Disposable surface wipe article having a waste contamination sensor

• US 6,501,002 B1
• Filed: 01/26/2000
• Issued: 12/31/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Original Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
• Inventors: Mirle, Anupama R., Roe, Donald C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lewis, Aaron J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BOGART, MICHAEL G
• Application Number:
  US09/491,445
• Time in Patent Office: 1,070 Days
• Field of Search: 604/361, 604/362, 435/21, 422/56, 422/58, 422/61, 374/162, 600/300, 600/309, 600/310, 600/346, 600/362
• US Class Current: 604/362
• CPC Class Codes: A47K 7/00 Body washing or cleaning implements bathing devices for special therapeutic or hygienic purposes A61H33/00; baths for specific parts of the body A61H35/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/42 with wetness indicator or alarm
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/84 Accessories, not otherwise provided for, for absorbent pads
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 5/48 Devices for preventing wetting or pollution of the bed
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 15/56 Wetness-indicators or colourants
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/48 Biological material, e.g. blood, urine G01N33/02, G01N33/26, G01N33/44, G01N33/46 take precedence; Haemocytometers counting blood corpuscules distributed over a surface by scanning the surface G06M11/02
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/528 Atypical element structures, e.g. gloves, rods, tampons, toilet paper
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/569 for microorganisms, e.g. protozoa, bacteria, viruses

Abstract

Disclosed is a disposable surface wipe having a sensor which detects bodily waste contamination on a surface and which provides a signal indicating the presence of such contamination, desirably by detecting a component of the waste normally present in waste excreted by healthy individuals and not a component infrequently present in the waste due to special circumstances related to the health or other transient condition of the excreter. The signal provided by the sensor can be visible to a user of the article, and the article can include a substrate which incorporates the sensor. In a preferred embodiment, the article is a cleaning article which can efficaciously clean bodily waste contamination from a surface.

Claims

1. A disposable surface wipe article comprising:

a sensor comprising a biosensor having at least one immunosensor,

the sensor being adapted to detect bodily waste contamination on a surface contacted by the article and to provide a signal to a user of the article indicating the presence of the waste contamination on the surface and wherein the signal is provided within less than about 30 seconds from the time the article contacts the bodily waste on the surface.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the article is a cleaning article.

3. The article of claim 2, wherein the cleaning article is selected from the group consisting of a baby wipe, a hand wipe, a paper towel, a toilet tissue, and a facial tissue.

4. The article of claim 3 wherein the cleaning article is a wet wipe or a dry wipe.

5. The article of claim 1 wherein the sensor is adapted to detect a component of said bodily waste normally present in bodily waste excreted by healthy individuals.

6. The article of claim 1 wherein the sensor is adapted to detect a component of bodily waste selected from the group consisting of feces, urine, mucous, sebum, saliva, sweat, ejaculates, and menses.

7. The article of claim 6, wherein the sensor is adapted to detect alkaline phosphatase.

8. The article of claim 1 wherein the signal is visible to the unaided human eye.

9. The article of claim 8 wherein the signal is a colorimetric signal.

10. The disposable article of claim 1 wherein the signal is durable throughout at least the useful life of the article.

11. The article of claim 1, wherein the article further comprises a substrate which incorporates the sensor.

12. The article of claim 11, wherein the substrate comprises a fibrous web.

13. The article of claim 11 wherein the sensor is associated with a carrier structure attached to the substrate.

14. The article of claim 1 wherein the surface is an animate surface or an inanimate surface.

15. A disposable surface wipe article comprising:

a sensor comprising a biosensor having at least one immunosensor;

the sensor being adapted to detect bodily waste contamination on a surface contacted by the article and to provide a signal to a user of the article indicating the presence of the waste contamination on the surface wherein the surface is human skin.

16. A disposable surface wipe article comprising:

a sensor comprising a biosensor having at least one immunosensor;

the sensor being adapted to detect bodily waste contamination on a surface contacted by the article and to provide a signal to a user of the article indicating the presence of the waste contamination on the surface, wherein the article further comprises an element to control access to the sensor and the element to control is selected from the group consisting of a semi-permeable membrane, a coating, and a water-soluble coating.

17. A disposable surface wipe article comprising:

a substrate containing aqueous fluid;

a sensor comprising a biosensor having at least one immunosensor;

the sensor being adapted to detect one or more of an abnormal health marker or an abnormal nutritional marker present in excreted bodily waste present on a surface capable of being wiped by the article, and to signal the presence of the abnormality to a user of the article, wherein the signal is provided within less than about 30 seconds from the time the article contacts the bodily waste on the surface.

18. The article of claim 17 wherein the sensor is adapted to detect one or more of a health marker or a nutritional marker in bodily waste selected from the group consisting of feces, urine, mucous, saliva, sebum, sweat, ejaculates, and menses.

19. The article of claim 17 wherein the signal is visible to the unaided human eye.

20. The article of claim 19 wherein the signal is a calorimetric signal.

21. The article of claim 20 wherein the signal is provided within less than about 10 seconds from the time the article contacts the bodily waste containing the marker.

22. A disposable surface covering article comprising:

a sensor comprising a biosensor having at least one immunosensor;

the sensor being adapted to detect bodily waste contamination of the article and to provide a signal to a user of the article indicating the presence of the waste contamination, wherein the signal is durable throughout at least the useful life of the article.

23. The article of claim 22 wherein the sensor is adapted to detect a component of said bodily waste normally present in bodily waste excreted by healthy individuals.

24. The article of claim 22 wherein the sensor is adapted to detect a component of bodily waste selected from the group consisting of feces, urine, mucous, saliva, sebum, sweat, ejaculates and menses.

25. The article of claim 22 wherein the signal is visible to the unaided human eye.

26. The article of claim 22, wherein the article further comprises a substrate which incorporates the sensor.