Patent Application
20080065042
a is a top view of a second embodiment of the invention in an expanded state.
b is a schematic top view of the
a is a top view of another embodiment of the invention in an expanded state.
b is a schematic top view of the
c is a schematic top view of the
In a embodiment of the invention as shown in
The circumference of the contracted or fitted waist opening 11′ is created by the combined circumferential dimensions of the front and back waist sections 8 and 7 of the chassis and the portions of the back side sections 16 that do not overlap with the front waist section 8. The circumference of the expanded waist opening 11 is created by the combined circumferential dimensions of the front and back waist sections 8 and 7 of the chassis and the front and back side sections 2 and 16. It is preferred that the ratio (the “fit ratio”) of this expanded waist opening circumference or open waist circumference (termed OWC as defined below) to an average fitted waist circumference (termed ARWC as defined below) be greater than about 1.25 or preferably 1.4 up to about 2. The larger fit ratios, of this expanded waist opening circumference (1.4 or higher) to the fitted or contracted waist circumference 11′ increases the ease of putting the garment on without catching the feet of the wearer. Higher fit ratios are made possible by using front side sections that are larger (greater in length but not necessarily wider, which they are preferably not) than the back side sections.
The back side sections 16 are formed such that they can create a fitted or contracted waist opening 11′ as well as fitted or contracted leg openings. This is generally done by having the top edge 24 of the back side section substantially aligned with the top edges of the front and/or back waist sections. This could be, for example, from 0 to 20 mm of the top edges of the front and/or back waist sections (7 and 8). The bottom edge 26 of the back side section 16 can be contoured so as to form the shape of the fitted or contracted leg opening to provide a contracted leg opening in conjunction with the central crotch region of the chassis. The central crotch region 14 is typically elasticized along the edge 27 to form an elasticized leg opening.
The front side section 2 can be of any suitable shape however as it does not form a part of the fitted waist or leg openings. The front side section 2 generally has a height 12′ that is narrower than at least the widest section of the back side section or narrower than the back side section at a given point spaced from where attached to the front and back waist sections (7 and 8). This provides a ratio of the front side section 2 height (termed FSSH as defined below) to the back side section 16 height (termed BSSH as defined below) of less than 0.7 and preferably less than 0.6. This saves on cost while also allowing the front side section 2 to be more easily folded into the side of the diaper when the back side section of the diaper is fitted to the wearer. A narrower front side section 2 also increases the expanded leg opening at the front of the garment making the garment easier to step into. A narrow front side section 2 will generally raise the bottom edge 28 of the front side section 2 above the bottom edge 26 of the back side section 16 adjacent the chassis or back waist section 8. This raises the top edge (bottom edge 28 of the front side section 2) of the expanded leg opening in the front side section 2 which more easily accommodates a wearers foot, reducing the possibility that the front of the foot gets caught on the bottom edge 28 of the front side section 2.
A section of the bottom edge 28 of front side section 2 adjacent the chassis, or front waist section 8, is preferably above a section of bottom edge 26 of the back side section 16 adjacent the chassis or back waist section 7. Another way to describe this is that when the garment is expanded and the front side section 2 is placed onto the back side section 16 as the diaper would be worn, in the area where they overlap, the back side section 16 bottom edge 26 extends beyond the front side section 2 bottom edge 28, at one or more sections. This allows a more secure fit to be created by the back side section 16 bottom edge 26 extending down to cover more of the buttocks and upper leg region of the wearer.
Another way to characterize the expanded leg opening is by looking at two partial perimeters, and the areas they circumscribe, of the expanded leg opening as shown in
The front side section 2 can be any suitable shape but a rectangular shape minimizes material usage while creating a larger expanded leg opening, or front partial perimeter area, for ease of stepping into by the wearer. The front side section 2 could be formed of any suitable material or laminate but is generally a soft flexible material and could suitably be a film or nonwoven web or laminates with nonwoven webs and/or films.
The front side section 2 in one embodiment is either longer than the back side section 16 or extensible, such as to allow the back side section 16 to expand when it is applied to the wearer. The front side section 2 is generally at least 10, 20 or even 50 percent longer (or expandable to this length) than the corresponding unextended back side section. The front side section 2 can be expandable by being formed in whole or in part with an expandable material or laminate such as an elastic web, a corrugated web, a micropleated web or the like. If expandable, the front side section 2 is generally expandable such that it can be longer that the corresponding unextended back side section 16 as described above. Preferable the front side section 2 is not entirely elastic if formed with an elastic material or web but has a discrete elastic segment of low modulus and high elongation, generally this elastic segment could be from 5 to 60 percent or 10 to 40 percent of the extent or length of the front side section 2. A frangible segment can also be provided on the front side section, which can be torn before placing the garment onto the wearer to use the garment as a true open style diaper, or to assist in removing the diaper.
