
the width of the adhered portion is less than 1 mm, the strength
for bonding the sheets (10, 12) deteriorates, which may result in
separation during use.
The strength at the bonded portions 26R, 26L and 30 is preferably
between 0.5 N and 30 N when expressed in peel strength in the vertical
direction of the underwear. When the peeling strength is less than
0.5 N, separation may occur during use, and when it is more than
30 N, it may resist separation when necessary. In the invention,
the peeling strength is determined to be such that it resists easy
separation during normal use before surgery, but is easily separable
when a nurse tries to take it off immediately before surgery.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the positions of the bonded portions 26R and
26L are such that the distance D from both of the side edges in
the laterally inward direction is approximately between 0.5 mm and
30 mm, and more preferably, between 1 mm and 20 mm. When the distance
D is less than 0.5 mm, it may resist separation of the front and
back bodies or may give uncomfortable feeling to the wearer because
both side edges of these bodies come into contact with the patient's
skin. In contrast to it, when the distance D is more than 30 mm,
it may impair appearance of underwear. As shown in FIG. 4B, a pull
38 may be provided separately for making separation of bonded portions
26R and 26L easier.
As a tightening means for the waist, a mechanical fastener or the
like may be employed instead of the cord 14.
The sheet that may be used for the front and back bodies 10 and
12 includes nonwoven fabric such as spunbonded fabric, spun-lace
fabric, needle-punched fabric, melt-blown fabric, thermal-bonded
fabric, chemical-bonded fabric formed of thermoplastic fibers. As
fibers for such nonwoven fabric, polyolefin-based fiber, polyester-based
fiber, polyamide-based fiber, and compound fiber such as thick-and-thin
type, or side-by-side type formed of polyethylene/polypropylene
or polyester may be used.
It is also possible to blend absorbent fibers to give nonwoven
fabric sweat absorbent capability. The absorbent fibers includes
pulp, rayon, cotton and acetate. In order for fusion welding the
bonded portions, it is preferable to construct the sheet with 10
to 70 percent of absorbent fiber and 30 to 90 percent of thermoplastic
fiber. When the absorbent fiber contained is less than 10 percent,
sweat absorbent capability is lowered, and when it is more than
70 percent, the sealing performance is lowered.
Nonwoven fabric is preferably colored, for example, to blue or
green of low saturation in order to avoid lack of hiding the patient's
skin or private parts when the underwear is worn. The METSUKE, which
is representing a weight for a unit of area, of nonwoven fabric
is preferably in the range between 40 g/m.sup.2 and 100 g/m.sup.2.
When METSUKE is less than 40 g/m.sup.2, the nonwoven fabric may
be transparent even when it is colored. In contrast to it, when
the METSUKE is more than 100 g/m.sup.2, the textile may be deteriorated,
and it gives uncomfortable feeling to the wearer. Accordingly, the
total beam transmission efficiency is determined to be not more
than 60 percent, and more preferably, not more than 40 percent.
When wearing the disposable underwear according to this embodiment,
the wearer inserts his/her legs from the waist opening 18 through
the leg openings 16. Then, the ends of the cord 14 extending toward
the front body side 19 are tied to tighten the portion around the
waist. After the patient is laid on the surgical table, for example,
the nurse puts her hand into the non-bonded portions 22R and 22L
and separates the bonded portions 26R and 26L. Subsequently, she
separates the bonded portion 30 to release bonding of the front
body 10 and the back body 12, and then grips and pulls the cord
14 out from the non-bonded portions 22R and 22L. Consequently, the
front body 10 is completely removed from the patient on the surgical
table. The action to remove the cord 14 and the action to separate
the bonded portions 26R and 26L may be carried out in the reverse
order.
FIG. 5 is an exploded front view showing the construction of disposable
underpants according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
Disposable underpants of this embodiment are formed by laying a
front body 40 and a back body 42 in the same configuration one on
top of the other. Materials of the front and back bodies 40 and
42 (nonwoven fabric) to be employed may be the same as those described
in conjunction with the first embodiment, and thus will not be described
again. Lace portions (belt portions) 44R and 44L for tightening
the portion around the waist extend from the upper end of the left
and right side edges of the front body 40. In the same manner, lace
portions 48R and 48L for tightening the portion around the waist
extend from the upper end of the left and right side edges of the
back body 42.
The front body 40 and the back body 42 are laid one on top of the
other, and then are bonded with each other at the side bonded portions
56R and 56L and at the bonded portion 50 between leg openings. It
is also possible to employ a continuous sheet (nonwoven fabric)
for the front body and the back body, fold it at the center thereof
and then bond the edges. In this case, the side bonded portion is
formed only on one side.
The bonded portion 50 is formed in the shape of inverted U, and
the inner side thereof is formed with a notch 54. Side bonded portions
56R and 56L are formed only at a part of (at the lower part of)
the side edges of the front and back bodies 40 and 42. In other
words, there are formed non-bonded portions 52R and 52L between
the upper ends of the bonded portions 56R and 56L and the lace portions
44R and 44L (48R and 48L). The non-bonded portions 52R and 52L are
constructed so that one can insert his/her finger or fingers to
separate (break) the bonded portions 56R and 56L immediately before
surgery.
When wearing the disposable underwear according to this embodiment,
the wearer inserts his/her legs into the waist opening 48 through
the leg openings 46. Then, the lace portion 44R extending from the
right edge of the front body 40 and the lace portion 48R extending
from the right edge of the back body 42 are tied. In the same manner,
the lace portion 44L extending from the left edge of the front body
40 and the lace portion 48L extending from the left edge of the
back body 42 are tied. After the patient is laid on the surgical
table, for example, the nurse puts her hand into the non-bonded
portions 52R and 52L and separates the bonded portions 56R and 56L.
Subsequently, she separates the bonded portion 50 to release bonding
of the front body 40 and the back body 42, and then loosens a knot
of the lace portions 44R and 48R and a knot of the lace portions
44L and 48L. Consequently, the front body 40 is completely removed
from the patient on the surgical table. The action to loosen the
knot of the lace portions and the action to separate the bonded
portions 56R and 56L may be carried out in the reverse order.
Though the embodiments of the invention has been described thus
far, the invention is not limited thereto, and may be modified in
design as needed within the scope of the invention stated in the
appended claims.
As is described thus far, according to the invention, unpleasant
feeling or uneasiness of the passenger before surgery may be reduced
because of its configuration similar to the everyday-use underwear.
In addition, since the nurse or the doctor can easily break it by
inserting her/his finger or fingers into the non-bonded portion
when he/she takes the patient's underwear off immediately before
surgery, it can advantageously save his/her work to take the patient's
underwear off. |