TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a feces collection sheet, which has a cylindrical shape, including: an upper sheet having a feces receiving portion formed in a center of the upper sheet; and a lower sheet, which is provided so as to extend from both of a right-side edge portion and a left-side edge portion of the upper sheet and is configured to define a gap with the upper sheet to allow insertion of a toilet seat therethrough.

BACKGROUND ART

A fecal examination is carried out all over the world in examinations for digestive system diseases including colorectal cancer, examinations for bacteria infections and parasitic infections, and the like. In particular, in recent years, the number of fecal occult blood tests has been rapidly increasing in screening examinations for colorectal cancer, and at least about seven million fecal occult blood tests are carried out per year in Japan.

Further, in combination with a genome analysis project for human resident flora in the late 2000's, which was carried out mainly in Europe and the United States, a study on “intestinal flora” has been rapidly developed and has indicated an important role in various diseases of the immune system, the metabolic system, the nervous system, and the like. On a worldwide basis, two-hundred eighty-nine million dollars have been funded to researches on gut bacterial flora in about five years after 2008. In addition, the value is increasing year by year, and hence it can be said that the gut bacterial flora research is a field of research that is attracting remarkable attention. Even in the gut bacterial flora research, “feces sample collection” is essentially required. Therefore, it is considered that the fecal examinations in the above-mentioned field of research are increasingly carried out in the future.

As a method of collecting the feces sample for the fecal examination, in a case of a Japanese-style toilet bowl, the following method is carried out. A piece of toilet paper or newspaper, or the like is placed directly on the toilet bowl or is placed in the toilet bowl. After defecation thereon, feces are picked through use of a feces collection stick by allowing the feces to adhere thereto, or are scooped up through use of a feces collection cup. Meanwhile, western-style toilet bowls are increasing in recent years. In a case of the western-style toilet bowl described above, the following method is generally carried out. After apiece of toilet paper or the like is placed on the near side of a water storage portion of the toilet bowl, a sample provider sits so as to face in a direction opposite to a direction in which the sample provider faces in general use, and defecates on the piece of toilet paper or the like to collect the feces sample. However, there are following problems. Specifically, the sample provider is required to be careful so as not to get the piece of toilet paper wet. Moreover, the feces are required to be prevented from dropping into the water storage portion in the toilet bowl. Further, the defecation is not smooth because a sitting position is different from a normal sitting position.

In the case of the western-style toilet bowl, there has been carried out a method that allows defecation on a water-soluble defecation sheet placed on a water surface of water in the water storage portion of the toilet bowl. As the water-soluble defecation sheet to be used for the method described above, there have been proposed a feces collection sheet (see Patent Literature 1) and a feces receiving sheet for feces collection (see Patent Literature 2). The feces collection sheet has one or both of surfaces of a base material made of water-dispersible paper, which are subjected to a water-resistance treatment with a water resisting agent to control water dispersibility in terms of time. The feces receiving sheet for feces collection has at least one surface of a sheet main body made of water-soluble paper, which is subjected to a water-resistance treatment with a water resisting agent, to control water solubility. However, there arise the following problems. Specifically, feces are required to be collected within a given period of time after the sheet is placed on the water surface. Therefore, smooth defecation is hindered under a psychological pressure that “the sheet may dissolve before the defecation”. In a case of urination after the defecation, a blood component adhering on a surface of feces is taken away together with urine because of the absence of a urine exhaust passage. Therefore, a fecal occult blood test cannot be conducted correctly. In a case of urination before or after the defecation, decomposition of the water-soluble sheet is disadvantageously accelerated. As a result, the feces may drop into the water.

