WO2009139688A1

WO2009139688A1 - Underwear

Info

Publication number: WO2009139688A1
Application number: PCT/SE2009/000251
Authority: WO
Inventors: Per ÖVERMO
Original assignee: Riccoli Ab
Priority date: 2008-05-16
Filing date: 2009-05-15
Publication date: 2009-11-19
Also published as: SE0801120L; SE532122C2

Abstract

Underwear (1) suitable for use by disabled person, comprising a waist opening (5), a pair of leg openings (7), a back part (6) and a front part (2), wherein the underwear comprises a holder (9) adapted to securely hold an incontinence article when in use where the holder is fixedly attached to the inside (16) of the front part (2), wherein the holder is available from the outside of the underwear via an openable part (12) of said front part (2), e.g. for exchange of the incontinence article, and wherein the openable part 12 ()of the front part (2) is formed by two sections (8, 11), and the holder (9) is openable from the outside by separating the two sections (8, 11).

Description

Title Underwear

Field of the invention The present invention relates to a pair of underwear, which are especially suitable for disabled men who suffer from incontinence, according to the preamble of the independent claim.

Background of the invention Many people are affected by incontinence for several reasons. As adults age, they become more prone to urine incontinence because of breakdown in the urinary or in the muscles controlling passing of urine. Certain diseases and disabilities may also impair bodily functions such as controlling passing of urine.

For a person who has a disability, everyday duties such as dressing and toilet visits may become more difficult than for a person without a disability. If the disabled person also sits or lies for longer periods due to difficulties of moving, there is a need for specially adapted clothes that are easy to use and do not cause soars.

There are several disposable incontinence protections available for men (attends for men, drip protections, receptacles, articles) and women (sanitary towels, articles etc) made from an absorbent material. There are also incontinence protections suitable for children. These protections are mainly adapted to be attached to the inside of the underwear by an adhesive strip, and may easily come loose.

For a disabled person who is sitting in a wheelchair and suffers from incontinence, it is laborious to may have to change underwear several times a day, because the disposable incontinence protection comes loose and a leak of urine occurs. If the person also has a reduced muscular strength, it may become even more troublesome. It is also bothersome to change the disposable incontinence protection, as a change of protection requires stretching of the waistband of the underwear in a direction away from the body of a wearer to be able to reach the protection, which may cause a feeling of discomfort for the wearer of the underwear.

In US 4,326,302 a pair of underpants suitable for use by a male person is shown. An external pouch for holding a fluid-absorbing pad is shown that makes changing of the pad easier. A liquid-permeable inner panel of the pouch allows urine to pass through to the pad. These underpants are thus made for receiving a pad and are not adapted to be used together with attends for men^' adapted to receive part of the phallus.

The general object of the present invention is thus to remove the above stated deficiencies by means of a pair of underwear which is suitable to be used by a person suffering from incontinence and e.g. bound to a wheelchair.

Summary of the invention The above-mentioned object is achieved by a pair of underwear suitable for use by a disabled person, comprising a waist opening, a pair of leg openings, a back part and a front part, where the underwear comprises a holder adapted to securely hold an incontinence article that may be adapted for insertion of phallus when in use, the holder is fixedly attached to the inside of the front part and/or the back part, wherein the holder is available from the outside of the underwear via an openable part of the front part, for e.g. exchange of the incontinence article, and wherein the openable part of the front part is formed by two sections, and the holder is openable from the outside by separating the two sections. Thus, a pair of underwear is developed that are formed to hold an incontinence article in place and to facilitate the exchange of the article, especially in the case when the person wearing the underwear is disabled and is sitting in a wheelchair.

Preferred embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims.

In one embodiment, the holder has a length y₂ adapted to the size of an incontinence article and extends in the vertical direction of the underwear (1) between 1 (one) and 20 centimetres. Thus, the holder is adapted to the size of an incontinence article and may have a form depending on which articles that are desired to be used. In one embodiment, the holder has a length y₂ being at least y₃/2 in the vertical direction of the underwear, where y₃ is the length of a centre line of the underwear from the waist opening to the lowermost point where the leg portions meet. Thus, the holder is large enough to receive an incontinence article that may be adapted for insertion of phallus.

