Patent Application
20240008444
This application claims priority to Taiwanese Invention Patent Application No. 111125173, filed on Jul. 5, 2022.
The present disclosure relates to an article for pets, and more particularly to an absorbent article for pet excreta.
Referring to
However, pets often would not stay in the central area of the conventional absorbent article during urination and/or defecation, and instead, might urinate and/or defecate at peripheral region of the conventional absorbent article, resulting in only a portion of the pet excreta to drop on the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 91, whereas another portion of the pet excreta dropped on the peripheral region of the conventional absorbent article would leak to the floor along outer periphery of the liquid-impermeable backsheet layer 92. Since the liquid-impermeable backsheet layer 92 prevents the leaked pet excreta from being absorbed by the liquid-absorbing unit 93, the floor would still be soiled with the pet excreta, causing pet owners a trouble of having to clean up the pet excreta on the floor using a cloth or a large amount of toilet papers.
Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an absorbent article for pet excreta that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the present disclosure, the absorbent article for pet excreta includes a liquid-permeable topsheet layer, a liquid-permeable backsheet layer, and a liquid-absorbing unit. The liquid-permeable backsheet layer is disposed spaced apart from the liquid-permeable topsheet layer. The liquid-absorbing unit is disposed between the liquid-permeable topsheet layer and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer, and is adapted for absorbing pet excreta from at least one of the liquid-permeable topsheet layer and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer.
Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment(s) with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that various features may not be drawn to scale.
Before the present disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.
It should be noted herein that for clarity of description, spatially relative terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “on,” “above,” “over,” “downwardly,” “upwardly” and the like may be used throughout the disclosure while making reference to the features as illustrated in the drawings. The features may be oriented differently (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative terms used herein may be interpreted accordingly.
Referring to
The liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 may be connected to each other and may be configured to enclose the liquid-absorbing unit 4, but is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in
The absorbent article for pet excreta of the present disclosure is specifically designed based on pet behavior, and is suitable to be placed on, e.g., the floor for use when pets perform excretion, so as to absorb pet excreta (e.g., urine). Both of the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 allow the penetration of the pet excreta, so that the pet excreta, upon contacting with either the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 or the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3, would enter into and be absorbed by the liquid-absorbing unit 4. Therefore, even if a pet stands on a peripheral region of the absorbent article of the present disclosure during excretion, causing not all of the pet excreta to fall on the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and to enter into and be absorbed by the liquid-absorbing unit 4 (i.e., a portion of the pet excreta falls on the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 whereas another portion of the pet excreta falls outside of the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and leaks to the floor along outer periphery of the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3), the leaked portion of the pet excreta can still be absorbed by the liquid-absorbing unit 4 via the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3. Since pet excreta can penetrate into both the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3, the absorbent article of the present disclosure can be laid on the floor with either one of the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 or the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 facing up, thereby providing convenience in use.
The materials and properties of the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 are not particularly limited, as long as the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 allow liquids to penetrate therethrough. In certain embodiments, the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 is made of a fresh material and/or a recycled material (e.g., recycled fiber or recycled plastic, but not limited thereto), and includes at least one selected from the group consisting of hydrophilic woven fabric, hydrophilic spun-bond non-woven fabric, hydrophilic hot-press non-woven fabric, hot-air non-woven fabric, spun-lace non-woven fabric, and porous plastic film. In other embodiments, the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 is made of a fresh material and/or a recycled material (e.g., recycled fiber or recycled plastic, but not limited thereto), and includes at least one selected from the group consisting of hydrophilic woven fabric, hydrophilic spun-bond non-woven fabric, hydrophilic hot-press non-woven fabric, hot-air non-woven fabric, spun-lace non-woven fabric, and porous plastic film. The liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 may be made of the same material or different materials. In a case that each of the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 is at least one selected from the group consisting of hydrophilic woven fabric, hydrophilic spun-bond non-woven fabric, hydrophilic hot-press non-woven fabric, hot-air non-woven fabric, spun-lace non-woven fabric, the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 are also capable of absorbing liquid, and thus, pet excreta can be further absorbed by the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3, so as to enhance absorption capacity of the absorbent article of the present disclosure.
The material and properties of the liquid-absorbing unit 4 are not particularly limited, as long as the liquid-absorbing unit 4 is conferred with liquid-absorbing property. In certain embodiments, the liquid-absorbing body 41 of the liquid-absorbing unit 4 is made of a fresh material and/or a recycled material, and includes at least one selected from the group consisting of superabsorbent polymer sheet (abbreviated as SAP sheet), liquid-absorbing polymer powder, paper pulp, cotton, and polyurethane foam. The amount of liquid to be absorbed by the liquid-absorbing unit 4 is not particularly limited, and may be flexibly adjusted and designed according to the practical needs (e.g., the amount of pet excreta). For example, the liquid-absorbing unit 4 may be designed to absorb an amount of liquid that is much greater than the amount of pet excreta.
