Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
PROTECTIVE DEVICE 2 02
DESCRIPTION
When trying on clothing and particularly ba~hing
suits, bathing pants, underwear, slips, pants or fine
lingerie, etc., there is always a hygienic and aesthetic
problem. Thus for hygiene, it is necessary to keep on at
least a slip when trying on new clothing, which frequently,
particularly when trying on bathing suits or fine lingerie,
prevents normal appraisal whether the piece tried on fits
perfectly or not because the slip which has been kept on
itself modifies the silhouette particularly by printing
lines, folds or thickened portions through the clothing that
is being tried.
Many people are thus tempted to try on garments
without protection, directly on their skin, to the detriment
of cleanliness, particularly when the garment is not ulti-
mately bought. Moreover, the protection offered by a slip
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which one keeps on is quite chancy because this slip may
itself not be entirely clean and is not impervious to
liquid.
The present invention aims to overcome the recited
drawbacks and has for its object a disposable protective
device, for a single use, which is described in greater
detail hereafter.
According to the present invention, there is
provided a device for protecting garments that are being
tried on, the device comprising a thin flexible sheet
adapted to be worn temporarily against the skin of the user,
pressure-sensitive adhesive at opposite ends of one side of
the sheet to hold the sheet temporarily to the skin of a the
user, the sheet being a composite comprised by a an
imperforate liquid impervious sheet of polyolefin about 3 to
15 ~m in thickness and having bonded thereto on the same
side as the adhesive and over substantially all the area of
the sheet a hydrophilic web of fibers having a diameter of
about 5 to 20 ~ selected from the group consisting of
polypropylene and polyester, said web having a weight of
about 10 to 30 g/m2.
The accompanying drawing shows schematically and
by way of example an embodiment of the device according to
the invention.
Referring now in greater detail to the drawing,
there is shown a protective device 1 according to the
present invention, of generally T-shaped configuration,
having a widened end 3 and a narrow end 5 bordered by
longitudinal edges 7 that are concave at end 3, which is to
say over a minor portion of the length of the device, and
straight over the rest of the length of the device.
Device 1 is of thin sheet material to be described
in greater detail hereafter and is adapted to be temporarily
worn by the user when trying on a garment to see whether it
fits. It is to be applied to the bare skin of the user, and
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to be fitted between the legs of the user, and for this
purpose is provided with a relatively long adhesive strip 9
along end 3 and a relatively short adhesive strip 11 along
end 5. Adhesive strip 9 is covered by a protective paper 13
and adhesive strip 11 is covered by a protective paper 15,
these protective papers being adapted to be peeled off so as
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application to the skin of the user for as long as the
protective device is needed. Of course, once the fitting has
been completed and the protective device is no longer needed,
the user will simply peel off the adhesive strips 9 and 11
from her skin, leaving behind no adhesive residue, because
the adhesive used has a greater adhesion for the material of
the device 1 than for the skin of the user.
The device 1 is of thin flexible sheet material of
very light weight, which is liquid impervious but which has a
liquid-absorbent surface adjacent the user, that is, on the
same side as adhesive strips 9 and 11 and protective papers
13 and 15, which is to say the side of the device 1 which is
visible in the drawing.
The device 1 is accordingly characterized by a thin
flexible very tough sheet of polyolefin 17 which is on the
side of the device adapted to be away from the wearer when
the device is worn, and a liquid absorptive layer 19 on the
same side as the wearer, which is the side visible in the
drawing.
Layer 17 has a thickness between 3 and 15 ~,
preferably between 5 and 10 ~. It is imperforate and liquid
impervious and can be of polyethylene, but is preferably of
an ionomer comprised of relatively short polyethylene chains
and granules of polymethacrylate linked with sodium ions,
i.e. a sodium-based ethylene-methacrylate copolymer, among
which are particularly preferred those DuPont products known
as "Surlyn" most particularly "Surlyn 1652"(trade mark).
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The material of layer 17 is thermoplastic and is
preferably formed into the required thin film by melt
extrusion.
For the layer 19 is used a spun web of fibers of
polypropylene or polyester, preferably polypropylene, whose
fibers have been hot calendered and thus thermobonded
together. Layer 19 has a weight of 10 to 30 g/m2, preferably
about 20 g/m2. The fibers have a diameter of 5 to 20 ~,
preferably 10 to 15 ~.
Despite the fact that layer 19 is of polypropylene
or polyester, it is nevertheless hydrophilic, because of the
small diameter of its fibers.
To assemble layers 17 and 19, the thermobonded
calendered spun fiber layer 19 is laid on layer 17 just after
the melt extrusion of layer 17, when layer 17 has a tempera-
ture from 260 to 300C. The composite material thus produced
can then be rolled up into a roll, which provides sufficient
pressure between the layers 17 and 19 to bond them together.
Alternatively, the composite of layers 17 and 19 can be
calendered between rolls, just as was the spun fiber layer 19
itself.
The layers 9 and 11 of adhesive can then be applied
on the spun fiber side of the composite, and for this purpose
any pressure-sensitive adhesive suitable to adhere releasably
to human skin is usable, e.g. 3M's MSX 678 PSL HL 10150012.
A suitable adhesive has greater adhesion for device 1 than
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for human skin and so leaves no residue on the skin upon
removal.
The papers 13 and 15 are then applied, which have
on the side contacting the adhesive a release layer of
silicone resin which has greater adhesion for the paper than
for the adhesive.
The use of this protective device is extremely
simple. It is placed between the legs with the wider end 3
in front and the layer 19 against the bare skin of the user.
Preferably, of course, the papers 13 and 15 are removed only
one at a time and the freshly-exposed adhesive is applied
first to one side of the user's body and then to the other.
Layer 9 should be applied horizontally at the base of the
user's stomach and layer 11 at the rear of the body, adjacent
the coccyx.
The device is very cheap, whereby the device can be
given free to users at the point of sale of clothing.
Automatic distributors of these devices can even be provided.
It is evident that the devices can be made in
several sizes to satisfy the needs of all the clientele.
Finally, the device can obviously bear advertis-
ing, particularly the trademarks of clothing.
The device can be translucent or opaque and can
also be colored, preferably with a skin color, so as not to
change the apparent color of a garment which is tried on over
the device.
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The device is thus able to absorb a few drops of
moisture and does not adhere to the skin except where adhe-
sive is provided for this purpose and so has a smooth and
pleasant feel against the skin.
Of course, once the device is removed from the body
of the wearer, it is simply discarded.
Although the present invention has been described
in connection with preferred embodiments, it is to be under-
stood that modifications and variations may be resorted to
without departing from the spirit of the invention, as those
skilled in this art will readily understand. Such modifica-
tions and variations are considered to be within the purview
and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended
claims.
