The invention generally relates to undergarments. More specifically, the present invention relates to a soiled undergarment concealment system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

Recently, many improvements have been made in the development of disposable undergarments, including but not limited to underwear, adjustable briefs, diapers, absorbing pads, tampons, male hygiene products, and female hygiene products. The undergarments' appearance, softness, absorbency, fit, size and shape have all been improved in many different ways.

However, disposal of soiled undergarments still remains a problem with respect to hygiene, smell and disposal. Some efforts towards improving undergarment disposal appear in patent documents. However, few of these documents address how to properly conceal a soiled undergarment after use thereof. There is a need for a concealment system can help avoid displaying that the user has recourse to the use of disposable undergarments, and the embarrassments this may cause in public places.

US2004176735 describes a packaged diaper, including a diaper, having a first, a nominal size, and a second, reduced size, the reduced size of the diaper being convenient for carriage and storage of the diaper. The diaper is disposed in an encasement in the second, reduced size. The encasement confines the diaper so that the diaper is retained in its reduced size by the encasement and so that the diaper is returned to its nominal size upon opening of the encasement. This document does not teach how a soiled diaper is to be manipulated and/or concealed for transport after use.

Therefore, there is presently a need for a soiled undergarment concealment system that can address at least one of the above-mentioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a soiled undergarment concealment system, which by virtue of its design and components, satisfies some of the above-mentioned needs and is thus an improvement over other related soiled undergarment concealment systems and/or methods known in the prior art, or other similar applications.

In accordance with the present invention, one of the above objects is achieved, as will be easily understood, with a soiled undergarment concealment system, such as the one briefly described herein, and such as the one exemplified in the accompanying drawing or schematic.

More particularly, and according to the present invention, there is provided a soiled undergarment concealment system comprising:

-an enclosure for housing a soiled undergarment; and

-a reconfiguration subsystem for reconfiguring the soiled undergarment from an initial configuration to a concealable configuration.

In some implementations, the enclosure comprises a sealable closure system for sealably closing the enclosure housing the soiled undergarment.

In some implementations, the enclosure comprises odour suppression means for minimizing odours emanating from the soiled undergarment. In some implementations, the enclosure comprises an outer housing and at least one disposable bag housed within the housing and receiving the soiled undergarment, the disposable bag being removable from the housing for disposal thereof.

In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem folds or otherwise physically manipulates the soiled undergarment to reconfigure the soiled undergarment towards the concealable configuration.

In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem dissolves or otherwise chemically modifies the soiled undergarment to reconfigure the soiled undergarment towards the concealable configuration.

In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem compresses or otherwise reduces an overall volume of the soiled undergarment towards the concealable configuration.

In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem reduces the overall volume of the soiled undergarment through at least one of techniques including application of a physical constraint, shredding, folding, twisting or applying vacuum to the soiled undergarment.

In some implementations, the undergarment is selected from the group comprising underwear, disposable underwear, adjustable briefs, diapers, absorbing pads, tampons, male hygiene products, and feminine hygiene products. In some implementations, the concealable configuration is shaped and sized for concealed transport of the soiled undergarment under or within a user's clothing.

In some implementations, the concealable configuration is shaped and sized for concealed transport of the soiled undergarment within a user's handbag, purse, bag or other carrying containers.

In some implementations, the enclosure is of sufficient size to accommodate said soiled undergarment in a disposal configuration and a mouth of said enclosure is sufficiently large to accept said soiled undergarment when said soiled undergarment is introduced into said enclosure.

In some implementations, the enclosure comprises a bag comprising a oneway degassing valve, the valve having an air extraction aperture; and the reconfiguration subsystem comprises a plurality of interfitting closure structures positioned on the bag, each of the closure structures being shaped and positioned to fit into and close the valve air extraction aperture upon rolling or folding of the bag upon itself.

In some implementations, the bag further comprises a triple zip lock closing mechanism.

In some implementations, the bag further comprises a gluable plastic overlap positioned and shaped to overlap over the closing mechanism.

In some implementations, the bag is made of polyethylene.

In some implementations, the bag is preferably shaped as a glove or mitten. According to the present invention, there is also provided a bag comprising: -a one-way degassing valve, the valve having an air extraction aperture; and

-a plurality of interfitting closure structures positioned on the bag, each of the closure structures being shaped and positioned to fit into and close the valve air extraction aperture upon folding of the bag upon itself. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described, by way of examples. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic view of a soiled undergarment concealment system according to an embodiment.

Figure 2a is a perspective view of a soiled undergarment concealment system according to an embodiment.

Figure 2b is another perspective view of the soiled undergarment concealment system shown in Figure 2a. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, the same numerical references refer to similar elements. The embodiments, geometrical configurations, materials mentioned and/or dimensions shown in the figures or described in the present description are preferred embodiments only, given for exemplification purposes only.

