Absorbent product containing a hydrocolloidal composition

Claim 2

The dressing of claim 2 wherein said hydrocolloidal composition is selected from the group consisting of crosslinked polystyrene sulfonate and crosslinked polyacrylamide.

Claim 3

The absorbent dressing of claim 2 in the form of a catamenial device.

Claim 4

A disposable diaper comprising absorbent layers sandwiched between a liquid permeable facing sheet and a liquid permeable backing sheet, said absorbent layer containing at least about 5 percent by weight, based on the total weight of the diaper, of a hydrocolloidal polymer composition rendered substantially water insoluble by crosslinking, and having from about 25 to about 72 percent of its molecular structure composed of hydrophillic groups, said hydrocolloidal composition being further defined as providing a gelatinous agglomerate of liquid-swollen particulate members in the presence of body exudate, as capable of absorbing at least about 15 times its own weight in body exudate, as capable of retaining said absorbed exudate under a pressure of up to about 2.5 p.s.i., and as having a minimum average molecular weight per crosslinkage of about 13,000.

Claim 5

The diaper of claim 5 wherein said hydrocolloidal composition is incorporated within a fibrous mass to define the absorbent layer.

Claim 6

The diaper of claim 5 wherein said hydrocolloidal is selected from the group consisting of A.

Claim 7

The diaper of claim 6 wherein said hydrocolloidal composition is selected from the group consisting of crosslinked polystyrene sulfonate and crosslinked polyacrylamide.

Claim 8

As an article of manufacture, a flexible support adapted to be caused to conform to a surface of an animal body, said support confining a dry, solid, water-swellable, water-insoluble, physiologically unobjectionable polymeric sorbent so as to present said sorbent for the sorption of aqueous fluid elaborated by the animal to which said article is applied and said polymeric sorbent being a lightly crosslinked polymer and being selected from the group consisting of polystyrene-sulfonate, and alkali metal salts thereof as contain sulfonate or carboxylate groups.

Claim 9

An absorbent dressing comPrising an absorbent layer sandwiched between a liquid permeable facing sheet and a backing sheet, said absorbent layer containing a hydrocolloidal polymer composition rendered substantially water-insoluble by crosslinking, and having from about 25 to about 72 percent of its molecular structure composed of hydrophilic groups, said hydrocolloidal compositions being further defined as providing a gelatinous agglomerate of liquid-swollen particulate members in the presence of a quantity of body exudate, as capable of absorbing at least about fifteen times its weight in body exudate, as capable of retaining said absorbed exudate when exposed to pressure sufficient to deform said agglomerate and as having a degree of cross-linking within the range of the degrees of crosslinking obtained by copolymerizing a mono-olefinic monomer with from about 0.05 to about 0.5 percent by weight of a divinyl compound.

Claim 10

The dressing of claim 10 wherein said hydrocolloidal composition is selected from the group consisting of polyacrylamide, alkali metal salts of hydrolyzed polyacrylamides and the free acid and alkali metal salts of polystyrene sulfonates.