Meanwhile, in the case of the western-style toilet bowl, there has been carried out a method of fixing a feces collecting portion to a predetermined position above the water storage portion. As a water-soluble defecation sheet to be used for the above-mentioned method, there have been proposed a collection device for fecal examination (see Patent Literature 3) and a feces collection sheet (see Patent Literature 4) described below. Specifically, with regard to the collection device for fecal examination having been proposed, the collection device for fecal examination includes a collection tape having a length within a range of from 45 cm to 50 cm and a width within a range of from 2.5 cm to 5 cm, double-sided tapes with release paper, and a water-soluble collection mat. The double-sided tapes are applied to a back surface of the collection device so as to be located on both sides of the back surface. The water-soluble collection mat has a release mechanism in the center of an upper surface of the collection tape. The collection device for fecal examination is bonded with releasable tapes on a back side through two holes formed in the collection tape so as to have an appropriate degree of deflection toward the inner side of a toilet bowl. With regard to the feces collection sheet having been proposed, the feces collection sheet includes a water-soluble sheet main body and a water-soluble double-sided adhesive tape. The water-soluble sheet main body has a length L that allows at least both end edge portions to be superposed on right and left edges of a toilet bowl. A feces receiving portion provided in an intermediate portion is formed to have a width that is at least sufficient to receive feces. The double-sided adhesive tape is covered with a release tape. The double-sided adhesive tape is bonded onto one surface of the sheet main body so as to be located at both end edges. However, there arise the following problems. The sheet is required to be fixed with an adhesive such as the tape, and hence work of applying the tape onto an unsanitary toilet bowl or removing the tape therefrom is required. Thus, a hand may touch the unsanitary toilet bowl, and there is hesitation from a hygienical point of view. Further, when the adhesive remains in the toilet bowl, dirt may be liable to adhere to the toilet bowl through subsequent uses of the toilet bowl. In addition, the adhesive has non-water-soluble release paper in many cases. The release paper cannot be flushed in the toilet after being released from the adhesive.

CITATION LIST

Patent Literature

[PTL 1] JP 2005-017252 A[PTL 2] JP 10-068726 A[PTL 3] JP 2004-085520 A[PTL 4] JP 07-270403 A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

The present invention has an object to provide a feces collection sheet, which reliably enables collection of feces without being dipped in a water storage portion of a western-style toilet bowl and is mountable to the toilet bowl without use of an adhesive.

Solution to Problem

The inventors of the present invention recognized the need for improvement of a feces collection sheet because of difficulty in appropriate collection of a feces sample with existing feces collection sheets and a problem such as hesitation in terms of hygiene. Therefore, through various improvements, the inventors of the present invention have found that a sheet can be mounted to a toilet seat by forming the sheet into a cylindrical shape even without use of an adhesive. Further, the inventors of the present invention have also found that a feces receiving portion included in the feces collection sheet has mountain creases and valley creases to form a three-dimensional shape that bulges toward a lower sheet so as to allow more efficient feces collection. In this manner, the prevent invention has been achieved.

Specifically, the present invention has the following configurations.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a feces collection sheet, which has a cylindrical shape, including: an upper sheet having a feces receiving portion in a center of the upper sheet; and a lower sheet, which is provided so as to extend from both of a right-side edge portion and a left-side edge portion of the upper sheet and is configured to define a gap with the upper sheet to allow insertion of a toilet seat therethrough, wherein the upper sheet and the lower sheet are made of a material having a water-soluble material property, and wherein the upper sheet has a folded piece portion to be unfolded to enable the feces receiving portion to form a three-dimensional shape that bulges toward the lower sheet.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the feces collection sheet can be easily and reliably mounted to the toilet seat by simple means of inserting the toilet seat into the gap defined between the upper sheet and the lower sheet.

Further, the feces receiving portion is enabled to form the three-dimensional shape that bulges toward the lower sheet by pushing the folded piece portion of the upper sheet toward the lower sheet to unfold the folded piece portion. Therefore, feces received in the feces receiving portion can be prevented from dropping from the feces receiving portion.

Further, the upper sheet and the lower sheet are made of a material having a water-soluble material property. Therefore, after feces collection, the feces collection sheet can be directly flushed into a flush toilet.

In a second aspect of the invention, the upper sheet and the lower sheet as described in the first aspect of the invention, which are made of the material having the water-soluble material property, are made of water-soluble paper.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the upper sheet and the lower sheet are made of the water-soluble paper. Therefore, the feces collection sheet can be provided at low cost.

