Flushable body waste collection pouch, pouch-in-pouch appliance using the same, and method relating thereto
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Accused Products
Abstract
A biodegradable and toilet-flushable body waste collection pouch, and an appliance and method in which such pouch constitutes the inner pouch of a peelably separable pouch-in-pouch system, are disclosed. The walls of the inner pouch are composed of an ultra-thin, heat-sealable film impermeable to body wastes comprising a plasticized biodegradable polyester or copolyester externally covered by a soft, porous, water-disintegratable cover layer of biodegradable and water-dispersible fibers. The cover layer and film are weakly bonded together in such a way as to avoid pinholes in the film that might otherwise be caused by the fibers. When used as the inner pouch of a pouch-in-pouch system, the film of the outer pouch is selected to have a melting temperature higher than that of the inner pouch film, with the result that a peripheral heat seal joining the walls of the two pouches together will allow the walls of the outer pouch to be peeled away without delaminating the film and cover layers of the inner pouch.
99 Citations
56 Claims
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1. -41. (canceled)
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42. A method of making a pouch-in-pouch body waste collection appliance having an outer pouch formed of odor-impermeable thermoplastic film with proximal and distal walls defining a chamber and a toilet-disposable inner pouch having proximal and distal walls and being disposed in said chamber;
- said proximal walls of said inner and outer pouches having aligned body waste receiving openings therein;
said walls of said inner pouch being formed of a laminate composed of (a) a layer of thin heat-sealable thermoplastic film, and (b) a porous water-disintegratable cover layer of water-dispersible fibers attached to exterior surfaces of said inner pouch film;
wherein said method comprises the steps of selecting a material for the film of said inner pouch having a melting temperature substantially lower than that of the material of said outer pouch; and
joining together peripheral portions of said walls of said inner and outer pouches, and portions of said proximal walls of said inner and outer pouches surrounding said body waste receiving openings, by simultaneously applying pressure and heat to said portions so that said proximal and distal walls of said inner pouch are welded together and, simultaneously, said film material of said inner pouch melts and invades the pores of said fibrous cover layer to a greater extent than said film material of said outer pouch, whereby upon the subsequent application of peeling forces, said walls of said outer pouch may be peeled away from said inner pouch without causing separation of said cover and film layers of said inner pouch. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
- said proximal walls of said inner and outer pouches having aligned body waste receiving openings therein;
Specification