Articles comprising a mint odor-free cooling agent

Abstract

The present invention relates to articles to be worn in contact with mammal body, such as sanitary napkins, pantiliners, nursing pads, baby diapers and the like, comprising a mint odor-free cooling agent able to convey freshness sensation to the wearer of the article, without the need of modifying body surface temperature.

1 . An absorbent article suitable to be worn in contact with mammal body, comprising a topsheet as a wearer-facing surface, a backsheet as a garment-facing surface and an absorbent core sandwiched between the topsheet and backsheet, said topsheet comprising a mint-odor free cooling agent able to convey freshness sensation to the wearer of the article, without the need of modifying body surface temperature and a delivery system for containing and delivering the cooling agent to at least a portion of the skin and/or mucosal of the wearer, wherein the cooling agent is selected from the group consisting of carboxamides, cyclohexyl derivatives, cyclohexanol derivatives, camphor, borneol, eucalyptol, methyl salicylate, tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         2 . An absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the cooling agent is selected from the group consisting of:
 a carboxamide of the following formula:   
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R′, when taken separately, is hydrogen or an aliphatic radical containing up to about 25 carbon atoms; R″ when taken separately is hydroxy, or an aliphatic radical containing up to about 25 carbon atoms, with the proviso that when R′ is hydrogen R″ may also be an aryl radical of up to about 10 carbon atoms and selected from the group consisting of substituted phenyl, phenalkyl or substituted phenalkyl, naphthyl and substituted naphthyl, pyridyl; and R′ and R″, when taken together with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached, represent a cyclic or heterocyclic group of up to about 25 carbon atoms, 
       
       or 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R′ and R″, when taken separately, are each hydrogen, C 1 -C 5  alkyl or C 1 -C 8  hydroxyalkyl and provide a total of no more than 8 carbon atoms, with the proviso that when R′ is hydrogen R″ may also be alkylcarboxyalkyl of up to about 6 carbon atoms; R′ and R″, when taken together, represent an alkylene group of up to about 6 carbon atoms, the opposite ends of which group are attached to the amide nitrogen atom thereby to form a nitrogen heterocycle, the carbon chain of which may optionally be interrupted by oxygen; R 1  is hydrogen or C 1 -C 5  alkyl; 
         and R 2  and R 3  are each C 1 -C 5  alkyl; with the provisos that (i) R 1 , R 2  and R 3  together provide a total of at least 5 carbon atoms, preferably from about 5-10 carbon atoms; and (ii) when R 1  is hydrogen, R 2  is C 2 -C 5  alkyl and R 3  is C 3 -C 5  alkyl and at least one of R 2  and R 3  is branched, preferably in an alpha or beta position relative to the carbon atom marked (*) in the formula, or a mixture thereof; 
         or a cyclohexanol derivative according to the following general formula: 
       
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R represents a linear or branched alkyl group having about 1 to about 5 carbon atoms, 
       
       or 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R 1  and R 2  are independently hydrogen, or a linear or branched alkyl group having about 1 to about 5 carbon atom, or mixtures thereof; or a cyclohexyl derivative according to the following general formula 
       
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R represents —H, a C 1 -C 5  linear or branched alkyl group, a C 1 -C 5  alkenyl group, a C 1 -C 5  alkoxy group or a C 1 -C 5  acyloxy group, R 1  represents —H, or a linear or branched alkyl group having from about 1 to about 5 carbon atoms, with the exception of compound wherein both R and R 1  are hydrogen, or mixtures thereof; 
         or a mixture thereof. 
       
     
     
         3 . An absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the cooling agent is a menthyl lactate, menthoxypropanediol, ethyl menthane carboxamide, methyl-(N,2,3 tri-methyl)-2-isopropyl butanamide, 2-propenil cyclohexanol, cyclohexanol 5-methyl-2-(1 methyl ethenyl) or mixtures thereof and preferably is menthyl lactate. 
     
     
         4 . An absorbent article according to  claim 1 , which comprises on at least a portion of the article from about 0.01 gm −2  to about 300 gm −2  of a cooling agent or a mixture thereof. 
     
     
         5 . An absorbent article according to  claim 1 , further comprising a delivery system for containing and delivering the cooling agent to at least a portion of the skin and/or mucosal surface of mammal wearing the article. 
     
