Personal hygiene product with a digital element

Abstract

A personal hygiene product with a digital element includes an external personal hygiene product to absorb bodily fluids and a conductive sensor assembly disposed therein. The conductive sensor assembly includes a pair of conductive elements disposed in parallel in a mirrored image about the perimeter of the personal hygiene product and at least one connector directly contacting the pair of conductive elements, said conductive sensor assembly generating a signal indicative of fluid leakage of said personal hygiene product when fluid reaches the area between the pair of conductive elements. The conductive sensor assembly is arranged and configured to communicate with a smart hand held electronic device, either directly or through a wireless connection.

Claims

1. A personal hygiene product with a digital element comprising: a) an external personal hygiene product to absorb bodily fluids having a perimeter; and b) a conductive sensor assembly disposed within the personal hygiene product, including a pair of conductive elements disposed in parallel in a mirrored image about the perimeter of the personal hygiene product wherein one of the pair of conductive elements extends from a connection point in a clockwise direction and terminates adjacent the connection point while the other one of the pair of conductive elements extends from the connection point in a counter-clockwise direction and terminates adjacent the connection point, and at least one connector directly contacting the pair of conductive elements, said conductive sensor assembly generating a signal indicative of fluid leakage of said personal hygiene product when fluid reaches the area between the pair of conductive elements; wherein said conductive sensor assembly is arranged and configured to communicate with a smart hand held electronic device and wherein said pair of conductive elements are disposed in a single layer on the inner surface of the barrier layer.

2. The personal hygiene product of claim 1 wherein the personal hygiene product comprises a cover layer, a barrier layer, and an absorbent material disposed between the cover layer and barrier layer and wherein the barrier layer has an inner surface directed toward the absorbent material and an outer, garment-facing surface.

3. The personal hygiene product of claim 2 wherein each end of the conductive elements forms a connection node arranged and configured for connection to the conductive sensor assembly.

4. The personal hygiene product of claim 3 wherein the connection node of each conductive element has a surface area of between about 65 mm.sup.2 and about 225 mm.sup.2.

5. The personal hygiene product of claim 2 wherein the conductive elements comprise conductive ink.

6. The personal hygiene product of claim 2 wherein the conductive elements comprise wire.

7. The personal hygiene product of claim 2 further comprising one or more areas of embossments disposed within a region defined by the conductive elements.

8. The personal hygiene product of claim 1 further comprising a third conductive element disposed within the region defined by the pair of conductive elements.

9. The personal hygiene product of claim 1 wherein the conductive elements comprise connected, angled line segments.

10. The personal hygiene product of claim 1 wherein the conductive elements have a width of between about 0.1 mm and about 5 mm.

11. The personal hygiene product of claim 1 wherein the conductive elements are spatially separated by between about 0.1 mm and about 5 mm.

12. The personal hygiene product of claim 11 wherein the conductive elements are spatially separated by between about 1.5 mm and about 2.5 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a top plan view of an embodiment of personal hygiene product for use with a sensor element embedded in accordance with the present invention.

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded cross-section along line II-II of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 3A is a diagrammatic representation of an exemplary feminine napkin with sensor.

(5) FIG. 3B is a diagrammatic representation of an exemplary attachment of a signal acquisition device to a feminine napkin and placement in underwear.

(6) FIG. 3C shows an exemplary connector utilizing button snaps.

(7) FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a personal hygiene product having a parallel sensor arrangement.

(8) FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of an alternative arrangement of the sensor element having three conductive traces.

(9) FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of an alternative arrangement of the sensor element having three modified conductive traces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) A device comprising a hygiene product with a digital element capable of interface with a smart hand held electronic device is disclosed in this application. In the following sections, detailed descriptions of various embodiments are described. The descriptions of various embodiments are illustrative embodiments, and various modifications and alterations may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the exemplary embodiments do not limit the scope of this application. The digital element is designed for use in or adjacent to the body of a living organism.