In a third aspect of the invention, the folded piece portion of the upper sheet as described in the first or second aspects of the invention has a mountain crease and a valley crease on the feces receiving portion of the upper sheet, end portions of the mountain crease and end portions of the valley crease are fixed, and the feces receiving portion is enabled to form the three-dimensional shape that bulges toward the lower sheet by unfolding a folded piece folded on the mountain crease and the valley crease toward the lower sheet.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the folded piece portion of the upper sheet is pushed toward the lower sheet. As a result, the folded piece folded on the mountain creases and the valley creases is unfolded. In this manner, the feces receiving portion is enabled to form the three-dimensional shape that bulges toward the lower sheet.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, the mountain crease and the valley crease formed on the feces receiving portion of the upper sheet as described in the third aspect of the invention are parallel to each other.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the mountain creases and the valley creases formed on the feces receiving portion of the upper sheet are parallel to each other. Therefore, a force of pushing the folded piece portion toward the lower sheet is evenly distributed and transmitted to the mountain creases and the valley creases. Therefore, the folded piece folded on the mountain creases and the valley creases can be smoothly unfolded.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, the mountain crease and the valley crease formed on the feces receiving portion of the upper sheet as described in the fourth aspect of the invention are provided in parallel to a front-and-rear direction of the feces receiving portion.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the mountain creases and the valley creases formed on the feces receiving portion of the upper sheet are provided in parallel to the front-and-rear direction of the feces receiving portion. Therefore, the feces receiving portion is enabled to form a stable three-dimensional shape.

In a sixth aspect of the invention, the mountain crease and the valley crease formed on the feces receiving portion of the upper sheet as described in the fourth aspect of the invention are provided in parallel to a right-and-left direction of the feces receiving portion.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the mountain creases and the valley creases formed on the feces receiving portion of the upper sheet are provided in parallel to the right-and-left direction of the feces receiving portion. Therefore, the feces receiving portion is enabled to form a stable three-dimensional shape.

In a seventh aspect of the invention, the folded piece portion of the upper sheet as described in the first or second aspects of the invention is formed by folding back a front-side edge portion and a rear-side edge portion of the upper sheet to the back surface side and fixing a right end edge and a left end edge of each of back-side sheet piece portions, which are formed by being folded back, and a right end edge and a left end edge of a top-side sheet piece portion, and the feces receiving portion is enabled to form the three-dimensional shape that bulges toward the lower sheet by bringing the back-side sheet piece portions to the top side of the top-side sheet piece portion so as to open the back-side sheet piece portions outward.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the back-side sheet piece portions are brought to the top side of the top-side sheet piece portion so as to be opened outward. In this manner, the feces receiving portion is enabled to form the three-dimensional shape that bulges toward the lower sheet. Therefore, the feces received in the feces receiving portion can be prevented from dropping from the feces receiving portion.

In an eighth aspect of the invention, the upper sheet and the lower sheet as described in the seventh aspect of the invention are formed of two sheet base material pieces obtained by folding a sheet base material having a rectangular shape in half, one of the sheet base material pieces is used as the top-side sheet piece portion of the upper sheet, whereas two cutting lines being parallel to a right-and-left direction of the feces collection sheet are formed in another of the sheet base material pieces, portions located on outer sides of the two cutting lines are used as the back-side sheet piece portions that form the folded piece portion of the upper sheet, whereas a portion located on an inner side of the two cutting lines is used as the lower sheet, and, after the two sheet base material pieces obtained by folding the sheet base material in half are superposed on one another, three open end edges of the two sheet base material pieces having been superposed on one another are fixed to each other.

According to the eighth aspect of the invention, the structure is simple. Therefore, the feces collection sheet is easy to manufacture and can be provided at low cost.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

With the feces collection sheet according to one embodiment of the present invention, the feces receiving portion is enabled to form the three-dimensional shape that bulges toward the lower sheet. Therefore, the feces received in the feces receiving portion can be prevented from dropping from the feces receiving portion. Further, the feces collection sheet does not come into contact with the water storage portion of the toilet bowl. Therefore, there is no fear that the feces collection sheet may come into contact with water to dissolve during defecation, thereby enabling the defecation at desired pace. Further, the feces collection sheet can be mounted to the toilet seat by simple means of inserting the toilet seat through the gap defined between the upper sheet and the lower sheet without use of an adhesive for mounting the feces collection sheet to the toilet seat. Therefore, the mounting and removing are enabled in a hygienically ensured manner. At the same time, dirt can be prevented from adhering to the toilet bowl. Further, the feces collection sheet is made of the water-soluble material. Therefore, the entire sheet can be directly flushed into the flush toilet after the feces collection.