Moreover, although the present concealment system was primarily designed for soiled undergarments, it may be used for other types of purposes and with other types of objects, and in other fields, as apparent to a person skilled in the art. For this reason, expressions such as "soiled undergarment", etc., used herein should not be taken as to limit the scope of the present invention and includes all other kinds of objects or fields with which the present invention could be used and may be useful.

In addition, although the embodiments of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing may comprise various components, and although the preferred embodiment of the soiled undergarment concealment system as shown consists of certain configurations as explained and illustrated herein, not all of these components are essential to the invention and thus should not be taken in their restrictive sense, i.e. should not be taken as to limit the scope of the present invention. It is to be understood, as also apparent to a person skilled in the art, that other suitable components and cooperation thereinbetween, as well as other suitable configurations may be used for the soiled undergarment concealment system and corresponding components according to the present invention, as will be briefly explained hereinafter and as can be easily inferred herefrom by a person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having discussed some of the principal components and features of the soiled undergarment concealment system 10 according to the present invention, other preferential embodiments will be further discussed hereinbelow.

Referring to Figure 1 , a soiled undergarment concealment system 10 is shown. The system 10 includes an enclosure 12 for housing a soiled undergarment and a reconfiguration subsystem 14 for reconfiguring the soiled undergarment from an initial configuration to a concealable configuration. Preferably, the concealable configuration is shaped and sized for concealed transport of the soiled undergarment under or within a user's clothing, and/or within a user's handbag, purse, bag or other carrying container.

In some implementations, the enclosure comprises a sealable closure system for sealably closing the enclosure housing the soiled undergarment.

In some implementations, the enclosure comprises odour suppression means for minimizing odours emanating from the soiled undergarment. The enclosure or bags contained therein can be made of air-impermeable materials for example.

In some implementations, the enclosure comprises an outer housing and at least one disposable bag housed within the housing and receiving the soiled undergarment, the disposable bag being removable from the housing for disposal thereof. In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem folds or otherwise physically manipulates the soiled undergarment to reconfigure the soiled undergarment towards the concealable configuration.

In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem dissolves or otherwise chemically modifies the soiled undergarment to reconfigure the soiled undergarment towards the concealable configuration.

In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem compresses or otherwise reduces an overall volume of the soiled undergarment towards the concealable configuration.

In some implementations, the reconfiguration subsystem reduces the overall volume of the soiled undergarment through at least one of techniques including application of a physical constraint, shredding, folding, twisting or applying vacuum to the soiled undergarment.

In some implementations, the undergarment is selected from the group comprising underwear, disposable underwear, adjustable briefs, diapers, absorbing pads, tampons, male hygiene products, and feminine hygiene products.

In some implementations, the enclosure is of sufficient size to accommodate said soiled undergarment in a disposal configuration and a mouth of said enclosure is sufficiently large to accept said soiled undergarment when said soiled undergarment is introduced into said enclosure. In some implementations, the concealment system can be a reusable system, while in other implementations, the concealment system can be a single-use system and therefore completely disposable after said single use.

As shown in Figures 2a and 2b, in some implementations, the enclosure comprises a bag 100 comprising a one-way degassing valve 102, the valve 102 having an air extraction aperture. The reconfiguration subsystem comprises a plurality of interfitting closure structures 104 positioned on the bag, each of the closure structures 104 being shaped and positioned to fit into and close the valve air extraction aperture upon rolling or folding of the bag upon itself. In the drawings, the closure structures 104 are illustrated as studs, but any other equivalent structure that performs a similar function, such as, but not limited to snaps or pins, can be used.

In some implementations, the bag further comprises a triple zip lock closing mechanism 106.

In some implementations, the bag further comprises a gluable plastic overlap 108 positioned and shaped to overlap over the closing mechanism 106.

In some implementations, the bag is made of polyethylene.

In some implementations, the bag is preferably shaped as a glove or mitten. However, the bag can have several other different shapes depending on the application.

The features illustrated in Figures 2a and 2b are added on the bag in order to assure safe application for the user. In one scenario, once the undergarment is inserted inside the plastic bag 100, the user can zip lock the product to seal in the undergarment. The user can apply force on the plastic bag to extract the air from the housing through the one way degassing valve 102. Once the product is at its dry state (or in a vacuum state), the user can roll or fold the undergarment to reduce the size of the plastic bag 100. The rolling or folding of the bag can end with a series of plastic closure structures 104 inter-fitting inside the extraction hole of the one way valve 102 allowing the user to hear a safety click which announces that the product is safely sealed. The series of plastic closure structures 104 allow adjustment of the safety lock according to the size of the undergarment. An additional overlap 108 covered of glue is then wrapped around the undergarments to seal the possible remaining openings.

According to the present invention for more general applications not limited to concealment of soiled undergarments, there is also provided a bag comprising:

-a one-way degassing valve, the valve having an air extraction aperture; and

-a plurality of interfitting closure structures positioned on the bag, each of the closure structures being shaped and positioned to fit into and close the valve air extraction aperture upon folding of the bag upon itself.

The scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.