Glossary

(11) In the description and claims below, various terms may be used for which the following definitions will apply:

(12) Biocompatible as used herein refers to a material or device that performs with an appropriate host response in a specific application. For example, a biocompatible device does not have toxic or injurious effects on biological systems.

(13) Communication System as used herein, may refer to a wireless communication device that can be configured to transmit and receive information from a processor to a receiver in a smart hand held electronic device.

(14) Digital Element as used herein, may refer to electronic components on a substrate.

(15) Smart Hand-held Device as used herein, may refer to a smartphone or tablet built on a mobile operating system and having advanced processing capabilities.

(16) External Personal Hygiene Product as used herein refers to but is not limited to Hygiene Products worn outside the body.

(17) Feminine Hygiene Product as used herein refers to but is not limited to a tampon, sanitary pad, panty liner, nursing pad, or other product used to absorb or contain menstruation or bodily fluid discharge.

(18) Hygiene Product as used herein refers to any absorbent material or device used by humans to absorb or contain bodily fluid discharge, including but not limited to Feminine Hygiene Products, diapers, men's guards and shields, adult diapers and booster pads.

(19) Power Source as used herein refers to any device or layer which can supply energy or placing a logical or electrical device in an energized state. The power source may include batteries. The batteries can be formed from alkaline cell chemistry and may be solid-state batteries or wet cell batteries.

(20) Sensor Array as used herein means a sensor or a plurality of sensors, which may include, for example, resistive or capacitive to detect liquid or moisture.

(21) Switch as used herein means a circuit element that controls the flow of electrical current in response to a physical or electrical input

(22) Personal Hygiene Product with a Digital Element

(23) The present invention is an improvement of a Personal Hygiene Product with a digital element as disclosed in US2016/0250081 and U.S. Ser. No. 62/569,744, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

(24) External Personal Hygiene Product

(25) Referring now to FIGS. 1-3, there is illustrated a Personal Hygiene Product 100 having a cover layer 102, a barrier layer 104, and an absorbent material 106 disposed between the cover layer 102, a barrier layer 104. The barrier layer 104 has an inner surface 108 directed toward the absorbent material 106 and an outer, garment-facing surface 110. The Personal Hygiene Product 100 may also have a positioning adhesive 112 disposed upon the outer surface 110 of the barrier layer 104. The positioning adhesive 112 may be protected by a release liner 114.

(26) Referring now to FIG. 3, an external electronic feminine hygiene system for external sanitary products, such as sanitary napkins, liners, and incontinence pads is shown. FIG. 3A shows a Personal Hygiene Product 100 with embedded conductive elements, also referred to as sensor electrodes or traces 202. Such electrodes may be fabricated with conductive ink, metallized and transferred onto the pad, or through other methods. The ends of the traces 202 form a connection point or node 204. FIG. 3B shows said Personal Hygiene Product 100 with a signal acquisition device 206 attached, both against an undergarment. FIG. 3C shows an exemplary connector 208 in which metal button snaps 210 are crimped onto conductive traces 202 on the Personal Hygiene Product 100.

(27) When fluid reaches the area between the two parallel traces 202, the resistance change is read by the tag and an alarm is triggered (e.g. vibration or message sent to a smartphone app). The transmission can be direct (using bluetooth, for example) or indirect (using a passive RFID). The transmission can be non-stop or a passive tag can be scanned directly by the smartphone, whenever the user desires. By continuous is meant a sampling rate of about 1 Hz.

(28) The traces 202 are in parallel arrangement, but are oriented in a mirrored configuration. Thus, trace 202a extends from the connection point 204 in a clockwise direction about the product, and trace 202b extends from the connection point 204 in a counter-clockwise direction about the product. This provides a constant signal due to a change in system resistance, no matter where the bridging between the traces 202 occurs. In contrast to a parallel arrangement shown in FIG. 4 in which a short-circuit proximate the node 304, e.g., at a point indicated at 306 would have a significantly different signal than a short-circuit distal the node 304, e.g., at a point indicated at 308.

