K-C Worldwide issued US patent for multifunctional monitoring device for absorbent articles such as diapers, incontinence products, feminine hygiene products

Nevin Barich

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia , January 22, 2014 (Computer Weekly News) – A patent by the inventors Ales, III, Thomas M. (Neenah, WI); Long, Andrew M. (Appleton, WI), filed on June 30, 2008, was published online on January 14, 2014, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews correspondents.

Patent number 8628506 is assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. (Neenah, WI).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: "Absorbent articles such as diapers, training pants, incontinence products, feminine hygiene products, swim undergarments, and the like typically include a liquid-permeable body side liner, a liquid-impermeable outer cover, and an absorbent core. The absorbent core is typically located in between the outer cover and liner for taking in and retaining liquids (e.g., urine, blood, etc.) exuded by the wearer. Various types of moisture or wetness indicators have been suggested for use in absorbent articles. For instance, conductive threads, foils, and/or other components can be included in one or more layers of the article. The threads, foils, and/or other components can be used to sense a change in an electrical characteristic or property which depends on wetness (or other condition(s)) of the garment.

"For instance, the presence of urine or other wetness can be determined based on sensing a change in resistance, conductance, impedance, capacitance, and/or any other parameter or parameters. The device or devices used to sense the change in property or properties can produce a visual, audible, or other signal indicating a change in the condition of the absorbent article.

"As an example, a pair of spaced apart parallel conductors may be situated within the absorbent material of an undergarment, with the conductors positioned to connect to a monitor included in or removable situated on the undergarment. The conductors may be configured to act as a voltage divider circuit, with the monitor detecting the wet/dry state of the undergarment based on the voltage level at a constant current. For instance, when the undergarment is dry, the circuit may act as an open circuit with practically infinite resistance, while the circuit may have a lower resistance when wet.

"Monitoring of the status of an absorbent garment can be desirable to various users in many varied situations. For instance, the caregiver of an infant may be alerted to the condition of a diaper in order to change the diaper in an expeditious manner. A caregiver to a person with bladder or bowel control problems and/or user of an incontinence product may wish to be alerted to the presence of urine or other exudates for similar reasons. As yet another example, a caregiver using disposable absorbent training pants to toilet train a child may wish to know the status of the training pants for the purposes such as changing the pants when needed, tracking progress of toilet training, and providing guidance to the child during the oftentimes-stressful toilet training process.

"Existing monitoring systems for absorbent articles are somewhat limited in user interface options. For instance, a monitoring device suitable for an infant would have various features and functionality that would not be appropriate or needed for an elderly incontinent user, for example. There exists a need in the art to provide an absorbent article monitoring device that is capable of being updated to 'evolve' with the user to be applicable across various absorbent articles and various ages or training levels of the absorbent article wearers."

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, VerticalNews journalists also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method for monitoring physiological indices in an individual as the individual ages is disclosed. The method comprises associating one or more signaling devices with absorbent articles worn by the individual. Each absorbent article includes at least one sensing device that senses a physiological indication related to the individual. The sensing device is placed in communication with the one or more signaling device when the absorbent article is being worn. The method further comprises inputting physiological information into the one or more signaling devices regarding the individual. At least one function or display of the one or more signaling devices may be changed as the individual increases in age.

"The method may further comprise the step of recording information on the one or more signaling device received from the sensing device. The information may be stored on electronic storage medium. As the individual increases in age, the stored information may be used to change the at least one function or display. The at least one function or display changed may be changed by changing software, hardware, or firmware contained in the one or more signaling devices.

"In one embodiment, the function of the one or more signaling devices is to indicate wetness in the absorbent article initially and then change to further indicate void frequency, void amounts, or an estimated wetness event as the individual increases in age. In another embodiment, the function of the at least one sensing device is to sense wetness in the absorbent articles initially and then change to detect anemia or the presence of a material including a yeast or a particular constituent in urine, menses, or blood. The constituent detected may be a polysaccharide, sugar, protein, or combinations thereof.

"The one or more signaling device may be capable of being connected to an external device. The external source may be configured to change the software or firmware contained in the one or more signaling device. The external device may be connected to the external source utilizing a connection such as Bluetooth, radio-frequency identification (RFID), wi-fi (IEEE 802.11), ethernet, universal serial bus (USB), or combinations thereof.

"In one embodiment, the method further comprises the step of connecting the one or more signaling device to a docking station, the docking station configured to charge a rechargeable cell in the one or more signaling device. The docking station may be configured for receiving software or firmware and changing the software or firmware contained in the one or more signaling device.

"A monitoring device for use with an absorbent article worn by an individual is also disclosed. The monitoring device comprises at least one signaling device comprising hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. The monitoring device further comprises at least one sensing device, the at least one sensing device configured to sense a physiological indication related to the individual. The at least one sensing device is electrically connected to at least one monitoring circuit in the absorbent article. The sensing device is in communication with the one or more signaling device. The monitoring device may further comprise an external device. The external device may be capable of receiving software or firmware. The external device may be configured to communicate with the at least one signaling device and change at least one function or display of the at least one signaling device as the individual increases in age.

"An absorbent article is also disclosed. The absorbent article comprises a chassis comprising an outer cover. The outer cover has an interior surface and an exterior surface, and an absorbent structure positioned adjacent the interior surface of the outer cover. The chassis includes a crotch region positioned in between a front region and a back region. The absorbent article further comprises a monitoring device."

URL and more information on this patent, see: Ales, III, Thomas M.; Long, Andrew M.. Multifunctional Monitoring Device for Absorbent Articles. U.S. Patent Number 8628506, filed June 30, 2008, and published online on January 14, 2014. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=69&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=3412&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=20140114.PD.&OS=ISD/20140114&RS=ISD/20140114

Keywords for this news article include: Software, Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Inc..

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