In another embodiment, the openable part of the front part is formed by two sections, and the holder is openable from the outside by separating the two sections. Accordingly, by opening the holder from the outside, the holder is openly available for exchange of an article and thus facilitates the exchange.

According to a further embodiment, the holder is formed by a holder part fixedly attached to the inside of the front part, and the inside of at least one section. Thus, by forming the holder of the inside of at least one section, a minimized smart design is achieved that keeps manufacturing costs low and allows secure holding of an incontinence article.

In one embodiment, the opening formed by the sections when in their opened state extends from the waist opening of the underwear and has a length y₄ of at least y₃/2 in the vertical direction of the underwear to permit exchange of an incontinence article, where y₃ is the length of a centre line of the underwear from the waist opening to the lowermost point where the leg portions meet. Accordingly, the incontinence article in the holder becomes easy to access when the sections are in their opened state.

In a further embodiment, the sections forming an opening are overlapping in their closed state. Thus, a secure closing may be attained.

In another embodiment, the overlapping sections are fastened to each other by pile and hooks. Accordingly, a closing that is easy to open for a disabled person is achieved.

According to another embodiment, the outermost placed overlapping section comprises a grasp in the shape of an extension for easy opening of said overlapping sections. Thus, an easily graspable grip is achieved which is especially suitable for a person which has difficulties to grasp.

In one embodiment, the holder is attached to the inside of the front part by sewing. Thus, the holder is securely attached to the inside of the underwear.

In a further embodiment, the holder is made of a resilient material. Thus, an incontinence article that may be adapted for receiving phallus is securely held in place in the underwear.

In a still further embodiment, the holder is adapted to securely hold an incontinence article in a central and substantially vertical position when in use. Accordingly, an incontinence article suitable for use by men may be securely held by the holder.

In another embodiment, the holder is large enough to securely hold both an incontinence article adapted for insertion of phallus, and scrotum. Accordingly, by placing also the scrotum in the holder, the risk that phallus comes loose from the incontinence article is even more reduced.

In a further embodiment, the underwear is a pair of boxers, i.e. the underwear comprises leg portions. Thus, the tendency of the underwear to slide in between the buttocks is greatly reduced.

In a still further embodiment, the holder has a tightening arrangement comprising a tightening string extending in a channel along an upper edge of said holder part and a tightening device for tightening of the tightening string. Accordingly, it is possible to secure the holder around an incontinence article adapted to receive phallus, and also if desired around scrotum, by tightening a tightening string in the holder.

Short description of the appended drawings

Fig. 1 shows a front view of an example of a male person underwear in a closed state. Fig. 2 shows a back view of an example of a male person underwear. Fig. 3 shows a front view of the underwear in fig. 1 in an open state. Fig. 4 shows a view from the inside of the front part with an example of a holder. Fig. 5 shows a view from the inside of the front part with a further example of a holder.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, in fig. 1 a pair of underwear 1 suitable for use by a disabled male person is shown. With reference also to fig. 2, where a back view of an underwear can be seen, the exemplified underwear comprising a waist opening 5, a pair of leg openings 7, a back part 6 and a front part 2, wherein the back part 6 and the front part 2 also may include a crotch part 4. The total length of the underwear is denoted by yi in fig. 1 and may be of any length suitable for a pair of underwear. In the figures a pair of boxers with long leg portions is exemplified, but it is to be understood that the invention is feasible with different kinds of underwear suitable for a person and is not limited to the exemplified drawings. Reference X₁ denotes the width of the waist opening and reference X₂ denotes the width of the hip part of the underwear. The width of the waist opening is in most cases smaller than the width of the hip part, but the opposite case may occur. The underwear further comprises a holder 9, which can be seen in figs. 3 and 4, adapted to securely hold an incontinence article. The incontinence article may be of any kind available on the market that is adapted for absorbing leaking urine and may be adapted for insertion of phallus. The incontinence article may be held in a central and substantially vertical position of the inside 16 of the front part 2 of the underwear by the holder 9 when in use. Further the holder is fixedly attached to the inside 16 of the front part 2 and/or the inside of the back part 6 of the underwear, and may accordingly also be attached to the crotch part 4. The holder is available from the outside of the underwear via an openable part 12 of the front part 2, e.g. for exchange of the incontinence article.