Suitable materials for producing an elastic back side section 16 include, but are not limited to, stretch-bonded-laminate (SBL) materials, neck-bonded-laminate (NBL) materials, elastomeric films, elastomeric nonwovens, elastomeric foam materials, and/or the like. For example, suitable meltblown elastomeric fibrous webs are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,220. Composite fabrics comprising at least one layer of a nonwoven material secured to a film or fibrous elastic layer are also desirable. Examples of suitable NBL materials are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,992, issued Jul. 13, 1993 to Morman, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. The back side section is elastic at least in the direction of the waist circumference but can have elasticity in multiple directions.
The disposable absorbent garments of the invention are designed to come out of a package of the garments in a configuration wherein the fastening tab 22 or fastener 23 is in a storage position so that the caregiver can easily position the diaper with the waist in the fully expanded configuration to make it easy for an infant to step into the garment. Namely, the fastening tab 22 is not preattached to the central landing area 25. Once an infant's legs are placed through the expanded waist and leg openings the garment is pulled up into the final wearing position and the fastening elements or tabs 22 are used to tighten the fit of the garment about the waist and leg openings to provide a snug and comfortable contracted fit around the waist and upper legs of the infant. This can be done while the child/wearer is standing or they could be placed on their back and fitted as with an open style diaper. The garment is correctly positioned around the baby or wearer, as with a pull up type product (with the back, front and sides all correctly aligned), but both the waist and leg opening can be adjusted as needed, as with an open style diaper. The garment (e.g. a diaper) can be placed on the wearer while standing, or a child could be placed on their back and fitted. This is desirable as the garment is now correctly positioned on the baby as they have stepped into it as in a pull on diaper, and it can be rapidly closed around the baby to form a custom fit as with an open style diaper. An issue with open style diapers is always correctly positioning the baby on the diaper such that the diaper is centered on the baby and the back fasteners or fastening tabs are aligned with the fastening surface on the front waist section of the diaper so the back, front and sides are all aligned when the diaper is closed using the fasteners. This positioning function can be done with a baby's assistance with the invention garment rather than against their will.
In one embodiment of an article 1 of the invention, as shown in
In the embodiments of
An additional embodiment, as shown in
The garment can be folded prior to use as shown in
As opposed to traditional pull-on type diapers, wherein the elastic side sections must elastically stretch enough to allow the diaper to be readily pulled up over the hips and buttocks of the infant, as well as provide elasticity to comfortably accommodate movement of the infant and to maintain a snug fit of the diaper, in the present invention the back side sections do not need to be elastically elongated to pull the diaper up. The elastic back side sections only serve to comfortably accommodate movement of the infant and to maintain a snug fit of the diaper over a limited range of infant sizes and shapes. As such the degree of elastic stretch required is less and thus the amount of elastic material used in making the side sections of the garment of this invention can be significantly less than is used in making traditional pull-on diapers of a similar size.
The closure or fastening tabs 22 enable the person applying the garment to readily grasp the end of the tab while it is in a storage position (generally it could be folded over and temporarily attached to the front side section 2) and open it to a ready to use open position. In the storage configuration the fastener 23 faces the front side section 2 and may be removably engaged with the front side section 2. The fastener 23 can be any appropriate fastener material, including a hook material, a pressure sensitive adhesive, a cohesive closure material, or any other suitable fastener material. If the fastener is a hook material it is desired that the hooks lightly engage the front side section to hold the fastener tab in the storage configuration until the person applying the garment grasps the fastening tab and pulls it open, disengaging the hook form the front side section, into a ready to use configuration.
To facilitate grasping the fastener tab 22 it may be provided with a finger lift area. In one embodiment of the present invention the fastening tab is bonded to the distal end 5 of the back side section 16. This bonding can be achieved by any known method, including adhesive bonding, thermal bonding, sonic bonding, pressure bonding, or a combination of these methods. The fastener tab material can be any suitable material. Examples of suitable materials for the tab material include films, nonwovens, film-nonwoven laminates, paper, and similar materials. The fastener is bonded to the fastener tab material with any suitable bonding method, including adhesive bonding, thermal bonding, sonic bonding, pressure bonding, or a combination of these methods. For example when the fastener is a hook material adhesive bonding or a combination of adhesive bonding and sonic bonding or pressure bonding may be used to bond the hook material to the fastener tab material.
To further describe the invention an example of an embodiment of the invention as an infant diaper will be used to describe the garment but it is to be understood that with appropriate size adjustment the garment can be a disposable absorbent garment for incontinent adults, a outer cover for disposable absorbent garments that utilize disposable absorbent inserts, disposable swim ware for infants, and similar such disposable garments.