     
         6 . An absorbent article according to  claim 5 , wherein the delivery system is an emollient-containing composition comprising from about 0.1% to about 99.9%, by weight of the cooling agent or mixture thereof, and from about 99.9% to about 0.1%, by weight of the emollient or mixture thereof. 
     
     
         7 . An absorbent article according to  claim 5 , wherein the delivery system comprises an emollient typically selected from the group consisting of petroleum-based; sucrose ester fatty acids; polyethylene glycol and derivatives thereof; fatty acid ester type; alkyl ethoxylate type; fatty acids, particularly those having from about 8 to about 28 carbon atoms in their fatty chain; fatty acid ester ethoxylates; fatty alcohol type; polysiloxane type; propylene glycol and derivatives thereof; glycerine and derivatives thereof, including glyceride, acetoglycerides, and ethoxylated glycerides of C 8 -C 28  fatty acids; spermaceti and other waxes; fatty alcohol ethers, particularly those having from about 8 to about 28 carbon atoms in their fatty chain, propoxylated fatty alcohols; other fatty esters of polyhydroxy alcohols; lanolin and its derivatives; kaolin and its derivatives; sorbitol and its derivative; trihydroxy stearin; ester derivatives and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         8 . An absorbent article according to  claim 5 , wherein the delivery system comprises an alcohol, ester or acid derivative of following formulae or mixtures thereof: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R 1  and each R 2  independently are an acyl group with from about 2 to about 22 carbon atoms, or an alkyl, alkenyl, arylalkyl, hydroxyalkyl group with from about 1 to about 24 carbon atoms or hydrogen, whereby preferably at least one of R 1  and R 2  is such an acyl group; R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , R 9 , and R 9  are independently an alkyl, alkenyl, arylalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxy groups of from 1 to 24 carbon atoms, hydroxy group or hydrogen group; R 10  and R 11  are independently an alkyl, alkenyl, arylalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxy groups of from about 2 to about 24 carbon atoms, hydroxy group or hydrogen group; A and B are independently a C 1 -C 6  linear or branched alkylene, alkyl, alkenylene, alkoxylene, alkoxyl, hydroxyalkylene, hydroxyalkyl groups; the values of x are independently from 0 to about 15; the values of y are independently 0 or 1, 
         or 
       
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein in (III) R 1 , R 2  and R 3  are independently an acyl, alkyl or alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl group with from 1 to 22 carbon atoms, and R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7  and R 8  are independently selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 10  linear or branched alkyl, acyl, alkenyl, hydroxyalkyl or alkoxy groups, hydroxy, chloride, bromide, amine or hydrogen. 
       
     
     
         9 . An absorbent article according to  claim 8 , wherein the delivery system comprises triethyl citrate, acetyl tributyl citrate, triacetyl citrate, O acetyl triethyl citrate, polyethylene glycol and/or propylene glycol. 
     
     
         10 . An absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein said absorbent article is a panty liner, feminine napkin, incontinent pad, interlabial pad. 
     
     
         11 . An absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein said backsheet comprises at least one layer selected from an apertured polymeric film or a 2-dimensional planar apertured film. 
     
     
         12 . An absorbent article according to  claim 11 , wherein said layer is a 2-dimensional planar apertured layer, wherein said apertures have an average diameter of from 150 micrometers to 1 micrometers. 
     
     
         13 . An absorbent article according to  claim 11 , wherein said layer is an apertured polymeric film, wherein said apertures have an average diameter of from 100 micrometers to 500 micrometers. 
     
     
         14 . An absorbent article according to  claim 11 , wherein said backsheet comprises at least two layers, a first layer comprising an apertured layer and a second layer comprising a fibrous layer. 
     
     
         15 . An absorbent article according to  claim 14 , wherein said backsheet comprises at least a first layer of a resilient, three dimensional web which consists of a liquid impervious polymeric film having apertures forming capillaries which are not perpendicular to the plane of the film but are disposed at an angle of less than 90° relative to the plane of the film, and at least a second breathable layer being a fibrous nonwoven web made from synthetic fibers having a basis weight of less than about 40 g/m2.