In fig. 4 the relationship between the holder 9 and the inside 16 of the front part 2 of the underwear according to one embodiment is shown in detail. The length of the holder 9 is denoted by y₂ and may have a length of at least half of the length of the total length y₃, where y₃ extends along a centre line of the underwear from the waist opening 5 to the lowermost point where the leg portions meet. In one embodiment the holder 9 extends from the lower part of a waistband 3 to an upper part of the crotch part 4. In another embodiment the holder 9 has an essentially rectangular shape and is having a length y₂ extending from the upper part of the crotch part 4 in the direction of the waist opening 5 for about 10 centimetres, as can be seen in fig. 5. This measure should be taken as an example only, and the length y₂ may here vary from about 1 (one) to 20 centimetres. The holder is adapted to the size of an incontinence article and may have a form depending on which articles that are desired to be used. The holder 9 may also have a narrowing shape, to conform to the shape of the incontinence article.

To reach the holder in an easy manner, the openable part 12 of the front part 2 is formed by two sections 8, 11. The holder 9 is then openable from the outside by separating the two sections 8, 11. In one embodiment shown in the figures, the opening is placed close to the middle of the front part 2 and the holder 9 is openly available by separating the two sections 8, 11. The holder 9 may thus be formed by the holder part 15 fixedly attached to the inside 16 of the front part 2, and the inside of at least one section 8, 11. In a further embodiment, one side of the holder part 15 is attached to the inside of one section 12 and the opposite side of the holder part 15 is attached to the opening edge of the other section 8 and thus forms a holder 9 that is openly available by separating the two sections 8, 12. In another embodiment, one side of the holder part 15 is attached to the inside of one section 12 and the opposite side of the holder part 15 is attached to the inside of the other section 8, and the opening may then be formed anywhere in the front part 2 between the outer sides of the holder part 15 attached to the insides of the sections 8, 12. The holder 9 is then formed by the insides of the two sections 8, 12 and the holder part 15.

In another embodiment (not shown in the figures) the opening is placed in a joint between the front part 2 and the back part 6. The holder may then be attached to the inside of the front part 2, and by separating the two sections 8, 11 it is possible to easily exchange an incontinence article as the upper hole 14 in the holder 9 adapted to receive an incontinence article now is easily within reach from the outside.

The holder 9 may also be attached to inside the crotch part 4 and/or the back part 6 (not shown in the figures). Via the openable part 12, the holder 9 is thus still available from the outside of the underwear. The openable part 12 may also extend along the crotch part 4 and the back part 6. Underwear suitable for use by women with incontinence problems, and/or problems to hold excrement, and also men with problems to hold excrement may then be formed. In one embodiment, the hole 14 of the holder 9 extends along essentially the entire length and width of an inserted absorbent article, and urine and/or excrement may be absorbed by the absorbent article through the hole 14 when an absorbent article is inserted in the holder 9. Extended edges or corners of the holder 9 may then hold the absorbent article in place in the holder 9. In another embodiment, the holder 9 exemplified in fig. 5 is attached to the inside of the crotch part 4 or the back part 6 and may receive a long absorbent article extending along a greater part of the lower abdominal. The holder 9 may if desired be formed by two opposite placed holding pieces that may be fixedly attached to any of the front part 2, the back part 6 and/or the crotch part 4. If the openable part 12 of the underwear extends along the front part 2, the crotch part 4 and if desired also along the back part 6, the lower abdomen of both men and women may become available e.g. for examination by doctor.

By using the inside 16 of the front part 2 (and in some cases also the inside of the crotch part 4 and the back part 6), a design where an already existing part of the underwear is used, and it is thus possible to have a minimized amount of material.

According to one embodiment, the opening formed by the sections 8, 11 when in their opened state extends from the waist opening 5 of the underwear 1 and has a length y₄ of at least half of the length of the total length y₃, where y₃ extends along a centre line of the underwear from the waist opening 5 to the lowermost point where the leg portions meet, to permit exchange of an incontinence article and if desired examination of the lower abdomen.

The sections 8, 11 forming the opening may be overlapping in their closed state to achieve a secure and tight closing. The overlapping sections 8, 11 may be fastened to each other by pile and hooks (as can be seen in fig. 3) that may be easily opened by a disabled person. Other possible fastening solutions may be a zip, buttons, other kinds of hooks etc. To make it easier for e.g. a disabled person to separate the two sections 8, 11, the outermost placed overlapping section 11 may comprise a grasp 10 in the shape of an extension for easy opening of the overlapping sections 8, 11. The grasp 10 may be made of any kind of material that is easy to grasp, and should extend sufficiently far out from the underwear so that it is graspable by at least a thumb and a forefinger.

