| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080319273 | In-vitro measurement of catamenial tampon systems - An apparatus for testing of medical products such as a feminine hygiene product, is presented. The apparatus includes a body, a pump and a vaginal canal assembly. The body includes an internal chamber and a bottom surface having a bore open to the internal chamber. The pump provides a fluid to the body. In one embodiment, the fluid is a menses simulant. The vaginal canal assembly includes an interior canal accepting the product. The vaginal canal assembly includes a passage providing the fluid to the interior canal. The apparatus includes a pressure regulator controlling pressure exerted on the vaginal canal assembly from a volume of air within the internal chamber. The apparatus includes a stand. The stand includes a retaining device and a locking device. The locking device cooperates with the retaining device to selectively secure the body in at least one of a rotational position and an angular position. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090036859 | Anthroprometrically expandable tampon pledget - A tampon pledget has an absorbent mass of material and a withdrawal string located at one end thereof. During use, the tampon pledget expands to take on a geometric configuration that approximates the shape of the vagina into which the tampon pledget is inserted. An anthroprometrically expandable tampon pledget has an absorbent mass of material that is defined by a first end having a first density, a second end having a second density, and a portion intermediate the first and second ends. The material expands at different rates upon being contacted by body fluids, thereby allowing the tampon pledget to conform to the shape of a vagina. A method of making an expandable tampon pledget includes the steps of providing an absorbent material, attaching a string thereto, and compressing the material into a cylindrical shape such that a density gradient is realized over a length of the compressed material. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090281474 | TAMPON PLEDGET HAVING IMPROVED EXPANSION AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SAME - A feminine hygiene product is presented. The feminine hygiene product includes a body having a mass of compressed fibrous material, an insertion end and a withdrawal end. The body has an overall length L. The insertion end has a diameter A and the withdrawal end has a diameter B. In an initial state, diameter B is at least about equal to up to about ten percent greater than the diameter A. When exposed to a fluid, diameter B radially expands such that a ratio of diameter B to the diameter A is about 1.25 to 1. In one embodiment, the feminine hygiene product is a vaginal tampon and when exposed to a fluid, diameter B expands more rapidly than diameter A to substantially seal a bottom portion of a vaginal cavity and prevent bypass leakage. | 11-12-2009 |
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| 20080294378 | IMAGE ANALYSIS PROCESSES AND METHODS FOR THE EVALUATION OF TAMPON PERFORMANCE - A method for the study and evaluation of the performance of medical devices in vivo is disclosed. The medical devices are preferably tampons that are observed and evaluated in the vaginal cavities of women during their menstrual cycles in order to obtain data relative to tampon performance for the improvement of tampon technology. The method preferably uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), although other types of imaging techniques may be used. The present invention also resides in a method of MRI analysis in which a three-dimensional surface model image of a medical device such as a tampon or similar feminine hygiene product in vivo is created from two or more two-dimensional cross section images and combined with a second surface model image to produce a single image. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20090247981 | TAMPON PACKAGE AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME - A tampon package includes a tampon assembly sealed within packaging material. The packaging material is continuously sealed about its perimeter to form an internal air-tight chamber for retaining the tampon assembly therein. The tampon package includes a tampon pledget disposed within an applicator barrel. In one embodiment, the packaging material is made from a water-barrier material. The water-barrier material may be a laminate of polyolefin or polyethylene terephthalate and an ethylene vinyl acetate material. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090281514 | TAMPON PLEDGET WITH IMPROVED BY-PASS LEAKAGE PROTECTION - A tampon has two pledgets or one pledget with an absorbent layer and a leak shield located therebetween. The pledgets or pledget with the absorbent layer and the leak shield are folded such that the leak shield covers a portion of the surface of at least one of the pledgets. Both pledgets or the one pledget with the absorbent layer have absorbencies that are each greater than an absorbency of the leak shield. In another embodiment of the tampon, the leak shield comprises a fluid impervious or fluid repellent material(s). In another embodiment of the tampon, the leak shield comprises of an absorbent or hydrophilic material. Yet in another embodiment, the leak shield comprises of multiple layers of materials that are hydrophilic, hydrophobic, or a combination thereof. A method of fabricating a tampon includes forming a pledget, combining a fluid-impervious polymer material with an absorbent material to define a polymer laminate, ramming the pledget and the laminate into an oven tube, and stitching the laminate to the pledget. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20100120707 | Dosages for menstrual suppression, contraception, and hormone replacement therapy, and methods of administering same - A dosage comprising an antibiotic, an estrogen, and a progestagen is provided. The dosage can be oral, or administered in other methods, such as intravaginally with a tampon. The dosage can be used for menstrual suppression, contraception, and/or hormone replacement therapy. A method of treating a patient with the dosage comprises administering the dosage to the patient over a course of treatment, in amounts or frequencies that can remain constant, or be varied. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100198133 | MICROCELLULAR INJECTION MOLDING PROCESSES FOR PERSONAL AND CONSUMER CARE PRODUCTS AND PACKAGING - A method of injection molding produces a microcellular material. In this method, a polymer is melted and blended with a supercritical fluid to produce a single-phase polymer-gas solution. This solution is injected through a nozzle and into a mold. When injected through the nozzle, gas in the solution (from the supercritical fluid) emerges from the polymer, which then solidifies. In emerging from the solution, the gas causes the nucleation of cells that result in a microcellular structure. A foam material comprises a polymer having a microcellular structure formed by the nucleation of micro-cells. The micro-cells are formed by the dispersing of a supercritical fluid in a liquid solution of the polymer when the polymer is subjected to a pressure drop. A feminine hygiene device is fabricated from a foamed polymer. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100268182 | TAMPON PLEDGET WITH IMPROVED BY-PASS LEAKAGE PROTECTION - A tampon pledget is made by assembling one or more pads in a pad compression configuration, radially compressing the pad compression configuration in a traverse direction into a cylindrical form, and axially compressing the cylindrical form in a direction along a vertical axis to form the tampon pledget. In one embodiment, the axial compression is performed as a pressure is applied to at least one of a first and a second end of the cylindrical form. In one aspect of the present invention, the formed tampon pledget has an absorbent capacity as measured by the syngyna test of between about 6.0 grams to 9.0 grams and a density of about 0.4603 grams/cubic centimeter. In another aspect of the invention, the formed tampon pledget has an absorbent capacity as measured by the syngyna test of between about 9.0 grams to 12.0 grams and a density of about 0.4755 grams/cubic centimeter. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20110009803 | TAMPON ASSEMBLY PROVIDING PROPER BODILY PLACEMENT OF A PLEDGET - Provided is a tampon applicator having one or more insertion indicators to gauge and/or control the insertion depth of a tampon. The one or more insertion indicators may be located on the tampon applicator barrel, plunger, tampon, removal string, or any combinations thereof. As a result of the one or more insertion indicators, a woman can adjust the insertion depth of the tampon to her body's requirements ensuring leakage protection, comfort, or both. | 01-13-2011 |