As explained previously herein, in diapers of the present invention the three dimensional orientation of the leg opening is of importance; that is, the distances and relationships between various points of the front and back side sections that form part of the leg opening, and various points of the parts of the diaper chassis that form the remainder of the leg opening. Various measured parameters characterizing these relationships are presented in Table 1. With reference to these measurements, the following terminology is followed. The notation “open” means a configuration in which the diaper is held open or expanded, e.g. the position in which it would be placed upon the diaper wearer, or in which the diaper wearer would step into it. Such a position is represented in
One useful set of parameters are the partial perimeters. To measure the partial perimeter of the front side section of a given diaper, it was placed flat on a surface with the front side section 2 on top (in the configuration shown in the partial view of
The front side section partial perimeter measurement originated at point 35′ at the lowermost point of bond area 35 at which the front and back side sections are joined (the bond or seam 35 typically occupies the proximal edge of the front side section/back side section overlap region 19 described previously). The distance was measured, along the lower edge of front side section 2, from point 35′ to point 29 at which front side section 2 joined the front waist section 8 of the diaper. The measurement continued from this point down to lowermost point 55 of the leg opening. The partial perimeter measurement was then completed by measuring theoretical straight line 33 (not corresponding to any physical edge or surface) from point 55 back to point 35′. The partial perimeter established by the front side section was thus that represented by (roughly triangular) dotted line 42 in
With regard to the partial perimeter of the back side section, the diaper was placed flat on a surface with the back side section 16 on top, with the back side section 16 flat and fully extended but not under tension. The lowermost point 55 of the leg opening at the crotch region 14 was allowed to reside at the position imparted by the structure of the diaper; that is, with no extension being placed upon it.
The back side section 16 partial perimeter measurement originated at point 35″, which is the point on the lower edge of the rear side section, directly vertically beneath seam 35. The distance was measured, along the lower edge of back side section 16, from point 35″ to point 29′ at which the back side section 16 joined the back chassis of the diaper. The measurement continued from this point down to lowermost point 55 of the leg opening. The partial perimeter measurement was then completed by theoretical straight line 33′ (not corresponding to any physical edge or surface) from point 55 back to point 35″. The partial perimeter established by the back side section 16 was thus that represented by (roughly triangular) dashed line 43 in
Measurements of the front and back side section partial perimeter areas are provided in Table 1. For each diaper, the ratio of Front Partial Perimeter Area (FPPA) to Back Partial Perimeter Area (BPPA) is also provided.
In order to more fully illustrate the invention, the front side section length 9 (FSSL) and back side section length 13 (BSSL) (as depicted in
Another useful set of parameters is the waist circumference, in the opened and in the fitted position. One such measurement is the open waist circumference (OWC); that is, the length of the entire waist circumference of the diaper, as established by the chassis and the front and rear side sections, with the diaper in the open position (for example a position as represented in
Another measurement was the minimum fitted waist circumference; that is, the length of the waist circumference with the diaper in the most tightly fitted condition (with the distal edges of the fastening tabs placed against each other on the front central landing area 25 of the diaper). This was obtained by placing the diaper flat with the fastening tabs placed as described above, extending the front and rear side sections so they were fully extended but not stretched, measuring the length of the waist along the top edge and multiplying by two. Again, no portion that did not contribute to the circumference was counted. In particular, in this configuration, portions of the front and/or rear side sections that were folded over the chassis, or over each other (such that they no longer contributed to the circumference) were not counted.
Another measurement was the maximum fitted waist circumference; that is, the length of the waist circumference with the diaper in the most loosely fitted condition (with the fastening tabs placed as far apart as possible, on opposing sides of the landing area 25), similar to the configuration shown in
From these measurements were calculated the average fitted waist circumference (AFWC). Finally, the ratio of the open waist circumference to the average fitted waist circumference was calculated for each diaper. For each diaper, the open waist circumference, the average fitted waist circumference, and the OWC/AFWC ratio are present in Table 1.
Measurements were performed for the following:
D1—A diaper of the art was obtained (an open-style diaper available under the trademark PAMPERS CRUISERS (Size 5), from Proctor & Gamble, Cincinnati Ohio). This diaper was modified by connecting the as-manufactured front and rear side sections by joining them together at their proximal ends with a seam.
D2—A diaper of the art was obtained (an open style diaper available under the trademark PAMPERS CRUISERS (Size 5), from Proctor & Gamble, Cincinnati Ohio). This diaper was modified by removing the existing front side sections and replacing them with elastic front side sections with dimensions and properties as described in Table 1. The front and rear side sections were joined at their proximal ends with a seam, similar to that of D1.
D3—A diaper of the art was obtained (an open style diaper available under the trademark PAMPERS CRUISERS (Size 5), from Proctor & Gamble, Cincinnati Ohio). This diaper was modified by removing the existing front side sections and replacing them with inelastic front side sections with dimensions and properties as described in Table 1. The front and rear side sections were joined at their proximal ends with a seam, similar to that of D1.
D4—A diaper of the art was obtained (an open style diaper available under the trademark PAMPERS CRUISERS (Size 5), from Proctor & Gamble, Cincinnati Ohio). This diaper was modified by removing the existing front side sections and replacing them with front side sections with dimensions and properties as described in Table 1. The front side sections comprised an elastic section that was proximal to and attached via a seam to the diaper chassis, and comprised 26 mm of the total side section length, and an inelastic section that was distal to (and attached via a seam to) the elastic section, and which comprised 75 mm of the total side section length. The front and rear side sections were joined at their proximal ends with a seam, similar to that of D1.