Referring to
Referring to
The material and properties of the liquid-impermeable leakproof layer 5 are not particularly limited, as long as the liquid-impermeable leakproof layer 5 is capable of preventing liquid from passing therethrough. For example, the liquid-impermeable leakproof layer 5 may include a waterproof plastic film. When an excessive amount of pet excreta falls on the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 (i.e., the absorption capacity of the liquid-absorbing unit 4 exceeds its loading capacity), the liquid-impermeable leakproof layer 5 is capable of preventing the pet excreta which leaks out from the liquid-absorbing unit 4 from passing therethrough, and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3, on the other hand, is capable of absorbing the pet excreta which accidently fall outside of the absorbent article.
Referring to
Referring to
The present disclosure will be described by way of the following examples. However, it should be understood that the following examples are intended solely for the purpose of illustration and should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure in practice.
The absorbent article for pet excreta of EX1 has a configuration as described for the variation of the aforesaid first embodiment shown in
The absorbent article for pet excreta of EX2 has a configuration identical to that of EX1 and is made of materials similar to those of EX1, except that in EX2, the liquid-permeable backsheet layer is made of a porous plastic film (Manufacturer: Xiamen Yanjan New Material Co., Ltd., China) having a basis weight of 22.5 gsm.
The absorbent article for pet excreta of EX3 has a configuration as described for the aforesaid third embodiment, and is made of the following materials. Specifically, in EX3, the liquid-permeable topsheet layer is made of a hydrophilic spun-bond non-woven fabric having a basis weight of 18 gsm, the liquid-absorbing unit that is made of a superabsorbent polymer sheet having a basis weight of 190 gsm, the liquid-impermeable leakproof layer is made of a waterproof plastic film having a basis weight of 22 gsm, and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer is made of a hot-air non-woven fabric having a basis weight of 35 gsm.
The absorbent article for pet excreta of EX4 has a configuration identical to that of EX3 and is made of materials similar to those of EX3, except that in EX4, the liquid-permeable backsheet layer is made of a spun-lace non-woven fabric having a basis weight of 30 gsm.
The absorbent article for pet excreta of CE1 has a configuration identical to that of the conventional absorbent article for pets as shown in
The types of materials and basis weights thereof for making each component in a respective one of the absorbent articles of EX1 to EX4 and CE1 are shown in Table 1 below.
Each of the absorbent articles for pet excreta of EX1 to EX4 and CE1 was subjected to a liquid-absorption test to evaluate the liquid absorption capacity thereof. First, each of the absorbent articles of EX1 to EX4 and CE1 was placed on the floor with the liquid-permeable topsheet layer facing upwards, and then 5 pools of red-dyed water each having a volume of 20 mL were separately poured on a peripheral region of the absorbent article, such that a portion of the red-dyed water falls on the liquid-permeable topsheet layer of the absorbent article and another portion of the red-dyed water falls outside of the liquid-permeable topsheet layer and leaks out of the absorbent article. Next, each of the absorbent articles was left to stand for 1 minute, and then moved away and turned over such that the liquid-permeable topsheet layer was faced down. Then, the liquid absorption capacity of each absorbent article was determined by observing whether the red-dyed water remained on the floor. The results are shown in
Referring to
In particular, the liquid-absorbing units in the central region of the absorbent articles of EX1 and EX2 were dyed by absorbing the red-dyed water, indicating that the red-dyed water leaking outside the absorbent article can pass through the liquid-permeable backsheet layer and be effectively absorbed by the liquid-absorbing unit. As to the absorbent articles of EX3 and EX4, both the liquid-absorbing unit and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer were dyed by absorbing the red-dyed water, indicating that even in the presence of the liquid-impermeable leakproof layer, the liquid-permeable backsheet layer made of non-woven fabric having liquid-absorbing property is conducive to further improving the liquid absorption capacity of the absorbent articles of EX3 and EX4.
In summary, by disposing the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 on opposite surfaces of the liquid-absorbing unit 4, the absorbent article of the present disclosure allows pet excreta to enter into the liquid-absorbing unit 4 from the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and/or from the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 so as to be absorbed by the liquid-absorbing unit 4. In addition, by having the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and/or the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 made of a liquid-absorbing material, the pet excreta can also be absorbed by the liquid-permeable topsheet layer 2 and/or the liquid-permeable backsheet layer 3 so as to further improve the absorption capacity of the absorbent article of the present disclosure.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects; such does not mean that every one of these features needs to be practiced with the presence of all the other features. In other words, in any described embodiment, when implementation of one or more features or specific details does not affect implementation of another one or more features or specific details, said one or more features may be singled out and practiced alone without said another one or more features or specific details. It should be further noted that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is (are) considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 111125173 | Jul 2022 | TW | national |