In one embodiment, the holder 9 is attached to the inside 16 of the front part 2 (and where appropriate also to the inside of the crotch part 4 and the back part 6) by sewing. The seam 13 can be seen in fig. 4 and in fig. 5, and the seam may overlap with other seams in the underwear. The holder may be made of a resilient material that holds an incontinence article with an introduced phallus in place, or that holds an elongated incontinence article in place. The holder may also be made of mesh fabric, or any other kind of suitable material. In a further embodiment, the holder has a size that makes it possible to introduce and securely hold both an incontinence article adapted for insertion of phallus, and scrotum. It is then possible to get a great hold of the genitals to further reduce the risk that phallus comes loose from the incontinence article and urine leaks out in the underwear.

The holder 9 may have a tightening arrangement 17 comprising a tightening string extending and sliding in a channel along an upper edge of the holder part 15, and a tightening device for tightening of the tightening string. By tightening the string, the upper hole 14 of the holder becomes smaller and thus a tightening effect around the incontinence article and/or the genitals may be achieved.

In one embodiment the underwear 1 is a pair of boxers, i.e. the underwear comprises leg portions. The leg portions may then extend below the crotch of a person wearing the underwear (i.e. if the person sits or lies, the leg portions may extend further towards the knees) and gives an approved fit. For a disabled person who is sitting a lot, a pair of briefs may cause trouble as the briefs may slide in between the buttocks. If a pair of boxers is used instead, this unpleasant state is with greatest probability avoided. The invention should thus not be limited to be used only with boxers, other suitable kinds of underwear are also possible. The present invention is not limited to the above-described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used. Therefore, the above embodiments should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appending claims.

Claims

1. Underwear (1) suitable for use by disabled person, comprising a waist opening (5), a pair of leg openings (7), a back part (6) and a front part (2), characterized in that said underwear comprises a holder (9) adapted to securely hold an incontinence article when in use, the holder is fixedly attached to the inside (16) of the front part (2) and/or the back part (6), wherein the holder is available from the outside of the underwear via an openable part (12) of said front part (2), e.g. for exchange of the incontinence article, and wherein the openable part (12) of said front part (2) is formed by two sections (8, 11), and said holder (9) is openable from the outside by separating said two sections (8, 11).

2. Underwear according to claim 1, characterized in that the holder (9) has a length y₂ adapted to the size of an incontinence article and extends in the vertical direction of the underwear (1) between 1 (one) and 20 centimetres.

3. Underwear according to claim 1, characterized in that the holder (9) has a length y₂ of at least y₃/2 in the vertical direction of the underwear (1), where y₃ is the length of a centre line of the underwear extending from the waist opening (5) to the lowermost point where the leg portions meet.

4. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that the holder (9) is formed by a holder part (15) fixedly attached to the inside (16) of the front part (2), and the inside of at least one section (8, 11).

5. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that an opening formed by said sections (8, 11) when in their opened state extends from the waist opening (5) of the underwear (1) and has a length y₄ of at least y₃/2 in the vertical direction of the underwear (1) to permit exchange of an incontinence article, where y₃ is the length of a centre line of the underwear extending from the waist opening (5) to the lowermost point where the leg portions meet.

6. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that the said sections (8, 11) forming said opening are overlapping in their closed state.

7. Underwear according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the overlapping sections (8, 11) are fastened to each other by pile and hooks.

8. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the holder (9) is attached to the inside ( 16) of the front part (2) by sewing.

9. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that the holder (9) is made of a resilient material.

10. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that the holder (9) is large enough to securely hold both an incontinence article adapted for insertion of phallus, and scrotum.

11. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that the holder (9) is adapted to securely hold an incontinence article in a central and substantially vertical position when in use.

12. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that the underwear (1) is a pair of boxers, i.e. the underwear comprises leg portions.

13. Underwear according to any of the preceding claims, characterized i n that the holder (9) has a tightening arrangement (17) comprising a tightening string extending in a channel along an upper edge of said holder part (15) and a tightening device for tightening of the tightening string.