Skin contact material

Abstract

A substrate based skin contact material formed from a hydrocolloid having a silicone based component extending over regions of the substrate surface. The adhesive is formed non-continuously over the substrate to provide areas devoid of adhesive to allow appreciable moisture transfer between the skin and substrate and improve the skin friendliness of the material during use and allow convenient removal with avoidance of skin irritation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A skin contact material comprising:
 a substrate having a first surface to be positioned against the skin and a second surface to be positioned away from the skin; and   an adhesive layer coated on the first surface as a rectangular grid pattern formed by a plurality of protrusions extending over the first surface,   wherein:   the plurality of protrusions are coated on a flat face of the first surface that is devoid of projections;   the plurality of protrusions include a first set of protrusions aligned in protrusion rows that are spaced apart from one another in a first direction and a second set of protrusions aligned in protrusion columns that are spaced apart from one another in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction;   the first set of protrusions are aligned in each protrusion row with discontinuities located between adjacent protrusions and the second set of protrusions are aligned in each protrusion column with discontinuities located between adjacent protrusions;   the first surface of the substrate includes a first side and a second side arranged opposite the first side; and   the plurality of protrusions are coated only on the first side of the first surface without being coated on the second side of the first surface.   
     
     
         2 . The skin contact material of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of protrusions include a first set of bumps. 
     
     
         3 . The skin contact material of  claim 2 , wherein the second set of protrusions include a second set of bumps. 
     
     
         4 . The skin contact material of  claim 1 , wherein the second side of the first surface is devoid of any projections or protrusions. 
     
     
         5 . The skin contact material of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of protrusions are uniformly distributed over the first side of the first surface. 
     
     
         6 . The skin contact material of  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive layer is a two-part catalysed, low temperature curing silicon adhesive layer. 
     
     
         7 . The skin contact material of  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive layer is a composite silicon layer that includes a plurality of different silicon-based materials. 
     
     
         8 . The skin contact material of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the first set of protrusions include a first silicon-based material; and   the second set of protrusions include a second silicon-based material.   
     
     
         9 . The skin contact material of  claim 1 , wherein each of the first side and the second side accounts for half of a total surface area of the first surface. 
     
     
         10 . The skin contact material of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first set of protrusions are uniformly separated from one another in each protrusion row by a first separation distance; and   the second set of protrusions are uniformly separated from one another in each protrusion column by a second separation distance.   
     
     
         11 . The skin contact material of  claim 10 , wherein the first separation distance and the second separation distance are the same. 
     
     
         12 . A skin contact material comprising:
 a substrate having a first surface to be positioned against the skin and a second surface to be positioned away from the skin; and   an adhesive layer coated on the first surface by a plurality of protrusions extending over the first surface,   wherein:   the plurality of protrusions are coated on a flat face of the first surface that is devoid of projections;   the plurality of protrusions include a first set of protrusions aligned in protrusion rows and a second set of protrusions aligned in protrusion columns;   the first set of protrusions are aligned in each protrusion row with discontinuities located between adjacent protrusions and the second set of protrusions are aligned in each protrusion column with discontinuities located between adjacent protrusions;   the first surface of the substrate includes a first side and a second side arranged opposite the first side;   the plurality of protrusions are coated only on the first side of the first surface without being coated on the second side of the first surface; and   the plurality of protrusions are uniformly distributed over the first side of the first surface.   
     
     
         13 . The skin contact material of  claim 12 , wherein the protrusion rows are spaced apart from one another in a first direction and the protrusion columns are spaced apart from one another in a second direction different from the first direction. 
     
     
         14 . The skin contact material of  claim 12 , wherein the second side of the first surface is devoid of any projections or protrusions. 
     
     
         15 . The skin contact material of  claim 12 , wherein the adhesive layer is a composite silicon layer that includes a plurality of different silicon-based materials. 
     
     
         16 . The skin contact material of  claim 12 , wherein each of the first side and the second side accounts for half of a total surface area of the first surface. 
     
     
         17 . The skin contact material of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the first set of protrusions are uniformly separated from one another in each protrusion row by a first separation distance; and   the second set of protrusions are uniformly separated from one another in each protrusion column by a second separation distance.   
     
     
         18 . The skin contact material of  claim 17 , wherein the first separation distance and the second separation distance are the same. 
     
     
         19 . The skin contact material of  claim 12 , wherein the first set of protrusions include a first set of bumps. 
     
     
         20 . The skin contact material of  claim 19 , wherein the second set of protrusions include a second set of bumps.