(29) The traces 202 may be disposed on any layer of the Personal Hygiene Product 100. In one embodiment, the traces 202 are disposed on the inner surface 108 of the barrier layer 104. Alternatively, the traces 202 may be disposed on or in the absorbent material 106 or the cover layer 102. However, we have found that conductive traces printed on porous fibrous substrates have a higher resistance due to ink adhesion and minimal gaps inherent in a porous fibrous structure. Preferably, the traces 202 are disposed on the inner surface 108 of the barrier layer 104. This separates the traces from contact with the user's body.

(30) The traces 202 may be in the form of conductive ink (e.g. silver or carbon-based ink) printed or otherwise disposed on a substrate, a wire (e.g., copper, silver, carbon or other conductive material) disposed on or contained within one or more structures of the Personal Hygiene Product 100.

(31) One or more regions of the Personal Hygiene Product 100 may be embossed as is known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

(32) In one embodiment, the sensor traces 202 are disposed towards the outer margins 116 of the Personal Hygiene Product 100 and all embossments, e.g., 118, are disposed within a region defined by the sensor traces 202.

(33) In another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a third conductive element 202c is disposed within the region defined by the sensor traces 202a, 202b. This provides an earlier warning of potential leakage than a simple pair of traces 202a, 202b.

(34) The traces may be a continuous smooth line about the Personal Hygiene Product 100, or they may be as shown in FIG. 6. Although these angled line segment traces are shown for an embodiment including three conductive traces, similar angled line segment traces can be used for a pair of parallel traces.

Other Embodiments

(35) The absorbent article may have an absorbent core, an embossing pattern and a humidity detection sensor and a resistance reader coupled to a wireless transmission element.

(36) The Personal Hygiene Product may be used by connecting a resistance reader and wireless transmission device to each of the node or contacting zones of the sensor traces, synchronizing the wireless transmission device to an alarm device, reading the electrical resistance between the least two electrically conductive traces, and alerting when the resistance changes (from infinite to less than 1 Mega ohms).

(37) Humidity detection sensor is located at the external periphery of the absorbent core, outside a zone defined by the embossing pattern and inside a zone defined by the edges of the absorbent core.

(38) Connection of the humidity detection sensor to a resistance reader+ wireless transmission device

(39) Transmission of information to an alarm device, that will alert the user, preferred: Smartphone, smart watch or any mobile telecommunication device

(40) Width of the conductive ink traces from 0.1 mm to 5 mm (preferred between about 0.5 and about 1.5 mm, more preferred about 1 mm)

(41) Spacing between adjacent conductive ink traces ranges from 0.1 mm to 5 mm (preferred between about 1.5 and about 2.5 mm, more preferred about 2 mm).

(42) The electrically conductive traces are not in contact; the loop is open in its initial state and is closed when a liquid gets in contact with at least 2 tracks.

(43) The connection node of the electrically conductive tracks have a surface of between about 65 mm.sup.2 and about 225 mm.sup.2, more preferably about 100 mm.sup.2 (preferably between about 8 mm8 mm and 15 mm15 mm, most preferably about 10 mm10 mm), located on the cover, or core, or backing layer, or on the upper side of the absorbent article.

(44) Wireless transmission device may be built inside the pad or physically/electronically connected to it through the contacting zones

(45) Minimal distance between the electrically conductive tracks and the embossing pattern ranges between 0.1 mm to 5 mm (preferred 1 mm).

(46) Resistance of the electrically conductive traces is less than 2000 ohms/sq, preferably about 100 ohms/sq.

(47) Although shown and described is what is believed to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is apparent that departures from specific designs and methods described and shown will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The present invention is not restricted to the particular constructions described and illustrated, but it should be constructed to cohere with all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.