Patent Application
20080082074
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated, as they become better understood by reference to the following Detailed Description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings:
As used herein, the terms “absorbent article”, or simply “article”, refer to garments that absorb and contain body fluids and other body exudates. More specifically, these terms refer to garments that are placed against or in proximity to the body of a wearer to absorb and contain the various exudates discharged from the body. A non-exhaustive list of examples of absorbent garments includes pantiliners, sanitary napkins, feminine hygiene products, diapers, diaper covers, disposable diapers, training pants, and adult incontinence products. Such garments may be intended to be discarded or partially discarded after a single use (“disposable” garments). Such garments may comprise essentially a single inseparable structure (“unitary” garments), or they may comprise replaceable inserts or other interchangeable parts.
The present invention may be used with all of the foregoing classes of absorbent articles, without limitation, whether disposable or otherwise. The absorbent article of the present invention is optionally a diaper, pantiliner, sanitary napkin, feminine hygienic garment, incontinent brief, training pant, diaper holder, or a combination thereof.
The embodiments described herein provide an exemplary structure of a disposable, pant-like diaper article which is adapted to be worn by infants about the lower torso. However this is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention. The invention will be understood to encompass, without limitation, all classes, and types of absorbent articles, including those described herein. In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims.
The present invention relates to the configuration of an absorbent article such as a diaper, training pant, sanitary pad, and pantiliner having a single side panel for fastening around the waist region of a wearer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a pant-like disposable diaper that has a front waist region, a back waist region, and a crotch region positioned between the front waist and rear waist region. Further, the diaper is provided with a single side panel which is permanently attached to one of the front waist region and the back waist region.
With reference to
In the embodiment shown in
Front waist region 108 comprises the portion of diaper 100 which, when worn, is positioned on the front of the wearer while back waist region 110 comprises the portion of diaper 100 which, when worn, is positioned on the back of the wearer. Crotch region 112 comprises the portion of diaper 100 which includes an absorbent core 119. When diaper 100 is worn, crotch region 112 is positioned between the legs of the wearer. Side panel 104 comprise the portions of the diaper which, when worn, are positioned on the side hip regions of the wearer. The laterally opposed side edges, 112 and 114 and side panel 104 of diaper 100 generally define leg openings which may be curvilinear. The waist edges 116 and 118 of diaper 100 and side panel 104 are configured to encircle the waist of the wearer when worn and provide a waist opening when fastened. Diaper 100 may further include a pair of leg elastics 120, a pair of waist elastics 122 and containment flaps 124, as are known to those skilled in the art. Leg elastics 120 and waist elastics 122 are generally adapted to fit about the legs and waist of a wearer in use, to maintain a contacting relationship with the wearer. Containment flaps 124 help reduce the leakage of body exudates from diaper 100. It should be recognized that individual components of diaper 100 may be optional depending upon the intended use of diaper 100.
In one embodiment, fastening component 106 is attached to side panel 104 through a fastener grip provided on side panel 104. Fastening component 106 may be provided by using conventional means, well known to those skilled in the art, using any type of bonding such as adhesive, cohesive, or mechanical systems. Absorbent articles including such releasable systems and methods of making such are further described in a U.S. patent application of Elsberg and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 09/100,574, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,805 issued to McNichols, the respective disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Referring now to
Materials suitable for the side panel 104 of diaper 100 are generally known to those skilled in the art. For example, suitable materials for the side panels 104 include those materials described above as being suitable for the back sheet 604 or top sheet 602 of the diaper 100 such as woven and nonwoven materials or laminates of such materials. Suitable materials include, without limitation, block copolymers of polystyrene, polyisoprene and polybutadiene; copolymers of ethylene, natural rubbers and urethanes; and combinations of the foregoing. Other suitable polymers include copolymers of ethylene, including without limitation ethylene vinyl acetate, ethylene methyl acrylate, ethylene ethyl acrylate, ethylene acrylic acid, stretchable ethylene-propylene copolymers, and combinations thereof.
Desirably, the side panels 104 are extensible or elastic to provide improved fit about the wearer. For example, the side panels 104 may comprise a stretch-thermal laminate (STL), neck-bonded laminate (NBL), or stretch-bonded laminate (SBL) material. Methods of making such materials are well known to those skilled in the art and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,220 issued to Wisneski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,992 issued to Mormon, and European Patent Application No. EP0217032 of Taylor et al., the respective disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
When made with extensible or elastic materials, the side panel 104 is desirably capable of elongating in the lateral direction from about 10 percent to about 400 percent, more desirably at least about 100 percent, even more desirably from about 100 to about 300 percent, and still yet more desirably from about 150 to about 250 percent for improved fit and performance. The stretchability of the side panel when elastic materials are used allows the side panel 104 to stretch over and around the hips of the wearer as the prefastened diaper is pulled on while still maintaining proper fit at the waist after the diaper is correctly positioned on the wearer.
Preferably, side panel 104 is a neck-bonded laminate material for improved manufacturing due to its ability to stretch in the cross machine direction. For example, in a particular embodiment, side panel 104 includes a neck-bonded laminate material which includes a urethane film having a basis weight of about 15 grams per square meter and commercially available from Shawmut Mills as SHAWMUT TX-1560. This material is sandwiched between two layers of necked, stretched spunbond. Each spunbond layer has a basis weight of about 16 grams per square meter and is composed of 3.0 denier polypropylene fibers. The composite is laminated together with an adhesive spray at an add-on rate of about 0.3 grams per square meter. A suitable adhesive is available from Findley Adhesive as FINDLEY 2525A. Such a neck-bonded laminate material is generally capable of elongating in the cross machine direction about 185 percent.
The aforementioned embodiments and examples are meant to be just for explanatory purposes only, and are in no way meant to limit the full scope of the invention. Various other configurations are possible and within the spirit of the invention. The invention is intended to cover all such embodiments within the boundaries defined by the appended claims.
